Just got Steam - Which 3 games to buy?

[Starke]

snip

Lack basically gave you a good list, but I'll tinker with it...

Civ V is flat out the best game in the series to date, it has a smoothness and simplicity to it while retaining a lot of the depth of the franchise. Really, if you have any love for Turn Based Strategy this is the one must buy title.

For RTSs, I'd suggest Dawn of War. The Platinum version will run you about $30 US... so unfortunately with Civ V, there goes your budget. If you have to pick a single Dawn of War release, then the one to pick is Dark Crusade. Dawn of War 2 is a completly different game, with less of an RTS base and more action RPG.

For FPSs, the STALKER franchise is excellent, but, and this is a big caveat, it is very unusual. It's much more of a tactical shooter than you're likely to encounter elsewhere, weapons are highly inaccurate and subject to jamming even under ideal circumstances. If you can get past this you'll find a remarkable survival horror franchise.

Borderlands is insanity, pop culture references and blood on the walls, but it is a very solid shooter, and certainly worth mentioning.

Finally Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it's a military FPS in the same vein as the Modern Warfare franchise but with a lot more personality. It's pretty good, but fairly short. I hear good things about the multiplayer as well.

Okay, now, this does vastly exceed your budget, and for that I apologize. You'll have to pick and choose obviously.

 

[Tomany2]

Amnesia : The Dark Descent

Recettear : The tale of an items shop

CIV 5

 

[5-0]

I am a huge fan of Deus Ex. It may be from 2000, but it's very very good, as well as being cheap. I agree with what everyone says about The Orange Box as well. Also I recently bought Far Cry. That's from 2004, but remains a very good FPS.

 

[Kolosus]

Orange Box, that's 5 great games for £17.

Then spend the rest on beer.

The Orange Box, Probably the best 20 ? i have ever spend.

Half-Life 2 (+episodes) epicness
Portal mind and perception training
Team Fortress 2 FPS goodness


Ohh, and definitely Torchlight. Best rip-off ever made!

Maybe EVE ONLINE would be a suggestion aswell? I love the game.

 

[TheHitcher]

My first and foremost choice would be Team Fortress 2, but I'm going to say the Orange Box simply because it contains TF2 AND four other fantastic games. A great start to PC gaming.
If you haven't already played it on a console, then definitely go for CoD4:MW. It's definitely worth seeing what made the franchise so popular. Next, if you're into RTS's, you really can't go wrong with Starcraft II. If you're more of a RPG type of guy, then go for something solid like Mass Effect. Hope this helps.

 

[Lizmichi]

So, I've just recently got myself a PC that can actually play games and now I'm left wondering what to buy.

I'm completley new to PC gaming but I want to give it a good try. I enjoy most genres, but I'm looking for longevity in any game I buy, so that's either an ability to play online, or an infintely changing campaign.

I have £50($70) to spend and I want to get 3 games, or there abouts.

So what you reccomend? What are the staples of any PC gamers library?

So far I've heard good things about CS:S, COD:4 and Starcraft 2.

I already have Rome and Empire Total War.

Anything by blizz will not be on steam. So I will say portal, Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 if you can.

 

[elb0ng0]

Orange box, Left 4 Dead 2 and Garry's mod.

 

[Airsoftslayer93]

orange box

 

[steevee]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm still undecided though so any more suggestions are welcome.

 

[icame]

Orange box + Kotor + Oblivion = Godly trio



(Yes I know Orange box has like 5 games...stfu)

 

[JediDisciple]

Orange Box: You can't go wrong with your money there. KOTOR: Just awesome.
Garry's Mod: A personal favorite.

 

[Mr. Meslier]

My three most played games are:

Team Fortress 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Battlefield Bad Company 2

At least 100 hours each. You could get all three within your budget, and if you get TF2 via Orange Box you'll get 4 great games along with it.

If anything these games have great replay value. This should tide you over until the next Steam sale. If you're going to get more games, I highly recommend you wait until a Steam sale.

 

[Eleima]

I'd recommend TF2. It's loads of fun, and we've got a great bunch of Escapists playing on the servers. The entire Orange Box is worth it, in my opinion, if only for TF2 and Portal
Aside from that, I just got the Witcher on Steam, and I'm loving it to bits. If you're into little music games, I really enjoyed Audiosurf and Chime, and they're not too expensive.
Borderlands and Torchlight definitely deserve a mention as well.

But really, the smart move is to bide your time and wait for games to go on sale. Then it's *really* worth it.

 

[Miroku2235]

Get Amnesia: The Dark Descent. You'll crap your pants in fear.

 

[coldfrog]

I would honestly shy away from Super Meat Boy if you have access to it through a console, as the keyboard can in no way recreate the much better feel of the game pad. Unless, of course, you like playing these types of platformers with the keyboard, in which case, go nuts, weirdo

To get away from what everyone else mentioned, try Loom (a classic Lucasarts adventure game), the X-Com series (I've only played through the first but it's fantastic! it's a turn-based tactical combat game with aliens) and The Ball, a puzzle game that has a little bit of a Portal feel to it, with a bit more violence to it.

 

[ntw3001]

Like everyone else says, the Orange Box is still pretty much the best thing you can buy in PC games. If you like shooters.

Starcraft is apparently good (I can't really get into RTS games), but is stupidly expensive, and Blizzard games don't tend to go down in price too quickly if I recall. I wouldn't recommend CS:S; it's been around too long and is pretty much inaccessible to newcomers by now. TF2's going that way, but it's better. you still have to be pretty dedicated to the idea of learning it, but it's the best online shooter around now.

Civ 4 or 5 (if you're new to PC games then 5 is probably better because it's less spreadsheety, and I, ntw3001 from the Internet, declare that it is better)

If you do like spreadsheets, Football Manager is excellent. It probably helps to like football as well, but even football-haters enjoy it in my experience, as long as they're into strategy games.

Then Steam has a ton of indie games. They're frequently on sale for a pittance, so you can't really lose. Audiosurf, World of Goo, Braid, Eets, Defense Grid (is that indie?) and Hammerfight are all good. OH OH and Altitude. Is that indie either? Who cares, it's good. It's tough to find a server though, in my experience. Play the demo first.

Finally: Just about everything is going to go on sale eventually, often for large discounts. Except Dawn of War 2, which is frequently discounted, but only ever by 10%.

 

[Atmos Duality]

If you can get it on the cheap, Plants vs Zombies is a good, highly replayable time killer.
Apart from that, there are numerous strong "non-casual" titles available:

-Most of Valve's titles. I could just say "The Orange Box", but some titles are a matter of taste.
-Unreal Tournament 3 (underrated, and scales very very well on older systems. Still looks and plays great on newer systems).
-Civilization 5
-Deus Ex (if you're into the classics anyway)
-Super Meat Boy
-Painkiller (though if you just want to murder tons of targets, Left 4 Dead 2 might work just as well)

Less Filling/Tastes Great (lower replayability/still great):

-Amnesia (this is the game that defines atmosphere and one of the few truly creative works released last year)

 

[Christemo]

TF2.
Titan Quest.
Killing Floor or Torchlight.

 

[Berserker119]

Left 4 Dead
Civ 4 or 5
Orange Box

 

[gunheads]

Garrys mod, orange box and HL1