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Must haves?

Homeworld, HOMM3, MOO2, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, BG2, Half Life 1+2, the original Oregon Trail, Total Annihilation, Myst, The Witcher.
 
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The Witcher 2 is beautiful and really shows off what you can do on a PC. Meanwhile, PC Skyrim will show why this:
PC_Gaming_Master_Race_by_Claidheam_Righ.jpg

is true. I mean, the mods and the ironically named console commands (the debugging line, basically) are super useful.

Those are both excellent RPGs, though Skyrim is open world and The Witcher 2 is chapter-based.
 
The Witcher 2 is beautiful and really shows off what you can do on a PC. Meanwhile, PC Skyrim will show why this:
PC_Gaming_Master_Race_by_Claidheam_Righ.jpg

is true. I mean, the mods and the ironically named console commands (the debugging line, basically) are super useful.

Those are both excellent RPGs, though Skyrim is open world and The Witcher 2 is chapter-based.

My hair looks so good in that picture.
 
The Witcher 2 was allright but I thought Dragon Age Origins was a far better game. My main complaint with Witcher was it was very linear, and you have a little wiggle room in DAO.
 
Too bad you missed the Holiday photo we took while overlooking the peasants
pc+gaming+master+race.jpg

I'm the one that looks like a god. You know, on the right side of the screen. Standing on that glowing box.

More seriously, Just Cause 2 and Mafia II are very good for their very open nature and environment, respectively, and are less RPG-based than whats' been suggested thus far. If you do like RPGs, Torchlight 2 is another good option.
 
That's a really hard question. Of course it varies depending what you want.

For a bigger feel of gaming I'd pick 10, subject to revision of course:

- rogue (quiet, it's my list and I think it's a milestone in gaming still great to play)
- Portal (I havent' played Portal 2 much so going with a sure bet)
- Total Annhilation
- World of Warcraft (Everquest runnerup)
- World of Tanks
- Heroes of Might and Magic III complete
- Day of the Tentacle
- Fallout
- Civilization 4 or 5 or Alpha Centauri
- Command & Conquer complete


I'd like to say Diablo II, but the graphics have just gotten unplayable for me

Not my preference but the Sims series is a phenonemon (best selling ever)

If you want 'casual games', check out Puzzle Quest, Peggle, Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Luxor
 
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Don't forget Rise of Nations, with thrones and patriots expansion. Makes having a PC wonderful, even for an older game.
 
Don't forget Rise of Nations, with thrones and patriots expansion. Makes having a PC wonderful, even for an older game.

I'd be fine with that as an alternative choice with my Command and Conquer series - either gives a good RTS exeprience that seems important for a slot.
 
I'd be fine with that as an alternative choice with my Command and Conquer series - either gives a good RTS exeprience that seems important for a slot.

Fair enough. I love both series, but RoN has that wonderful conquer the world map. My wife and I have played it many many times.
 
I'm sure people will cover the old classics, so I'll stick with newer games.

Portal (1 and 2).

Planetside 2 (if only for the completely unique scale of the game).
 
I'm curious to see if anyone mentions anything within the last 2-3 years by big name publishers... (Portal 2 counts).

Planetside 2 was ok, but not sure it's a must have. I would say Eve Online is much more of a must have if we go that route. (but i'm sure that just comes down to personal preference).
 
I currently have starcraft, deus ex 1, half life one and two, team fotress, diablo 2, portal and what ever was in the ea stratagy pack. Most of that is on consoles though.
 
I think the overall BEST hack'n'slash is Titan Quest, but the problem is its not the most popular so it wont be on a lot of Must-have lists. Which is a shame.
 
You did mention computer-only in your original post OP, which would technically reduce the number of games we would be able to suggest as "must haves". Did you really mean PC exclusives? Because many such classics can be found on consoles (whether they were ported to or from the PC is irrelevant here). I could suggest Half-Life (the original) but it was released on the PS2 (with the Decay campaign), or I could mention Command & Conquer but it was released on the PS1. I could also praise Portal 2 but it's on the XBOX 360 too.

But just in case you did mean PC exclusives I'll go with a few, in no particular order (and I know I'll miss a good bunch)...

- Sins of a Solar Empire (I think Trinity is on Steam too)
- MechCommander (played it a lot back in early 2000 to around 2001)
- Grim Fandango
- Galactic Civilizations II (original one is good too, but sequel is better)
- Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
- Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2
- Thief 1 & 2
- System Shock 2 (never played the original myself, can't say if good or not)
- Supreme Commander + Expansion (Forged Alliance, great game in my opinion)
- Battlefield 1942 / Battlefield 2
- Star Wars: TIE Fighter (did not age well in my opinion, but still consider it a must)
- The Longest Journey
- FreeSpace 2 (the original FreeSpace is good, but shadowed by the sequel)
- STALKER (pretty much the whole trilogy, but the original and Call of Pripyat are great)
- Fallout 1 & 2 (especially the sequel, still have it installed right now)
- Homeworld 1 & 2 (have great memories of the original specifically, sequel also good)
- Age of Empires II + Expansion (Age of Kings, classic stuff right there)
- Rise of Nations (absolute must-have RTS that still surpass many within the genre to this day, that is ten years later by now)
- Planescape: Torment (amongst the best RPGs)
- Company of Heroes
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (referring to the original specifically)
- Diablo 1 & 2
- Rome: Total War (in my opinion still the best overall of the whole Total War franchise, although Medieval II isn't bad at all, I don't consider that one "must have")
- Total Annihilation
- WarCraft III (gimme a slap if you want but yes I think WC3 is a "must have", I really liked the campaign mostly, along with its expansion's)

...and yeah I know I'm forgetting a good number right now.

Also many found on GoG.com would be considered must-haves, most of which are PC exclusives with only a few exceptions here and there (such as Witcher 2 which is also on the XBOX 360).
 
I don't play online myself, so can't recommend any of those. Depends on what genre(s) you like. Shooters: Painkiller (old but good), STALKER series, Crysis, Far Cry, Return to Castle Wolfenstien. RPG's:Morrowind, Oblivian and Skyrim (with mods), Witcher 1 and 2.
Adventure: Myst, Longest Journey and Dreamfall. There are lot more as suggested by others, but these are some of my favorites. Some of the really old games such as System Shock, Half Life, Deus Ex, No One Lives Forever, Jedi Knight , Gabriel Knight series, Sanitorium, Blackstone Chronicles, Seventh Guest,Wing Commander series, Prince of Persia Sands of Time (yes this last one was also a console game) may or may not be playable on Win 7 64 bit, but they are classics. Anyway, lots of info from everyone. The bottom line is it all depends on what you prefer.

Wife of Runz
 
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