Modern games...

[trillock]

Without researching every new game on the market, are games now all built for multiplayer online ?

The last game I had as a present was BF3 (last Christmas). It was fun for a few months, but some bright spark put a JCB bucket through the main BB cable, which meant I was internetless for a few days, which in turn meant that BF3 was useless as it demands an internet connection, even for the SP mode, which wasn't that exciting.
But the novelty wore off, so the game just sits in its box getting dusty, as I doubt very much I could sell it off for 50p or something, and the giver of the present has basically wasted some £35..

So I am left with my stock of older games, the UT series, BF1942/2/2142, Desert Comabat mod, AIX2 mod, and quite a few others, where the game could not care less if I am connected to the internet or not.........probably no online servers running anway now.

But I am easily amused by playing SP against the computer.

Perhaps it is just me, and I am an old fart of 68 years.....

 

[stahlhart]

Moving thread to PC Gaming.
-- stahlhart

 

[trillock]

I apollogise..

 

[futurefields]

There are plenty of games that let you play offline. But, there are an increasing number that require always-on internet. It really depends on what genre you are most into.

If you are mostly into single player campaign based shooter games, I would recommend the Crysis and Far Cry series. They are still mostly based around the single player game.

The Battlefield series is almost entirely online multiplayer focused now, so that particular game was just a bad choice for you.

 

[mmntech]

If you're looking for good single player shooters, try Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite.

 

[trillock]

If you're looking for good single player shooters, try Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

I also have in my library Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Half-Life, Sup Comm, Coh/ToV/OF, JTF, C&C series.....so I generally like RTS and FPS games.

I will look into the Bioshock games too....thanks.

I have gone off multiplayer games now because my wrist and mouse reactions are not quite as speedy as they once were, so getting shot all the time and waiting to respawn becomes a little tiresome for me..

Playing against the PC AI is now good enough for me, as sometimes the enemy can be quite sneaky.

It is just the mandatory internet connection that puts me off now, with no option to just play SP as previous games did.

Who do I blame for that ? :biggrin:

 

[futurefields]

You might be into Fallout 3 a lot too.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I suggest the STALKER games, especially COP and SOC. They are not new (2007 or so) and partly RPG but they are shooters at heart.

 

[trillock]

Thanks again for replies, and suggestions for other titles.

I think I have the first Far Cry in a cupboard somewhere, I will have to rummage.

It always amuses me when I install UT99 G.O.T.Y as it requires no KEY, only needs the internet for online games...I doubt there are any active servers these days, but you never know.
Plus, for me, it is still fun to play, even if the AI on my side is all over the place sometimes...''I've got your back Red Leader."

Are you chaps all multiplayer gamers, or do you still enjoy firing up an old game for a bit of fun in SP mode ?

 

[Savatar]

I would echo most of what Futurefield said, but add some additional data points in there for comparison. Do you use Steam to download and play games? It requires to be online to install them, but is really convenient and offers in-game communities and chat with your friends... pretty much all PC Gamers that I know use Steam for most everything now, even offline games.

Most of the really mainstream and popular shooters that people talk about, like Call of Duty and Battlefield, almost exclusively focus on multiplayer. If you want to play single player, avoid those games. While they have a single-player component, it's typically awful.

For single player FPS games... try Dishonored, the Metro series, Far Cry 3, FEAR, Crysis, and BioShock (in my order of preference! - note: some of these might require online activation or installation). There are quite a few that have more RPG elements now as well, which are still pretty good, like Borderlands. Borderlands has a co-op component as well, but its single player game is essentially the same. Fallout 3 and New Vegas pauses combat when you go to target things, so if you're a die-hard FPS gamer it might not be for you, but it is a great single player game as well.

Not everything is a shooter either, there are some excellent single-player RPGs and strategy games for PC... depending on your preferences. The Witcher series, Divinity 2, StarCraft 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dragon Age: Origins, Heroes of Might and Magic, Torchlight 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, and the list goes on and on. Those all have strong single player components.

Be sure to check impressions on metacritic, reviews on IGN/gamespot, or reviews/gameplay on youtube to get an idea on if you might like the games! That's one good way to get an idea of whether it focuses on single player or multiplayer as well.

Are you chaps all multiplayer gamers, or do you still enjoy firing up an old game for a bit of fun in SP mode ?

I spend most of my time in multiplayer games, chatting with friends while playing is really great, but I do occasionally fire up old SP games... just got through some HOMM 4 to see how it held up. It's still surprisingly playable and fun, all the way from 2002.

 

[trillock]

Thanks for the info Savatar. Most helpful.

I only have one game running from steam which is Company of Heroes by Relic, but since their servers have disappeared and installing from my discs means I cannot log on to my account there, and so the game is unplayable.

Google being my friend, lead me to Steam where I just entered my keys and downloaded the Steam version which includes CoH/ToV/OF.

Result = me happy bunny again, since I find the game quite fun.

Crysis I have the first two games, along with quite a few others, but don't currently have any of them installed.

I used to like playing BF2142, and then BF3, but my mouse wrist is a bit knackered these days, so my aim is off, and I am just easy meat, so it gets a bit boring. Even the one off kill when I am lucky is not enough to start playing again, but not so much fun against nimble fingered younger players.

I liked 'support' on BF3 as the LMG's amused me, and it was fun to toss ammo packs to other players on my side.

So, thanks for your advice/help and I may well take some interest in some 'older' games which may well provide decent SP games.
As for the chatting online with friends, well that is a bit difficult because many my age have no interest in PC games, just emailing and surfing the net, so I would be talking to myself....:biggrin:

 

[AdamantC]

Be sure to also check out http://www.gog.com/ as they have tons of DRM free classics on the cheap.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It was fun for a few months, ... But the novelty wore off, so the game just sits in its box getting dusty, as I doubt very much I could sell it off for 50p or something, and the giver of the present has basically wasted some £35..

I don't know, if you got a few months' fun out of it that's a better value than movie tickets.

Most of my PC games are from Steam, so I do need an internet connection to start them up for the copy-protection check. I rarely play multiplayer though.

As mentioned, GoG.com has hundreds of oldies and some newer games, and none of them require an internet connection for single-player.

 

[werepossum]

Thanks for the info Savatar. Most helpful.

I only have one game running from steam which is Company of Heroes by Relic, but since their servers have disappeared and installing from my discs means I cannot log on to my account there, and so the game is unplayable.

Google being my friend, lead me to Steam where I just entered my keys and downloaded the Steam version which includes CoH/ToV/OF.

Result = me happy bunny again, since I find the game quite fun.

Crysis I have the first two games, along with quite a few others, but don't currently have any of them installed.

I used to like playing BF2142, and then BF3, but my mouse wrist is a bit knackered these days, so my aim is off, and I am just easy meat, so it gets a bit boring. Even the one off kill when I am lucky is not enough to start playing again, but not so much fun against nimble fingered younger players.

I liked 'support' on BF3 as the LMG's amused me, and it was fun to toss ammo packs to other players on my side.

So, thanks for your advice/help and I may well take some interest in some 'older' games which may well provide decent SP games.
As for the chatting online with friends, well that is a bit difficult because many my age have no interest in PC games, just emailing and surfing the net, so I would be talking to myself....:biggrin:

Fallout 3 and New Vegas can both be played as FPS if you wish, although if you don't do quests they will get really boring. You can also get mods to change combat to pure FPS, although personally I enjoy the challenge at lower level and if your wrist is knackered you may prefer the player skill-based aiming at higher skills. (Although probably not so much at lower skills where your bullets will curve around things that are actually smacking you.). The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are somewhat similar, and like the Fallout games can be heavily modded and enjoyed without Internet.

 

[Stringjam]

I suggest the STALKER games, especially COP and SOC. They are not new (2007 or so) and partly RPG but they are shooters at heart.

I concur.

 

[trillock]

Thanks all for your replies, and it reminds me what a nice forum this is, against one or two others where the replies would be....Google is your friend...Well don't play games then....or other idiotic replies.

Anyway, you have all given me lots of ideas for various games, so that will give me something to check out..

As for BF3 and getting a few months fun out of it and maybe the price of some movie tickets, probably true, but I am glad I didn't pay for it.
I mean, I can fire up UT99 and still enjoy it with no need for the internet..

So thanks all for advice/replies, and much appreciated, and it is nice to be on a forum where people actually help rather than flame.

 

[trillock]

Be sure to also check out http://www.gog.com/ as they have tons of DRM free classics on the cheap.

Thanks for that. There are some interesting games there, so I might get back into playing space games again.

 

[Eelectricity]

I suggest the STALKER games, especially COP and SOC. They are not new (2007 or so) and partly RPG but they are shooters at heart.

I recently read the book that the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series is based on. I need to try these games. Did you by any chance read the book?

 

[Stuka87]

The entire Mass Effect series, The Witcher series, Dragon Age series, these are all big, long, single player games.

 

[Stringjam]

I recently read the book that the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series is based on. I need to try these games. Did you by any chance read the book?

I read the book (Roadside Picnic). It was a good read, but honestly, I prefer the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. approach to the story, which for the most part is a complete departure.

Spoiler

The setting of a protected "Zone," with artifacts and anomalies are present in both, but I find the creation of the Zone as a result of a hive-mind experiment from a group of Soviet scientists far more interesting than the alien-created Zones from Roadside Picnic.

Unfortunately SHoC does a pretty terrible job explaining, through the gameplay, what the story is about. If this game could ever be rebooted using a modern engine, and with a team of excellent writers, it would be one of the deepest, most epic science-fiction games ever.

Even as it stands, SHoC is one of my favorite games in life...so YES, you need to try them!

Play Shadow of Chernobyl first, with The Complete Mod. Don't play it without the mod, the bugs will kill you.

Clear Sky is considered the weakest, but I really like it and have played it through several times. You have to remember that this game is a prequel to SHoC.

Call of Pripyat is more like a side-story, but it's a good game and well worth playing.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Without researching every new game on the market, are games now all built for multiplayer online ?

Without doing any research to answer your question, no.

 

[Artorias]

I read the book (Roadside Picnic). It was a good read, but honestly, I prefer the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. approach to the story, which for the most part is a complete departure.

--SNIP--

Unfortunately SHoC does a pretty terrible job explaining, through the gameplay, what the story is about. If this game could ever be rebooted using a modern engine, and with a team of excellent writers, it would be one of the deepest, most epic science-fiction games ever.

Even as it stands, SHoC is one of my favorite games in life...so YES, you need to try them!

Play Shadow of Chernobyl first, with The Complete Mod. Don't play it without the mod, the bugs will kill you.

Clear Sky is considered the weakest, but I really like it and have played it through several times. You have to remember that this game is a prequel to SHoC.

Call of Pripyat is more like a side-story, but it's a good game and well worth playing.

Might want to spoiler some of that, its supposed to be a mystery!

 

[Eelectricity]

Might want to spoiler some of that, its supposed to be a mystery!

At least for me that was no spoiler. FWIW.

 

[Eelectricity]

Unfortunately SHoC does a pretty terrible job explaining, through the gameplay, what the story is about. If this game could ever be rebooted using a modern engine, and with a team of excellent writers, it would be one of the deepest, most epic science-fiction games ever.

With the ideas and stories I see in some new games I think they should do this refresh. Maybe they could combine all the games into one large game ala Fallout 3.

Even as it stands, SHoC is one of my favorite games in life...so YES, you need to try them!

I am convinced now so as soon as the PC is working I will try these out.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Without researching every new game on the market, are games now all built for multiplayer online ?

The last game I had as a present was BF3 (last Christmas). It was fun for a few months, but some bright spark put a JCB bucket through the main BB cable, which meant I was internetless for a few days, which in turn meant that BF3 was useless as it demands an internet connection, even for the SP mode, which wasn't that exciting.
But the novelty wore off, so the game just sits in its box getting dusty, as I doubt very much I could sell it off for 50p or something, and the giver of the present has basically wasted some £35..

So I am left with my stock of older games, the UT series, BF1942/2/2142, Desert Comabat mod, AIX2 mod, and quite a few others, where the game could not care less if I am connected to the internet or not.........probably no online servers running anway now.

But I am easily amused by playing SP against the computer.

Perhaps it is just me, and I am an old fart of 68 years.....

Close to you in age, and I too bemoan the trend toward online multiplayer. Bottom line I guess, is that is is much easier and cheaper to make Modern Warfare xxx or Battlefield xxx, and just make some new maps, maybe a few new weapons and gameplay enhancements, charge 60.00 for it and call it a day rather than make a single play game with a huge amount of content like Skyrim or Witcher 3. I finished Dragon Age Inquisition and am currently playing Witcher 3, and to be honest, after these, I am pretty much going back to older games, play some I missed and even replay a few of the ones I really loved. No games currently on the horizon really interest me except perhaps Fallout 4 and if it were to have a decent single player, the new Battlefront. But I think it will just be Battlefield in Space.