New Laptop and $100 bucks; what to buy?

My new Compal JFL92 is arriving today, and while it will be used primarily for work (suuure... ), I have $100 gift card from Best buy that should buy me a couple of games. What should I get? I'm primarily a console gamer right now, and I'm probably more interested in RTS or RPG than FPS, but that said all the shooters out there now look enticing. I own WOW, haven't played it in a while, but enjoyed it while I did. I just got to the point where I couldn't justify spending 2-3 hours doing one campaign. I'd rather have something I could play in relatively short bursts (90 minutes or less).

Bottom line, what are the best games right now that I should try that my sytem could handle reasonably well? Crysis? BioShock (Don't own a 360, but this game intruiged me)? COD4? Orange Box? Gears of War?

As far as RTS goes, I have almost no experience, but I'm willing to try anything once.

Please help me spend my cash wisely. If I need to spend more than my gift card, that's OK too

 

if you haven't played oblivion you can get that. also you might want to wait for Assassin's Creed due in april.

 

the ones you listed (minus crysis.. not that great of game) are great and will run really well on that notebook. orange box especially.. 5 games for $50

 

world in conflict should run alright

 

Yeah, I'am the same, only game for about an hour at a time, UT3 is perfect for that, it's a great all around game with unlimited replay value and outstanding graphics. You can get Oblivion with Nights of the Nine and Shivering Isles expansions for $49 now, still the best game ever made in my opinion and will last a long time. Tons of great gaming with those 2.

 

Hmmm... Oblivion. I'm surprised I hadn't really thought of that yet. I actually have a friend who works at Bethesda. I may be able to score a free copy of that...

UT3 may be an option too, thanks.

So assuming I'm going to be a mooch/deadbeat, what else?

 

Orange Box should be one of your choices no matter what. Your computer will sing with Source games.

After that you need some good RTS action...so I'd recommend getting the Warhammer 40k Dawn of War games. You can get the platinum pack that includes everything except the most recent expansion/stand-alone Soulstorm.

Or maybe Company of Heroes!

Sins of a Solar Empire is pretty good, though matches last a lot longer than 90 minutes.

 

Call of Duty 4 is fun. Gets tiresome in multiplayer once you play it over and over again. Singleplayer is great, but short.

I just started playing Counter Strike Source. Despite being a 3 year old game, it has great graphics and gameplay. Very active online.


I'm waiting for Assassin's Creed myself this April.


For RTS, Company of Heroes and World in Conflict are great choices.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I think Orange Box is a no-brainer, and I may wait for Assassin's Creed, and in the meantime try a couple demos to see what appeals to me in the RTS genre.

That gift card apparently won't put too much of a dent in my projected gaming budget...

 

I second UT 3 and Orange Box (especially portal). Even my 4 year old desktop is rocking out with UT3 at med settings and runs the source games nicely. UT3 seems to have a replay value, as I am just getting into the madness

 

another vote for the great company of heroes! oh and get the company of heroes:gold edition (i think its called gold edition :/), it comes with the original CoH PLUS the expansion pack Opposing Fronts. great deal!

 

get Oblivion GOTY edition, it's amazing. As for UT3...don't bother, lot's of people dislike it and the community is small. The Orange Box is a great choice too, or yea you could wait for assassin's creed...it'll be better than the console versions

 

download a few demos b4 you make ur choice. I'd personally recommend COD4, I've played the campaign at least e times through. You can't go wrong with the Orange BOx either. About assassins creed, I've played the console version a bit. Yes the graphics and fighting system are awesome, but the is more to be wished for in the rest of the gameplay. The gameplay is pretty repetitive after the first good chunk of the game.

 

Call of Duty 4 is easily the best game around.

If you are into RPG's, Oblivion is a great way to go.

I would start with those two, then get the orange box if you want more.

 

Call of Duty 4 and Company of Heroes is a must!

 

I hear good things about COD4, as far as FPSes go.

I'm more of an RPG person, and if you like RPGs, Oblivion will give great value-for-money. You can easily squeeze 2-300 hours of gaming out of it if you want to explore every little corner.

Other considerations, value-for-money-wise, would definitely have to include the Orange Box. You get HL2, HL2Ep1, HL2Ep2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 all in a single package.

Don't wait for Assassin's Creed, like so many of the people here seem to be doing. I've played it on the 360 - the story is uninspired, the gameplay is extremely repetitive, and the novelty of running across rooftops, scaling walls and windows, and going in for a stealthy kill dry up pretty quickly.

 

i really want to get this looks so cool, shame i dont think its sold in UK gonna have to import it or something, does steam have it?

 

Decided on Orange Box and a Rage Against the Machine CD

I'll probably end up getting Company of Heroes based on the recommendations of this board and some friends. Oblivion is on the way thanks to a "connection", and I'll probably alloacte a few more dollars to my PC game budget in the near future.

Now I have to get back to beating my kids up in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.