Shamelessly mining the knowledge bank

[blizzardwolf]

I need to tap The Escapist's vast and far-reaching field of videogame knowledge for suggestions. I'm a PC gamer, and I've been looking for something new and interesting to play for the past few months, but every time I hit google I get the usual "Top 10" lists that invariably include: Bioshock, CoD4, Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Spore, Mass Effect, and Gears of War/Brothers in Arms/Medal of Duty 23 1/2 or whatever the latest WWII clone is.

Those aren't bad games, but unfortunately I've played them already, and my lineup is looking a bit empty. If I could ask a few suggestions from people, I would really appreciate it.

This is a list of games I've already played, and the kind of guidelines I'm searching for:

Half-Life 1 and 2
Bioshock
Jade Empire
Fallout
FarCry
Vampire: The Masquerade
Doom 3
Quake 4
F.E.A.R.
All the Command and Conquers
Gears of War
Mass Effect
Spore (What an overhyped piece of shit)
Portal
Halo 1 and 2
The entire Call of Duty series
Final Fantasy up to X
Crysis (Another overhyped piece of shit)
The Hitman series

That's just what I can remember. I'm sure there are others, but I'm not gonna spend an entire post listing them. I came here for advice, not to show off. If someone recommends a game I've played, whatever, it's not the end of the world.

Anyway, what I'd like to sample are good First Person Shooters, at least one good RPG to occupy a few weeks, (Morrowind and its childer excluded) and some good RTS games. Age is not really a factor, but they do need for the PC, since that's my principal gaming platform.

I thank everyone in advance for any help they can offer.

 

[Retoru]

If you want a good RPG try Neverwinter Nights or Neverwinter Nights 2. The second one looks better, but I really prefer the first one. I'm not much help on FPS games, they're all the same to me, though I did enjoy the story of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, but the game itself was fairly short.

What you should so is look at some of the classics, games that may not be the best looking girl at the dance, but will surely show you a good time, if ya know what I mean. Maybe Diablo II, Master of Magic, Rise of Nations, Warcraft II, Maniac Mansion, King's Quest V, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max Hit the Road...I could really go on forever.

 

[rossatdi]

Two words:

Deus Ex

 

[blizzardwolf]

Two words:

Deus Ex

Been there, done it, DEFINITELY a good experience. It's the videogame difference between bottom shelf wine coolers and 100 proof Southern Comfort.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Well there is crono trigger. It's old but still good and the only JRPG I like. The total war series is pretty nice. I really enjoyed Medieval 2:Total war and Empire:Total war is on the way. Left 4 dead looks like a winner as well. Company of heroes is pretty good. The balance is a bit wacky and don't know if it will ever truly reach greatness. Starcraft 2 is coming out so look forward to that. The witcher was pretty good. Had some nice choice and consequence in there. The Baldur's gate series is really good. There are a slew of half life 1 and 2 mods out there as well that are worth playing.

Of course Team fortress 2, but that is purely multiplayer. Anyway, that's all I can think of. There really haven't been a lot of great games out in the last 4 years or so. If you find an emulator for Crono Trigger see if you can find one for Silent Hill 1 and 2.

Oh and TESaggerfall and Morrowind are worth playing, but stay away from Oblivion. Also, stay away from NWN1, the story is crap. Neverwinter Night 2 however is much better and the expansion Mask of the Betrayer is fantastic.

 

[Novajam]

You seem more an FPS/RPG centred gamer, however if you're looking for a good RTS game, I happily recommend Company of Heroes, Age of Empires 3 and Age of Mythology.

COH has a great fast tactics feel, and the cover works really well. AOE3 has the addictive home city RPG aspect, and it'll keep you busy for a while, and AOM is a lot of fun with a surprisingly strong story.

And for what it's worth, I'm really enjoying Fallout 3.

 

[Amnestic]

Starcraft (and Expansion), Warcraft 3 (And Expansion). Two RTS games I thoroughly enjoyed. Added bonus of Starcraft 2 Part 1 looming it's head in the near future which means you can be up to date on the story. The graphics on both are fairly dated these days, but if you've played the original C&C, you really shouldn't have an issue with graphics.

As always however for this type of thread, I direct you primarily to here [http://www.metacritic.com/games/pc/scores/], with all PC Games titles of recent (and not so much) lined up in score order for you. Go nuts

 

[rossatdi]

It's a bit old school but if you're into a badass shooter you can probably download or buy for nothing:

Unreal 2: The Awakening.

It's just pre-ragdoll but looks beautiful. Has some great guns (shotgun with flame rounds, flamethrower that can lay petrol trails for ignition). Actual characters on your ship and a great ending.

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

Knights Of The Old Republic, just in case you haven't played it before. Agree with Age of Mythology, look up Civilization, not sure about earlier ones but 4 was enjoyable.

 

[Syphonz]

STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl.
Red Orchestra Ostfront 41-45
Doom (playthrough on Nightmare...most fun you'll ever have i swear)

 

[aussiesniper]

Freespace and Freespace 2 are both very good games, but quite hard to get the hang of due to a somewhat confusing keyboard layout and the needlessly large number of controls. They are space combat games, and are (in my opinion) the best ones available. *

If you are looking for a new FPS, I may not be able to give you unbiased advice on what you should buy, as I'm a borderline fanboy for the STALKER games. If you don't mind bugs and like horror FPS games, these may be a good choice. Otherwise, Farcry 2 seems to be the best option, but I haven't played it yet.

I also recommend Garry's mod if you are willing to try playing a construction/sandbox game, but don't be a mingebag**.

*NOTE: These are extemely old games, and probably unavaliable for purchase. Good Old Games has freespace 2, though, and a project called Freespace Open has redone the game with better graphics and several other features.

**Hooray for semi-obscure Gmod references!

 

[samsprinkle]

get company of heroes. its an excellent RTS, I also recommend any of the total war games

 

[wewontdie11]

I am having a fun time with Fallout 3. Even on the low spec computer* I have I still manage to enjoy it. Not quite as pretty as the other FPS games out there (well, on my computer anyway XD), but definitely a fun time if you enjoyed Oblivion. Oblivion with guns basically.


* Specs:
P4 "Hyperthreading" 3.0 ghz
Nvidia 6800 GT
3 GB of ram PC 3200
Logitech Z 5500 speakers on a Creative XFI elite

This. I did a first impressions review of it yesterday in the User Reviews section and I'd highly recommend it, as it seems to fit two of your stipulations at once being an FPS-RPG and all.

 

[TomNook]

Civ4, Red Alert 2, Mount and Blade, Sam and Max series to name a few.

 

[Axolotl]

I would recommend Neverwinter Nights purely for the Mods. Theif Deadly Shadows is pretty good if you like stealth.

 

[LordCraigus]

Just off the top of my head (actually what games I see in front of me now) are Soldiers: Heroes of WWII and SWAT 4. Far Cry 2 as well, if your PC can run it... I have it on 360 because mine can't.

These are just the recommendations of games I enjoy, may or may not be to your tastes.

 

[curlycrouton]

Mafia
Battlefield Vietnam
BAttlefield 2
try and get a Battlefield Heroes Beta Key or wait til it comes out (it's awesome)
Far Cry 2
Team Fortress 2

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
Best PC game since Deus Ex, basically.

Yes, yes, yes.

Deus Ex, of course
Rayman 3 (what?)
House of the Dead 3

 

[Zephirius]

If you do try S.T.A.L.K.E.R., be sure to try the Oblivion Lost mod, it adds all sorts of features from the beta that were taken out of the final game, and makes the game far more enjoyable.