What should I play?

[MightyMoose]

I've been reading and watching the Escapist here for about a month before I decided to pop my forum-cherry and register.

But I figured I finally would after reading several forums, and watching several of the videos on the site, I finally had something that merited speaking of, and the scrutiny of the opinion from the general public here at The Escapist.

I'm new to the country (Just imported fresh from Iceland about 3 months ago) and I'm just now getting into the Video Game scene... I grew up as a military brat, son to several half and step-siblings, and by my guess the least favorite child. So I sought refuge in the military and now that my term is over I've found myself landed in the states with a long-time American friend (now fiancee) and am now in the possession of some foreign, beautiful, taboo, alien thing called "Video Games" and as such - I don' know what to play.


I have an Xbox 360, and a mediocre gaming PC (Dual Core/1 Geforce 8800/2gb RAM).

I've played (and enjoyed) the following:

Call of Duty 4
Fable
World of Warcraft (for two months, I sold my account a few days ago for food and gas money)
Company of Heroes
Bioshock
Grand Theft Auto 4
The Orange Box.


But I'm wondering, are these the best the gaming industry has to offer me? Or is there some hidden treasure vault of gaming that I'm missing. As I'm new to the country, and as such..some of the more remote treasures of gaming that lie here (and in Japan) I thought I would seek the wisdom of those who have been delving into the dark unmentioned (where I grew up) arts that are so tantalizing, fresh, and mysteriously tempting to spend so much time on.



PS: I try to keep myself understandable, but I've been told by some Americans that It's hard to make sense of my rambling. So I apologize if my English is bad, or grammar is terrible...or whatever it is that I seem to be doing wrong.

 

[TheGhostOfSin]

Have you played original Fable or Fable TLC because if you've only played the origanal then you're missing out

 

[MightyMoose]

Have you played original Fable or Fable TLC because if you've only played the origanal then you're missing out

I bought it for PC about two weeks ago. It included the 'extras' of the expansion. Though you could hardly call it an expansion. So in response to your question, I suppose a simpler "Yes I played TLC." would have sufficed.

 

[TheKbob]

One thing to make you happy: Dual Core + 8800GT 512 Mb + 2Gb RAM is NOT a mediocre PC, since the 8800GT can readily handle any title thrown at it, including Crysis. Be happy

Did you really like Company of Heroes? If you did, I recommend Dawn of War Dark Crusade made by the same company, Relic. It's a great game and can be purchased for cheap off Steam or another retailer.

I also recommend Oblivion, to see if you like Western Style RPGs. If Fantasy is not your setting, get Mass Effect for Science Fiction. Your PC is more than enough to run Mass Effect, which I recommend the PC version due to updates, free bonus content, and a much better user interface.

There are many, many games you can play and catch up. I'm sure more here are more than willing to share their favorite titles.

Enjoy!

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

What consoles are you running?

 

[TheGhostOfSin]

Have you played original Fable or Fable TLC because if you've only played the origanal then you're missing out

I bought it for PC about two weeks ago. It included the 'extras' of the expansion. Though you could hardly call it an expansion. So in response to your question, I suppose a simpler "Yes I played TLC." would have sufficed.

Well its not really an expansion it's more what the game was suppost to be on release

 

[MightyMoose]

What consoles are you running?

The only console I run is an Xbox 360 Elite that I purchased from a friend for $50.00 USD. (I think he stole it from where he works..but I don't care, it's a good console for cheap)

Did you really like Company of Heroes? If you did, I recommend Dawn of War Dark Crusade made by the same company, Relic. It's a great game and can be purchased for cheap off Steam or another retailer.

I also recommend Oblivion, to see if you like Western Style RPGs. If Fantasy is not your setting, get Mass Effect for Science Fiction. Your PC is more than enough to run Mass Effect, which I recommend the PC version due to updates, free bonus content, and a much better user interface.

Enjoy!

I bought Oblivion and Shivering Isles. But haven't played them [much (meaning I haven't even gotten out of the sewers) at all] yet.

And I also played Dawn of War. It seems like a much simpler version of Company of Heroes, however - Dawn of War 2 has peaked my interest severely.

I'm looking forward to a few titles -

Call of Duty: World at War
Warhammer Online (I've been playing Tabletop Warhammer/Warhammer 40k for a few years now)
Fable 2

And that's it for things coming out relatively soon. But until then, I don't know what to go back and just delve into with reckless abandon, only to emerge days later pale, gaunt, unshaven, and smelling of locker-room, with the vocabulary of a Halo-playing 13 year old due to lack of exposure to the real world.

 

[TheKbob]

How about STALKER? And the soon to be released STALKER Clear Skies?

 

[MightyMoose]

That's something I haven't heard of, and as such - will take the time to do some research.

I've been taking note here during my stay at the forums - And have a small notebook that I've kept with me for when I go gameshopping of the majority of titles that have been supported on the Games wish hadn't bought forum. However, I seem to have noticed that there is not a mirror forum for Games wish had bought .

While there are several forums that seem to follow the bland trail of "I liked ____ game" there isn't one that mirrors what might be the equivalent to the latter half of a Gamer's Bible by warding new and fresh gamers away from needless money sinks and hopeless disappointments, and at the same time suggesting bright and wonderful titles worth the time and money spent with them.

 

[TheKbob]

Well, there are other games I can still recommend:

How about Sins of the Solar Empire or Supreme Commander for RTS games?

Try the Crysis demo? I really enjoy Crysis and your machine should run it on a mixture of med/high settings and it will look great.

Titan Quest and it's Expansion the Immortal Throne? $20 on STEAM for the Gold Pack, and that is a great hack n' slash RPG.

I might be odd, but I enjoy Spellforce 2, which I purchased from Amazon for $1. It's an RPG/RTS mix, more focus on the RPG with lite RTS flavor in the style of Warcraft, almost. I enjoy it so far.

If you find Dark Sector for cheap, I would recommend that as well. It makes a bad $60 title, but for $20, I would buy it. I rented it and beat it, it was fun

FEAR is a great FPS, as well, with plenty of Horror elements along with it.

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

so a 360 and a computer ummm... Battlefield bad company is good, if you like sandbox try crackdown, Mass effect if you like Fps's and RPG's also i'd borrow Saints row from a friend, it's a game that if you like it, you like it, if you don't you really don't.

Maybe The Need For Speeds (not Prostreet) if your into that type of thing (rent and try)
if you get xbox live and can ignore idiots get Gears of War 2, fun multiplayer, ups replay value dramatically.

Oh and play oblivion more it's good for atleast a week of intense play, or for casual, on and off for a couple of weeks.

Also find a video store and join it, you can try and buy.

Try to borrow, rent or look up on google to see if you like the look of them, different people different games, good luck.

 

[Caisu]

Fable 2 is coming soon for the Xbox360, and it looks to be *amazing*, so I definatly recommend that. Also, Fallout 3 for 360 is a post-apocalyptic RPG, developed by the same people who made Oblivion (which I would also recommend).

Now, since you mentioned Japanese games too, I'll list you some of my favorites for the Xbox360 so far;
> Blue Dragon
> Eternal Sonata
> Enchanted Arms
> Fatal Inertia (Great multiplayer. It's combat racing, so zipping round the track and past the mate you just loaded down with exploading magnets and watching them slow to a halt and explode behind you just as you pass the finish line is *awsome* )
> Project Slypheed (This is a fun space combat sim, but *very* hard, it's made by Square Enix who did Final Fantasy so the animation and story are great)

Mass Effect and Guitar Hero 2 or 3 (2 is easier, and you'll be able to pick it up with it's controller cheaper than 3) are good for 360 as well.

Finally, if you can find it still (try Amazon?), I'd say pick up Final Fantasy VII for PC (since you don't have a PS/PS2). The keyboard controls are terrible, so you'd probably need a gamepad, good news is the Xbox360's controllers work with a PC, check on Microsoft's site for how to get them to work.

www.gamespot.com or www.ign.com are a great places to look up games and read reviews, watch videos and find walkthroughs if you get stuck for them.

Hope some of that helped

 

[MightyMoose]

Sins I played at a friend's house...it was...overly complex, and needlessly long with most battles ending with one massive fleet chasing another around an overly-large star-system until one of them is finally cornered and thus effectively massacred.

I played Fear to the part where you are chased by spirits, and by my unfortunate luck of somehow only playing the game at 1-3 in the morning when light is some shamefully whispered about legendary thing, and sudden sounds and movement have the effect of me nearly relieving myself in my computer seat, I wasn't able to finish it. Simply said; It scared the bejesus out of me.

I find that once I hear of titles that interest me, most of my information from games is gleaned from sights like Wikipedia, or user-reviews here on the Escapist. Dipping around the constant bullet-fire of advertisements on sites like Gamespot, etc. is frustrating at best, and maddening otherwise.

I have Fallout sitting here beside me, and have heard nothing but good from it. And while I did look at Fallout 3 with a bit of salivation, I'll reserve my judgement for when it comes out, as it looks to be a game of completely different style from it's two predecessors.

Titan Quest felt too much like It was trying to be Diablo, and as such...I found myself slightly disgusted. However I thoroughly Enjoy Diablo, Diablo II, and the Lord of Destruction Expansion. I have also yet to pick up a PS2 personally, but there were a couple of weekends I've spent at a friends losing track of time while we dive into wonderful things like Champions of Norrath, and Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes Sadly he says that companies don't really make games like that anymore.

I do find myself drooling and having figurative wet dreams anytime I sit down to play through some of the Mech-Warrior and Armored Core games. Now if only they would release an Armored-Core/Mech-Warrior/Chrome-Hounds blended type RPG...I believe I would achieve a gamer's equivalent to sex with their childhood-fantasized supermodel or actress.

 

[TheKbob]

There is the Front Mission series on the Playstation 2 that features strategy RPG gameplay with customizable mechs. There may be one coming to the PSP? I think I heard rumblings of it.

 

[notachick]

If you haven't already tried these I'd recommend trying them immediately!

Deus Ex (PC)
Prince of Persia Sands of Time (PC)
Psychonauts (PC / Xbox Originals)
DiRT (PC / X360)
Vamire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC)
Bully (X360)



(Try these ones only if you can stand oldish but fun RPGs)
Planescape Torment (PC)
Fallout 1 & 2 (PC)
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (PC)



(Very retro but very fun)
Star Control 2

 

[shadow skill]

If you like hack and slash games and don't mind insane but not cheap (mostly) difficulty try out Ninja Gaiden Black and/or Ninja Gaiden 2.

 

[monodiabloloco]

Oh man. Whenever people want to know ideas for good games to play, I start to point them to the past. Most younger people have never had the chance to play older games and are usually put off by the lack of graphical prowess. There are so many great games to play when you are between the newest releases you want. Several have already been mentioned and can be found online for cheap. Planescape, Baldurs Gate, Ice Wind Dale if you are into DnD settings. Tons of FPS games out there to burn time with (I just reinstalled Quake 2 on my two systems at home so I can play LAN games with my brother when he stops by.) but Serious Sam is fun so long as you don't want a story line. Someone mentioned STALKER and that is a really fun and hard FPS/RPG. I have a Gametap account originally for my daughter until I found that tons of these games are on there along with some great REALLY old games (atari 2600 FTW!) It has lots of new games too. It's cheaper than renting from a store or online (you can't rent pc games from stores anyway.. at least not here) and appeases my gamer ADD.
Oh! If you aren't opposed to match 3 games. I and a great many people are still addicted to Puzzle Quest.

 

[The Potato Lord]

some good ones to try:
Dead Rising
Mass effect
Oblivion
Halo3
Crackdown

I bought and enjoy all of these.