Computer Games

[JuJu]

It seems that I will be acquiring a new computer in the future, either this summer or next christmas. Anyways, as I'm tired of playing the conventional Starcraft all the time, I'm asking everyone what they suggest. Of course, from now until then a lot of new stuff will be out but I'd like to ask what everyone else is playing or looking forward to.
Also, perhaps if we all get together on a certain game we can have a community there too. Just a suggestion.

Anyways, here's what I've thought about and heard from some people

Hellgate: London - This is a game that is being produced by Flagship Studios, The creators of Diablo II are working on this and it could be a hit or a complete bomb. It mixes the two popular categories of RPG and First-person Action. The game is to destroy demons and travel to gain experience. It seems that there will be many weapons to choose from, but I wonder if the amount of weapons available is on the scale of Diablo II or something more like that of Halo.

Kotor II(Knights of the Old Republic II) - This is already out and I know that JP plays this and loves it. I played the original KotoR on Xbox and found some glitches. I'm not sure if this has as many glitches or not but the game seems fun nonetheless

Half-Life 2 - Self explanitory I guess, the game is getting all sorts of reviews. I'm not sure if I'll like this or not though, pros and cons of this anyone?

Splinter Cell - this is getting 9's and 10's on all sorts of game review sites. Apparently, this is supposed to be insanely good but I'm unsure to whether this is true or not.

BattleField Earth II - The follow up to the 1942 game this looks to be promising, I'm not sure though as the game tends to be iffy with gameplay

Age of Mythology; And expansions - Yeah, this has been out for a long while, I don't know what the online community is like for this one or if the game is even challenging as a strategy game anymore. Anyone play this?

List what you guys/girls are looking forward to, are playing or any other sort of reviews.

[MarkPharaoh]

I will own the RTS World once again when AoE3 hits the shelves .  other then that, not really looking forward to too much for this year, so i'll just play WoW throughout the summer months

[Joel Rojo]

I'm not really a PC Gamer myself, but as I have read some stuff since Im going to buy a new PC soon, I'd advise you to stay the fuck away from Intel, if you want to actually do gaming, go AMD all the way. Intel only offers higher clock speed, but the real performance is in AMD, specially when talking about games.

[JuJu]

No worries about the computer, I'm getting the most hi-tech stuff for under 1500$ Canadian. Not to mention, the stuff is lowered a bit cause my friend's mom is setting it up.

[rvs]

No worries about the computer, I'm getting the most hi-tech stuff for under 1500$ Canadian. Not to mention, the stuff is lowered a bit cause my friend's mom is setting it up.

You can get high-tech stuff for Canadian? How Lucky!

[MarkPharaoh]

Yea, priobably going to build my gaming rig this summer through my mom's work, big discounts 4L

[crazedpenguinman]

I am a huge fan of the warcraft series. The campains are awesome and the online is very competitive and constantly changing. Diablo 2 is made by the same company and offers similar experiences except it is a RPG. Defiately recommend those two games.

[Machinus]

Half-Life 2

Pros: It's Half-Life 2
Cons: I can't play it while I am in class or sleeping.

[jpmeyer]

While I like KOTOR 2, I would not recommend buying it, because the game is so incomplete that you can like pinpoint the exact moment when Obsidian had to stop working on it because Lucasarts wanted to ship it for Christmas.  Hopefully they will release a complete version of it.

[Ifflejink]

Rome: Total War.

Pros: Everybody loves taking over Europe with through diplomacy and massive battles. Plus crippling amounts of replay value.
Cons: Can be slightly confusing, but that's about it.

[giddygorgon]

If you want a free FPS Download Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, it is pretty fun and of course free.

[Kasuras]

this summer or next christmas

That's like a huge difference really.


Now, I've played about every game people listed so I think I can say something about them. ^^

Hellgate London: I didn't play this one, but if it's an RPG: WoW > all other rpgs at the moment. And that is not my opinion but a fact. (2,5 million people.. you can't argument about this really)

Kotor: the last Star Wars game I played was Jedi Knight I think.. So that's quite a while ago. As for multiplayer; WoW > *. But this game has a singleplayer mode as it seems, but if you're planning on playing online: the singleplayer isn't really worth it most of the time.

Age of Mythology: oh, I played that game! It was really fun, but there's not really an online community I think. (random sidenote: don't go for LotR: BFME.. it sucks.)

Half Life 2 also has the new counterstrike, and counterstrike is awesome. Plus; half life's multiplayer is pretty fun as well.

Splinter Cell: well, I haven't really played this yet (you mean Chaos Theory eh?) since it's not in stores yet but I will definitely be playing this with my clan. (mostly because we get it for free :p)

Diablo 2: please no.. Do you really care about those 12 dollar a month? You shouldn't since World of Warcraft is just better: more options (once you get rushed trough hell about 100 times.. there is no more fun in the storyline, as where with WoW: the world is just huge)


And so I come to the conclusion:

-If you're into RPG's: you should definitely choose world of warcraft. The community is absurdly big, the game is very fun (quite addicting as well) and of course: it's in the warcraft universe.

-Shooters: Half Life 2 or perhaps Call of Duty: United Offensive. I play the second because my clan plays the second, but I can say CoD is quite fun. However: I'd say you go for Half Life 2. (you don't really play the singlleplayer of CoD, and the CS community is larger than the CoD community, but I recommend you check CoD out)

-Splinter Cell: quite self explanatory actually.


Now, I have about every game listed above (some exceptions, but why play kotor when you have wow?) but if you have to choose one: I'd say you choose either wow, half life2, CoD or Splinter Cell. I don't think there is a good RTS game but since you're planning on waiting a bit longer: Red Alert 2 is said to come out in the summer.

[MrZuccinniHead]

Some old favorites...

System Shock 2 = best FPS ever
Doom and Doom 2 (Hundreds of maps and mods still being made for it online)
Alpha Centauri (Made by Sid Meyer after Civ2)

[Eddie]

I played KOTOR 2 for 10 minutes or so. I just can't get used to the interface, and the way of moving around. I guess I played Neverwinter Nights too many times. Maybe I should try harder, because it doesn't look bad at all.

Half Life 2 is great if you like FPS. Battle for middle earth is decent.

The biggest title for me to be released is Call of Duty 2. It will take a while though...

since you're planning on waiting a bit longer: Red Alert 2 is said to come out in the summer

Welcome in 2005, games from 2000 are released. Tech.

[Klep]

Well I picked up Half Life 2 today and dear God it is amazing.  I highly recommend getting it.

[Limbo]

While I like KOTOR 2, I would not recommend buying it, because the game is so incomplete that you can like pinpoint the exact moment when Obsidian had to stop working on it because Lucasarts wanted to ship it for Christmas.  Hopefully they will release a complete version of it.

Seconded. This is indeed a cool single player game, but it just isn't finished. They disabled entire optional quests that they "didnt have time for to finish" and the story also ends quite unsatisfactory. Good game, could have been WAY better.

[Kerith]

I don't think there is a good RTS game but since you're planning on waiting a bit longer: Red Alert 2 is said to come out in the summer.

Well, you are right, Warcraft 3: TFT ist not a good RTS game but a great one. I'd definately recommend it, although depending how fed up you are with Starcraft you might rather want to get into another genre.

As for WoW, I still don't get what people find so amazing about it. I played the beta for a few days and got bored. It is probably the lack of competition since, well, everybody can achieve anything in WoW if he/she has enough time at hands.

[Bram]

Splinter Cell - this is getting 9's and 10's on all sorts of game review sites. Apparently, this is supposed to be insanely good but I'm unsure to whether this is true or not.

Well, I can't really say much about the PC version but if it's half as good as the XBOX version, I'd say go for it. Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory is by far the best looking XBOX game to date - you see the veins in your opponent's faces - and it's ueber playable. They really took the XBOX to it's limits with that one, and I imagine the PC version would be similar (if not better) graphics wise.

Cool detail: cooperative mode with 4 levels that you have to finish together with a friend. You can use your headset to communicate with said friend, but you have to whisper because if you talk regularly, your enemies willl hear you. So good.

[Kasuras]

About RA2: oh come on, I obviously meant RA3.

WC3: TFT: yeah, WC3 is pretty fun but I never really gotten into the competition part of it, only the custom maps.

As for WoW, I still don't get what people find so amazing about it. I played the beta for a few days and got bored. It is probably the lack of competition since, well, everybody can achieve anything in WoW if he/she has enough time at hands.

That is a little strange. Yes, you can achieve everything in wow: if you play for hundreds (thousands?) of hours you can. But if you would practice any other computer game for so much time.. well then you're pretty 1337 too.

[Kerith]

As for WoW, I still don't get what people find so amazing about it. I played the beta for a few days and got bored. It is probably the lack of competition since, well, everybody can achieve anything in WoW if he/she has enough time at hands.

That is a little strange. Yes, you can achieve everything in wow: if you play for hundreds (thousands?) of hours you can. But if you would practice any other computer game for so much time.. well then you're pretty 1337 too.

What I mean is that you just by playing the game you get all the "rewards" (high level, items and such). You don't have to get much understanding of the game, get better or even pay much attention most of the time. All in all you don't really practice anything, you just walk around and look at the enviroment.

[rvs]

As for WoW, I still don't get what people find so amazing about it. I played the beta for a few days and got bored. It is probably the lack of competition since, well, everybody can achieve anything in WoW if he/she has enough time at hands.

That is a little strange. Yes, you can achieve everything in wow: if you play for hundreds (thousands?) of hours you can. But if you would practice any other computer game for so much time.. well then you're pretty 1337 too.

What I mean is that you just by playing the game you get all the "rewards" (high level, items and such). You don't have to get much understanding of the game, get better or even pay much attention most of the time. All in all you don't really practice anything, you just walk around and look at the enviroment.

Not that I played WoW and have any interest to do so, with your line of reasoning you can dumb down any game to just pushing a few random buttons and seeing the graphics card of your pc do some calculations

[Necrologia]

On Wow: I love the game to death. I promised myself I'd never play an MMORPG but I got in the beta and that was that.

I actually recently had to drop it due to the effect it was having on my classes but whatever, finals are this week and after that I'll be playing the game constantly.

As for the skill required, that simply not true. Instances  are dungeons that require a co-ordinated party and careful planning to get through. These are quite challenging, but some of the most fun I've ever had online. If you know of a server with 2 or 3 other guys you know, instances are the best place to go for loot, experience, and just having a good time. Endgame instances especially require planning and skill. After dozens of tries by various guilds, Oynixia the dragon has been killed maybe twice on my server, and it wasn't accomplished by just throwing people at her I assure you.

I guess ultimately soloing the game is possible, but it's playing with friends that make the game so great. If you don't know anyone else who plays, your best bet will be to join a decent sized guild. If that doesn't sound like fun to you, you might want to pass WoW up.

[Stupid_Newb]

This is probably about 10 years too late, but the original Doom games are pretty sweet.

[Kasuras]

I guess ultimately soloing the game is possible

Some high-end dungeons are even too hard with 5 people. You'll need friends eventually..

Not that I played WoW and have any interest to do so, with your line of reasoning you can dumb down any game to just pushing a few random buttons and seeing the graphics card of your pc do some calculations Surprised

Yes, you can. I think the only genre where it is hard to make that theory hard is the shooter genre. RTS: obviously, building the right tanks at the same time will win you the game. RPG: using the right abilitity at the right time will kill the opposing creature/player. Etc, etc.

RPG games are not turn based, they are just as real time as Command & Conquer.

[Necrologia]

Some high-end dungeons are even too hard with 5 people. You'll need friends eventually.

Because it's cool to quote yourself:

Instances are dungeons that require a co-ordinated party and careful planning to get through.

There are things in Wow that are made exclusively for parties, such as instances and elite quests. None of them are vital to the success of your character, however, you can certainly reach level 60 without partying. It simply won't be as fun or as fast to do so. Wow is best played as a group game, but unlike many other MMORPGs you can head out into the wilderness yourself and quest without having your rear handed to you.

[MarkPharaoh]

lol Kerith, you obviously haven't played the game in depth...after 3 days you're no where near PvP ready so how would you know anything about the game past that point?  Unlike Diablo, dueling skills and strategies far outreach items and play time.

[Kerith]

lol Kerith, you obviously haven't played the game in depth...after 3 days you're no where near PvP ready so how would you know anything about the game past that point?  Unlike Diablo, dueling skills and strategies far outreach items and play time.

Is it just me or is "lol" not the nicest way to start talking to someone?

Well, why would I play a game in depth when it bores me after a few days? Perhaps PvP is good if you played some time, but how can I bothered to last through all those hours of play that is totally uninteresting to me if I could just pick up a game that is actually made for duelling like Starcraft, Warcraft or one of the many FPSs?

[MarkPharaoh]

Don't, won't bother me, but I don't like it when people think they actually know the game and make comments on it that takes weeks to understand and figure out when they played....for 3 days.

[IndyTerminator]

If you want to play a PvP MMO then play Shadowbane. It'll take you at most a few days to get up to Rank 6 and from there it is all PvP.

[Robert the Swordsman]

Many of my friends back East are rather infatuated with "City of Heroes", and I woulda' got involved myself if I'd had a nicer computer.

In any case, it looks pretty good.