best of 2006 pc games

[apoppin]

before i look at ANYbody's list ...

Oblivion is at the top of my list ... spectacular world and hundreds of hours of play ...

Gothic 3 started strong ... but it's bugs and crappy performance [along with crappy endings ruined it for me]

DM M&M was a solid FPS-hybrid with 4 jumbled endings

FEAR's Xpack was more FEAR

i guess i have to mention B&W2 since it's X-pack was '06 ... great RTS/Godgame [after it was fully patched]

Hl2 Ch1 was boring puzzle-gravity gun crap compared to HL2 ... unless you loved Alyx

Gun was weird and ultimately failed with no immersion whatsoever ... maybe it was the *flashing signs* over the NPC's heads.

NWN2 gets my vote for *Worst of '06* ... traitor to the "RPG Spirit" *RPG by Commmittee* with a really bad Story and linear as hell ... plus it was released in an unplayable state for most of us.



Best GFX of '06 would be between Oblivion and PREY
[i am starting Prey and Fable LC right now]

since we're talking '06 ... shouldn't Quake4 NOT be on it?
[decent FPS ... but '05, i thought]

 

[40sTheme]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: bloodandsoil
Ok what do you guys think of my list here? Are there any that you think aren't worth buying? Or are there any games that aren't on my list that you think are worth buying?

Quake 4 - played demo, wouldn't buy
Half-Life 2 - way overrated. game is mediocre at best
Half-Life 2: Episode One - never played it, see Half Life 2's reason.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - played it part way then had to reformat my pc and lost the save game. kinda slow, at least from the beginning to the part i got to. can be pretty hard.
Neverwinter Nights 2 - never played it. lots of bugs i hear
Oblivion - fun for about 2 weeks then gets boring as hell.
F.E.A.R - mediocre at best.
Company of Heroes - awesome RTS! can get pretty hard in later missions. i wish there were more infantry only type missions.
Medieval II: Total War - haven't played it
Battlefield 2142 - its made by EA and its part of the BF series, do you need any other reason not to buy it? played demo, sucks just worse than bf2.
Prey - played demo. didn't think it was anything special
Condemned: Criminal Origins - haven't played it. heard good reviews though.
Scarface: The World is Yours - haven't played it.
FarCry - another overrated game.

Do you like any games?

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
What else is there? Realistic combat, relatively non-linear gameplay, lots of tension because of the autosave system, long game length, and much more. Just as repetitive as Halo?

lol, not even close. Almost every island level is different from the other and never are the same exact islands copied and pasted. There's escape oriented ones focused on driving from hordes of mutants, there's tactical ones focused on taking out groups of enemies in short bunches, there's all-out massacre islands where everyone knows where you're at and you have to kill them all, there's slower paced sniping type islands... repetitive scenery, maybe. Repetitive gameplay, hell no. Not to mention that there are indoor levels as well, not just island levels.

The AI was excellent for the marines. They made cover behind trees and rocks (even if the trees were often too narrow to completely conceal them) when you were shooting them and flanked you when you were trying to get a better shot. Sure, the jumping mutant AI wasn't genius but why should it be? They're just dumb mutants.

Realistic combat? Come on now, it's no more realistic than half the FPS out there. Certainly more so than crazy shooters like UT04, but about the same as the rest. All the stuff you mentioned about sniper friendly levels, driving areas, and all out run and gun areas are standard fare for pretty much any FPS these days and has been for a few years now.

The AI is very sketchy at best. Sometimes, even when lying prone and moving slowly though dense brush, the enemies would spot you for no apparent reason and magically be able to hit you with no clear line of sight. You can also shoot a couple and they rather quickly quit looking for you and start patrolling again like nothing happened. FarCry is hardly alone in having suspect AI, but to claim it has great AI is a stretch.

In the end it's just your standard FPS with some stealth tactics thrown in and with a pretty jungle setting. There isn't a thing about it that can be said to be groundbreaking or innovative. Again, FarCry is not alone in this, the FPS genre is so packed with games there isn't much than hasn't been done before, but take away the scenery and it would have never stood out from the rest.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
Realistic combat? Come on now, it's no more realistic than half the FPS out there. Certainly more so than crazy shooters like UT04, but about the same as the rest. All the stuff you mentioned about sniper friendly levels, driving areas, and all out run and gun areas are standard fare for pretty much any FPS these days and has been for a few years now.

The AI is very sketchy at best. Sometimes, even when lying prone and moving slowly though dense brush, the enemies would spot you for no apparent reason and magically be able to hit you with no clear line of sight. You can also shoot a couple and they rather quickly quit looking for you and start patrolling again like nothing happened. FarCry is hardly alone in having suspect AI, but to claim it has great AI is a stretch.

In the end it's just your standard FPS with some stealth tactics thrown in and with a pretty jungle setting. There isn't a thing about it that can be said to be groundbreaking or innovative. Again, FarCry is not alone in this, the FPS genre is so packed with games there isn't much than hasn't been done before, but take away the scenery and it would have never stood out from the rest.

Compared to Doom 3, Quake 4, FEAR, and other games of the sort the combat was pretty darn realistic. One shot to the head takes a human enemy down as does a couple to the torso. There aren't any lame laser rifles, plasma cannons, or alien guns but M16s, P90s, and sniper rifles. Which games have that ("sniper friendly levels, driving areas, and all out run and gun areas") for single player? These days it's mostly concrete warehouses and metallic alien base interiors with emphasis placed on killing imps that pop out of closets.

The only time I had an enemy spot me in cover and prone is when rocket snipers spotted me with their binoculars. To me that is perfectly acceptable when you have the exact same advantage against them. I have never ever ever had an enemy stop searching for me. I'd snipe a marine on another island half a mile away and the little triangles on the radar would turn from green to a permanent yellow/orange. Sometimes there'd be a marine or two in a separate zone that never got alerted by a firefight, but those were pretty uncommon.

Yes, it's not really all that innovative, but at least it was fun. Compared to completely uninspired games like FEAR that have been copying the original Half-Life since forever it was a great breath of fresh air. Outdoor FPS games (ignoring multiplayer ones like the Battlefield games) aren't too common. Scenery wasn't the main selling point for me anyways, it was the AI and combat.

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: Nohr
For those looking for indie/non-mainstream games: Game Tunnel GOTY Awards

Thanks for the link, there are some interesting titles in there.

 

[thegimp03]

I may have to try Company of Heroes...we'll see if I have time, as it's busy season in auditland!

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: 40sTheme

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: bloodandsoil
Ok what do you guys think of my list here? Are there any that you think aren't worth buying? Or are there any games that aren't on my list that you think are worth buying?

Quake 4 - played demo, wouldn't buy
Half-Life 2 - way overrated. game is mediocre at best
Half-Life 2: Episode One - never played it, see Half Life 2's reason.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - played it part way then had to reformat my pc and lost the save game. kinda slow, at least from the beginning to the part i got to. can be pretty hard.
Neverwinter Nights 2 - never played it. lots of bugs i hear
Oblivion - fun for about 2 weeks then gets boring as hell.
F.E.A.R - mediocre at best.
Company of Heroes - awesome RTS! can get pretty hard in later missions. i wish there were more infantry only type missions.
Medieval II: Total War - haven't played it
Battlefield 2142 - its made by EA and its part of the BF series, do you need any other reason not to buy it? played demo, sucks just worse than bf2.
Prey - played demo. didn't think it was anything special
Condemned: Criminal Origins - haven't played it. heard good reviews though.
Scarface: The World is Yours - haven't played it.
FarCry - another overrated game.

Do you like any games?

yes. i liked Company of Heroes.

There just hasn't been much out recently thats any good.

 

[Zenoth]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Warhammer 40,000: -Dawn of War- Dark Crusade

Those two are the best of 2006. If it would have been of those two alone coming in 2006 it'd have still been a complete year for gaming in my opinion. All other games I can think of are just made out of déja-vue stuff re-done with better graphics and sometimes the addition of physics to make it look different (I'm thinking about Company of Heroes here, once again, a WWII game, as if we had not enough of them). Or an exaggerated modification labeled a "completely new game" (I am thinking about Medieval II: Total War here). Etc. Oh and I am not saying the two examples here are "bad games", in fact, I own them. I like them as well, I'm just saying that they aren't anything particularly different when compared to previous titles of the same genre or the same series and aren't worthy of being put in the "best of" list for 2006.

And yes, all of this is subjective, I know. Go ahead and disagree with me, it won't change my mind.

 

[CP5670]

I haven't bought a single game that was actually released in 2006. It was the worst year for PC games in a long time. Splinter Cell: Double Agent looks very interesting, but I didn't get it since the demo performance is unacceptable on my rig.

Riddick and SCCT are way better than any FPS on the list posted earlier though.

 

[brikis98]

Quake 4: didn't play it
Half-Life 2: excellent game - looks amazing, sound good, great story. not as ground breaking as half life one, but worth every penny.
Half-Life 2: Episode One: more of the good stuff from HL 2 with a few extra tricks, so quite good too. however it's VERY VERY short, so get it for <$10 at a sale (CC has 'em all the time) or you'll feel ripped off.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth : didn't play it
Neverwinter Nights 2: didn't play it
Oblivion: one of the best game worlds ever - original deus ex world is still prob the best, but this comes close. unbelievable graphics, sound, GIANT world, so much to do, day/night, AI seems to live a real life, solid RPG elements, solid fighting elements, solid magic elements, ok story. 100+ hrs to be had in this game, after which you won't want to touch it again. worth every penny and i typically can't stand RPG's...
F.E.A.R: great graphics (especially the shadows, lighting and particle effects), decent fighting (w/ bullet time and cool weapons), decent AI, but the key here is that the game is creepy as hell... although very enjoyable at first, i found it was more stressful than fun and never finished it. but def. worth checking out at least the demo.
Company of Heroes: amazing RTS. top notch graphics, sound, fully destructible terrain, smart AI. i don't much like RTS, but this is one of the best ever made and w/o a doubt a must see.
Medieval II: Total War: as in all the total war games, the sense of scale - with thousands of troops - is unmatched. the game looks and sounds great and has a good combo of turn based and real time strategy. if you haven't played the total war games before, def. get this. if you have (esp rome: total war), it's really more of the same and doesn't add a whole lot new.
Battlefield 2142: didn't play it.
Prey: didn't play it
Condemned: Criminal Origins: didn't play it
Scarface: The World is Yours: didn't play it
FarCry: at release time (and w/ subsequent patches), one of the prettiest graphics engines out there, especially for outdoor environments. it's not quite as mind blowing nowadays, but still looks great. i personally didn't like the gameplay, but many ppl do.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
I can't believe Hitman: Blood Money hasn't had a single mention in this thread so far. They took Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, improved the graphics to making it the best looking game out so far, improved the AI to giving it the best stealth AI out so far, took out all the filler/buffer levels, and made the remaining levels epic and original. Aside from a couple minor hiccups in Murder of Crows and ...Better Watch Out the game is perfect.

yeah, this game seems to have slipped under everyone's radar. no other game makes you feel like an assassin like the hitman series, and this latest title was definitely the best. solid graphics, sound and gameplay coupled with cool missions made for a fantastic experience. i highly recommend it.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: CP5670
I haven't bought a single game that was actually released in 2006. It was the worst year for PC games in a long time. Splinter Cell: Double Agent looks very interesting, but I didn't get it since the demo performance is unacceptable on my rig.

Riddick and SCCT are way better than any FPS on the list posted earlier though.

NOT pc games! ... '06 was a very good year
:Q

you are a FPSer ... '06 was really bad for you guys ...

i saw this trend coming and switched to Hybrids, RPG and action-adventure games last year

You might consider: DM M&M which is VERY fps ... you have *upgrades* like DE.

Also Fable LC [hybrid] and PREY [fps ... awesome gfx]

if you like FEAR, the X-pack is 'more' of the same.

if you can change to *more rpg* Oblivion is a great Hybrid game [i'd recommend Gothic3 which has a better story and better combat - but is still buggy as hell]

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
Compared to Doom 3, Quake 4, FEAR, and other games of the sort the combat was pretty darn realistic. One shot to the head takes a human enemy down as does a couple to the torso. There aren't any lame laser rifles, plasma cannons, or alien guns but M16s, P90s, and sniper rifles. Which games have that ("sniper friendly levels, driving areas, and all out run and gun areas") for single player? These days it's mostly concrete warehouses and metallic alien base interiors with emphasis placed on killing imps that pop out of closets.

But, again, most games these days feature one hit kill head shots. It's clear you prefer realistic weapons and are using that to define "realistic", but FarCry still has all that combat based around the fact you have gained new superhuman abilities, so it really starts to lose it's realism at that point. And, really, on the PC side of things, realism will always be limited by the fact that it's essentially point-and-click combat when using a mouse.

FarCry does have some nice driving sections (jeeps, boats, 4-wheelers, etc...), but most games do have these to some extent these days. You ask which ones have the sections mentioned earlier? Many if not most. Half-Life 2 does, Quake 4 does, the aforementioned Halo does, Gear of War does (it's 3rd person, but essentially a FPS at heart), Resistance Fall of Man does, Prey does (if you count the flying as driving)... really, many games do (yes, I mixed PC and console games.. I'm a true gamer ). The sniper rifle was a standard long before vehicles even became a standard. Pretty much all FPS have run-n-gun sections or areas when your are basically in an all out fight to save yourself. Only the vehicle sections really vary greatly in use from game to game, but many do use them to some extent.

 

[Jeeebus]

just got through the opening mission of company of heroes last night, and it's definitely a big thumbs up. Absolutely amazing from what I've seen so far (only one mission).