Building my first gaming PC in almost 10 years; What games so I NEED to play?

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Rhezuss

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2006
4,120
34
91
Get Steam and create an account. That would be the first step to get games at good prices during sales. No more boxes and dvds to manage, simply download your games whenever you want to play them. You can even make a copy on DVDs from Steam and reinstall from them, so you won't bust your monthly download limit if you have one.

As far as recommending games goes and since we don't really know what you like, i'll try to throw some titles in here that are based on my personal opinion:

*The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Huge open-world RPG. Beautiful and filled with tens or hundreds of hours of questing and adventuring, depending on your playstyle. You decide what to make of this game.

*Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - Newly released on feb. 7th. Again, great RPG with a huge world to explore. A lot more linear than Skyrim so it may feel less threatening. Loesser graphics quality without being ugly. More vivid and colorful. Combat is tons of fun and way better than anything out there. Leveling system is quite well thought out, without being unique, it's pretty well made. Overall great game, refreshing in a world of RPG clones.

*The Witcher 2 - A more mature type of RPG. In between Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amalur in linearity. Great graphics and strong story telling. Cool combat mechanics. Lots of stuff to do in there. Great game.

*Starcraft 2 - RTS game. Great game overall. Didn't lpayed much of it, maybe 2 or 3 missions. It's quick and fun, nice visuals. Kept most of the first game feeling.

*Rift - An MMORPG from Trion Worlds. Love this game and it offers a free month to new and existing accounts. Lots of fun, nice visuals and design. Cool leveling system where you choose your first 3 trees from your specific class. Lots of world events occurs randomly in ways of rifts and invasions, it's really fun and involding. Cool MMO.

*Portal and Protal 2 - If you loved Half-Life even though it's pretty different.

*Dawn of War 2 series - Best RTS/RPG out there IMO. Warhammer 40k universe is one of the coolest out there. It's a blend of sci-fi, gothic themed mythology and it's dark as dark can get. It's a great mix of strategy and RPG where your heroes level up, get new skills and awesome loot in missions. Great game that you should play if you like RTS and RPGs.

*Warhammer 40k: Space Marine - Just played the demo but it's really cool. It's an Action game whwre you play a Space Marine and blast, cut and saw your way through hordes of Orcs and other creatures. It's bloody and action filled with some customization.

*Diablo 3 - When it comes out it will be awesome.
*Grim Dawn - From the creators of Titan Quest. When it comes out it will be awesome.
*Torchlight 2 - When it comes out it will be awesome.


Nothing else comes to mind for now but with those you can have like 8544 hours of fun in the next years :p
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Another person brought up Borderlands, which may be a good option for you since you mentioned Diablo 3. Of course, you'd need to enjoy FPS games as well.

I'm tempted to just give you some games on Steam. I buy them when they're on sale to give to friends, but none of them want any. :| I've got games like Borderlands, Magicka (complete), Hard Reset, L.A. Noire, Sonic Generations, et cetera just lying around in my inventory! :p
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
Another person brought up Borderlands, which may be a good option for you since you mentioned Diablo 3. Of course, you'd need to enjoy FPS games as well.

I'm tempted to just give you some games on Steam. I buy them when they're on sale to give to friends, but none of them want any. :| I've got games like Borderlands, Magicka (complete), Hard Reset, L.A. Noire, Sonic Generations, et cetera just lying around in my inventory! :p

Uhh... Yeah! ::Raises hand:: I'll be eternally grateful if anyone has extra games to give away. I have a new in box CX430 V2 PSU to trade that I haven't gotten around to posting on the fs/ft yet...
 

thespyder

Golden Member
Aug 31, 2006
1,979
0
0
So if it has been 10 years since you playe PC gaming, and you are in to social/RPG games, NWN2 is older but still fun on Persistant worlds. And there are a TON of modules that you can download just for the heck of it.

Beyond that, definitely
Skyrim
Kingdom of Amalur: Reconing
Fallout 3 /New Vegas
Star Craft 2 - Wings of Liberty (and Heart of Swarm when it comes out)
Diablo 3 (when/if it ever comes out)
Sins of a Solar Empire (plus expansions)
Dragon Age: Origins (but NOT DA2)
Witcher 1-2
Batman Archam City

Some other stuff, but that should keep you in gaming for a little while (Skyrim alone will probably eat up your life for the next several months).
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
BTW: Last game I remember really finishing was Doom 3, I almost beat the main HL2 single player mode, but for some reason didn't finish. I remember it being awesome and will finish it this time.

Have they come out with any kind of updated graphics/texture mod for HL2?
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,738
451
126
Another person brought up Borderlands, which may be a good option for you since you mentioned Diablo 3. Of course, you'd need to enjoy FPS games as well.

I'm tempted to just give you some games on Steam. I buy them when they're on sale to give to friends, but none of them want any. :| I've got games like Borderlands, Magicka (complete), Hard Reset, L.A. Noire, Sonic Generations, et cetera just lying around in my inventory! :p

Can I be your friend? :$
 

rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
Thanks for all the replies, people. These should keep me busy for a while.

What about Hard Reset?

I recommend. Hard Reset is awesome if you're into a Blade Runner type of vibe. I love that game.

Try the demo which gives you a really good feel for the game.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Can I be your friend? :$

Get in line, bub! :colbert:

(I kid, I kid... just add me :p)

Uhh... Yeah! ::Raises hand:: I'll be eternally grateful if anyone has extra games to give away. I have a new in box CX430 V2 PSU to trade that I haven't gotten around to posting on the fs/ft yet...

Sure, just add me on Steam (same name as on here: aikouka), and let me know what your name is. If not, I'll get a bunch of requests from different Steam users all claiming to be schott1984. :p
 

Jeffg010

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,438
1
0
You must get on steam above all else.

Get the Titan quest collection. if you like D2 you should like this game.
 

Lazlo Panaflex

Platinum Member
Jun 12, 2006
2,355
0
71
In addition to HL2/Ep1/Ep2, recommend:

SW: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast + Jedi Knight:Jedi Academy
Serious Sam + S.S. Second Edition (latest versions with updated graphics)
F.E.A.R + F.E.A.R 2
Singularity
Bioshock 1 + 2
Portal

Orcs Must Die!
Shatter
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
Sure, just add me on Steam (same name as on here: aikouka), and let me know what your name is. If not, I'll get a bunch of requests from different Steam users all claiming to be schott1984.

I created an account and found you, but "add to friends" is greyed out for some reason.

Can you add me? (schott1984)

Also, I'm in Jasper, TN, I see where you're from.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
Done. Thanks!

Since I don't have HL2 anymore, won't I have to buy orange box again anyway? Don't want to waste your gift...

Gift sent.

Why buy Orange Box? I just gave you Portal, Team Fortress 2 is now free, so all you need is HL2, and I'm sure there's someone out there willing to gift that to you as well. ;)
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
Why buy Orange Box? I just gave you Portal, Team Fortress 2 is now free, so all you need is HL2, and I'm sure there's someone out there willing to gift that to you as well.

Alright, I guess you're right! I thought OB came with Ep. 1 for some reason.
 

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
Alright, I guess you're right! I thought OB came with Ep. 1 for some reason.

It actually comes with Ep. 1 and 2, but my point was that you could probably find someone to gift you HL2, in which case all you need is ep 1&2, which costs $14 compared to $20 (Orange Box).
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
It actually comes with Ep. 1 and 2, but my point was that you could probably find someone to gift you HL2, in which case all you need is ep 1&2, which costs $14 compared to $20 (Orange Box). __________________

Ah, ok sweet deal.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
0
Here is my build. It's already on the way, so not looking for input on that.

I want to play the whole HL2 and all the episodes all the way through. I almost finished the campaign in HL2 on my last build (Athlon XP 1800+) but for some reason stopped.

I already play BF3 on xbox, but I think it may be worth it to play on the PC instead now that I will be able to.

I will OBVIOUSLY be playing D3 whenever it comes out! I think I'm going to stay away from WoW this time.

What other games have I missed out on that I should play, and what newer games?
Where can I get them used/cheap?

I'm normally more into multiplayer games than single player, and don't know what else to play in that arena. Maybe some SC2.

I'm really excited and looking forward to everyone's input, thanks!
Interestingly, the very last time I upgraded my PC for gaming was to play HL2, I think that was fall of 2005 IIRC.
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
Interestingly, the very last time I upgraded my PC for gaming was to play HL2, I think that was fall of 2005 IIRC.

Nice. I think the last thing I really remember doing to the Athlon was getting that ATI (9500?) card that you could unlock something on with a bios tweak to make it a better version (9800?)? Anyone remember that? I tried it on two different cards and the bios hack both times made the graphics fragment when you ran games with it.
 

Lazlo Panaflex

Platinum Member
Jun 12, 2006
2,355
0
71
Yep, that was the 9500 --> 9700 hack. And now it all it takes is a flip of the switch
 
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zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,631
29,287
146
Sure, just add me on Steam (same name as on here: aikouka), and let me know what your name is. If not, I'll get a bunch of requests from different Steam users all claiming to be schott1984. :p


*stands and raises head: "I am schott1984!"

Spartacus.jpg
 

heliuminside

Junior Member
Feb 8, 2012
1
0
0
Hey schott1984, welcome again to the dark side.

With all due respect to everyone, I'd highly recommend you to add S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games to your list. I think every computer out there should be shipped with these game pre-installed. Start with Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl.

I would also like to make a few other recommendations like: Dragon Age Origins, Witcher 2, Mass Effect 2, Total War: Shogun 2, Red Orchestra 2, etc.
 

schott1984

Member
Jan 24, 2012
96
0
61
Hey schott1984, welcome again to the dark side.

With all due respect to everyone, I'd highly recommend you to add S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games to your list. I think every computer out there should be shipped with these game pre-installed. Start with Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl.

I would also like to make a few other recommendations like: Dragon Age Origins, Witcher 2, Mass Effect 2, Total War: Shogun 2, Red Orchestra 2, etc.

Duly noted!