I've been in a cave for the past ~7 years.

[hydrobr]

I haven't had a decent gaming rig in many years (probably since around the time of Diablo when I had to buy a new CD-ROM 'cause Diablo need 4x and I only had a 2x). So I've put together a list (of 62 games) based, mostly, on Gamespot reviews (almost everything has an 8 or higher). I like Action (FPS/RTS), RPG and Adventure. I'm not sure where I stand with flight sims... I'm not a fan of sports games and I'm not ready to make the time commitment to an MMORPG. I've never played any of the war/history games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor but I'm kinda interested. The list is in more or less chronological (and play) order with allowances for games that I'm in the middle of or to provide variety between games. Am I missing any gems? Are any of these a complete waste of time?

Doom 3
Grand Theft Auto 3
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Grim Fandango
Baldur's Gate
Half-Life
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
Sanitarium
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Icewind Dale
Diablo II
Thief II: The Metal Age
Black & White
Syberia
Half-Life: Counter-Strike
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Medal of Honor Allied Assault
Mafia
Neverwinter Nights
The Longest Journey
Impossible Creatures
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Icewind Dale 2
Halo: Combat Evolved
Freedom Force
Rise of Nations
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Freedom Fighters
Call of Duty
Syberia II
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Silent Storm
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
Painkiller
Beyond Good & Evil
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Commandos 3: Destination Berlin
Far Cry
Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Myst IV: Revelation
Half-Life 2
Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich
Darwinia
Star Wars Republic Commando
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Psychonauts
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: Sith Lords
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Battlefield 2
Guild Wars?

 

[mugs]

How much do you like RTS?

 

[Parkre]

I have thought about living in cave, how was it?? No taxes, no crazy-drivers, no wife, no anything but a few hunting guns, bows, and fishing poles. I am envious....

As for games and other material posessions, Serious Sam: 2nd encounter is great if you love non-stop action, not to mention free at seriouszone.com. Serious Sam 2 (not to be confused with 2nd encounter) come out in two weeks, which the demo was great. Painkiller is much the same way, lots of bad guys, non-stop action.

If you want a little more teambased (online), Battlefield2 and CS:S are greeat andthe DOD:S mod/game just came out. Half-LIfe 2 was great IMO.

Mafia, if you want an early '20s GTA3 style game. I really liked this one.

MAX PAYNE 2 and FARCRY is a definite must. YOU are require by all nerds to play these



Although, you shouldn't have to look back because this upcoming month release of games should keep anyone busy until Xmas

Serious Sam 2
FEAR
Quake4
Bet on Soldier (released yesterday, i think)
AOE3

I am kinda bias, I really like FPS since I haven't seen any RTS I liked since StarCraft

 

[murphy55d]

After you play Baldur's Gate, and Tales of the Sword Coast expansion.. jump right into Baldur's Gate II, and Throne of Bhaal expansion. The 2nd is even better than the original.

BGII is the best PC game ever, IMO.

 

[hydrobr]

Originally posted by: mugs
How much do you like RTS?

I had a passionate love affair with WarCraft II, as well as StarCraft. I am very much enjoying War3, as well. I never really got into any of the Command and Conquers, though. I was intrigued by Age of Empires but was never able to really get into that, either.

I remember... the Star Wars Battlegrounds, (?) which I did not like at all. I also remember one where there were, maybe, 6.. allegiances you could make? Something along the lines of chaos, life, death.. uhm.. trees/earth?... water... air? Sorta like the 5 colors of Magic: The Gathering, I guess. I think they made a sequel, too. As far as I recall, it had a cool 3D terrain system but other than that I didn't like the game at all.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
After you play Baldur's Gate, and Tales of the Sword Coast expansion.. jump right into Baldur's Gate II, and Throne of Bhaal expansion. The 2nd is even better than the original.

BGII is the best PC game ever, IMO.

They were great, but my vote for the 4 best PC RPGs would be:

Planescape: Torment
Fallout 1 - 2
Wasteland (for its time, which was over a decade ago)

After that:
BG 1-2 with expansions
Morrowind
KOTOR

And then others like Neverwinter Nights and Dungeon Siege (both fun but shallow)

 

[The Green Bean]

Originally posted by: hydrobr

Half-Life
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Diablo II
Theif II
Half-Life: Counter-Strike
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Medal of Honor Allied Assault
Mafia
Neverwinter Night
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
Halo: Combat Evolved
Rise of Nations
Call of Duty
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Silent Storm
Painkiller
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Far Cry
Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Myst IV: Revelation
Half-Life 2
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Battlefield 2
Guild Wars?

Fixed List

 

[The Green Bean]

Originally posted by: hatim

Originally posted by: hydrobr

Half-Life
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Diablo II
Theif II
Half-Life: Counter-Strike
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Medal of Honor Allied Assault
Mafia
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
Halo: Combat Evolved
Rise of Nations
Call of Duty
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Silent Storm
Painkiller
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Far Cry
Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Myst IV: Revelation
Half-Life 2
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Battlefield 2
Guild Wars?

Fixed List

 

[bamacre]

Ones on your list I would highly recommend...

Grand Theft Auto 3 (play this before VC and SA)
Half-Life
Half-Life: Opposing Force (get the HL Platinum pack that has this and others)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Freedom Fighters
Call of Duty
Far Cry
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Half-Life 2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The others I didn't play or didn't like. But to each his own.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a classic. :thumbsup:

 

[hydrobr]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
They were great, but my vote for the 4 best PC RPGs would be:

Planescape: Torment
Fallout 1 - 2
Wasteland (for its time, which was over a decade ago)

After that:
BG 1-2 with expansions
Morrowind
KOTOR

And then others like Neverwinter Nights and Dungeon Siege (both fun but shallow)

Fallout and Fallout 2 definitely go on my favorite-games-of-all-time list. Fallout Tactics was great, too. I haven't played any of the others, though

 

[hydrobr]

Originally posted by: Parkre
I have thought about living in cave, how was it?? No taxes, no crazy-drivers, no wife, no anything but a few hunting guns, bows, and fishing poles. I am envious....

I got voted out of the cave. It took them a while but they're just stalactites so you can't blame them.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: hydrobr

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Grim Fandango
Half-Life
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Thief II: The Metal Age
Medal of Honor Allied Assault
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Call of Duty
Painkiller
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Far Cry
Half-Life 2
* Return to Castle Wolfenstein

These are the games you need to play. Afterwards, pick up WoW and let that keep you busy for 6+ months.

 

[skace]

* This post is a work in progress

Remove:
Half-Life: Opposing Force [Not that great]
Black & White [Ultimately Flawed, Wait for #2]
Syberia [Boring as all hell]
Impossible Creatures [wtf]
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc [wtf]
Icewind Dale 2 [Not as good as original]
Halo: Combat Evolved [Hype Machine owns your pants]
Freedom Fighters [You have way too many good games to play to waste time on this]

Add:
Deus Ex 1 [Award Winning RPG FPS]
Planescape: Torment [Best Single Player PC RPG / Best Story]
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time [The original 2d version was hot back when your cave was modern, so now play the 3d rendition]

Also note: You should go through your list and look for bundles. IE: If you want NWN, you can get the supreme ultra gold edition that comes with everything ever for 1 price and skip out on having to buy any expansion packs. Same deal for Half-Life, if you want it just buy HL2:Silver over Steam and get all the previous products as well.

 

[hooflung]

My top 5 suggestions to catch you up on games:

Half-Life 2 : Silver ( CS:S and DoD bundled )

F.E.A.R.

Deus EX 2

Dawn of War

Knights of the Old Republic I and II ( cause II isn't good without I )

 

[Parkre]

Originally posted by: hydrobr

Originally posted by: Parkre
I have thought about living in cave, how was it?? No taxes, no crazy-drivers, no wife, no anything but a few hunting guns, bows, and fishing poles. I am envious....

I got voted out of the cave. It took them a while but they're just stalactites so you can't blame them.

then just recruit the stalacmites to fight in your favor against the evil stalactites....not to mention the stalacmites make better friends.

You were better off in the cave. Now, only to have an addiction to games is your life calling.

DON"T LISTEN TO ANYONE BUT ME!!! SERIOUS SAM 2!!!!! :laugh:

haha

 

[fishbits]

I'd remove Doom 3, Halo and Black and White. Not saying that they aren't good games that you might enjoy, but don't think they'd make it onto a universal "essentials" list. Loved Jedi Outcast, good feel to that game (far superior to Jedi Academy).

Would start with the older ones that you decide on first, then work your way up from there.

 

[mdchesne]

YOU"RE GONNA TRY ALL THOSE?! SH1T MAN! you'll be paying more for games than an sli 7800gtx X2 4800+ system! (maybe, i'm exaggerating)

just go with the basic setup for starter:

rpg:
guild wars
WoW
morrowind (still good even though it's old)
neverwinter

FPS:
CS:S
Battlefield 2
CoD (origional, still have yet to see what CoD2 full version islike)
Half-Life

 

[VIAN]

Doom 3 Some people might say this game is a total disappointment, but it does appeal to many people. So it might appeal to you like it did to me.

Grand Theft Auto I'd try this one if you haven't played the series and if you really like it that much, then I might try the other ones like Vice City and San Andreas, but the gameplay is similar.

Half-Life Great game.

Thief II: The Metal Age Windows XP doesn't support a codec to make this game functional, so unless you want to buy it.

Half-Life: Counter-Strike Online game, the most popular online game, I personally don't like it, because of it's glitches and inaccuracies, but again it is the most popular for some reason.

Medal of Honor Allied Assault Play this WWII shooter before any others.

Mafia Awsome game. The only thing that sucks about this game is that their's no sequel.

Serious Sam: The Second Encounter Mindless shooter with big environments and crazy battles. If you like that sort of thing. There's a demo you could try.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time It got a good grade I don't know how, from the demo, the controls suck soooo bad, that I didn't want to bother with the game. The sequel still had crappy controls and crappy graphics too.

Halo: Combat Evolved Better for console, but a must play game if you haven't played it before.

Call of Duty Good short game with lots of action. But Medal of Honor is better.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Awsome game, and play the first one if you haven't played it.

Painkiller Great graphics, but a mindless shooter just like serious sam only much grimmer and you get to collect stuff as well.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Great, came from console RPG, the only ones that I like, and this game freakin rocked.

Far Cry Another awsome game

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Again, terrible control messed up this game.

Call of Duty: United Offensive don't remember this game much, but it's an expansion to a great game.

Half-Life 2 I didn't think this game was worth 50 bucks and was so overhyped, but it is worth a play. Just don't expect greatness. But again, there are people who totally love this game as if it was the best game in the history of gaming.

Star Wars Republic Commando I'm playing it right now and it just seems very repetetive. I haven't finished it but I don't think I'd recommend it.

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay Great game.

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 I played the demo and didn't like it.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: Sith Lords The great sequel to first great game. Hope they make another sequel.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil Those that didn't like Doom3 that much like this one better.

Fable: The Lost Chapters Haven't heard good things about this. Heard gameplay was like 10 hours long, but you could do so many more things. Basically, you make the game.

Battlefield 2 Online game, though very glitchy at first has gotten a bit better, it's fun.

ADD
{
Unreal

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Splinter Cell series

Thief III

Half-Life: Blue Shift

Undying
}

You should probably play these in chronological order so that the graphics don't look like crap when you go back.

You are gonna be so busy.

 

[ockky]

buy yourself a joystick and get freespace 1 and 2 while you're at it

 

[blazerazor]

What about TRON I still havent played it, but i want to.

 

[jer0608]

I've only included games on your list that I've completed. They are listed in the order I would play them (roughly from highest to lowest personal rating as well).

Originally posted by: hydrobr

Grim Fandango Classic/Must Play. Perhaps the best story I've seen in a game
Half-Life Classic/Must Play. Set the bar for pacing/level design/atmosphere in an fps
Grand Theft Auto 3 One of my all-time faves. Freedom, "living city", etc, etc
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Good story, combat, graphics, etc. Greater than the sum of its parts
Far Cry Expansive levels for a single-player fps let you try multiple approaches (sniping, sneaking, rampage). Impressive graphics
Half-Life 2 Probably the most polished game I've played: great graphics, pacing, level design, physics.
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne I thought the first Max Payne was better and recommend playing that one first. Both are atmospheric, kinetic, cinematic shooters
Mafia Has some unfulfilled potential but has decent action and one of the better stories I've played
Sid Meier's Pirates! A blast for about 6 hours. Then you've done everything and won't play it again.

These next two were probably my least favorite games (that I've completed) of the last few years. I found both got old really quickly. Felt like work to finish these. Note that my opinion is definately in the minority on JK
Doom 3
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

I really enjoyed these last three, although I would put them aside until you have played most of the others on your list. DII is a blast and insanely addicting, if you're into this type of game. It probably has eaten up more of my time than any other title. Although they build on the first, the remaining GTA's are not fundamentally different. With so many good titles to get around to, I wouldn't recommend these right away.
Diablo II
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

I would also add Fallout and Deus Ex. Just my 2cents.

 

[kuba]

whoa must be nice having all this time to yourself lolllll
and you're gonna buy them? $$$???
geeezus lol

 

[tuteja1986]

MY TOP RECOMMEND GAMES You should play in order:

FPS
DEUS EX= GOD FPS GAME
1.HALFLIFE 1 + expansion
2.Medal of Honor : AA
3.HALO 1
4.RIDDICK ESACPE FROM BUTCHER BAY = My current fav FPS game
5.Max Payne 1/2
6.Half life 2
7.Metal Gear Solid 2
8. Farcry

RPG
Never WInter Night
Elder scroll 3 : morrowind
Starwar : KOTOR 1 / 2
Diablo 2

RTS:
Age of Mythology
Rise of nation
Warcarft 3
Medevial Total war
Rome total war

Online :
BF1942 : MUST MUST MUST
UT2004 :
BF2 : DIdn't like it much and buggy has hell
CS:S : MUST MUST
DOD
Guilds War

Playing these game will keep you up. The rest you can forget. they were good but eya you been gone too long.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Originally posted by: hydrobr
Deus Ex
Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny
Crusader: No Remorse
Crusader: No Regret
System Shock II
Marathon
Marathon II: Durandal
Marathon: Infinity
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Mafia
Far Cry

Fixed, you had quite a few bad games on that list, and were also missing some classics.