Re: Looking around / new&old PC games I shouldn't have m
k9wazere said:
You can see I have a stretegy bias, but I'm open to all sorts of games. Anything, really.
Well, right off the bat.. If you like squad-based strategy games where exploration / discovery of a sector is all real-time, but combat jumps into a turn-based system..
I highly recommend
Jagged Alliance, and
Jagged Alliance 2 (With the
Unfinished Business expansion optionally)
The first is really dated, but I've still been able to get it to run on even Vista with minimal effort, even with sound support, which is sort of amazing as old as the engine is. The second is far more modern (though by no means "new"), and should present no trouble getting to run.
These games are great fun. Essentially you manage your resources, hire mercenaries, and go kick butt to reclaim territory (and defend it) from the evil "bad guys". There's storyline elements, exploration and items to find / use, all sorts of weapons..
But the best feature (if you like this sort of thing) is how all the mercenaries have their own distinct personalities. Some love or hate other mercenaries you may or may not also have hired, and this can lead to all kinds of in-team banter which ranges from mildly amusing to absolutely hilarious.. though at times it can mean that a given merc might quit the team... or in a few cases, flat-out attempt to kill one of the others! Oh, the memories....
Anyways.. those would be right up top for that sort of game.. Other titles of various types I have a lot of fond memories playing would include:
- 101: 101st Airborne in Normandy -- Decent squad-level WW II strategy game. Very old and dated, but did a good job of keeping that real feeling of tension you get as a few scattered para-troopers creeping through the hedgerows and engaging pockets of the enemy.
- Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines -- (Another strategy game of sorts, but with more a focus on each member of the team having very specific skills and abilities. The deal here is every mission has a somewhat specific formula for success and you have to work with your team to figure it out.
- Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle -- Still one of the best graphic adventure games of all time. Lots of puzzle-solving and interaction with amusing characters, and probably one of the funniest games I've ever played.
- Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2 -- Not bad for a light-hearted "You be the bad guy" sort of reverse dungeon crawl. And bonus points if you get any giggles out of slapping around psychotic torture maidens, because they seem to enjoy it anyway.
- Full Throttle -- Another graphic adventure (Lucas Arts). This one's also quite amusing, and has a decent story, not to mention a pretty good soundtrack. Play the outlaw biker caught up in a desperate struggle to stop the last American motorcycle company (Corley Motors) from being turned to crap by a slime-ball of a vice president. Wheeee, what a ride!
- Hitman (Codename 47, Silent Assassin, Contracts, Blood Money) -- All good, and you can get the last 3 in one package (Trilogy), and the first has substantially different mechanics than the other 3. Take on the role of the world's most perfect assassin (in a modern-day setting) and get paid to kill. Most missions, you have a good amount of choice as to whether to try to be sneaky & silent and go for a "perfect score", or just have a bloodbath and waste 'em all.
- No One Lives Forever (The Operative: NOLF, and especially the sequel, NOLF 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way) -- Think female James Bond meets the tongue-in cheek humor and 60's stylings of Austin Powers, and you've basically got it. Sort of an FPS that's more about the story and humor than about uber kill counts. Oh, and it has ninjas. Ninjas are always a bonus.
- Evil Genius -- Sort of a cross between the Dungeon Keeper idea and the NOLF idea. Basically an RTS / simulation which again takes the sort of tongue in cheek humor element of the 60s genre, but this time you're the bad guy, and you get to thwart the secret agents who come to foil your plans using your powerful henchmen, diabolical traps, and your expendable minions. Great fun for the whole family.
- Syndicate & Syndicate Wars -- Old, but how can you not love a game where you're the one in charge of a mega-corp in a dark, cyberpunk future which means you'll be needing to upgrade, arm, and send out your enforcement squad of butt-kicking, drugged-up, cybernetic puppets to accomplish your goals and spread your company's dominion across the globe? Really... you haven't lived until you've terrorized an entire town by first blowing up a whole parking lot of hover-cars with devastating mini-gun fire, and then just setting the drug levels on all your guys to essentially psychotic, meaning they'll just annihilate any and everyone who comes within range. XD Oh, what fun.
Meh, that list is hardly complete, but that's what comes to mind right off the top. If you manage to hunt down some of the older ones and have any problems getting them to run, shoot me a PM. I'd be more than happy to help.
Edit:
k9wazere said:
D2 I find to be less enjoyable than D1, but I don't think many will agree with that.
I do, just for the record. Not even really sure why, more than possibly I just played SO much D1 that D2 felt like minor additions to too much more of the same perhaps. I dunno, but I agree with you either way.
k9wazere said:
I'm not really into real-time strategy tho. Red Alert was fun, but that's about where I get off the bus with RTS games
What can I say? I'm just too slow for them
Prefer to take my time with a good turn-based game, if I'm in the mood for strategy
Just FYI, any of those games I suggested which contain RTS elements are of a bit lighter nature. None of them really require that you're some sort of super-speed RTS god to enjoy. Evil Genius can get pretty hectic now and then, but with a bit of practice you find plenty of ways around that, and it's not really a problem. Likewise I guess with Syndicate, where some missions can seem impossible at first, but inevitably you figure it out once you've replayed that scenario a time or two.
-Wraith
