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PC exlusive (or PC centric) games of past 3-5 years?

gorcorps

gorcorps

aka Brandon
After a long time away from the PC, I'm finally putting another rig together. Being a console gamer for that time has left me kind of in the dark about the PC side of gaming. I started to poke around the forums for lists, but didn't see much other than single game threads. It's also hard to trust professional review sites and metacritic as they rarely take into account if it's a sloppy console port.

So I come to you, lost and confused, to point me towards either good PC exclusives that I've missed or console games that play much better on the PC.

What I have already, but haven't played much because of a slow computer:
-Crysis + Warhead
-TF2

What I already plan on getting:
-L4D2 (I don't plan on getting the first unless steam offers up another combo deal in the next month, and I have friends that play this quite regularly)
-Diablo 3 (whenever that comes out, release day buy)

Things I'm unknown about:
-Dragon Age 2 (I have the 1st on 360, so unless it's truly better on PC I'll just stick with the 360)
-Dead Space 2 (better on PC?)
-Dirt 2... How "serious" or realistic is this game? I usually don't care much for the over realistic racers but do like "dumb" racing games in general.
-*insert recommendation here*

If this has been covered to death than I'll just try to wade through the single game posts, but I'd appreciate any help.
 
Bad company 2 is a must. Dead space 2 isnt better on the PC, probably about the same if played with a 360 controller. Theres battlefield 3 coming out as well, not really soon but in the next year i think, it will be the biggest PC multiplayer FPS when its out.

If you like RTS theres company of heros, sins of a solar empire, maybe supreme commander as well (not the 2nd one its crap) and starcraft 2. Also theres TBS with the civilization series (not the 5th one its crap).

Dunno if youve played any of the new fallout games, fallout 3 and fallout new vegas, theyre both excellent on the PC or console. Its best played with a 360 controller imo so if youve got a wired one you can just plug that into the pc, others say its fine with keyboard and mouse but its definitely not designed with that in mind.
 
gorcorps said:
After a long time away from the PC, I'm finally putting another rig together. Being a console gamer for that time has left me kind of in the dark about the PC side of gaming. I started to poke around the forums for lists, but didn't see much other than single game threads. It's also hard to trust professional review sites and metacritic as they rarely take into account if it's a sloppy console port.

So I come to you, lost and confused, to point me towards either good PC exclusives that I've missed or console games that play much better on the PC.

What I have already, but haven't played much because of a slow computer:
-Crysis + Warhead
-TF2

What I already plan on getting:
-L4D2 (I don't plan on getting the first unless steam offers up another combo deal in the next month, and I have friends that play this quite regularly)
-Diablo 3 (whenever that comes out, release day buy)

Things I'm unknown about:
-Dragon Age 2 (I have the 1st on 360, so unless it's truly better on PC I'll just stick with the 360)
-Dead Space 2 (better on PC?)
-Dirt 2... How "serious" or realistic is this game? I usually don't care much for the over realistic racers but do like "dumb" racing games in general.
-*insert recommendation here*

If this has been covered to death than I'll just try to wade through the single game posts, but I'd appreciate any help.
Click to expand...

As long as you arent using a keyboard racing games arent any better on worse on the PC than on consoles. Just plug your Xbox controller into your PC and Dirt 2 will be awesome. Its strikes a great balance between Sim and arcade, GRID is full on arcade and the AI is pretty challenging, its certainly better than human players that run into you.
 
I've played Fallout 3, but haven't played much of NV. That might be a good one to play on PC as the mods people make for Bethesda games are usually quite good.

I do have BC2 on the 360, and didn't really care for it. I put about 10 hours into it before moving on to something else. I'm sure its better on PC but I'll probably give that one a pass. BF3 is definitely on my radar though as I loved BF2. I really hope it's not as buggy as BF2 though as that was a HUGE PITA for me to get it working for any stretch of time. Despite how buggy it was I really enjoyed it at the time, so if BF3 is more stable it should be awesome.

Strategy games are hit and miss with me as I'm generally pretty bad at them. Because of that I usually stick with single player only, and usually have to lower the difficulty. Basebuilding games like starcraft 1/2 are great, I'm just so awful at them I can't find enough fun. I did try company of heroes on a buddy's PC though and found that to be better as it doesn't have a base building focus.
 
Minecraft. If you get into it it'll suck a good part of your life for a while, then you'll probably get bored of it but it'll be well worth it, especially for the prize.
 
Magicka, a great fun-filled co-op based game that apparently was buggy for some (never me though), and they're coming out with an even more hilarious expansion.
 
The Witcher - RPG

King's Bounty collection (The Legend, Armored Princess, Crossworlds) - turn-based strategy similar to Heroes of Might & Magic

Dragon Age 1 has better graphics and more complex combat on PC plus things like respec mods, 2 might be the same.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines - RPG, older title you might have missed. Fan patches have fixed the bugs.
 
Dragon Age: Origins was originally intended by BioWare as a PC exclusive until EA decided to put it on consoles. A whole other developer (Edge of Reality) ported it. The graphics and controls are far better on the PC, and there are fewer storyline bugs on it as well. Not so sure about DAII since BioWare handled all versions of that themselves, but I'm sure the graphics will be better since it makes use of DX11 on PC (as long as you have compatible hardware).
 
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Really, anything in the strategy and sim genres.

Nothing on consoles comes close to those genres.
 
Provided you have a good CPU and GPU, every game will be better on the PC.

Dead Space 2, especially on Radeons (with MLAA), looks superb. High details, high resolution, no aliasing, 60FPS = awesome 😀 You can play with your gamepad ofc.

WH40k : DoW2 + expansions is great too. The Witcher, another good game. DA2 with DX11 graphics - sweet. Both Mass Effect games are also better on the PC.

If you have a good PC, always go for games on it. I have both a PC and Xbox and would never choose console over PC.
 
Qbah said:
Provided you have a good CPU and GPU, every game will be better on the PC.
Click to expand...

I'll have the i5-2500k and GTX570, so lack of power shouldn't be an issue for a while.

Mass Effect 1/2: I have and played both on the 360, HOWEVER I've wanted to go back and play 2 again. Now, does there happen to be any sort of mod or anything that allows to you basically make an ME1 character to import over? I guess I could also find ME1 game saves, unless they're tied to the computer in some way.

Dragon Age: I started this on the 360 and got fairly far (maybe 1/2 way) and have enjoyed it enough. It got a little boring though and the port was done quite poorly IMO and looks quite awful, even for a console. Looks like steam puts this on sale often enough that I might grab it for PC too.

Strategy: Like I said, most strategy games aren't my thing. I usually don't have the patience or time for how long battles can take, and I'm bad at them. I'll check out DoW2 though as I enjoyed the chunk of the first I played.

I actually remember really enjoying Rise of Nations. I can't remember specifics of why I liked it, other than it had a good mix of micro and macro management. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the nuances of upgrading, but I wasn't bogged down by babysitting units either. I think it also had a good mix of turn based AND real time elements... though I may not be remembering right. I know they came out with a sequel a while back (which I didn't play) but am not sure if they released another one after that?
 
Gothic 3 is a PC only game that probably wouldn't have been worth buying for most people at launch but is now really good thanks to community updates.
 
gorcorps said:
I'll have the i5-2500k and GTX570, so lack of power shouldn't be an issue for a while.

Mass Effect 1/2: I have and played both on the 360, HOWEVER I've wanted to go back and play 2 again. Now, does there happen to be any sort of mod or anything that allows to you basically make an ME1 character to import over? I guess I could also find ME1 game saves, unless they're tied to the computer in some way.

Dragon Age: I started this on the 360 and got fairly far (maybe 1/2 way) and have enjoyed it enough. It got a little boring though and the port was done quite poorly IMO and looks quite awful, even for a console. Looks like steam puts this on sale often enough that I might grab it for PC too.

Strategy: Like I said, most strategy games aren't my thing. I usually don't have the patience or time for how long battles can take, and I'm bad at them. I'll check out DoW2 though as I enjoyed the chunk of the first I played.

I actually remember really enjoying Rise of Nations. I can't remember specifics of why I liked it, other than it had a good mix of micro and macro management. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the nuances of upgrading, but I wasn't bogged down by babysitting units either. I think it also had a good mix of turn based AND real time elements... though I may not be remembering right. I know they came out with a sequel a while back (which I didn't play) but am not sure if they released another one after that?
Click to expand...

http://www.masseffectsaves.com/

Rise of Nations was a great game. They did have an expansion for it, but their next game went with the 3-race-fantasy/sci-fi route, and while the gameplay was somewhat similar, it just wasn't as good.
 
Top down strategies you need to play (IMO obviously):

Rise of Nations, Company of Heroes (with the Eastern Front mod, if you play multiplayer/skirmishes), starcraft 2.

I might throw supreme commander in the mix as well. Haven't played dawn of war, but its on the list and I expect to enjoy it 😛
 
Chapbass said:
Top down strategies you need to play (IMO obviously):

Rise of Nations, Company of Heroes (with the Eastern Front mod, if you play multiplayer/skirmishes), starcraft 2.

I might throw supreme commander in the mix as well. Haven't played dawn of war, but its on the list and I expect to enjoy it 😛
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'll have to get my CoH buddies to download Eastern Front and give it a shot.

I'm actually downloading the Dawn of War II demo right now, have been thinking about getting the complete pack on Steam.
 
Pretty much every game is going to be better. Even an unpolished port has far better graphics on PC than on a console. Not sure if you're into strategy games or not, but Starcraft 2, and Civ 5 are both block buster PC exclusives that came out last year.
 
dpodblood said:
Pretty much every game is going to be better. Even an unpolished port has far better graphics on PC than on a console. Not sure if you're into strategy games or not, but Starcraft 2, and Civ 5 are both block buster PC exclusives that came out last year.
Click to expand...

Well based on what I've seen posted here, Rockstar games would be far better on a console because of how bad the ports are. So that's what I was talking about.
 
Yeah GTA games would be one of the few exceptions. My recommendation when comparing any PC vs Console game would be to check out the game on the steam forums and see if there are any major issues with the PC version.
 
gorcorps said:
Well based on what I've seen posted here, Rockstar games would be far better on a console because of how bad the ports are. So that's what I was talking about.
Click to expand...

GTA IV is best played with a CONTROLLER, not on a CONSOLE. Big difference. On the consoles, it's even more poorly optimized than on the PC, plus it looks like garbage by comparison.
 
AFurryReptile said:
GTA IV is best played with a CONTROLLER, not on a CONSOLE. Big difference. On the consoles, it's even more poorly optimized than on the PC, plus it looks like garbage by comparison.
Click to expand...

No, what I mean is I read a lot about how buggy it was and people struggling to get it to play nice with GFWL (IIRC) or something like that. It also was terribly optimized so you'd need way faster hardware than expected to produce graphics that were subpar to other games of the time.
 
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