Best PC Games of the last 5 years (recommendations wanted)
 

I recently rebuilt my old budget HP AMD Athlon XP 3200+ PC into a new PC by moving the motherboard and processor to a new case and adding a bunch of goodies including more memory, an X1600 XT video card and an Audigy 4 soundcard with Logitech 5.1 surround speakers. I also have a nice 20.1" widescreen LCD now instead of the old flickering CRT I used for years. Now I have something that can actually play games. I hadn't even bothered with PC gaming since I finished Grim Fandango way back when and I have really discovered that I have missed out on some great games.

So far I have picked up Prey (finished it and enjoyed it), F.E.A.R. (3/4 of the way through and loving it), Oblivion (just started it and totally confused already), Half Life 2 Game of the Year edition (not started), Battlefield 2 (not started) and Doom 3 (didn't really like). I'm also going to replay a few of my old PC games at some point including Fandango and RealMyst.

My question is what games should I go back and buy that I missed over the last 5-6 years? My brother in law is telling me I have to go and find a copy of Freedom Force Vs the Third Reich and that I should also buy Darkstar One.

Basically I'm trying to put together a list of 10 or so PC titles that I missed that I should go back and find. Any suggestions are welcome.

Do Japanese releases count? ;)

Yes, I may be able to find them. I'm definitely not against trying imports.

F.E.A.R.
Command & Conquer: Generals
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2

HL2 hands down

Far Cry (It is much better than the dumbed down Xbox port. PC Far Cry has actual intelligent enemy AI, and you will need to use some tactics to stay alive.)

No One Lives Forever 1 & 2 (NOLF 1 is actually 6 years old but it still ranks as one of the best FPS ever.)

Max Payne 1 & 2

Mafia (The PC original Mafia is much better than the console ports.)

Thief series (The first two are older than 5 years, but they are still my favorite stealth games.)

Deus Ex (It is 6 years old too, but it is still amazing. It is the perfect blend of FPS & RPG. You actually don't have to play it like a FPS if you don't want to. It is pretty open-ended. I played through it 6 times and found something new each time.)

Deus Ex 2: Invisible War (It is ok, but it is obviously dumbed down from the original Deus Ex. Invisible War is much more linear, less options, less RPG features, smaller missions, and an overall shorter game.)

Also, since you liked FEAR, be on the lookout for the FEAR expansion pack coming out in a few months.

Crysis is another upcoming game that looks to be awesome. It comes out early next year and will be the first DX10 game.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic comes out next month. It is an action game that uses the HL2 Source engine. Some people compare it to Oblivion because they look very similar, but Oblivion is a pure RPG while Dark Messiah is an action game with a few RPG elements. If you find Oblivion too confusing, you might like Dark Messiah better.

Counter-strike: Source

and Day of Defeat: source

Unreal Tournament 2K4

Wow, lots of good stuff here from everyone. I have the Counter Strike source included in the Half Life 2 GOTY edition and will try to get the Day of Defeat source as well. Call of Duty 1 & 2 are definitely going to go on my list.

kgrogers1979 had a ton of good stuff to check out as well so I'm probably going to end up getting more than 10 titles. Hopefully I can find a lot of these used. As long as the CD Keys are included it should be safe to buy used games on Half.com right?

I have a question on Crysis. DX10 games will have to have Vista, correct? That is not something they will offer for XP from what I have read. I'm sure my video card won't support DX10 anyway. That stuff may have to wait a few years until I'm ready for an all new PC.

Civ 4, Freespace 2, Oblivion

From what I've played of Darkstar One so far, I'd have to recommend it. It has a very Freelancer/Elite-ish feel to it.

Sid Meier's Pirates!

I personally wouldn't buy "Used" PC games from half.com cause the bastards might have just made themselves a copy and still use the key. Places like jr.com often have slightly older PC titles for dirt cheap. UT2K4 On the Cheap and people still play the hell out of it.

Freedom Force is one of my favorite franchises, but I think the first game was better over all. Definately get both as the story continues over to Third Reich and is worth it.

I've just recently purchased Battle for Middle-Earth 2 and have been enjoying the hell out of that.

Also Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends are about as good as an RTS can be.

Thanks for the advice on the older titles. I will look there and maybe for new, sealed items on Half from people with good feedback. They had the second Freedom Force for less than $5 new on Half. Looks like I will pick up both of those. Didn't know the story was continued in the second game.

I have bought quite a few used PC games on ebay, and they have all been good transactions. You just have to be a little smart on what auctions to bid on. Never bid on an auction if the seller has a ton of negative feedback. My guideline is never to bid on an auction if the seller's feedback is less than 98%. Another rule is to never bid on an auction that has the location as Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc as those are the bootleg capitals of the world. Odds are you will get a bootleg if you bid on those auctions. Also, keep in mind the saying "you get what you pay for." If an auction seems too good to be true, then it probably is.



Yes, DX10 will require Vista. XP is unable to use DX10. No, your video card is not a DX10 card as they haven't been released yet. The first DX10 cards come out late this year/early next year.

The good news is that Crysis does not require a DX10 card. It will run on a DX9 card on XP, so your PC should handle it fairly well. It just won't look quite as pretty as it would on a DX10 card with all the ultra high graphic options turned on.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic should be in anyone's top-ten.

Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City & San Andreas.

Sim City 4.

civ 4, sim city 4, battlefield 1942, baldur's gate 2

Counter strike is really only good for multiplayer
Indigo Prophecy
F.e.a.r.
Call Of Duty 2
No One lives forever - great 60's spy game
Indigo Prophecy

Most of these games have demos and are worth checking out before buying. Freedom Force included. No one has mentioned it but star wars battlefront II, is not worth getting. I'm adding that on the do not buy list.

What's wrong with Battlefront II, I was thinking of picking that up?

I agree with most of krodgers suggestions, especially Far Cry (this is great because it is so open-ended), NOLF 1 and 2, and the Max Payne games.

You already have some of the best recent games. HL2 is great, you should pick up Episode 1 also, especially if Circuit City has it for $7.99 again. FEAR is also great the AI is the best I have seen in a FPS. I didn't really like Doom 3 and Prey was just okay.

I would also reccomend:
Call of Duty series, even though WWII games are so common all the Call of Duty games are a lot of fun.

Warcraft 3 if you like strategy games at all.

Condemned is a fun, a very different FPS with hand to hand combat

World of Warcraft if you have never tried a MMORPG.

I hate to hijack this thread, but thought I should answer.
First off the single player is pointless, it's just like multiplayer but the enemys are really easy to kill. Same maps as multiplayer and you play through most levels as rebels/republic. The actual characters you play as aren't nearlly as fun as other shooters. It's pretty much rifle, rocket launcher, shotgun, sniper, but the game moves so fast that sniper rifle and shotgun are pointless, if you use either of those you will die pretty quickly. You pretty much spend the entire game using your rifle, and it gets old very fast. They do say you can play as heroes but it's pretty much button mashing and you can't really do anything cool, it's just swinging your lightsaber, and if you play against other heroes, ala multiplayer, it's who ever attacks first wins, no real skill involved. And the maps aren't that great either, it's pretty much the same map over and over, which is outside and inside hallways. They say you can play as different characters, droids, republic, rebels, empire, etc, and you can but they're all the same class and they all play the exact same so there really isn't any variety. You can get into some vehicles and ships but they're not really easy to control and they don't do any real damage so you end up having to attack the same guy over and over to kill him, which is a pain in the ass if you're in a x-wing/tie fighter. I picked this up at Walmart for 20 bucks and it really wasn't worth it. I think it would have been much if they just stuck with one thing, heroes/shooter/vehicles and worked on it rather then mixing them all. Just my opinion though.