Essential PC Games

[i2esol]

STALKER trilogy. Ultima series.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

Morrowind
The Longest Journey and its sequel, Dreamfall.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
The Witcher
Freelancer
Knights of the Old Republic (did that come out for consoles?)
Counter-Strike
Battlefield 1942
Starcraft
Europa Universalis 3
Rome: Total War, or another in that series
Age of Empires 2
Thief and Thief 2 (and Thief 3: Deadly Shadows, if you can get it to run)

And then go back and play Morrowind again.

Ooooo, this is totally untapped territory:
Oblivion, with mods.
Fallout 3, with mods.

Those two become totally different games, or so I hear.

 

[Link Kadeshi]

Oh snap! I forgot Homeworld! Please whack me for forgetting... *gets whacked* ow.

*Hits him with an original XBox controller*

 

[Shinotama]

Half Life
Neverwinter Nights
Command & Conquer Series

 

[Atheist.]

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Warcraft series
Starcraft 1 and 2
Age of Empires series
Command and Conquer series
Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2
KotOR 1 and 2
Diablo 1 and 2

Those are some good ones that I would recommend.

This plus the Gothic series, The Witcher, and Amnesia The Dark Decent.

 

[Worgen]

dawn of war
dawn of war 2
company of heroes
pretty much anything by telltale
bad company 2
kings bounty
kings bounty armored princess
kingsbounty crossworlds
heroes of might and magic V
heroes of might and magic 6 (not out yet but Im gonna buy the fuck out of it)
pretty much anything by valve
world in conflict
the longest journey (one of the greatest game stories ever told, you can get it on gog cheap)
the witcher
battlefield 3 (not out yet but its made for the pc)

 

[EzraPound]

I'd get a DOS emulator like DOSBox because you won't be able to experience what PC gaming has to offer without playing games made from the late eighties at least:

Zork
Ultima III: Exodus
King's Quest
Pirates!
SimCity
Populous
Wing Commander
King's Bounty
The Secret of Monkey Island
Ultima Underworld
Syndicate
X-COM: UFO Defense
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
DOOM
Duke Nukem 3D
Red Alert
Diablo
Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Civilization II
Fallout
Worms 2
Half-Life
Thief: The Dark Project
Grim Fandango
StarCraft
System Shock 2
Planescape: Torment
The Sims
Deus Ex
Morrowind
ROME: Total War
Knights of the Old Republic
Half-Life 2
Team Fortress 2
Portal

 

[duedmen]

what no arcanum of steam works and magic obsucrea steam punk rpging or the flawed gem vampire the masquerade bloodlines or anything by black isle

 

[dyre]

what no arcanum steam punk rpging or the flawed gem vampire the masquerade bloodlines or anything by black isle

that gem was quite flawed indeed. There have been lots of mentions of Planescape and Fallout 1 and 2 though, all of which I'm pretty sure are Black Isle

I do agree with arcanum though

Also,

Baldur's Gate 2
Deus Ex
Planescape: Torment
KOTOR (NOT 2)
Fallout 2, maybe 3 (3 because you can mod the shit out of it)
Mass Effect 1, 2

dunno about the STALKER recommendations. Good games, but they always seem to lack polish

 

[psicat]

RPG
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Fallout 1 and 2
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
Planescape: Torment
Deus Ex
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Adventure
The Longest Journey
The Last Express
Sanitarium

FPS
Painkiller

Misc
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Outcast

 

[Raineheart]

Doom 2.

Unreal Tournament GOTY edition/2004.

 

[Vuljatar]

My list is brief, because it includes only the very most important games. These games are all great, even if you are not a fan of the genre, and absolutely must be played.

Freelancer
Morrowind (and expansions)
Supreme Commander
Neverwinter Nights (and expansions)
The Orange Box
Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Deus Ex

DEUS EX

GET DEUS EX AND GET IT RIGHT NOW

 

[Sprinal]

Try out the games at the top of each list (except mmorpg where you sould try all then decide) to see if you like the Genre before buying any more. After this if you like the genre then buy more of it. If not.. Well its cheeper then buying all of them.

Real Time Stradegy
Starcraft and expansions {2 is also extremely good {but get 1 first})
Warcraft 2,3
Command and conquer tiberium dawn, Tiberiun sun, Tiberiun sun Firestorm, Tiberium Wars, Tiberium wars Kanes Wrath
Command and Conquer Red Alert, Red Alert 2, Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge
[All the Command and Conquers before 3 can be baught cheap with the first decade. Then by 3 (but not C&C 4)]
Age of Empires 2

Adventure and/or RPG
Diablo 1,2
Fallout 1,2,3
Dragon Age Origins
Mass Effect (1 not 2)
Elder Scrolls 1,2,3,4 ( Mainly go for 3 and 4)
Zork 1,2,3 (this is free of the developers site)

FPS
Team Fortress 2
Fear + Expansions
Unreal Tornement 2004 or 3
Half life 1,2+episodes 1&2
Portal (buy the Valve games in the Orange Box for the BEST DEAL EVER)

mmorpg [With these only pay for one. Download the trials of each then choose. Do not just dive in and hope for the best]
City of Heroes
World of Warcraft
Ever Quest
Eve online

MISC
MineCraft (MUST HAVE)

 

[Nexoram]

Okay OP, almost everyone else is just spitting out a list to you which when combined would be probably too expensive for you (plus some game in the list aren't that great) Honestly, two games I would definitely recommend Team Fortress 2 (TF2) and Civilization V. Both are just really great games, TF2 with lots of hilarious fun with friends and Civilization with it's deep yet accessible epicness.

 

[Plinglebob]

Snip

Listen to this person as he speaks the truth. On top of these, I'd recommend the following:

Crysis - Despite being 3 years old, this game still looks fantastic compared to pretty much anything on the market (even its own sequal). Combined with a unique environment and wide open levels, I honestly can't think of a better PC exclusive to give your new rig a work-out with.

Dungeon Keeper 2/Startopia - I've combined these 2 as they both offer a similar experience. They are both an interesting spin on the traditional management sim as well as having a great sense of humour about them.

Freelancer - I just like trying to get people to play this as it introduced the idea of using your mouse for flying in a space sim. Surprisingly, it works and I hope one day it will ressurect a dead genre. On top of that, its a fun and very open game.

Black and White 1/2 - The game that gave Peter Moleneux his reputation for promising more then he could deliver and is probably the poster child for "Brilliant ideas, poor execution". However, if you can work your way past its flaws, its a very fun game (though a pain in the arse sometimes) and its worth picking it up cheap just for the experience.

The Witcher - An RPG with no Good or Bad options, just actions and consequences. While the combat is a bit lackluster, play it for the story and weep as you realise how Bioware are holding back story telling in RPGs.

Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines - The game with 2 subtitles. Buy it, patch it, love it! (Though avoid Malcavian or Nosferatu on your first playthrough as they make it much harder)

Also, now that you've joined the ranks of PC gamers, you can enjoy the RTS genre as it should be played. I would recommend the following for non turnbased fun:

Age of Empires 2 - AoE2 is your "Classic" RTS and the game that refined the formula that would define the genre for years.

Rise of Nations - Takes the AoE formula and adds a world conquest map for more objectives and purpose.

Sins of a Solar Empire - The scale will either make you fall in love with it, or have you running away screaming.

Supreme Commander - Small maps, MASSIVE UNITS!

Dawn of War: Dark Crusade - This is the one I'd recommend to beginners as its easy to get hold of, cheap (especially on a steam sale) and will help you learn the RTS basics. The unit variety between the different factions also means there's sure to be at least 1 side that suits your playstyle.

Any Total War game - While I'd avoid Empire (guns make war boring) these games do a great job of combining the micro-management of battle with the macro-management of your kingdom. Pick a historical period that matches your interests and have fun.

World in Conflict - A game you hear little about, but was a bold venture in both storytelling in an RTS as well as changing things up from the traditional base building & resource gathering of pervious games. If you find other RTS's on the list a bit slow going for your tastes, try this instead.

 

[Roxor]

Tsk tsk. No mention of the shareware giants of the 1990s on the first page?

Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic Pinball, One Must Fall and Tyrian from Epic Megagames.

Pretty-much the entire Apogee catalogue (most of which is now freeware available from the 3D Realms website).

Grab the ID Super Pack on Steam. Plenty of good and historic games in there. Some of the Windows ones developed for Windows 95 don't work very well under Windows 7, though.