topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Thursday March 28, 2024, 6:26 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Last post Author Topic: The Best Games You've Never Played  (Read 68361 times)

iphigenie

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,170
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #25 on: February 09, 2008, 04:22 AM »
The list has an action-rpg/ action-adventure bias

Out of the list I played the recent ones: Outcast (great storytelling) - Planescape: Torment (everyone should play this) - Beyond Good and Evil (too much of an action-adventure for me)

I'll agree about System Shock - 2 was also very good but more on the scary side - I dont usually like scary-ish games but this is so well done! One of the few games to make me nearly fall off my chair in a surprise (the other is an old game called Skynet), tells you how immersed I was

Other games I thought were great but not enough people played (totally biased to the ones I played!)
Sacrifice
Magic Carpet 1 & 2

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,747
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #26 on: February 09, 2008, 03:23 PM »
Other games I thought were great but not enough people played (totally biased to the ones I played!)
Sacrifice
Magic Carpet 1 & 2

I loved Sacrifice! That was one of the most beautiful games I'd ever seen at the time of its release (2000). Plus it put a new twist on the RTS genre by having you play as an actual unit in the battles.

I intended on playing it through 5 times (one for each god) and my first pick was Charnel (Necromancy), but I couldn't even get past the 2nd or 3rd level following Charnel. After that I started a new one following James (Earth), and I got to the final battle but couldn't beat it. I never played any of the other story lines. Hmm...

* Deozaan installs Sacrifice.

I dont usually like scary-ish games but this is so well done! One of the few games to make me nearly fall off my chair in a surprise (the other is an old game called Skynet), tells you how immersed I was

I haven't ever played any of the survival-horror games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill before, but one in a similar style called Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was amazing! First of all the story is incredibly intricate, flowing over thousands of years and multiple main characters who are all linked. It's a big puzzle and the fun part of playing the game is letting the story unfold. It's easy to understand, but it takes time to come out. Not only that, but the Sanity Effects are crazy! I cannot describe the horror of when I went to save my game and quickly bypassed all the "Are you sure you want to save" screens by just pressing buttons really fast then it said "Deleting all save files!" with a progress bar taking several seconds to fill up. I was just distraught about the idea of all the hours I'd put into the game and also the hours my brother had, too, all being deleted! Then it says "This can't be happening!" and all my files were there after all.

Or when you're playing the game and suddenly a screen pops up saying something of the effect of "Thanks for playing the demo, buy the full game to continue!" and you're thinking "What the heck? I thought this was the full game! Oh man I'm going to yell at the Gamestop employee who sold me a demo disc in the retail package!!

Also the Rune-Based Magic System is great! You mix an alignment, a verb, and a noun to create a spell.

Anyway, the game is just incredible. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who hasn't played it. But you'll need a GameCube or Wii to play it.

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #27 on: February 09, 2008, 07:14 PM »
Sacrifice was nice, but daaaarn it got mind-numbingly difficult >_<
- carpe noctem

Rover

  • Master of Smilies
  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 632
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #28 on: February 09, 2008, 09:39 PM »
What?  No mention of Jane of the Jungle?   :o
Insert Brilliant Sig line here

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #29 on: February 10, 2008, 06:48 AM »
What?  No mention of Jane of the Jungle?   :o
Wasn't it Jill? At least that's what I played :)
- carpe noctem

Rover

  • Master of Smilies
  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 632
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #30 on: February 10, 2008, 11:46 AM »
What?  No mention of Jane of the Jungle?   :o
Wasn't it Jill? At least that's what I played :)
:redface:  Yes it was Jill.  I had Jill in my head when I typed it... my fingers didn't listen.  :-[
Insert Brilliant Sig line here

iphigenie

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,170
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #31 on: February 10, 2008, 06:19 PM »
I played that through 2 of the chapters - great story and atmosphere but the gameplay felt clunky to my pc-accustomed ways, and I gave up


wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #32 on: February 15, 2008, 01:35 AM »
Deus Ex  :-*

There were some very good EA games on the C64/Dos/Apple ][ that I wish they would remake like Racing Destruction Set, Mail Order Monsters, Earth Orbit Stations, M.U.L.E., Elite, and Space Hulk

Then there are the franchises that were killed by evil EA: the Bullfrog Games (Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate, Populous, Power Monger)

Those were the days... *sigh*

iphigenie

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,170
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #33 on: February 15, 2008, 04:17 AM »
Bullfrog  :-*

I once had an interview and a lunch with someone who had worked on all these Bullfrog games - populous, syndicate, dungeon keeper, magic carpet... was a very interesting lunch and I think my enthusiasm for these games might have helped

I chicked out on the job in the end - one of the hardest choices I had to make - changing country and industry at the same time was a tad much
« Last Edit: February 15, 2008, 04:25 AM by iphigenie »

CWuestefeld

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,009
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #34 on: February 15, 2008, 05:23 AM »
I wish they would remake ... M.U.L.E.
Same here. I was looking around recently, and saw this site: http://www.worldofmule.net which references an OpenMULE project: http://www.codenautics.com/openmule/.

Unfortunately, it looks like development of the game has stalled (one thing about open source projects that you can frequently count on) and the version that was left doesn't really do anything interesting.

CWuestefeld

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,009
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #35 on: February 26, 2008, 05:01 AM »
You wont regret this game, it is a game that everyone loves. Good game support. See ya there.

Ummm. Maybe if you told us exactly what the game is?

(Edit: or maybe I'm replying to spam that was just removed?)
« Last Edit: February 26, 2008, 05:02 AM by CWuestefeld »

allen

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,206
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #36 on: February 26, 2008, 07:39 AM »
Half Life II -- it's practically legendary, in terms of popularity. I even own it on the Orange Box collection.  But just haven't been able to simultaneously have time and interest in it.  Anyone care to say anything to motivate me to get into it? I know, at the very least, Deozaan here has played it.

nudone

  • Cody's Creator
  • Columnist
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 4,119
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #37 on: February 26, 2008, 09:35 AM »
i bought the standard half-life 2 when it came out. probably played it half a dozen times all the way through (going through the difficulty levels).

did episode 1 twice i think.

done episode 2 once - possibly the fun is starting to wane.

BUT, as you've got the orange box you'll also have 'Portal' which was a load of fun to get through - more fun than episode 2.

out of everything i've played, Far Cry still stands out as having the most replayability - well above crisis (good first half, tedious second half). BUUUUUUT, half life 2 is definitely the best single play once all the way through experience - it really is an adventure - and that's why you should play it.

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #38 on: February 26, 2008, 09:52 AM »
I loved HL2, EP1 and EP2 - really nice stuff. I found EP2 to be a bit on the short side, but it's probably because I played it in bursts with several months inbetween, and the last burst was the single level of the game - and thus felt very short. But very enjoyable. Portal is very cute as well, nice with some different gameplay :)

As for Crysis, I never completed that... every time I've tried going back to it, I've had weird graphics flaws. But I'm getting a new GPU today, so perhaps that'll fix it...
- carpe noctem

Lashiec

  • Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 2,374
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #39 on: February 26, 2008, 10:03 AM »
Whoo, new GPU! Share the details :D

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #40 on: February 26, 2008, 10:10 AM »
Whoo, new GPU! Share the details :D
Cheap Inno3D GeForce8800GT/512meg DDR3... I considered the new 9600, but it's just about the same price, and performs worse... and not that much lower power consumption.
- carpe noctem

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #41 on: February 26, 2008, 02:24 PM »
I now have the 8600GT in my new lappie... it seems to perform better than my 7800GT in my desktop, but I don't have enough data yet.  Everything I saw pointed to the fact that it should be about the same performance, but in 19x12 the 8600 seems to perform better.

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #42 on: February 26, 2008, 07:23 PM »
wraith808: the laptop versions of the 8x00 are supposedly a good deal slower than the desktop versions, but still pack a punch.

Haven't tested my new card much, but it does run games based on the HalfLife2 engine in 1280x1024, 16x "something-something-smart" anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filtering and all other details cranked up to the max. But I probably can't run Crysis in full detail :)

Also, the card is pretty noisy - my old card was a passively cooled 7600GT, which obviously didn't make much sound ;). Might be able to live with the noise, or I might look for an after-market cooler for it. Also, it seems to draw 20W extra in 2D, I don't dare think how much more it draws when flexxing it's 3D muscles :o

But this is thread hi-jacking...
- carpe noctem

iphigenie

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,170
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #43 on: February 27, 2008, 08:43 AM »
I wish they would remake ... M.U.L.E.
Same here. I was looking around recently, and saw this site: http://www.worldofmule.net which references an OpenMULE project: http://www.codenautics.com/openmule/.

Unfortunately, it looks like development of the game has stalled (one thing about open source projects that you can frequently count on) and the version that was left doesn't really do anything interesting.

did you guys ever try space h.o.r.s.e

http://www.shrapnelg...es/Space_HoRSE/1.htm

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,747
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #44 on: February 27, 2008, 06:42 PM »
Half Life II -- it's practically legendary, in terms of popularity. I even own it on the Orange Box collection.  But just haven't been able to simultaneously have time and interest in it.  Anyone care to say anything to motivate me to get into it?

Okay here's my attempt:

Half-Life 1 was incredible to me because it was the first FPS game (I know of) that actually had a real story about why you were going around killing things. It was the total opposite of the macho FPS "Bad Dude" games of the day like Doom, Quake, or Duke Nukem 3D. You weren't there because you were a tough mofo and the world/universe relied on you for its survival. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and you're just trying to get out alive. You don't even start out with a weapon. When you first encounter the enemies, you've got to RUN! Plus, the way it loaded sections of the game kept you interested in the story because you were always trying to survive one disaster after another. There was no transition between levels where you could look at your statistics and save and rest and relax. It would have made a great sci-fi book (or dare I say movie?) if properly adapted.

(By the way, Red Faction shared many similar traits, and I really enjoyed it! (But Red Faction 2 sucked big time.))

Sadly I never finished Half-Life 1 so I don't know how it ended.

All I know is that Half-Life 2 starts up sometime after the end of Half-Life 1 when the aliens have kind of enslaved humanity. Even though your motive is different for this game (you're trying to end the conspiracy and free the humans from Combine control, IIRC), the story-telling is just as good. Once again, you don't start off with a weapon. You're just trying to blend in with everyone else who is being assimilated into the new society when your cover is blown and, again with no weapon, you've just got to run for your life. What's fun is that throughout the story there are announcements made on the speakers and video screens about how word is spreading of what you're doing, and how it's causing civil conflict (making the freedom fighting rebels more happy/brave, etc.) and you become a legendary hero of someone who is fighting the system and sticking it to the man/alien, so to speak.

It's what all of the great "Savior" stories are made of, Star Wars had Luke Skywalker, The Matrix had Neo, and Half-Life has Gordon Freeman. They all come from simple/humble beginnings and end up the savior of mankind/society. But the really cool thing about Gordon is that he really is just an ordinary man. You don't have the Force or the ability to control the Matrix. You're just a Regular Joe in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or in the right place at the right time, depending on how you look at it.

One thing I've heard is people complaining about playing the "Silent Hero" role. Gordon never says a word, but people talk to him all the time. I understand that complaint, as it does become kind of annoying in some games. You're just thinking, "Stand up for yourself!" or "Show some personality!" But I think the Silent Hero is especially fitting in Half-Life because it allows me to project my thoughts onto Gordon. Gordon and I become one, so to speak. After all, I'm the puppet master controlling Gordon's strings. And yes, I've actually gotten enough into the role that I speak to the characters as if Gordon was talking back. I think that Half-Life is, in the literal sense, a Role-Playing Game. You don't gain experience, levels, stats, or skills, but the game plays out and the story is told in a way that makes it very easy to play the role of Gordon.

All in all, it's incredible storytelling, a logical justification for going around killing people/things, it's intriguing, and it's mysterious. I have no idea who the G-Man is (the guy with the suitcase) but he's becoming more prominent in the story with EP2.

Tangential remarks added after writing and then previewing this post
An interesting thing to observe is that the basic premise of the original Half-Life was very much like Doom. Some portal/gate opened and demons/monsters/aliens started coming out and you've got to shoot your way to the end to close the portal/gate. The difference is that Doom still felt like pointless violence; A shooter with a bad story tacked on as a sort of half-baked motivation or explanation. Whereas Half-Life is executed in a way that it's not difficult to suspend your belief in the same way you would a sci-fi movie or book, but still have the story be believable. Not only that, but it seemed to me that my actions of killing were not just necessary to reach the goal, but even morally justifiable.

I might be out of the norm, but this is a great distinction for people like me who enjoy a variety of games but are tired of killing just for the sake of killing. But that may just have more to do with my personal values: I am a pacifist by nature, but I do believe there are times when violence is necessary to defend liberty and life.


And now that I think of it, I never played EP1. When they released it I thought it was just a section of the Half-Life 2 story I already played, but for a cheaper price. Like buying the chapters individually.

Allen, I know that any time a new Legend of Zelda or Metroid game comes out you will snatch it up in a heartbeat. The Half-Life series has proved itself to also be deserving of this same treatment. And that's not even taking into consideration how great Portal is! Find the time and play it. Seriously.
« Last Edit: February 27, 2008, 06:47 PM by Deozaan »

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #45 on: February 28, 2008, 06:20 AM »
Sadly I never finished Half-Life 1 so I don't know how it ended.
Dig out your CD, dust it off, and get to it! The last few levels are pretty strange, but still nice imho.

Star Wars had Luke Skywalker
Star was has Darth Vader! :p

And now that I think of it, I never played EP1. When they released it I thought it was just a section of the Half-Life 2 story I already played, but for a cheaper price. Like buying the chapters individually.
I hear people claim that EP1 isn't as good as HL2 or EP2, but I still enjoyed playing it, and would recommend you to pick it up - it has some important storyline stuff.
- carpe noctem

iphigenie

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 1,170
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #46 on: February 28, 2008, 07:22 AM »
I finished HL1 but never HL2 - I gave up in one of the driving episodes. HL2 is one of the games I had to give up because they made me seasick, the other one was Descent 3  :(

This year is the year where I catch up on old games I missed years ago, and finish some I never finished, such as Baldur's Gate 2... I might give Descent 3 and Half Life 2 another go, with new hardware I might be able to get the refresh rate to a level where i dont get seasick.

I recently grabbed up Red Faction to give it a whirl - I orginally bought it because it was, after all, what Descent 4 had turned into. I remember playing the demo and having it on my tobuy list for years.

I am trying to build a list of all the games I own, to figure out which ones I want to replay, but it's a pain: sites which offer the option to list your collection are usually incomplete, and I dont want to create a separate catalogue...

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #47 on: February 28, 2008, 08:07 AM »
The deformable geometry in Red Faction was really cool, but it's a darn shame they imposed such a low limit on the amount of deformations you can do :(
- carpe noctem

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Points: 1
  • Posts: 9,747
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #48 on: February 28, 2008, 02:46 PM »
The deformable geometry in Red Faction was really cool, but it's a darn shame they imposed such a low limit on the amount of deformations you can do :(

Heh heh. I remember playing multiplayer with my friend and he would always blast a long, deep cave for himself to hide in. I'd simply pull out the rail driver and shoot him through the walls. Ah! Good times.

Yeah it was a shame. I only played Red Faction 1 on PS2, so I think it was more a limit of the hardware. I heard Red Faction 3 is in production so maybe they'll improve that limit.

EDIT: Oh, and maybe they'll also undo all the crap they did in Red Faction 2 to ruin the game. Man that game sucked!
« Last Edit: February 28, 2008, 08:04 PM by Deozaan »

wraith808

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 11,186
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The Best Games You've Never Played
« Reply #49 on: February 28, 2008, 04:18 PM »
I finished HL1 but never HL2 - I gave up in one of the driving episodes. HL2 is one of the games I had to give up because they made me seasick, the other one was Descent 3  :(

OMG!  I want more Descent!  I loved that game!  I don't really like flight sims... but that's pretty much what descent is when you think about it...  Now I have to go find a copy of D3 again...