These games worth getting?

[Lare Kikkeli]

I'm finally buying a new rig next week, and I've got 2-3 years of games to catch up. What would you say are the definite games released within the past 3 years? I play pretty much anything, except racing games and hardcore flight sims.

 

I've concluded the following to be must-haves:

 

NWN2 - MotW (I have NWN2)

Mass Effect (Any good?)

Bioshock (Fallout meets SS2, can't wait)

Medieval 2 - Total War (I played Shogun back in the day, has the concept changed?)

STALKER (Should I wait for Clear Sky?)

The Witcher (I've read good things about this game, is it worth getting?)

Oblivion w/ exps (Should be abled to get it cheap, I didn't really like Morrowing at all, has there improvement?)

Orange Box (Interested in Portal and TF2, I dig the art style)

Psychonauts

Lego Star Wars 1&2, Lego Indiana Jones

 

My new rig will be abled to run ANYTHING you throw at it, including Crysis on full details.

 

I'd appreciate any other recommendations, I've got a holiday coming and I intend to spend it sitting inside, the monitor being the only source of light I see for three weeks, girlfriend be damned! Help me ruin social life and move back home to my moms basement!

[Pidesco]

Bioshock (Fallout meets SS2, can't wait)

 

Bioshock isn't Fallout meets SS2 at all. I's just SS2 gutted and maimed for the sake of a more mainstream audience.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Bioshock (Fallout meets SS2, can't wait)

 

Bioshock isn't Fallout meets SS2 at all. I's just SS2 gutted and maimed for the sake of a more mainstream audience.

 

Yeah? I saw a friend play it for a while and the art style and humour was ripped straight out of Fallout. Nowhere near the quality of the Fallouts, but still kinda amusing. And I actually like the setting more than SS2, not sure about the magic stuff but the underwater city looked pretty awesome. I'll be seriously bummed if it turns out being a huge turd

[Pidesco]

Bioshock isn't bad it's just shallow. If you want a challengeless, generic, circle strafing FPS, go get it right now. I'd say it's the best at what it does, it just doesn't really do a whole lot. The plot is nice, even if it suffers from having bugger all to do with the gameplay. Also, it has one of greatest plot twists ever, that unfortunately is let down by the game itself after the plot twist.

 

Bioshock is not brilliant but you could do a lot worse.

[Morgoth]

All these games are highly recommendable, except Oblivion, and I don't know about Lego Star Wars either. Looks like kiddy stuff to me.

[Pidesco]

Lego Star Wars is awesome fun even if it is a kid's game.

[Morgoth]

I don't waste my time with kid's stuff.

[Lare Kikkeli]

I've played the first Lego Star Wars at a friends place and it's perfect platformer fun.

 

How are the following games?

 

Company of Heroes (WW2 is getting kinda tiresome, but the reviews have been positive)

Sins of a Solar Empire (4X or just a regular strategy game?)

Supreme Commander (Never been a big RTS fan, but iirc TA was good)

World In Conflict (C&C clone?)

 

edit:

 

Assassins Creed (boring or awesome? I've read both)

Gears of War (Console FPS or a legit one?)

 

edit2: Crap, so many promising games

 

Dark Messiah of M&M

CoD 4

Crysis

Edited July 17, 2008 by Lare Kikkeli

[Istima Loke]

And you should wait for the Enhanced Edition of the Witcher if you decide on getting it.

 

I played it through. The game was good (but not as good as a lot of people said). The story was from mediocre to good-ish with some really nice touches here and there, the C&C was nice, the maturity of the setting wasn't really there, the visuals were stunning, the environments gorgeous, the atmosphere captivating, but it's greater problem was the gameplay. And that's 'cause a lot of times the whole experience seemed just like a chore.

 

I'm not really sure if I can recommend it. I mean, I kinda liked it but I'm a huge sucker for dark fantasy and still it managed to make me say all that stuff about it. If you find the dark fantasy setting to your liking and don't mind sassy in-game comments about the game's moral ambiguity (probably try not to take the RPG-watch review about the game's story too seriously as well) then it would be a nice experience, I think. Anyway, I sometimes think I'm overly too critical with this game for some reason. Maybe I set my expectations too high. Still, you asked about opinions and that's mine. Maybe people that liked the game can give you an idea of what they thought of it.

 

Psychonauts is like one of the awesomest games in the universe or something, btw.

[Morgoth]

I've played the first Lego Star Wars at a friends place and it's perfect platformer fun.

 

How are the following games?

 

Company of Heroes (WW2 is getting kinda tiresome, but the reviews have been positive)

Sins of a Solar Empire (4X or just a regular strategy game?)

Supreme Commander (Never been a big RTS fan, but iirc TA was good)

World In Conflict (C&C clone?)

 

edit:

 

Assassins Creed (boring or awesome? I've read both)

Gears of War (Console FPS or a legit one?)

 

edit2: Crap, so many promising games

 

Dark Messiah of M&M

CoD 4

Crysis

Company of Heroes was pretty interesting, definitely worth getting it, considering the price now.

Haven't played Sins.

Supreme Commander is boring and has as much soul as a robot.

Haven't played World in Conflict either.

 

I enjoyed Assassins Creed. Awesome exploration, some interesting features. Overall, I can recommend the game.

Gears of War. Dull and Boring.

Haven't played CoD4.

Crysis. Well, nothing special. Great graphics, but no soul.

Dark Messiah was cool. Very recommandable, considering the price.

[Morgoth]

If you're into RTS games and want to play something unconventional, I highly recommand Universe at War.

[Pidesco]

Dark Messiah is great. You should, however, be wary of the level design which kind of urges you to kick every opponent and takes the fun away from the combat. Don't expect anything other from the game other than kick ass ficghting, though.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Hows Assassins Creed with a mouse+keyboard?

[Morgoth]

Hows Assassins Creed with a mouse+keyboard?

Not so bad. At least I haven't had any issues with it, once you find the right key configuration. The only thing that annoyed me though were the 16:10 letterboxes.

[The.Donut]

I would highly recommend Company of Heroes. I got it a while ago and didn't touch it for such a long time because I was a bit wary of another WW2 game but I eventually installed it and I'm glad I did. Tis an enjoyable romp and the AI is rather good (the way your units act by themselves, to an extent, and take cover without you having to issue an order for instance - this is something that most, if not all, RTS's should have, imo).

 

I can't really recommend Sins of a Solar Empire. It just seemed so...shallow

 

Bioshock is pretty cool - the atmosphere especially - but I've found that I haven't touched it for a while now...

 

And here's a few games that haven't been mentioned that I would recommend:

 

Dwarf Fortress (an indie game - if you can get over the ASCI graphics it is truly wonderful)

Mount and Blade (another indie game - new version released quite recently - I believe it's the last beta version before the final release)

Hitman: Blood Money

Europa Universalis 3

[Purkake]

I would have to disagree on Assassin's Creed. I found it fun for the first few hours with parkour and killing people, but then the quests became really repetitive and boring. Also the story was crazy at best and I soon found myself glazing over when the assassination target started his hour-long monologue AFTER you had killed him...

 

Dark Messiah was really great. Just kicking things around and finding interesting ways to kill things was great. It also has a pretty good story.

 

Company of Heroes was also great. It has real physics and you can change the battlefield to your advantage - for example you can blow a building apart to get cover and to kill the people inside really fast.

Edited July 17, 2008 by Purkake

[Slowtrain]

Oblivion w/ exps (Should be abled to get it cheap, I didn't really like Morrowing at all, has there improvement?)

 

 

No real comparison between MW and Oblivion. I know people who hated MW and loved Oblivion, people who loved MW and hated Oblivion, people who loved both, people who hated both. But some aspects of the gamelay are similar as they were both developed by the same people. I find it to be a pretty boring game; it looks pretty though.

 

Crysis

 

 

Its all right. A pretty standard FPS with good graphics. I enjoyed messing around with the suit

 

STALKER

 

Don't expect a coherent plot. But its got a lot of atmosphere. The FPS gameplay is above average. Exploration is fun. No need to wait for Clear Sky. If you plan on playing both, I would play STALKER:SOC first.

 

 

Witcher

 

A solid crpg, though a little primitive in places. Some people seem to find its non-directed aspects tiresome. The game doesn't really hold your hand and tell you what to do next and is fairly complex so it can feel a little like you are wandering aimlessly from time to time.

 

Bioshock

 

SS2 meets Fallout? I don't know how you got that. Its more like SS2 streamlined to the point of boredom. Didn't finish it though. Stopped fairly close to the end (I think) because nothing seemed to matter and I didn't care. Maybe the ending makes the whole thing worthwhile. Highly doubt it though.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Oblivion w/ exps (Should be abled to get it cheap, I didn't really like Morrowing at all, has there improvement?)

 

 

No real comparison between MW and Oblivion. I know people who hated MW and loved Oblivion, people who loved MW and hated Oblivion, people who loved both, people who hated both. But some aspects of the gamelay are similar as they were both developed by the same people. I find it to be a pretty boring game; it looks pretty though.

 

I'll probably get it, just for exploration. My new rig will be abled to handle all the extra texture packs, so if for no other reason than to use them.

 

 

STALKER

 

Don't expect a coherent plot. But its got a lot of atmosphere. The FPS gameplay is above average. Exploration is fun. No need to wait for Clear Sky. If you plan on playing both, I would play STALKER:SOC first.

 

I'm a sucker for the book it's loosely based on, so I would have gotten this even if everyone said it sucked.

 

Bioshock

 

SS2 meets Fallout? I don't know how you got that. Its more like SS2 streamlined to the point of boredom. Didn't finish it though. Stopped fairly close to the end (I think) because nothing seemed to matter and I didn't care. Maybe the ending makes the whole thing worthwhile. Highly doubt it though.

 

I based the Fallout thing on the 10 minutes a saw a friend play it, the art direction reminded me a lot of Fallouts futuristic 50's style. No idea about the content, but at least the little animated cut scenes you get when you get a new plasmid were very Pipboy-ish. I found a mod that supposedly makes it a more enjoyable experience for FPS veterans, I guess I'll DL it if the game is too easy.

[Lare Kikkeli]

Also I have Mount & Blade, best 10 bucks ever spent, and I will be playing the **** out of it. 500 people battles, hell yeah! Dwarf Fortress however is too complex for me, maybe if it had a proper mouse-driven UI I could get into it but having to memorize all those commands is just too much work.

[Slowtrain]

I'll probably get it, just for exploration. My new rig will be abled to handle all the extra texture packs, so if for no other reason than to use them.

 

 

If you've got a nice new high-end pc, sure why not. You'll be able to enjoy the graphics in all their glory and if aspects of the gameplay bother you, there's lots of mods. (Just remember Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul aka OOO) Also make you find and install the unofficial Oblivion patch in addition to whatever official fixes you need for whatever version you get.

 

 

 

I'm a sucker for the book it's loosely based on, so I would have gotten this even if everyone said it sucked..

 

I never read the book, but from I understand its really really LOOSELY based on the book, so don't expect a lot of similarities. But its a solid FPS with a lot of atmosphere and solid exploration. Make sure you install the updates if your version needs them. You should note that enemies respawn. This bothers a lot of people. I happen not to be one of them, but you might be.

 

 

 

I based the Fallout thing on the 10 minutes a saw a friend play it, the art direction reminded me a lot of Fallouts futuristic 50's style. No idea about the content, but at least the little animated cut scenes you get when you get a new plasmid were very Pipboy-ish. I found a mod that supposedly makes it a more enjoyable experience for FPS veterans, I guess I'll DL it if the game is too easy.

 

The art direction is the best thing about it, but that is pretty subjective as to whether you like the heavily stylized vision. (I didn't particularly). But a lot of people do like the game, and it should look good on your system, so might as well give it a shot. Its fun for the first couple levels at least. For me it just went downhill fast after that.

[Moatilliatta]

Company of Heroes is the best RTS out there right now and as such should be gotten by anyone who wants to be cool. The only acceptable reason for not getting Company of Heroes is if you don't like fun.

[Morgoth]

How is Opposing Fronts?

[Moatilliatta]

As with all Relic games it totally ruins the balance but is also a heap of fun. Play it with someone who isn't an idiot and you will have a lot of fun.

[Kaftan Barlast]

I would recommend you stay far away from Psychonauts. The art design is cool but the gameplay is just boring platfrom jumping and a staggering amount of collecting pointless items. I thought Psychonats didnt sell that well because it was too weird for the mainstream audience but thats not true, it didnt sell because its a bad game. Tim Shaeffer must have left half his brain at Lucasarts when he quit.

[newc0253]

I would recommend you stay far away from Psychonauts. The art design is cool but the gameplay is just boring platfrom jumping and a staggering amount of collecting pointless items. I thought Psychonats didnt sell that well because it was too weird for the mainstream audience but thats not true, it didnt sell because its a bad game. Tim Shaeffer must have left half his brain at Lucasarts when he quit.

eh? Psychonauts is a fantastic game. one of the very best non-CRPGs i've played.

 

yes, the game involves jumping and, as with any game that involves jumping, sometimes the jumping is challenging and - when things go rough - a little irritating.

 

but to describe Psychonauts as 'just boring platform jumping' is like describing LOTR as 'a boring book about some hobbits'. The true strength of Psychonauts is its humour and its story. If you don't have a sense of humour, you might dislike this game. You might also dislike it if you have no appreciation for great writing. p.s. the items you're collecting are the furthest thing in the world away from 'pointless' - they're all related in a meaningful way to the story.

 

Bioshock is similarly a great game. Pay no attention to the folk who hate on this game for no decent reason.

 

Assassin's Creed? Stunning graphics and great gameplay that's captivating about 90 minutes. Unfortunately, as someone else already pointed out, every quest is structured identically to the first, so after the first couple of quests, the whole thing becomes supremely repetitive. But worth playing for those first 90 minutes or so. Especially the pretty graphics.

Edited July 17, 2008 by newc0253