Must Play PC Titles

RopeDrink

First of all this isn't a list on my part.

I had become somewhat bored of my current collection of games which are, admittedly, a bit old as it is... After years of WoW, modding RE4, keyboard Boxing in StreetFighter (And now SSF4AE) I eventually got a bit tired and wanted to hunt down games to play.

Off to Google I went and searched for "Must Play PC Titles" - Quite a lot of the lists date back to extremely old games (understandably) with a handful of recent ones. Of the games I opted to get (that I had never played before and also aren't all actually on the list) where:


Gothic 3
Prototype
Resident Evil 5 (Still playing)
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Still playing, 2nd play through)

I'm also getting my hands on Fallout 3 as I do enjoy RPG's overall compared to others.

All the above where enjoyable but completed in a span of about 2 days playing (I've a lot of time on my hands and the type of gamer who doesn't slack).

None of the lists have provided a recent title I'd consider thus far for when I'm bored of the above.

So, it's up to you to list out (preferably with reasons as nobody wants just a LIST thread) your MUST PLAY PC GAMES! Suggestions based on my preferences are nice but not entirely neccessary, just suggest as you please and let's get a catalogue of suggestions going.

Spunge

Vampire BLoodlines

RedXIV

I'm not too sure you'll enjoy them, considering your list of games so far but I recommend:

Monkey Island series. - humour is excellent
Broken Sword series. - Just for the storyline which is great
Age of Empires - Just for the big daddy cheat

By no means a list of the elite games of the past era but these are the games I enjoyed the most on my PC

Enjoy!

marco_polo

Stalker: Shadow Of Chernoybl.

5uspect

The Orange Box even if TF2 is free now.

It includes Half-life 2, episodes 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal; possibly some of the greatest games ever.

Portal is short but ingenious.
TF2 is is a great team based online shooter with gallons of character (and hats).
If you haven't played half-life you're not a PC gamer.

Burgo

Planescape torment; awesome plot driven isometric RPG, great humour and characters, honestly don't know anyone who has played it who hasn't loved it. Seriously a must play!

Adyx

System Shock 2.

Healium

TF2

pablomakaveli

RopeDrink wrote: »

I'm also getting my hands on Fallout 3 as I do enjoy RPG's overall compared to others.

Get the GOTY edition so you'll have all the DLC too. Also New Vegas is worth getting if you haven't played it.

weiland79

Company of heroes.

Damn i love killin Nazis!

Laisurg

Baldurs gate 1 and 2, Deus ex, Dragon age 1, Kotor 1 and 2 (even if you don't like star wars) and Oblivion are the first that come to mind that hasn't been listed already

Skerries

well you've mentioned one of my all time favourites Vampire:The Masquerade - Bloodlines
some of the best RPG's of recent years would be Dragon Age: Origins, The Mass Effect games, Oblivion and The Witcher games

RTS is another favourite genre of mine and some of the stars would be the Homeworld games, Starcraft games and my favourite is World in Conflict. Supreme Commander is one a lot of people like but i found it too clean and clinical and the Commad and Conquer games are fun but cheesy

KilOit

Although System Shock 2 and Deus Ex 1 are my favorite games off all time, i can't look past their dated graphics to replay them unfortunately

So would have to say play
Bioshock 1
Dead Space 1/2
Stalker series
Starcraft 2
Mass Effect 1/2
Bad Company 2
Borderlands
Crysis Warhead
World In Conflict

all are big big games so likely played to death already

nix

Max Payne 1 and 2, must play games, short yeah, but game play is fun and story is great. 3rd one in the makes too, its the only game im looking forward too tbh..

Also the Commando games, by far my fav point and click strategy games of all time, they will keep you going for many hours. Infact if you haven't played them i strongly recommend these games, surprised they haven't made anymore recently

Grim Fandango, great story, plays like Broken sword/monkey island.

The Hitman games, super fun games, 3rd person shooter and very fun if you try and make all the deaths look accidental etc, or go in guns blazing, not as reward, all good, except the 3rd one i think it is, where its all flash backs, didnt enjoy that one..

That is about all the must have games i can think of for the moment..

Sephiroth_dude

company of heros- ww2 strat game

shogun 2- turnbased strat game

stalker clear sky- fps
stalker call of pryipat (sp?) fps

SeantheMan

PC comes into its own with regards to RTS and FPS.

A lot of the games mentioned are also available on console..so aren't really PC "must" titles

- Portal / Team Fortress 2
- Monkey Island series
- Original Deus Ex
- Elder Scrolls Oblivion (skyrim in 2 months)
- Starcraft 2
- Thief series

Outkast_IRE

:DBattlefield bad company 2 as prep for BF3
Shogun 2 my favourite of the series so far.
Sins of a solar empire for sheer epicness

SeantheMan

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

:DBattlefield bad company 2 as prep for BF3

BF2, not BF:BC2

Agricola

Just to throw in 2 that wouldnt be on many must play lists but which I really enjoyed would be Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and Hitman Blood Money.

Picked up SCell on the Steam sale for a couple of quid. Its getting on at 6 years old now but if you bump everything up to the nines it looks very slick. Really enjoyable, slow and methodical stealth gameplay.
Blood Money is just the best Hitman game so far. Each level is like a big puzzle which when worked out, allows you to execute really cool setpieces. You feel really badass when everything comes off properly. The best spy and assassin games out there.

K.O.Kiki

Deus Ex.
Portal.
Half-Life 1/2.
Team Fortress 2.
Death Worm.

johnny_ultimate

Many of the titles mentioned above are good. That one about the God Machine is one of gaming's great achievements. Valve's hat simulator provides generous levels of joy.

Recently, I have been won over by Frozen Synapse and Jamestown. The former is like a top-down turn-based Counterstrike, but rather more brilliant and clever that that description suggests, especially in the inspired multiplayer. The latter is a homemade bullet hell shmup that gives even CAVE a run for their money, and surprisingly accessible for that most dastardly of genres. Must spend more time with each, come to think of it. Both very light on hardware, too.

Adyx

KilOit wrote: »

Although System Shock 2 and Deus Ex 1 are my favorite games off all time, i can't look past their dated graphics to replay them unfortunately

:eek: Neither were particurlarly cutting edge even when they came out (the Dark Engine especially) but neither game was ever about graphics. I still play System Shock 2 regularly with the Rebirth mod to pretty it up a bit and if I could find my Deus Ex disc I'd be playing that too.

keithb93

Rome:Total War and Medieval 2: Total war are mine....Im dying to play Shogun 2 but the auld lappy cant handle it:mad:

Zillah

Freespace 2. I never really hear anyone talking about it for some reason, but it has one of the most epic and well-told stories in any PC game I've ever played. Yes, it is all told from the point of view of you flying a fighter spaceship, but it is very exciting and dramatic.

The interface can be a bit intimidating at first, but push through it, it is one of my top games, right up there with Deus Ex, Planescape and VtM Bloodlines.

I'm also pretty sure its free for download these days.

Elmidena

FPS:
Left4Dead/l4d2
Killing Floor
Alien Swarm
Nation Red (cheap, hectic and FUN!)
Bioshock 1. Bioshock 2 simply doesn't exist. Don't look for it.

RPG:
Diablo II (total classic and way better than WoW imo)
Fallout 3 is a good call...I don't recommend NV unless it's gotten rid of all the bugs -.-
Titan's Quest...not incredible, but fun
Torchlight

Indie/other:
Super Meat Boy (prefer it with a controller myself)
VVVVVV (not sure if that's the right number of Vs!)
Minecraft (time vampire and a half)
Braid (short and puzzly)
Civ 4/civ 5 (time vampires but fun!)
Starcraft 2 (another time vampire, bit of a learning curve but loads of mods if vanilla doesn't cut it)
Supreme Commander 2 (again not MUST own but fun in its own way)
Alan Wake (eye of mordor ftw)

Steam has a lot of free to play games if you look around, you might be able to find something there you'd like that'd help finetune games in the future
From my experience, stay away from Amnesia. Seriously dull game...

Zillah

Sunshine! wrote: »

From my experience, stay away from Amnesia. Seriously dull game...

I thought Amnesia was fun. It is quite short too, so it's worth a shot. Gameplay would definitely not suit a longer title though.

Kiith

Some of these have no doubt been mentioned, but i'll give my opinions anyway. Most of these are pretty old to be fair. There are more, but i can't be bothered listing them all.

Baldurs Gate - Pretty much the definition of fantastic isometic rpg's on the pc. Some people prefer Planescape Torment (which is also fantastic) but this has always been my favourite. Fantastic story, with some brilliant characters (one who thinks his hamster is a miniature giant space hamster). With 2 games and an expansion for each, you literally have 100's of hours of gameplay.

Homeworld - The very first fully 3d rts released, Homeworld was space opera at it's finest. The story is basically Battlestar Galactica (original) but the gameplay is great. Fantastic music as well. Looking a little dated now though. The sequel and expansion are also great.

System Shock 2 - One of my favourite games of all time. RPG/FPS hybrid, in a similar vein to Deus Ex. Genuinely creepy, and has the best villian in the history of games (bar maybe Kefka).

Freespace 2 - As Zillah said earlier, it's something that get's overlooked far too often on these lists. Pretty much definied the space shooter, with battles beyond the scope of anything that had come before. Fantastic story, with some excellent missions. "DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! Hit your burners pilot!". What a game. (Joystick is a must though).

Half Life 2 - Raised the bar on FPS's across the board. Fantastic game, with some excellent set pieces. Still looks good today, especially with the Cinematic mods that can be installed for it.

The Witcher 2 - Fantastic game, with a very good story. Multiple arcs that copmpletely change the way you play through the game, with some very interesting characters. Really enjoyed it, and looking forward to going back for a 2nd playthrough.

The Witcher is probably the only recent pc exclusive on the list. Most big games are multiplatform, so i've not listed them.

Mantel

Freespace 2
SuperMeatBoy
SPAZ (Space Pirates and Zombies) - Steam link Found it too addictive.

Gandalph

Alot of mentioning of older games, I personally think they are hard to play if you had not of experienced them in their prime. The baldurs gate series for example, my fave game of all time but I dont know if I could recommend it to anyone now.

Looking at your gaming history I would say;

Dead Space 1/2
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Dues Ex Human Revoloutions
Star Wars KOTR
Dragon Age 1
Dead Rising 2

Kiith

I'd say Baldurs Gate holds up today better then most early 3d games. The infinity engine was absolutely brilliant, and still looks good imo.

Blazer

KilOit wrote: »

and Deus Ex 1 are my favorite games off all time, i can't look past their dated graphics to replay them unfortunately

There was enhanced graphics released recently for Deus Ex..
After playing Deus EX 3 and being slightly disappointed with it I'm going back to the original...at this stage I don't think we'll ever see a game as good as it ever again.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/project-hdtp/downloads/hdtp-release-1