Game Recomendations

Hi everyone
need some info from you the experts please.
im not a gamer but now im getting a m15x (next week) i suppose id better start.
can anyone suggest any good games for a beginner like me that dont take up to much brain power to start with so i can have a play.
i hear everyone talking about crysis, so whats this all about then?.
To give you a rough idea im into space shoot em ups and stuff like that.
the nearest ive got to gaming is on my nintendo gameboy about 10 years ago and also some classic arcade games from the 80s including galaxian, pheonix and 1942. ive been given a copy of bmw M3 challenge (any ideas if its any good).
also need a decent mouse instead of the crap microsoft one im using now
(i hear razorback are good) and finally a half decent controller but not one that you need a degree to use.
so any recommendations from you the experts would be greatly appreciated.
jim

 

I personally don't really like crysis. For space shoot em ups you could try out battlefield 2142 although its kinda old. Also try out Call of Duty 4. For a good mouse try out the logitech g5 or mx518.

 

Gears Of War
Unreal 3
Orange Box
Quake 4
Doom 3

Not Space but awesome games:

FEAR
FEAR XP
Far Cry
Crysis (the good part is not spacey)
COD 4
Stalker: SOC

Good mouse = MX518 or Deathadder IMHO
Have fun!

 

call of duty 4 is a good game i have it
make sure you get the 200gb hdd tho

 

call of duty 4 , orange box definitely

 

As far as shooters go, the best you'll probably find on the market at the moment are Gears of War and possibly COD4, though I've never played the latter. Crysis is a giant tech demo. TF2 is an excellent multiplayer experience.

If you're looking for a good mouse, I'd suggest either the Logitech G5 or the Razer Lachesis.

 

First game you should purchase, because it is awesome and actually contains 5 (game of the year quality) games in 1:

Orange Box (go to www.steam-powered.com and download that first).

Uhh...ok space shoot-em-ups.
Well...F.E.A.R. is sci-fi-ish.
Crysis might be a little bit much for you right now, I wouldn't recommend it to a person just entering the PC gaming world. It isn't bad, but it doesn't stack up quite as well with games like Half-Life 2 (which is part of the Orange Box), at least not right now.

Call of Duty 4

Gears of War
Unreal 3, if the rest of these don't seem to be appealing to you.


If you want to try out RPG style games, you might try out Knights of the Old Republic for a StarWars fix. Also, I'd recommend getting Mass Effect when it comes out for the PC.

There are several futuristic space RTS games, though Sins of a Solar Empire really takes the cake right now for awesomeness. I'm wary of suggesting it because it can "seem" complex to a new player, but it is easy to pick up and learn over a couple matches.

Also, I recommend not using the controller unless you are playing games like your BMX game or a skateboarding game or something similar. FPS games on the PC are so much better than on the consoles not only because they look better, but because you get to use the keyboard and mouse instead of a controller. Keyboard + Mouse >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Controller.

Congrats on your 15x!

 

Almost all of the games suggested above are FPSs, RTSs, or 3rd person games. ...........great stuff, but nothing like the 2D space shooter games you asked about.

FYI, the 2D space shooter was largely replaced by the 3D "Space Opera." Games like Freelancer, Starlancer, Wing Commander, Freespace, etc.

Funny enough, the 3D space opera genre itself is pretty much dead outside of remakes and Freespace 2 mods. It had about 10 years or so of great titles before slowing to a trickle of releases.

There are tons of 2D shooter games out there--most are free, flash based stuff or geometry wars clones--also mostly free.

Games have come a LONG way in 20 years. My advice would be to try a variety of the best stuff released in the last 5 years or so, and see what you like.

 

You must get the Orange Box. It should be mandatory for anyone just starting video games. There isn't really anything bad that can be said about any of the games in the package. It's an incredible deal.

 

orange box is severly over rated if you don't like the genre. i don't so i didn't get it.

the only shooters i play are cod4 and cod1 most other ones a fairly similar and crap (except tf2 but i don't want to pay for all the others just for that one)

demos are probably your friend to find out what you like. if you have a half decent net connection just download a variety and muck around a bit.

i am an old school rts fan, although that doesn't sound like what you are after. (some to consider are aoe2, empire earth, hearts of iron, medieval total war)

there are a reasonable amount of "open end" space rpg games which involve a fair bit of combat if you choose. and even a few older turn based space strategy one.

 

For space shoot 'em ups you could try and find these titles which still *may* hold up graphics-wise. I've got all of these but haven't tried playing them since their original release many years ago. Now that I'm writing about them I may go install and play these again for old times sake.

Descent 3
Freespace & Freespace 2 (already mentioned & part of the Descent series)
Freelancer (already mentioned)
Galactic Civilizations II (RTS)
Sins of a Solar Empire (RTS, but larger learning curve)

And then once you get comfortable with gaming again...

Tabula Rasa (Terrestrial based sci-fi MMORPG)
EVE Online (MMO with steep learning curve), cool ships!)

And worth mentioning is Halo but I have it only for the XBox/XBox 360. Not sure how it plays out on the PC.

 

Bioshock

Forgot about that one somehow. One of the best sci-fi shooters last year, although not set in space.

 

WOW! all i can say is thank you so much everyone for all the great advice you've added above. i have written down all the titles and will have a good look for them over the next 7 days while i wait for my m15x

thank you
jim

 

thanks for the link StormEffect but the linky does'nt worky. it just comes up with steam adverts
ill do a net search for it.

 

it's actually http://www.steampowered.com (no hyphen).

Steam is a digital distribution system that is free. You still have to buy the games though. If you do buy the Orange Box (in store or downloaded from from Steam) it will still use Steam regardless, to launch any of the Half-Life 2 games. And you can play them from any computer as long as that computer has Steam on it and you log into your account and install the game from Steam.

And when you do get the Orange Box... please download the Fake Factory Cinematic Mod for it. It is basically a texture and lighting upgrade for HL2, Episode 1 & now Episode 2. The latest version is 7 I believe and it is in 6 downloads O.O but well worth it

http://halflife2.filefront.com/file/Fakefactorys_Cinematic_Mod_V70_Part_16;88111

 

Space shoot em ups?

Mass Effect PC sounds perfect, it will be out in May.

Also if you've never gamed before id recommend starting with the all time classics: Final Fantasy 7, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (via emulator), and Half Life 2.

 

thanks for the link Thund3rball. i will have a good read now.

link1313, thanks for the games advice.

 

what mouse did u decide on.. i recently bought the mx 518.. so kinda getting used to it.. if i had more dough..i would go for the G5 or G9

 

i have'nt decided yet choy.
ill wait till i get my m15x before i decide or spend any more money.

 

Call of Duty 4 and CS:S for sure!

 

umm, CoD4 is by far the best single game on the market right now. Its production value is off the charts.

The sleekness of half life 2, its episodes, portal and TF2, are also top notch. the orange box makes an excellent second purchase.

 

i've never played this game, and it's old now, but deus ex is supposed to be a very good sci-fi shooter game.

orange box is right up in there for a great deal. i'm not so much a tf2 person, but the half-life series is pretty banging (it's a sci-fi shooter with a few bits of spook in the game). the story is decent, the physics in the game is impressive, and the overall experience is awesome.

orange box comes with half-life 2 and then two following episodes (small sequels), so there is plenty single player fun for the one game. though, it might be a little bit difficult to work with at first as the game has physics puzzles built into the gameplay.

COD4 has a pretty cool single player mode with some nice graphics.

Stay away from Crysis as a game, but download the demo to see the amount of graphical content the game has to offer. The game looks stunning, but it lacks much and has some bad programming in general as there are many crashes. The game itself is somewhat fun to run around and kill people, but it doesn't move anywhere.

So, to start off with and learn the more modern day fps games (as you will usually get a FPS or a RTS as far as PC gaming goes), I suggest the orange box as well. But I would also suggest you experiment with other games if you're interested in stories and more than just fps games (there are decent hack and slash games and other adventure games). Fable for the PC is decently fun and FFVII is a very good game.

 

COD4
AssassinsCreed
gear of war
unreal 3
HL1/2
Final fantasy VII and VIII haha

 

id also vote forFinal Fantasy 7 and 8 the RPG series EVER

the first set of games im getting when i get my laptop are

COD4
UT 3
Gears Of War
The Orange Box

 

I am new to games as well,

I have bought FEAR and Stalker both for £10.00 - $20.00

Love fear but not tried stalker yet, a lot of people are telling me its hard.

I just bought a Logitech VX Nano £30.00 -$60.00, What an amazing mouse, but not for the large hand people.

I finished Bio-Shock on easy on my desktop about 6 months ago and that is what got me hooked.

My girlfiend hates it now, but hey DEM DA BREAKS

Just bought a XPS M1530 Just so I could play right beside her, so she cant complain about us not spending time together.

 

Freelancer is oldish but a fun space shoot-em-up. Dont know if it will run on Vista, although it should since its a Microsoft game =p

Shame on whoever mentioned EVE online, stay well away from that if you are new to PC gaming.

 

It sounds like heresy on these forums, but I think I like Crysis better than Orange Box. I'm playing both simulaneously.

I've never played any half life game before, so I'm starting w/ half life 2... up to the part where I first get the gravity gun. For Crysis, I'm up to the part where you just exit the alien base.

Does HL get better? Although so far the story is good (im expecting it gets better), the physics puzzles totally slow down the action for me... everytime i get to one, I say to myself "ugh... another one of these". On the other hand, Crysis is run-and-gun all the time... plus, I love the way the weapons 'feel'. The way the shotgun makes your enemies fly, the piercing gauss gun, the weapon attachments, etc. It just feels right.

I'd say Crysis is like a cheezy jerry bruckheimer action movie while Half Life is kind of an artsy action horror movie... maybe by nature im a cheeze ball.

 

Well HL goes way back so for many the appeal is much more than just run-n-gun. This can get boring especially if you've been playing FPS games since Duke Nukem or Doom. HL 1 kind of broke the mold and brought a new level of immersion for the player. Combining story telling, FPS action and puzzles in a way not really done before. It was/is the bar and formula for many years afterwards.

HL 2 brought better graphics, introduced interactive "real world" physics and of course a great story to suck us in. It's now a 4 year old game.

Crysis is definitely more straight ahead FPS action with some fun new toys (suit powers) and an awesome display of graphics and physics and came out in Fall 07. The story is ok. The gameplay once you get to the ship goes downhill and really it just doesn't offer anything "new" despite all it's intensive hardware requirements. Is it fun.. yes. But it's no HL when looking at the bigger picture.