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NeoGAF's PC Gaming Hall of Fame List
- Thread starter kswiston
- Start date
Diablo 2: Endlessly re-playable, utterly addictive and full of shiny loot!
Quake: Forget your boring sci-fi Strogg, or your Arena pap, Quad Damage + Lightning gun = Dead Shambler.
World of Warcraft: Blizzard made the most amazing online experience that still puts fear into gamers and developers alike.
Ultima Online: A life consuming game with hundreds of amazing features, many of which get left out of even teh biggest online games.
Doom 2: What else to say about Doom 2? "Clunk, Click, BOOM!"
Unreal Tournament: Before all the crazy maps and stupid vehicles, people were jumping around Insta-Gibbing faces off.
Half Life: Spawned some of the most amazing mods gaming has ever seen.
Left 4 Dead: Valve put an amazing spin on the Zombie genre and the AI Controller was a chunk of drooling genius.
Sim City: Back before Sim City started getting really complicated, we had the distilled awesome that was Sim City
StarCraft Broodwar: While SC was awesome, it was Broodwar that adding that extra notch of awesome. Paved the way for competitive gaming and is the reason SC2 is awesome.
Quake: Forget your boring sci-fi Strogg, or your Arena pap, Quad Damage + Lightning gun = Dead Shambler.
World of Warcraft: Blizzard made the most amazing online experience that still puts fear into gamers and developers alike.
Ultima Online: A life consuming game with hundreds of amazing features, many of which get left out of even teh biggest online games.
Doom 2: What else to say about Doom 2? "Clunk, Click, BOOM!"
Unreal Tournament: Before all the crazy maps and stupid vehicles, people were jumping around Insta-Gibbing faces off.
Half Life: Spawned some of the most amazing mods gaming has ever seen.
Left 4 Dead: Valve put an amazing spin on the Zombie genre and the AI Controller was a chunk of drooling genius.
Sim City: Back before Sim City started getting really complicated, we had the distilled awesome that was Sim City
StarCraft Broodwar: While SC was awesome, it was Broodwar that adding that extra notch of awesome. Paved the way for competitive gaming and is the reason SC2 is awesome.
Star Control II
Ultima VII - Part Two: The Serpent Isle
Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
Fallout
Quake
Battlefield 1942
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Half Life
Planescape: Torment
Out of this World (aka Another World)
If I could have more than one vote for a series Ultima V would be up there instead of OOTW
edit: holy crap, someone picked Ultima 9? I know loving a game is subjective and all but I have to admit that I find this shocking. Ultima fucking 9?
Ultima VII - Part Two: The Serpent Isle
Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
Fallout
Quake
Battlefield 1942
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Half Life
Planescape: Torment
Out of this World (aka Another World)
If I could have more than one vote for a series Ultima V would be up there instead of OOTW
edit: holy crap, someone picked Ultima 9? I know loving a game is subjective and all but I have to admit that I find this shocking. Ultima fucking 9?
*high five*Kabouter said:6. Startopia
I love that this game has already been mentioned. Startopia was an absolutely brilliant game that really perfected the Bullfrog style of godgames. While it is an equal to the best Bullfrog ever made when it comes to things like humour, Theme Hospital, where it truly stands out is variety. No other Bullfrog style game offers even close to as much variety as Startopia does, the campaign, short though it is, has you running anything from a prison to an agricultural station. But even when you play the free play mode, there is still much diversity; each of the three decks on your space station is pretty different, especially the biodeck, and as such you're not doing basically the same thing throughout the game. I'm still incredibly bitter over the fact that the game sold terribly, especially initially. According to a forum post back then, I was one of only around 14,000 people who bought Startopia in its first month. Thankfully at least, Startopia has aged very well, and I'm actually reinstalling it as I type this.
Make sure you grab the un-official official 1.02 patch.
also :lol @ anyone who mocks Final Fantasy XI, the only reason that game might not belong on a list like this is because its a PS2 port.
Its a damned fine mmo, one of the most successful subscriber wise in fact, has beautiful music and art, and one of the best FF games I've ever played. Its basically everquest final fantasy with some unique gameplay twists.
There are so many lists I could agree with despite them having little crossover with my own.
Series splitting votes: I tend to vote for the first game in a series unless a successor really distinguished itself. However, I intend to edit my list if there are enough votes in that direction. I am going to change Master of Orion to MOO2 because that's where the voting action is right now. I have no problem voting with 1 or 2 in that series. I would not want to change my Half-Life vote to HL2. The influence HL had on nearly every FPS after it is a large factor in my vote. Tricky.
Even Sid agrees that SMAC was their best game. Well he discusses the creative freedom of a fictional setting :]DennisK4 said:
Two of the best suggestions I completely overlooked.bengraven said:
Series splitting votes: I tend to vote for the first game in a series unless a successor really distinguished itself. However, I intend to edit my list if there are enough votes in that direction. I am going to change Master of Orion to MOO2 because that's where the voting action is right now. I have no problem voting with 1 or 2 in that series. I would not want to change my Half-Life vote to HL2. The influence HL had on nearly every FPS after it is a large factor in my vote. Tricky.
X-com (2 points)
Half-Life
Team Fortress Classic (this was a Half-Life mod so I could see not including it but HL did spawn TF2 because of TFC, so change this to TF2 if TFC doesn't count)
StarCraft + Broodwar
Prince of Persia
Portal
SW Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Doom
Peggle
Wing Commander
Duke Nukem 3D
Half-Life
Team Fortress Classic (this was a Half-Life mod so I could see not including it but HL did spawn TF2 because of TFC, so change this to TF2 if TFC doesn't count)
StarCraft + Broodwar
Prince of Persia
Portal
SW Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Doom
Peggle
Wing Commander
Duke Nukem 3D
Don't really have time to add justifications, but here ya go:
Deus Ex
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Europa Barbarorum
System Shock 2
Zeno Clash
LOOM
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Planetfall
Portal 2
The Witcher 2
Unfortunately I know some of these won't be getting any votes from anyone other than me, but oh well!
Also if this thread was made in a month's time I feel like I'd be saying DX3 instead of DX.
Deus Ex
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Europa Barbarorum
System Shock 2
Zeno Clash
LOOM
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Planetfall
Portal 2
The Witcher 2
Unfortunately I know some of these won't be getting any votes from anyone other than me, but oh well!
Also if this thread was made in a month's time I feel like I'd be saying DX3 instead of DX.
Stumpokapow said:
I see your point. However, having done similar threads for Rpgs and platformers in the past, it is sort of a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation. With the Rpg lists I had more than a few people voting for nothing but Final Fantasy or Nintendo rpgs. Older games and smaller titles got shafted, because many people needed to tie up 2-10 of their votes with some combination of Final Fantasy IV-X + XII. Same thing was true to some extent with the Wrpgs.
I am up for suggestions on what I can do to minimize either scenario (big franchises falling down the list due to vote splitting vs a handful of series hogging most of the top 25).
Perhaps series votes can be pooled in some cases. Civilization votes are currently being split between every game in the main series, but they are all pretty similar.
PairOfFilthySocks
Member
Can't wait to see this list piss people off even more than the IGN one
Civilization IV:
Turn based strategy game I probably put the most hours in. Needs to be mentioned in a list for the best menu music ever.
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi:
If I were allowed to include more games in a series, I would put IV in here as well but II gets the nod for being the best of the older two and really making me love this series.
Warcraft III:
Was going to use II instead of III for Warcraft. I feel II is more important but with III you have to include the custom maps and that gives you DotA and DotA could probably make this list by itself
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri:
While I put more hours into Civilization IV, this is probably my favorite strategy game. Perfection.
Starcraft:
I didn't play much of the competitive multiplayer, but custom maps and my favorite RTS campaign places this on my list.
The Wticher:
One of my favorite RPGs and better than the sequel I think, with more charm.
Team Fortress 2:
One of my favorite multiplayer fps games. The amount of polish and the attention Valve gives it makes it worthy of my list.
Half-Life 2:
Best single player fps for me. 3 needs to come soon.
Killing Floor:
Better than Left 4 Dead imo and great zombie killing fun.
Heroes of Might and Magic 3:
Best in the series and not much like it.
Turn based strategy game I probably put the most hours in. Needs to be mentioned in a list for the best menu music ever.
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi:
If I were allowed to include more games in a series, I would put IV in here as well but II gets the nod for being the best of the older two and really making me love this series.
Warcraft III:
Was going to use II instead of III for Warcraft. I feel II is more important but with III you have to include the custom maps and that gives you DotA and DotA could probably make this list by itself
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri:
While I put more hours into Civilization IV, this is probably my favorite strategy game. Perfection.
Starcraft:
I didn't play much of the competitive multiplayer, but custom maps and my favorite RTS campaign places this on my list.
The Wticher:
One of my favorite RPGs and better than the sequel I think, with more charm.
Team Fortress 2:
One of my favorite multiplayer fps games. The amount of polish and the attention Valve gives it makes it worthy of my list.
Half-Life 2:
Best single player fps for me. 3 needs to come soon.
Killing Floor:
Better than Left 4 Dead imo and great zombie killing fun.
Heroes of Might and Magic 3:
Best in the series and not much like it.
Marsipolami
Member
1. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - With my, at the time, limited knowledge of English, I uncovered this game bit by bit and went into absolute ecstacy just by discovering a new creature or new town. Have created hundreds of characters, but never once have I completed the game.
2. Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia - The kind of game which is deep but still engrosses you for several hours at the time with its ridiculous addictiveness.
3. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings - Best RTS game of all time. Helps that I love medieval settings.
4. Dragon Age: Origins - I had anticipated and longed for this game for years and when it finally launched it was less than I had hoped for, but also more. Fun combat, some hilarious and great characters.
5. Portal 2 -
6. Heroes of Newerth - HoN has made me so angry that I've awoken the rage of the entire neighborhood by screaming in the middle of the night. It is also the game which has made me awoken the rage of the entire team by screaming out of sheer joy after winning a long, long match.
7. - -
8. Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood -
9. Amnesia: The Dark Descent - I shat my pants to the moon and back.
10. Football Manager 20xx -
2. Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia - The kind of game which is deep but still engrosses you for several hours at the time with its ridiculous addictiveness.
3. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings - Best RTS game of all time. Helps that I love medieval settings.
4. Dragon Age: Origins - I had anticipated and longed for this game for years and when it finally launched it was less than I had hoped for, but also more. Fun combat, some hilarious and great characters.
5. Portal 2 -
BECAUSE I'M A POTATO!
7. - -
8. Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood -
9. Amnesia: The Dark Descent - I shat my pants to the moon and back.
10. Football Manager 20xx -
FieryBalrog
Member
Personally, I think expansions and episodic content should be included in votes. I'm pretty sure everyone voting for WoW doesn't mean "WoW vanilla only", and things like counting HL2 E1, E2 and regular as separate games strikes me as silly. Ditto SC:BW vs SC without BW, no one plays SC without BW.
FieryBalrog said:
Here is my rule for this. Assume every vote is for the Gold/Platinum/GOTY/Final version of the game. I will pool votes for Starcraft: Brood Wars and Starcaft.
I see your point about Ep1 and Ep2, and perhaps I will just pool those as well. Most people are voting for Half-life 2 over the episodes, but I guess they are not much different than expansion campaigns in traditional x-packs.
EDIT: I updated the rules in the OP a little bit. No system will be perfect, but hopefully this helps to mediate your concerns as well as Stump's and a few other people's. I can't help it that the 1 vote per series will disadvantage great games with sequels that are widely considered superior, but this seems to naturally happen anyhow. In my RPG thread, Baldur's Gate 2 ended up third overall with 53 votes, while Baldur's Gate failed to crack the top 100. I think it received 2 votes total. Same was true with System Shock 1.
I'm glad to see some adventure gaming love in here.
The Secret of Monkey Island - I know this game inside out, but I still enjoy it very much whenever I play it. One of the funniest games ever made.
Deus Ex
Planescape: Torment - Worth of all the praise it gets.
Fallout 2
Sam and Max Hit The Road - I like the weird version of USA that's in this game.
Quake
Max Payne
Leisure Suit Larry 2 - Unplayable without a walkthrough, but Al Lowe games are so funny.
Quest for Glory 1 - Unique mixture of a RPG and an adventure game.
Shadow Warrior - Games these days need more double Uzis.
I'm forgetting so many games right now.
The Secret of Monkey Island - I know this game inside out, but I still enjoy it very much whenever I play it. One of the funniest games ever made.
Deus Ex
Planescape: Torment - Worth of all the praise it gets.
Fallout 2
Sam and Max Hit The Road - I like the weird version of USA that's in this game.
Quake
Max Payne
Leisure Suit Larry 2 - Unplayable without a walkthrough, but Al Lowe games are so funny.
Quest for Glory 1 - Unique mixture of a RPG and an adventure game.
Shadow Warrior - Games these days need more double Uzis.
I'm forgetting so many games right now.
Deus Ex
Still haven't completed it but it is definitely the greatest fps/rpg I've played next to SS2
System Shock 2
Love the setting, gameplay, tension.
Minecraft
Seriously an achievement in pc gaming. Many hours lost to this game.
Starcraft 2
The best RTS getting an even better sequel.
Amnesia: Dark Descent
Just a wonderful video game. The best in the genre.
Diablo 2/LoD
A huge time spent during middle school playing this, fond memories.
Half-Life
How could I not include this.
The Witcher
The best RPG I've ever played.
Battlefield 2
Playing this with friends was terrific.
Max Payne
Really engaging story and gameplay.
Still haven't completed it but it is definitely the greatest fps/rpg I've played next to SS2
System Shock 2
Love the setting, gameplay, tension.
Minecraft
Seriously an achievement in pc gaming. Many hours lost to this game.
Starcraft 2
The best RTS getting an even better sequel.
Amnesia: Dark Descent
Just a wonderful video game. The best in the genre.
Diablo 2/LoD
A huge time spent during middle school playing this, fond memories.
Half-Life
How could I not include this.
The Witcher
The best RPG I've ever played.
Battlefield 2
Playing this with friends was terrific.
Max Payne
Really engaging story and gameplay.
The Omega Man
Member
- Team Fortress 2
- Diablo 2
- Half-Life 2
- Doom 2
- Baldur's Gate 2
- The Witcher 2
- Battlefield 2
- Doom 2
- Fallout 2
- Portal 2
- Half-Life 2
- Diablo 2
- Half-Life 2
- Doom 2
- Baldur's Gate 2
- The Witcher 2
- Battlefield 2
- Doom 2
- Fallout 2
- Portal 2
- Half-Life 2
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 - Addictive as hell, I never spent so much time with any game ever.
Unreal - I bought 2 Voodoo2 cards just to play this game in all its glory. Leaving the ship at the beginning and seeing the graphics was mindblowing. Never had that effect by any game before and after. Please give me a successor in the vein of it, I want to Return to Na Pali!
Deus Ex - What can I say? It's Deus Ex. Freedom of choice, believable cyberpunk and tons of atmosphere, awesome!
Gothic - This game came out of nowhere for me. Wasn't digging the controls at the beginning and almost quit. But then I got sucked in and holy shit! This game was action-adventure/RPG goodness that totally got me.
Starcraft - Imo the best RTS game to date. I just played it in singleplayer and loved every moment of it. Even the story was kinda compelling to me and kept me playing and playing.
Dungeon Keeper 2 - I liked it sligthtly better than part 1. The Horned Reaper is just too awesome to miss any list.
Wing Commander 3 - I played the shit out of WC1+2, but when 3 hit, I was blown away. The presentation, the story and most of the missions were so memorable that I still see everything before me. Give me a new Wing Commander, dammit!
System Shock - Shodan.
Doom - Everyone was playing it, so I guess the game did something right. Oh, and it is supposed to have made certain genre very popular.
Duke Nukem 3D - Just like Doom, everyone was playing ist. And it was so much fun! The Duke, his oneliners and the chicks are legendary.
Honorable mention: The whole SSI Goldbox stuff. Too hard to choose one of it, I loved them all. Curse of the Azure Bonds might be my favourite.
Unreal - I bought 2 Voodoo2 cards just to play this game in all its glory. Leaving the ship at the beginning and seeing the graphics was mindblowing. Never had that effect by any game before and after. Please give me a successor in the vein of it, I want to Return to Na Pali!
Deus Ex - What can I say? It's Deus Ex. Freedom of choice, believable cyberpunk and tons of atmosphere, awesome!
Gothic - This game came out of nowhere for me. Wasn't digging the controls at the beginning and almost quit. But then I got sucked in and holy shit! This game was action-adventure/RPG goodness that totally got me.
Starcraft - Imo the best RTS game to date. I just played it in singleplayer and loved every moment of it. Even the story was kinda compelling to me and kept me playing and playing.
Dungeon Keeper 2 - I liked it sligthtly better than part 1. The Horned Reaper is just too awesome to miss any list.
Wing Commander 3 - I played the shit out of WC1+2, but when 3 hit, I was blown away. The presentation, the story and most of the missions were so memorable that I still see everything before me. Give me a new Wing Commander, dammit!
System Shock - Shodan.
Doom - Everyone was playing it, so I guess the game did something right. Oh, and it is supposed to have made certain genre very popular.
Duke Nukem 3D - Just like Doom, everyone was playing ist. And it was so much fun! The Duke, his oneliners and the chicks are legendary.
Honorable mention: The whole SSI Goldbox stuff. Too hard to choose one of it, I loved them all. Curse of the Azure Bonds might be my favourite.
Shiny Llama
Member
If I think about it anymore, my head will explode.
X-COM: UFO Defence (2 points!) - My favourite game. I can't really say much else without repeating others, but I named every single one of those agents. Barry was my favourite.
Portal - Gaming's greatest novella. Short and sweet, like this description.
Deus Ex - Best FPS ever. Why did Halo become the FPS-standard and not this? Human Revolution has big shoes to fill.
Half-Life - Invented the FPS genre as we know it. Hell of a debut, Valve.
Minecraft - Has no replay value because in Minecraft, nothing is replayed. Everything is unique to you. Also an amazing timesink.
Ultima VI - Any of the series really, but VI is my favourite. Why? It was my first RPG. Blew my mind.
The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition - The first game that made me laugh out loud. LucasArts outdid themselves with the Special Edition, though, because of the ability to switch between the beautiful, fully voice-acted modern version and the classic original for nostalgia.
VVVVVV - This game, like Super Meat Boy at number 9, felt difficult but never impossible. The controls are tight and the retro style fits it well. Hard as nails, with a chiptune soundtrack and fully recommended.
Super Meat Boy - My favourite indie platformer, but not by much. Must be played if you liked VVVVVV.
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire - That's right, I play text adventures, GAF. Where the graphics are your imagination and Douglas Adams proved that not everything should be interactive. Zork is amazing but flawed and isn't the best to start out text adventures with.
There! Now, "Ctrl-F X-COM"...
X-COM: UFO Defence (2 points!) - My favourite game. I can't really say much else without repeating others, but I named every single one of those agents. Barry was my favourite.
Portal - Gaming's greatest novella. Short and sweet, like this description.
Deus Ex - Best FPS ever. Why did Halo become the FPS-standard and not this? Human Revolution has big shoes to fill.
Half-Life - Invented the FPS genre as we know it. Hell of a debut, Valve.
Minecraft - Has no replay value because in Minecraft, nothing is replayed. Everything is unique to you. Also an amazing timesink.
Ultima VI - Any of the series really, but VI is my favourite. Why? It was my first RPG. Blew my mind.
The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition - The first game that made me laugh out loud. LucasArts outdid themselves with the Special Edition, though, because of the ability to switch between the beautiful, fully voice-acted modern version and the classic original for nostalgia.
VVVVVV - This game, like Super Meat Boy at number 9, felt difficult but never impossible. The controls are tight and the retro style fits it well. Hard as nails, with a chiptune soundtrack and fully recommended.
Super Meat Boy - My favourite indie platformer, but not by much. Must be played if you liked VVVVVV.
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire - That's right, I play text adventures, GAF. Where the graphics are your imagination and Douglas Adams proved that not everything should be interactive. Zork is amazing but flawed and isn't the best to start out text adventures with.
There! Now, "Ctrl-F X-COM"...
X-Com (2pts; time sink spectacular.. the greatest, and worst game for a perfectionist)
Doom
Grand Theft Auto (multiplayer, wow)
X-Wing (guys.. you fly.. an X-Wing.. guys..)
Warcraft
Dark Forces (Star Wars + Doom = are you kidding me?)
Syndicate (flame thrower and the gauss gun.. look at em run!)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (just typing that makes me want to start building a new park)
Sim City (tough decision between this and Sim Ant if you can believe it)
Tony LaRussa Baseball
Don't play much PC games these days but these in particular left timeless scars in my soul.
Doom
Grand Theft Auto (multiplayer, wow)
X-Wing (guys.. you fly.. an X-Wing.. guys..)
Warcraft
Dark Forces (Star Wars + Doom = are you kidding me?)
Syndicate (flame thrower and the gauss gun.. look at em run!)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (just typing that makes me want to start building a new park)
Sim City (tough decision between this and Sim Ant if you can believe it)
Tony LaRussa Baseball
Don't play much PC games these days but these in particular left timeless scars in my soul.
Not a big PC gamer, but here goes:
Civilization IV: Simply the best turn-based game ever made. War and peace are both equally fun...the game is easy to learn, but hard to master IMO.
Diablo II: No need for explaining, I guess. It's Diablo II.
Heroes of Might and Magic III: If you've never played it, do yourself a favor and buy this. Get the "In the Wake of Gods" mod as well, it makes for an awesome experience. Strategy, fantasy and great multiplayer all in one. Music was great as well.
Quake III Arena: I spent hours on this. Rocket jumping, freeze tag, instagib...everything was just awesome. And the community (mods, maps...) was awesome.
Heretic - Shadow of the Serpent Riders: Rather than put DOOM I decided to include this one, because at the time when I played this as a kid, I loved fantasy much more than science-fiction. For me, Heretic was (and still is) the superior game.
Company of Heroes: One of the best RTS games available on the PC. The graphics are great, the gameplay is great...I know I suck at describing games but believe me when I say you must play this one.
System Shock 2: Loved this one in Co-op. I can't say the horror element really got to me, but I still loved it nonetheless.
Dominions III: Here come the obscure picks. Another turn-based game that is immensely complex, with probably some of the worst graphics coming out of the 2000s, but with some of the best gameplay. If you like complex fantasy strategy, check this one out.
Warlords Battlecry III: What Warcraft III should have been. There, I said it. It's really sad that these guys didn't have much success with the series. Hero managing was so much better, and tons of different races to choose from that played very differently.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: I actually played this on Xbox, but I just cannot go without mentioning this one. IMO one of the greatest WRPGS of all-time.
Honorable Mentions go to Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, UT2k4, Rise of Nations and Sim City 4. Hope I didn't leave anything out.
Civilization IV: Simply the best turn-based game ever made. War and peace are both equally fun...the game is easy to learn, but hard to master IMO.
Diablo II: No need for explaining, I guess. It's Diablo II.
Heroes of Might and Magic III: If you've never played it, do yourself a favor and buy this. Get the "In the Wake of Gods" mod as well, it makes for an awesome experience. Strategy, fantasy and great multiplayer all in one. Music was great as well.
Quake III Arena: I spent hours on this. Rocket jumping, freeze tag, instagib...everything was just awesome. And the community (mods, maps...) was awesome.
Heretic - Shadow of the Serpent Riders: Rather than put DOOM I decided to include this one, because at the time when I played this as a kid, I loved fantasy much more than science-fiction. For me, Heretic was (and still is) the superior game.
Company of Heroes: One of the best RTS games available on the PC. The graphics are great, the gameplay is great...I know I suck at describing games but believe me when I say you must play this one.
System Shock 2: Loved this one in Co-op. I can't say the horror element really got to me, but I still loved it nonetheless.
Dominions III: Here come the obscure picks.
Another turn-based game that is immensely complex, with probably some of the worst graphics coming out of the 2000s, but with some of the best gameplay. If you like complex fantasy strategy, check this one out.Warlords Battlecry III: What Warcraft III should have been. There, I said it. It's really sad that these guys didn't have much success with the series. Hero managing was so much better, and tons of different races to choose from that played very differently.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: I actually played this on Xbox, but I just cannot go without mentioning this one. IMO one of the greatest WRPGS of all-time.
Honorable Mentions go to Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, UT2k4, Rise of Nations and Sim City 4. Hope I didn't leave anything out.
Here's my list in no particular order:
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 - The pinnacle game of a consistenly great franchise. Addictive gameplay, great balance, good variety of units/castles, etc and beautiful hand drawn graphics and sprites. And tons of well written scenarios made for lots of replayability.
Wizardry 7 - The Wizardry games always were some of my favorite RPGs and 7 is the best in the series for me. I prefer RPGs where you create a team rather than a solo hero or have NPCs that you don't create join you. Wizardry 7 had a bunch of different races and classes and skills and you could mix and match as you see fit which makes for lots of replaybility. And you could import your party from Wiz 6 and your ending there made changes to how you started Wiz 7 and with what items. I love games that provide that level of continuity. I have to confess even though I bought Wizardy 8 when it came out I still haven't played it as I still have to complete on last Wiz 7 playthrough to get my starting party for 8. Once I do play 8 it may replace 7 on my list.
Might and Magic III - M&M is another one of my all time favorite rpg series and III was my favorite. Good pacing, good dungeon design, fun puzzles and infused with Jon Van Caneghem's sense of humor.
Civilization II - Another great series that's hard to pick a top game from but I think Civ II was my favorite. It improved on an already stellar first game and added a ton of scenarios for even more replayability.
Master of Orion II - Another tbs sequel that kept all of the good things of the 1st game and added and improved. While it had a good variety of choices for your starting race, what I liked best was the ability to make you own custom race by picking and choosing positive and negative traits that fit your gameplay style. Really hard to pick between this and Master of Magic but MooII gets the nod for getting the 2nd release with improved graphics and not being buggy like MoM.
Pool of Radiance (SSI goldbox) - Yeah, the original not the crappy remake. Great SRPG using DnD rules that was the start of a series of games that let you transfer you characters to the next game. Addictive turn based party combat enhanced with flavor text that you read from an actual book rather than having to sit through a cutscene. These were the first CRPGs that really captured the feel of tabletop DnD for me.
Sacred 2 - The only modern game to make my list is pretty much the only PC game I've gotten addicted to recently. Diablo 2 style hack and slash loot game with a pretty complex character creation system. What I liked about this game is that unlike most modern games it didn't hold your hand and force you to go a certain way at the start. You get pretty much thrown into the thick of things and learn by experience and when I was not actually playing I was thinking about my char build or what to do next. This is how rpgs used to be. A bit buggy initially but an expansion and patches cleared up most of them.
Starcraft - I generally prefer TBS to RTS but this is one that hooked me with the sci-fi theme, good pacing and a fun story that made me want to finish and actually replay.
Warlords - Classic SRPG from Austrailian developer SSG. Essentially a war game with fantasy units. While there was only one map you could start as any of several different races and each had their own unique starting location and unit advantages/disadvantages that made it very replayable and made you come up with different tactics to win.
Empire War Game of the Century - One of the first PC games I bought and one of the first , even before I could afford my own PC. Used to play on a work computer after hours. Simple but very addictive gamplay with randomly generated maps so each game is different. One time you may start on a big mainland surrounded by other AI players and other times you may start on an Island isolated and have to figure out how to get your armies to the other cities to attack. spent many hour playing this game, one of the first I played that had that just one more turn before I quit quality that turned into an all night gaming session.
Honorable mentions:
Railroad Tycoon - Another Sid Meier classic TBS that I spent many many hours playing
Dune 2 - The first RTS that I really got into. Nothing more satifying then having a spy infiltrate the opponents base and sending a nuke to wipe out his structures
Nethack - First played variations of this on VAX systems at college so not sure if this counts as a PC game but I spent a lot of time with the PC versions as well
Conquered Kingdoms - Fantastic SRPG from one of my favorite small development houses, QQP. What made this one unique was there was no luck or randomness involved. There was a table that determined how much damage one unit would do to another. So you had to carefully plan your moves several turns in advance to achieve victory. Somewhat like chess in that regard
Front Page Sports Fooball Pro - Like pretty much anything Dynamix did this was a very polished top-notch simulation. The Pro version added the NFL licensed players (back before EA got the monopoly). The real challenge was to keep your team winning year after year with injuries, aging, retirements, trades, drafts, etc.
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 - The pinnacle game of a consistenly great franchise. Addictive gameplay, great balance, good variety of units/castles, etc and beautiful hand drawn graphics and sprites. And tons of well written scenarios made for lots of replayability.
Wizardry 7 - The Wizardry games always were some of my favorite RPGs and 7 is the best in the series for me. I prefer RPGs where you create a team rather than a solo hero or have NPCs that you don't create join you. Wizardry 7 had a bunch of different races and classes and skills and you could mix and match as you see fit which makes for lots of replaybility. And you could import your party from Wiz 6 and your ending there made changes to how you started Wiz 7 and with what items. I love games that provide that level of continuity. I have to confess even though I bought Wizardy 8 when it came out I still haven't played it as I still have to complete on last Wiz 7 playthrough to get my starting party for 8. Once I do play 8 it may replace 7 on my list.
Might and Magic III - M&M is another one of my all time favorite rpg series and III was my favorite. Good pacing, good dungeon design, fun puzzles and infused with Jon Van Caneghem's sense of humor.
Civilization II - Another great series that's hard to pick a top game from but I think Civ II was my favorite. It improved on an already stellar first game and added a ton of scenarios for even more replayability.
Master of Orion II - Another tbs sequel that kept all of the good things of the 1st game and added and improved. While it had a good variety of choices for your starting race, what I liked best was the ability to make you own custom race by picking and choosing positive and negative traits that fit your gameplay style. Really hard to pick between this and Master of Magic but MooII gets the nod for getting the 2nd release with improved graphics and not being buggy like MoM.
Pool of Radiance (SSI goldbox) - Yeah, the original not the crappy remake. Great SRPG using DnD rules that was the start of a series of games that let you transfer you characters to the next game. Addictive turn based party combat enhanced with flavor text that you read from an actual book rather than having to sit through a cutscene. These were the first CRPGs that really captured the feel of tabletop DnD for me.
Sacred 2 - The only modern game to make my list is pretty much the only PC game I've gotten addicted to recently. Diablo 2 style hack and slash loot game with a pretty complex character creation system. What I liked about this game is that unlike most modern games it didn't hold your hand and force you to go a certain way at the start. You get pretty much thrown into the thick of things and learn by experience and when I was not actually playing I was thinking about my char build or what to do next. This is how rpgs used to be. A bit buggy initially but an expansion and patches cleared up most of them.
Starcraft - I generally prefer TBS to RTS but this is one that hooked me with the sci-fi theme, good pacing and a fun story that made me want to finish and actually replay.
Warlords - Classic SRPG from Austrailian developer SSG. Essentially a war game with fantasy units. While there was only one map you could start as any of several different races and each had their own unique starting location and unit advantages/disadvantages that made it very replayable and made you come up with different tactics to win.
Empire War Game of the Century - One of the first PC games I bought and one of the first , even before I could afford my own PC. Used to play on a work computer after hours. Simple but very addictive gamplay with randomly generated maps so each game is different. One time you may start on a big mainland surrounded by other AI players and other times you may start on an Island isolated and have to figure out how to get your armies to the other cities to attack. spent many hour playing this game, one of the first I played that had that just one more turn before I quit quality that turned into an all night gaming session.
Honorable mentions:
Railroad Tycoon - Another Sid Meier classic TBS that I spent many many hours playing
Dune 2 - The first RTS that I really got into. Nothing more satifying then having a spy infiltrate the opponents base and sending a nuke to wipe out his structures
Nethack - First played variations of this on VAX systems at college so not sure if this counts as a PC game but I spent a lot of time with the PC versions as well
Conquered Kingdoms - Fantastic SRPG from one of my favorite small development houses, QQP. What made this one unique was there was no luck or randomness involved. There was a table that determined how much damage one unit would do to another. So you had to carefully plan your moves several turns in advance to achieve victory. Somewhat like chess in that regard
Front Page Sports Fooball Pro - Like pretty much anything Dynamix did this was a very polished top-notch simulation. The Pro version added the NFL licensed players (back before EA got the monopoly). The real challenge was to keep your team winning year after year with injuries, aging, retirements, trades, drafts, etc.
thegriefer
Banned
1. quake 3
2. unreal 99/2004
3. battlefield 2
4. oblivion
5. doom
2. unreal 99/2004
3. battlefield 2
4. oblivion
5. doom
FieryBalrog
Member
Giard said:
I always wanted to play this. *goes off to GoG*
....aaand they have it! sweet.
ViolentP
Member
Left 4 Dead - Coop experience that punishes playing badly rather than reward playing well.
Day of the Tentacle - Everything that is right about the point and click genre. Stylish visuals, unrivaled humor, and the Edisons.
Fallout 3 - Everything that was great about the original iterations but just a little closer to the world.
World of Warcraft - A live-in adventure that ends only when you're done.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - A mature point and click with amazing voice talent, atmosphere, and story.
Team Fortress 2 - Because playing together is fun.
Quake 3 - You come in a cabin boy and come out a cabin man.
Grim Fandango - Style.
Curse of Monkey Island - See Day of the Tentacle minus the Edisons and plus Murray.
Diablo - Everything.
Day of the Tentacle - Everything that is right about the point and click genre. Stylish visuals, unrivaled humor, and the Edisons.
Fallout 3 - Everything that was great about the original iterations but just a little closer to the world.
World of Warcraft - A live-in adventure that ends only when you're done.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - A mature point and click with amazing voice talent, atmosphere, and story.
Team Fortress 2 - Because playing together is fun.
Quake 3 - You come in a cabin boy and come out a cabin man.
Grim Fandango - Style.
Curse of Monkey Island - See Day of the Tentacle minus the Edisons and plus Murray.
Diablo - Everything.
Perspective from a duder who hasn't been into PC gaming for all that long:
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - I kinda enjoyed the simplicity in Shadow over the more complicated nature of Call of Pripyat, even though I'd imagine most people consider Pripyat to be the better game.
Team Fortress 2 - Oh gosh this is going to be a list of valve games isn't it
Half Life 2 - I think Half Life 1 was more fun and Episode 2 better at pacing and variety, but boy I love Half Life 2. I think it's the world design and sense of scale that does it for me, which I found to be far better than all the other games.
The Witcher - It took me so long to get into this game, but it was totally worth the attempts. It's not as fun as The Witcher 2, but I felt the story and branching paths and world were far more realised.
Roller Coaster Tycoon - because fuck you, that's why.
I'm bad at lists.
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - I kinda enjoyed the simplicity in Shadow over the more complicated nature of Call of Pripyat, even though I'd imagine most people consider Pripyat to be the better game.
Team Fortress 2 - Oh gosh this is going to be a list of valve games isn't it
Half Life 2 - I think Half Life 1 was more fun and Episode 2 better at pacing and variety, but boy I love Half Life 2. I think it's the world design and sense of scale that does it for me, which I found to be far better than all the other games.
The Witcher - It took me so long to get into this game, but it was totally worth the attempts. It's not as fun as The Witcher 2, but I felt the story and branching paths and world were far more realised.
Roller Coaster Tycoon - because fuck you, that's why.
I'm bad at lists.
TIE Fighter gets all my votes.
The hours and hours (and days, to be honest) I sunk into this game are the most enjoyable I've had playing video games on any platform. Fighting for the Empire? Well that's different, but OK, why not? Having trouble with a mission? Check with the flight officer for hints, or remember what 'Z' does. Still can't win? Fine, there's an easy mode button at the bottom.
Above all, the game was fair, which is hard for any game so dependent on AI behaviors. Sure you may die in 3-4 hits, but so do all the other craft that match yours. Take out turbolasers and the capital ships can't shoot back at you. You get plenty of wing men when you're in weaker ships, and lose them when you don't need them with your Advanced/Defender. The story was well conceived, the music system intense at times (also serving as a great example of why people choose MIDI over non-adaptive orchestration when compared to the Win95 version), the battles were evenly-paced, and there was that handy x4 button when the Tug had a ways to go.
jim-jam bongs
Member
Damn it this is really hard but I'm going to try my best.
10. Leisure Suit Larry
I still have warm and fuzzy feelings thinking about all the afternoons my brother and I spent learning about the birds and the bees at the feet of the master, Larry Laffer. Suffice to say, many years of therapy were required. Totally worth it.
09. Populous
Back before Fable and Black & White had completely destroyed any goodwill towards Peter Molyneux, there was Populous. The template for the god game genre.
08. Freedom Force vs The Third Reich
Another toss-up, but the sequel wins because killing Nazis never gets old. A really unique visual style combined with an intuitive and deep skill system, then layered like icing on an addictive hybrid RTS/TBS combat engine. Also written in Python, how weird is that?
07. Quake
I almost failed a year in high-school because I was up all night playing Quakeworld. Q3A definitely refined the experience a lot, but there's a raw brutality to Quake deathmatch which you can't find anywhere else.
06. XCOM
Hard, intense and complex. This is what gaming is meant to be. The lack of a real story keeps it from going higher for me, but that said the meta-narrative of your squad's highs and lows is better than the plotting in a lot of games.
05. The Witcher
A lot of the positive aspects of The Witcher are a result of the source material, but CDProjekt deserve huge amounts of credit for bringing the world of the books to life so vividly. Also the combat doesn't suck, you suck.
04. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Everything that needs to be said about this game has been said. It was hard to choose between it and Deus Ex but Bloodlines wins because I couldn't play Deus Ex as a Malkavian.
03. No One Lives Forever 2
I wish we still had an industry which would try to make a NOLF game. Incredible stealth and action combat blended with a script which will leave you in stitches. It was hard to choose between this and the original but killing mimes with a tommy-gun is just too awesome.
02. System Shock 2
The first game which made me feel something other than adrenaline, and a ground-breaking example of how to use the medium to tell a story. If you want me to soil myself, sneak up behind me and whisper "... are we joined?"
01. Fallout: New Vegas
The game which finally knocked SS2 from the pedestal I'd left it on. Fantastic RPG mechanics, amazing writing and once you're finished you can mod it into a whole new experience. My game of the forever.
I feel like I've left more games off the list than put on, but I don't want to miss out so this is going to have to do.
10. Leisure Suit Larry
I still have warm and fuzzy feelings thinking about all the afternoons my brother and I spent learning about the birds and the bees at the feet of the master, Larry Laffer. Suffice to say, many years of therapy were required. Totally worth it.
09. Populous
Back before Fable and Black & White had completely destroyed any goodwill towards Peter Molyneux, there was Populous. The template for the god game genre.
08. Freedom Force vs The Third Reich
Another toss-up, but the sequel wins because killing Nazis never gets old. A really unique visual style combined with an intuitive and deep skill system, then layered like icing on an addictive hybrid RTS/TBS combat engine. Also written in Python, how weird is that?
07. Quake
I almost failed a year in high-school because I was up all night playing Quakeworld. Q3A definitely refined the experience a lot, but there's a raw brutality to Quake deathmatch which you can't find anywhere else.
06. XCOM
Hard, intense and complex. This is what gaming is meant to be. The lack of a real story keeps it from going higher for me, but that said the meta-narrative of your squad's highs and lows is better than the plotting in a lot of games.
05. The Witcher
A lot of the positive aspects of The Witcher are a result of the source material, but CDProjekt deserve huge amounts of credit for bringing the world of the books to life so vividly. Also the combat doesn't suck, you suck.
04. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Everything that needs to be said about this game has been said. It was hard to choose between it and Deus Ex but Bloodlines wins because I couldn't play Deus Ex as a Malkavian.
03. No One Lives Forever 2
I wish we still had an industry which would try to make a NOLF game. Incredible stealth and action combat blended with a script which will leave you in stitches. It was hard to choose between this and the original but killing mimes with a tommy-gun is just too awesome.
02. System Shock 2
The first game which made me feel something other than adrenaline, and a ground-breaking example of how to use the medium to tell a story. If you want me to soil myself, sneak up behind me and whisper "... are we joined?"
01. Fallout: New Vegas
The game which finally knocked SS2 from the pedestal I'd left it on. Fantastic RPG mechanics, amazing writing and once you're finished you can mod it into a whole new experience. My game of the forever.
I feel like I've left more games off the list than put on, but I don't want to miss out so this is going to have to do.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Geneforge 2pts
Not just one of the best indie games I've ever played, but one of the best RPGs I've ever played period. There are games that have done better exploration. Games that have done better quests. Games that are better written, games with a better faction/morality system, games that have had better world building. But I am very hard pressed to think of another title that combines all of those elements with the consistent level of quality that Geneforge does. It all comes together to form Sucia Island, one of the most compelling, coherent, fleshed-out locations in gaming, with its ancient tombs and its abandoned facilities and the remnants of civilization left behind. Its an oft-overlooked title that no self respecting RPG gamer should miss.
Planescape: Torment Some clunky gameplay aside still one of the best written adventures in gaming.
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 IMO the pinnacle of the tycoon/management genre, which has since sadly almost died out.
Portal Quite possible the most perfect 5 hours of gaming. This is the game I use to try and get casual gamers into more involved experiences.
Team Fortress 2 You really can't find a better war themed hat simulator.
Riven: the Sequel to Myst The first person adventure genre is another one thats dying out, even as PaCs have something of a revival. Riven was the best of them, with gorgeous pre-rendered graphics and fiendish yet clever puzzles.
Civilization IV Practically a genre in its own right, Civ IV is one of the deepest and most addicting gams ever made.
Starcraft I don't play much Starcraft but its presence in the PC gaming world cannot be denied.
Mirror's Edge So its not PC exclusive, but Mirror's Edge deserves to be on here anyway. It combines possibly the best visual direction ever seen in a semi-realistic game with fast fluid gameplay that left many of us hungering for more.
Minecraft Minecraft is something revolutionary. Its the first successful attempt at making a game that tries to be simulation through reduction. Rather then construct a giant sandbox city like Grand Theft Auto, Minecraft is content to simply lay down the rules about how the world works and set the player free in the wilderness to do what they see fit.
Not just one of the best indie games I've ever played, but one of the best RPGs I've ever played period. There are games that have done better exploration. Games that have done better quests. Games that are better written, games with a better faction/morality system, games that have had better world building. But I am very hard pressed to think of another title that combines all of those elements with the consistent level of quality that Geneforge does. It all comes together to form Sucia Island, one of the most compelling, coherent, fleshed-out locations in gaming, with its ancient tombs and its abandoned facilities and the remnants of civilization left behind. Its an oft-overlooked title that no self respecting RPG gamer should miss.
Planescape: Torment Some clunky gameplay aside still one of the best written adventures in gaming.
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 IMO the pinnacle of the tycoon/management genre, which has since sadly almost died out.
Portal Quite possible the most perfect 5 hours of gaming. This is the game I use to try and get casual gamers into more involved experiences.
Team Fortress 2 You really can't find a better war themed hat simulator.
Riven: the Sequel to Myst The first person adventure genre is another one thats dying out, even as PaCs have something of a revival. Riven was the best of them, with gorgeous pre-rendered graphics and fiendish yet clever puzzles.
Civilization IV Practically a genre in its own right, Civ IV is one of the deepest and most addicting gams ever made.
Starcraft I don't play much Starcraft but its presence in the PC gaming world cannot be denied.
Mirror's Edge So its not PC exclusive, but Mirror's Edge deserves to be on here anyway. It combines possibly the best visual direction ever seen in a semi-realistic game with fast fluid gameplay that left many of us hungering for more.
Minecraft Minecraft is something revolutionary. Its the first successful attempt at making a game that tries to be simulation through reduction. Rather then construct a giant sandbox city like Grand Theft Auto, Minecraft is content to simply lay down the rules about how the world works and set the player free in the wilderness to do what they see fit.
HiddenSentry
Member
1. Baldur's Gate 2 - First game that really captured me and led me to spend altogether far too much time neck deep in it's world. The words "Coo! Come with me then!" in that distinctive voice will stay with me forever.
2. Dark Age of Camelot - I considered mentioning WoW since it's almost ubiquitous with MMOs these days (despite a thriving FTP MMO market lurking around), but the MMO that really means the most to me was DAoC. I adored the open PvP: relic raids, keep assaults, open field gank groups, gate camping, etc. Eventually housing, battlegrounds, and more in-depth PvE content started competing for time, and that was (mostly) great, too. My best MMO memories involve massive amounts of people (and lag) assaulting or defending keeps on a scale that no one has really done well since.
3. Diablo 2 - The "essential reading" of action RPGs. The frantic and sometimes unfair combat mixed with a somehow engrossing world is a combination that few ARPGs have even approached since. It was also my introduction to griefing, scams, and soul-crushing bugs (Anyone that ever had their inventory exploded knows what I'm talking about). Even cow runs! Man, that was actually fun grinding, especially if you got a lightning cow (Man, fuck that lightning modifier).
4. Civilization 4 The worst part about Civ4 was whenever I played it, the rest of the day (into the night) was just gone. I dont think I ever played this game in a spurt shorter than 4 hours. So engrossing. Im not especially a fan of the end-game management overload, but having games where its you vs. the world for hundreds of years is an experience not found anywhere else. I do like Civ5, but Civ4 is pretty definitively the peak for me.
5. Portal Just incredible. The fresh mixture of humor and brain bending puzzles was the perfect game for me. I should probably nominate The Orange Box in whole just from how many damn hours Ive spent on that single purchase.
6. Team Fortress 2 I loved this game when it came out as a unique mp shooter experience. I probably spent around 20 hours around launch, then set it aside for other games. And then hats happened, and I went and rediscovered my love of the gameplay plus a crushing addiction to wearing silly hats while shooting dudes. The entire presentation of the game from the marketing and promos to the in-game character chatter to the perfect kill screen just makes for an extremely pleasant fps.
7. Age of Empires 2 Age of Kings [TWO POINTS] Fucking damnit this game needs a gog.com release or something. I LOVED playing the multiplayer with friends or online. Castle clumping, or bullshit Mongols, or my personal favorite Goths, it all made for a great game. If I could find my discs, I think Id play this game now if I could. http://www.microsoft.com/games/age2/ is a soul-rendingly sad site/sight.
8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic They had this character named HK-47. He was a pretty good character. Its also a Star Wars RPG done right, with an inventive story and interesting combat.
Some honorable mentions:
Torchlight Somehow I really liked this game (despite the final boss taking upwards of an hour and a half for me).
Warcraft 2 Sidewalks killed it. The fact that I own the MAC version of this game is pretty tragic every time I rediscover those discs, too.
Just Cause 2 Insane game (with bolopatch for infi ammo, but not infi health), but not a PC-exclusive, so I didnt want to mention it.
Half Life 2 A great game, but Im not the biggest shooter fan in the world. The atmosphere was really one of a kind, though.
Dragon Age: Origins Ill be honest. DA2 has really tarnished my memory of this game, I think. Despite that hanging over it, I recall really enjoying this game, as well as every single DLC and the expansion. Actually, its just me being bitter.
2. Dark Age of Camelot - I considered mentioning WoW since it's almost ubiquitous with MMOs these days (despite a thriving FTP MMO market lurking around), but the MMO that really means the most to me was DAoC. I adored the open PvP: relic raids, keep assaults, open field gank groups, gate camping, etc. Eventually housing, battlegrounds, and more in-depth PvE content started competing for time, and that was (mostly) great, too. My best MMO memories involve massive amounts of people (and lag) assaulting or defending keeps on a scale that no one has really done well since.
3. Diablo 2 - The "essential reading" of action RPGs. The frantic and sometimes unfair combat mixed with a somehow engrossing world is a combination that few ARPGs have even approached since. It was also my introduction to griefing, scams, and soul-crushing bugs (Anyone that ever had their inventory exploded knows what I'm talking about). Even cow runs! Man, that was actually fun grinding, especially if you got a lightning cow (Man, fuck that lightning modifier).
4. Civilization 4 The worst part about Civ4 was whenever I played it, the rest of the day (into the night) was just gone. I dont think I ever played this game in a spurt shorter than 4 hours. So engrossing. Im not especially a fan of the end-game management overload, but having games where its you vs. the world for hundreds of years is an experience not found anywhere else. I do like Civ5, but Civ4 is pretty definitively the peak for me.
5. Portal Just incredible. The fresh mixture of humor and brain bending puzzles was the perfect game for me. I should probably nominate The Orange Box in whole just from how many damn hours Ive spent on that single purchase.
6. Team Fortress 2 I loved this game when it came out as a unique mp shooter experience. I probably spent around 20 hours around launch, then set it aside for other games. And then hats happened, and I went and rediscovered my love of the gameplay plus a crushing addiction to wearing silly hats while shooting dudes. The entire presentation of the game from the marketing and promos to the in-game character chatter to the perfect kill screen just makes for an extremely pleasant fps.
7. Age of Empires 2 Age of Kings [TWO POINTS] Fucking damnit this game needs a gog.com release or something. I LOVED playing the multiplayer with friends or online. Castle clumping, or bullshit Mongols, or my personal favorite Goths, it all made for a great game. If I could find my discs, I think Id play this game now if I could. http://www.microsoft.com/games/age2/ is a soul-rendingly sad site/sight.
8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic They had this character named HK-47. He was a pretty good character. Its also a Star Wars RPG done right, with an inventive story and interesting combat.
Some honorable mentions:
Torchlight Somehow I really liked this game (despite the final boss taking upwards of an hour and a half for me).
Warcraft 2 Sidewalks killed it. The fact that I own the MAC version of this game is pretty tragic every time I rediscover those discs, too.
Just Cause 2 Insane game (with bolopatch for infi ammo, but not infi health), but not a PC-exclusive, so I didnt want to mention it.
Half Life 2 A great game, but Im not the biggest shooter fan in the world. The atmosphere was really one of a kind, though.
Dragon Age: Origins Ill be honest. DA2 has really tarnished my memory of this game, I think. Despite that hanging over it, I recall really enjoying this game, as well as every single DLC and the expansion. Actually, its just me being bitter.
Warcraft II - This game is responsible for getting me into PC gaming. So many fond memories of playing the campaign, the expansion, and multiplayer over Kali.
Half Life 2 - Episode 2 is my favorite FPS ever released.
World of Warcraft - Such a polished and addicting MMO, what Blizzard accomplished here is nothing short of amazing. I'm burnt out on it now, but I really enjoyed my time with it.
Ultima Online - I played from beta through TSA, basically when this was the wild west of MMO's. I don't think the experience I had with this game can ever be replicated.
Portal 2 - Awesome gameplay with amazing storytelling. A fun and hilarious adventure.
Sam and Max Hit the Road - My favorite adventure game, even though it would always crash when I tried to play Car Bomb.
Doom - It blew my mind the first time I played it.
Counter Strike - Getting a dorm floor together playing this makes me miss college. Aside from WoW, probably my most played multiplayer game ever.
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast - A Star Wars game that really nailed lightsaber gameplay (well, at least at the time). The multiplayer was fun too, even though you could totally cheese people.
Quake - I somewhat enjoyed the singleplayer and built-in multiplayer, but when the CTF mod was released I was completely hooked.
Half Life 2 - Episode 2 is my favorite FPS ever released.
World of Warcraft - Such a polished and addicting MMO, what Blizzard accomplished here is nothing short of amazing. I'm burnt out on it now, but I really enjoyed my time with it.
Ultima Online - I played from beta through TSA, basically when this was the wild west of MMO's. I don't think the experience I had with this game can ever be replicated.
Portal 2 - Awesome gameplay with amazing storytelling. A fun and hilarious adventure.
Sam and Max Hit the Road - My favorite adventure game, even though it would always crash when I tried to play Car Bomb.
Doom - It blew my mind the first time I played it.
Counter Strike - Getting a dorm floor together playing this makes me miss college. Aside from WoW, probably my most played multiplayer game ever.
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast - A Star Wars game that really nailed lightsaber gameplay (well, at least at the time). The multiplayer was fun too, even though you could totally cheese people.
Quake - I somewhat enjoyed the singleplayer and built-in multiplayer, but when the CTF mod was released I was completely hooked.
What about simply doing two lists? One focused on single games and another with a more aggressive consolidation of votes. Then again I am not doing the work so perhaps that is asking a bit much :]kswiston said:
Just filling out my own list was hard enough. Looking through the new lists just makes me want to change it again.
Shadowmancer
Member
Portal - Short, and oh so sweet
Team Fortress 2 - Excellent balance, constant dev support, and so much to do
World of Warcraft - Some of the best times I've had gaming, just stumbling upon PvP in the open world with buddies on Vent.
Civillization (IV and V, particularly) - So, so, deep. I've lost more sleep with these games then anything else (just one more turn).
Cave Story - Finely tuned, pitch perfect controls, and challenging as heck (esp. the real ending)
Secret of Monkey Island - I still laugh at these jokes.
D.O.T.A. - Spent more time playing this than actual Warcraft III
Psychonauts - Funny, charming, quirky, and so unique.
You Don't Know Jack - Best PC party game
Worms Armageddon - Best PC hotseat game, plus WORMS
Team Fortress 2 - Excellent balance, constant dev support, and so much to do
World of Warcraft - Some of the best times I've had gaming, just stumbling upon PvP in the open world with buddies on Vent.
Civillization (IV and V, particularly) - So, so, deep. I've lost more sleep with these games then anything else (just one more turn).
Cave Story - Finely tuned, pitch perfect controls, and challenging as heck (esp. the real ending)
Secret of Monkey Island - I still laugh at these jokes.
D.O.T.A. - Spent more time playing this than actual Warcraft III
Psychonauts - Funny, charming, quirky, and so unique.
You Don't Know Jack - Best PC party game
Worms Armageddon - Best PC hotseat game, plus WORMS
World of Warcraft - Ridiculous how many hours I've sunk into this game. The game is starting to come down now but so many great memories. Love it or hate it its impact in the games industry is undeniable, good or bad.
Half-Life 1 - This for me gets the nod over its sequel. Set the path for what stories in fps' are now imo. The game that introduced us all to Valve.
Portal 2 - When I finally finished the game I couldn't believe how great it had turned out and had left me feeling. Somehow managed to easily surpass my lofty expectations. Never known any game to do that to me.
Counter-Strike - To think a mod made by 2 guys turned into something this popular.
System Shock 2 - Brilliant game. Looked the setting and the way it differentiated its self from other fps' of the day.
Knights of the Old Republic - Was pretty funny, I hated it the first time I played it. Come back to it maybe 1 year later and finished it and its sequel in the space of a week. Brilliant.
Half-Life 1 - This for me gets the nod over its sequel. Set the path for what stories in fps' are now imo. The game that introduced us all to Valve.
Portal 2 - When I finally finished the game I couldn't believe how great it had turned out and had left me feeling. Somehow managed to easily surpass my lofty expectations. Never known any game to do that to me.
Counter-Strike - To think a mod made by 2 guys turned into something this popular.
System Shock 2 - Brilliant game. Looked the setting and the way it differentiated its self from other fps' of the day.
Knights of the Old Republic - Was pretty funny, I hated it the first time I played it. Come back to it maybe 1 year later and finished it and its sequel in the space of a week. Brilliant.
koji said:Oh man. We used to play that series for hours and hours (leveling up my archon
Gaming history!
I have Battlecry III in my GOG backlog. Should get around to playing it.