Recommend any old/bargain games for first time Builder looking to get into PC Gaming?

[Smoolean]

So this may sound like an odd request... let me explain.

So I've never had a good enough computer to play many games before (except a few early Command and Conquers and Starcraft).

I recently ordered the parts for a i5 2500 / HD 6850 rig, and I'd like to find games that are a few years old that you can find for reasonably cheap. They will be brand new to me.

Obviously, I would have already ordered The Orange Box, but I've read that even if you buy the physical box, you still have to re-download the entire game through updates through steam... about 4-5 gigs worth.

I don't have the fastest internet connection, so downloading gigs upon gigs is out of the question for me.

So my request is... any games that are considered "classics" that don't require massive downloads just to play. Preferably games you can install of the original CDs, maybe download a moderately sized patch, and play single player mode (I'm not too concerned with multilayer for now).

So any other amazing single player games that can be found for $10-20?

I've heard that Crysis 1 really only runs acceptably on NVIDIA cards, and since I went with the HD 6850 that seems like a bad idea.

Do any of the older Call of Duty or Medal of Honor games stand out above the rest? I don't have much First Person Shooter experience. I remember hearing about the original Black and White game, that sounded pretty fun. Currently, I play Minecraft and Starcraft 2, just looking for recommendations for other fun affordable fun games, I'm open to most genres. Only limitation is my internet speed (which rules out First Person Shooter games that are primarily multilayer based).

 

[Karstein]

Freelancer.

10 bucks on Amazon.

Also, are you gonna be on Windows 7? For older stuff, it's always best to browse around the Internet for compatibility issues just in case.

And you should check out GoG.com if your connection can cope with downloads from there.

 

[CottonRabbit]

An i5/6850 should have no problem running any game on a single monitor, even Crysis, so don't let performance concerns hold you back.

Some cheap games that still look pretty good (with a new computer, you want at least some eye candy right?):

Mass Effect
Mirror's Edge
Company of Heroes
Fallout 3

 

[BD231]

Battlefield Play For Free is an *open* beta now, meaning anyone can sign up. Pretty fun online shooter.

 

[Veliko]

Defense Grid: The Awakening is an excellent tower defense game on Steam.

 

[boran]

I can reccomend Just Cause 2, plain simple and fun sandbox game. not much in terms of plot, but if you want to have an island to play around with it rocks.

I really like the aspect of the game where you walk around, see something in the distance, and then you can just go there.

Also, minecraft.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I refuse to pay more than $20 on games, so I generally let games age and price decrease before obtaining them. I can enjoy it for <$20, just as much as I'd enjoy it for $50.

Watch the Steam deals, they have insane discounts at times. I've acquired majority of games in my library for less than $10. Long downloads? Just let them download while your out...

If you want to take a look, I have several older PC games for less than $20 listed on my GameTZ. Prefer trades, but will also sell.

 

[biostud]

install steam and wait for midweek madness or weekend madness.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Unreal Tournament 99 GOTY
Unreal Tournament III

 

[BladeVenom]

I've heard that Crysis 1 really only runs acceptably on NVIDIA cards, and since I went with the HD 6850 that seems like a bad idea.

Crysis runs best with an AMD card. If you want to enjoy the scenery of a game, it's still about the best choice.

Metro 2033 isn't bad looking either.

 

[darkewaffle]

Half Life 2, Bioshock, Prince of Persia Sands of Time (get a controller though), Dragon Age

 

[Texashiker]

Take a look at Fortress Forever - its a free team fortress modification for the Valve source engine. If you have a game like half-lif 2, portal, left 4 dead, left 4 dead 2,,,, you can download and play Fortress Forever for free.

Fortress Forever home page - http://fortress-forever.com/

If you played Team Fortress classic, FF is a lot like TFC, but faster paced, improved wepaons and with better graphics.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

install steam and wait for midweek madness or weekend madness.

Just do this. Steam has crazy deals all the time on many games, new and old.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Sucks about your internet connection; a lot of the best deals now are from digital distribution places like Steam and Direct2Drive. D2D is putting a different game on sale every day this month, most for very low prices ($10 or less), and most of them are pretty recent games too.

Steam, of course, always has good sales.

Otherwise I tend to buy games on Amazon. If you need a physical copy that's probably the best way to go. Brick and mortar stores tend to way overcharge for games because they never reduce their prices.

 

[Gibsons]

Defense Grid: The Awakening is an excellent tower defense game on Steam.

Good call, it's fun, cheap and a fairly small download I think.

Larger download, but great game(s) imo are the STALKER series. Might want to wait for that to be on sale first though.

 

[zokudu]

Mirrors Edge, Bioshock, Metro 2033 were some of my favorite single player games recently. When you say you have a slow internet connection how slow are we talking? Like it ruins all multi-player game play? BF:BC2 is really good but the primary focus is multi-player unfortunately but the game is available in a physical version.

 

[taltamir]

I've heard that Crysis 1 really only runs acceptably on NVIDIA cards, and since I went with the HD 6850 that seems like a bad idea.

Crysis 1 can still bring any single GPU card to its knees... and it is not limited to nVidia cards, its a few percent faster on nvidia, but it works just fine with fast AMD cards.

If you want good old games the best place to get them is good old games... aka gog.com
No better place for buying good old games.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

batman arkham assylum

Dawn of War I and II series

Battlefield Bad Company II

Borderlands

League of Legends

 

[jhh979s]

Far Cry, usually $10 or less.

 

[s44]

Mass Effect 1 and 2.

 

[Nappyxd]

Here. and Here.

Two grate PC RTS games.

 

[frozentundra123456]

COD4 Modern Warfare
KOTOR 1 and 2 (KOTOR 2 was rushed with a weak ending though)
Borderlands (as someone else mentioned already)
Any of the Age of Empires games
Company of Heroes and expansions
Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 and expansions
Dungeon Seige 2

 

[frozentundra123456]

oh wait, how did I forget Oblivion

 

[Cerb]

Before anything, if you've got a nice mouse, and want to play shooters:
http://donewmouseaccel.blogspot.com/2010/03/markc-windows-7-mouse-acceleration-fix.html

Also, most of these will work fine with anything better than IGP. They're classics, not recent games . Several will be small, at least before mods, so check out Steam and GoG for them first.

Unreal (the original)

Quake, using Fitzquake or Darkplaces for engines (Fitzquake is true to Quake/GLQuake, Darkplaces has more moody lighting, runs kind of slow for the graphics quality it offers, and water display bugs for some levels). Undergate is a really good mod for added SP levels (it's basically a site rip of a level review website turned into a mod, after the site closed down). Right off the bat, you will want to look up how to configure the mouse with autoexec.cfg, and you may need to use that to set a video mode that sticks for a new monitor.

Serious Sam 1st and 2nd encounters. Great mindless shooter fun. Great for coop, as well.

System Shock 2 (I can't get my old copy of System Shock 2 to run in Win7 64-bit, FYI).

Raptor: Call of the Shadows (best scrolling shooter the PC ever had, GoG sells a Windows version, and it's <50MB).

Doom, Doom 2, and EDGE (an engine). JDoom (another engine) works, but the feel is all wrong. EDGE feels like Doom, but runs great with modern hardware, widescreen monitors, etc.. Ultimate Doom has an extra episode, with damn hard levels, and was probably the most common CD version.

Also, have you ever used MS-DOS? If you have, and you think you can get back in the groove, get DOSbox. Plenty of great games from the early 90s and older are now freeware, and DOSbox handles all the boring crap like sound, memory, mouse, etc., so you just have to be able to remember navigation commands and such.

 

[mmntech]

Hope on Steam and check their sales. That's my best recommendation for bargain gamers.