I recently joined the PC gaming community, how should I expand my gaming library?

[chozo_hybrid]

Also new to the PC player base, I bought the computer off a friend to replace a four year old laptop that could barely handle Warcraft 3. It came with a Full HD 1080P Monitor, Logitech Speakers, the keyboard and mouse as well as the Tower unit for $300 NZD so she gave me a good deal, my computer specs are as follows:

What I haven't changed/upgraded yet

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q8300
4 Gigs of RAM

What I have upgraded to/replaced:

GeForce GTS450 1024MB/MO GDDR3 Memory video card
PSU 725W Cooler Master

So there's what I have, I know it's not amazing but I am slowly looking at upgrading it. It can play Starcraft 2 with all but the shadow effects on Ultra at 60fps and Dawn of War 2 on max as well.

Here's a list of the games I have:

Tales of Monkey Island, all five parts.
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and 5 complete with their expansions.
RUSH.
Team Fortress 2.
Toki Tori.
40k Dawn of War 1 & 2 expansions included.
Warcraft III - Frozen Throne.
All four Oddworld games.
Civilization 4.
Fallout 1 & 2 as well as Tactic but that doesn't detect the disc and won't play. (Have 3 and New Vegas on 360)
Starcraft 1 and 2.
Diablo 2 and Lords of Destruction.
Legend of Grimrock.
FTL: Faster Than Light.
The Witcher Enhanced Edition. (I have the sequel on 360, before I got new PC)
Diaspora - The BSG mod.
Command and Conquer - The Last Decade.
And finally, Titan Quest - Immortal Throne.

Can anyone recommend me some games, I'm open to any genre except sports (Racing excluded, don't mind that.) I have played through most of these to a degree, but I'm wondering what people can recommend that I can add to my must get list.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

If you enjoyed Diablo 2 you should look into Torchlight. It's a fantastic game and the sequel, which includes multiplayer, more classes, more dungeon variety, offline single player, etc, comes out in a few days (at just £14.99!)

 

[SnowBurst]

go to steam click download on the first big picture you see job done but i see no age of empires... GET AGE OF EMPIRES FOOL lol actually come to think of it dota 2 u can buy into now which is worth it imo, wargame: european escalation is very good to theres some really good free to play games on steam aswell

 

[SomeLameStuff]

Freespace 2. THE BEST space combat sim EVER. You can get it cheap on GOG.com.

Also Borderlands 2. Because... Borderlands 2.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

If you enjoyed Diablo 2 you should look into Torchlight. It's a fantastic game and the sequel, which includes multiplayer, more classes, more dungeon variety, offline single player, etc, comes out in a few days (at just £14.99!)

I have the first on my Xbox, I wasn't aware the sequel was out so soon, so I have added that to my list! Thanks

Freespace 2. THE BEST space combat sim EVER. You can get it cheap on GOG.com.

Also Borderlands 2. Because... Borderlands 2.

That's the game Diaspora was built off right? Will look at that once I finish the BSG mod, thanks

As for Borderlands, getting it on 360 so I can play with my flat mates as the three of us have 360's and mine can split screen so my partner can play as well, since she liked the first game.

go to steam click download on the first big picture you see job done but i see no age of empires... GET AGE OF EMPIRES FOOL lol actually come to think of it dota 2 u can buy into now which is worth it imo, wargame: european escalation is very good to theres some really good free to play games on steam aswell

I played DotA and didn't like it sorry, so I don't think the sequel will do much for me, but thank you for the suggestion. As for Wargame: European Escalation, I will look into that, looks quite good.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Dragon Age: Origins, there is a fairly impressive array of Mods for this game. I wouldn't recommend the sequel.

Company of Heros: done by Relic, the same Devs behind the Dawn of War series and set in World War 2.

You stated that you already have Fallout 3 and New Vegas on the 360, but with the right mods you can get an entirely new experience. Just wait untill a Steam Sale and get them cheap.

Skyrim.

For New Releases I would also recommend Xcom Enemy Unknown.

 

[lacktheknack]

All of gog.com.

All of it.

Try Just Cause 2 as well, and look into the Avernum/Geneforge games (they have huge demos).

 

[Slayer_2]

Get Fallout 3 or New Vegas if you're a hardcore old Fallout fan.

 

[Eldrig]

If you want to see what happens when you combine a great game, with one of the most extensive modding communities out there, get Morrowind. 20$ on steam, and if you don't mind an older rpg, you can and will be blown away by not only the setting, but the sheer insane amount of user made mods, the graphical overhaul for which makes the game look damn fine for being 10 years old.

 

[Bucky01]

obviously you need every valve game not on your list.
i would also recommend the walking dead game. i was surprised as to how good it is
and also payday:the heist is a great cheap coop game

 

[schtingah]

Here's some games i would suggest, mainly going for a bit older games you can pick up cheap:

- The Longest Journey & Dreamfall (Brilliant Point & Click Adventure games)
- Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (First Person Fantasy RPG, good fun)
- Beyond Good & Evil (Third Person Action game)
- Portal & Portal 2 (Seriously, everyone in the world needs to have played these)
- Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (If you like a good RTS, this one is pretty brilliant)
- Deus Ex (The original if you don't mind REALLY old games, Human Revolution if you just want a good shooter with a cool story)
- Dragon Age 1 & 2 (Good fanatsy RPGs) & Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3 (Good Sci-Fi RPGs)

I'll post more when I can think of more.

 

[Joccaren]

You have Civ IV?

If you don't already have Beyond the Sword - GET IT.

Also, once you have that, get the Fall From Heaven 2 mod.

Beyond that...
Black Mesa Source
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
And beyond that, not too much I can personally recommend ATM. Witcher 2 looks amazing on PC, though having it on the Xbox I can understand not wanting to purchase it again. BF3 is largely meh IMO. It looks pretty, but it just turns into a clusterf*** most of the time with one team being pro, the other filled with noobs, and you ALWAYS get put on the team of noobs.
You could give Crysis a go. Looks great [According to many better than its sequel, same for gameplay], and is somewhat open, though still linear. The suit makes things fun, though it can get frustrating at times [Maybe that's just 'cause I'm playing it max difficulty on my first run through, but its the only difficulty that has the Koreans speak damn Korean].
You could look at all the free stuff on Steam and see if any of that appeals to you. Otherwise the Total War series can be worth a look, but otherwise, yeah. Not too much recent IMO.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Get Fallout 3 or New Vegas if you're a hardcore old Fallout fan.

I already own them on 360, as stated next to the first two on my list

Dragon Age: Origins, there is a fairly impressive array of Mods for this game. I wouldn't recommend the sequel.

Company of Heros: done by Relic, the same Devs behind the Dawn of War series and set in World War 2.

You stated that you already have Fallout 3 and New Vegas on the 360, but with the right mods you can get an entirely new experience. Just wait untill a Steam Sale and get them cheap.

Skyrim.

For New Releases I would also recommend Xcom Enemy Unknown.

I have played through Dragon Age: Origins on my Xbox as well, my brother has Company of Heroes and I did like what I did play come to think of it, will add that to my list.

I'm getting X-Com on my Xbox because my best friend/flat mate is getting it for that and we play turn based vs games a lot.

If I see them cheap, I will consider doing the whole mod thing for Fallout 3/NV.

obviously you need every valve game not on your list.
i would also recommend the walking dead game. i was surprised as to how good it is
and also payday:the heist is a great cheap coop game

Already have the first 3 parts of The Walking Dead on my Xbox, but yeah, it's been awesome so far.

Payday the Heist is one I have already been considering, a work friend plays it so he recommended it.

You have Civ IV?

If you don't already have Beyond the Sword - GET IT.

Also, once you have that, get the Fall From Heaven 2 mod.

Beyond that...
Black Mesa Source
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
And beyond that, not too much I can personally recommend ATM. Witcher 2 looks amazing on PC, though having it on the Xbox I can understand not wanting to purchase it again. BF3 is largely meh IMO. It looks pretty, but it just turns into a clusterf*** most of the time with one team being pro, the other filled with noobs, and you ALWAYS get put on the team of noobs.
You could give Crysis a go. Looks great [According to many better than its sequel, same for gameplay], and is somewhat open, though still linear. The suit makes things fun, though it can get frustrating at times [Maybe that's just 'cause I'm playing it max difficulty on my first run through, but its the only difficulty that has the Koreans speak damn Korean].
You could look at all the free stuff on Steam and see if any of that appeals to you. Otherwise the Total War series can be worth a look, but otherwise, yeah. Not too much recent IMO.

Just got Black Mesa Source, liking what I see. I played the original Half Life on my PS2 so it will be great to play through again. Sins of a Solar Empire is one my flat mates play, so it's on the list as well.

 

[Denamic]

With those specs, you'll be able to play any game for years to come.
Just keep an eye on the steam sales and hope you'll be able to save enough money for food.

 

[Kaymish]

you have no total war i liked Rome and empire best but people seem to rave about shogun 2 even though i was disappointed with it

 

[chozo_hybrid]

With those specs, you'll be able to play any game for years to come.
Just keep an eye on the steam sales and hope you'll be able to save enough money for food.

Wow, really? That kinda surprises me. Although, now that you mention it, my brother who has been helping me with all things computer did say it would be a decent gaming PC.

you have no total war i liked Rome and empire best but people seem to rave about shogun 2 even though i was disappointed with it

Total War series, added to my list thanks for the recommendation!

 

[JDLY]

Amnesia: The Dark Decent. I'm sure you've heard of it, but it's nothing compared to playing it.

 

[Callate]

Since you mentioned $NZD, I have to ask: how generous is your Internet? There's loads of great stuff on Steam and GOG, but if you get throttled to phoneline speeds after a couple of gigabytes, that could happen pretty quickly.

I will note that Fallout Tactics can be had on GOG.com for about $6.00 US, if you don't mind "replacing" the version you have. I haven't played it myself, but I hadn't heard it was the most compelling experience.

On similar lines, I'd recommend the original Deus Ex (available GOG) and the most recent, Human Revolution (Steam), though feel free to skip the middle entry (Invisible War). The first game can take a while to warm up to, but it's worth it, IMHO.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is possibly the pinnacle of Bioware's craft, and far better than any of Lucas' last three Star Wars movies.

Plants vs. Zombies, Popcap's excellent take on "tower defense" games.

If you enjoy the Monkey Island games, you might well enjoy the Sam & Max adventure games as well. Both originally had games with LucasArts, both eventually migrated to Telltale Games.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Amnesia: The Dark Decent. I'm sure you've heard of it, but it's nothing compared to playing it.

I have heard of it, is it really as great as people say? Because a lot of horror games these days just don't cut it anymore.

EDIT: Just looked on Steam, it does have a demo, so I will check it out first hand

Since you mentioned $NZD, I have to ask: how generous is your Internet? There's loads of great stuff on Steam and GOG, but if you get throttled to phoneline speeds after a couple of gigabytes, that could happen pretty quickly.

I will note that Fallout Tactics can be had on GOG.com for about $6.00 US, if you don't mind "replacing" the version you have. I haven't played it myself, but I hadn't heard it was the most compelling experience.

On similar lines, I'd recommend the original Deus Ex (GOG) and the most recent (Human Revolution), though feel free to skip the middle entry (Invisible War). The first game can take a while to warm up to, but it's worth it, IMHO.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is possibly the pinnacle of Bioware's craft, and far better than any of Lucas' last three Star Wars movies.

Plants vs. Zombies, Popcap's excellent take on "tower defense" games.

If you enjoy the Monkey Island games, you might well enjoy the Sam & Max adventure games as well. Both originally had games with LucasArts, both eventually migrated to Telltale Games.

We have a 100 gig cap on our net at the fastest speed we can get residential in our country, price isn't too bad considering. But Steam does have a sever for my IP so any games on that server are unmetered, so I have a program that just doesn't let me download games that aren't on it, there's no way to know until after I buy them though >_< but if they aren't on it, I can just get them at the end of the month before the cap resets, so it works out okay.

I have played it a bit before, and Fallout Tactics wasn't the best one, so I wouldn't put anymore money toward it.

I did enjoy Human Revolution, just finished (on my xbox) it last week actually. The orginal has now been added to my list

I have played through KotoR on my brothers computer a few times and it was awesome, how does the MMO stack up, any idea? I heard it went f2p.

Plants vs Zombies got boring for me pretty quick, I liked tower defense, but the theme of that one just didn't click with me.

So Sam and Max is good? Will look into that, thanks for the recommendation