Medium-tech PC game suggestions wanted!

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Caitlin Black

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Okay, so I'm currently using a laptop for gaming. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium, has an i5 processor, and 1GB Radeon dedicated graphics. It was pretty sweet - about 4 years ago. Now, I find a lot of games are too high-tech for my poor machine.

So... I've recently been getting back into gaming. What I've found I *am* capable of running with ease are the following 4 games:

Neverwinter Nights 2; StarCraft 2; Dragon Age: Origins; and Dawn of War 2.

But I'm curious about what previous-generation PC games y'all have loved to bits that I may never even have heard of. I've been out of the gaming loop for a LONG time!

So if you have any suggestions for awesomely fun games that this laptop can run, lay 'em on me. :D (Preferably if there's a Let's Play of it on YouTube, which is my go-to for seeing whether I'm likely to enjoy the game.)
 

Michele AKA Twig

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If you enjoy fantasy RPGs you could get The Elder Scolls anthology by Bethesda.
Of course, there's always minecraft. If you like strategy games, Sins of a Solar Empire is fun too.
 

Bufty

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Mass Effect, Dead Space, Tomb Raider, Fear, Deus Ex, Skyrim, Crysis...and how about Portal and Portal 2?
 
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JimmyB27

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This is more old-tech, than medium-tech, and you may have played them first time around, but the Baldur's Gate games came out recently as 'Enhanced Editions'.
It's all the original games, but with added characters, and some other extra bits. If you never played them, I would highly recommend - especially if you like Dragon Age, which is also by BioWare, and is often touted as the spiritual successor to BG. Even if you did play them first time around you might find, like I have, that it's been more than long enough to allow a fresh play through.
 

robjvargas

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Real-Time Strategy? Reminder that SimCity2000 is free right now from Origin. Rise of Nations. Did anyone mention Diablo? I and II at least. I think III will run, too.

I need to find another copy of Master of Orion. Can't figure out where that CD went to. I liked I and II. Never bought III and it sounds like I'm better off for it. I *still* enjoy Half-Life I and II as well.
 

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The best part of Masters of Orion 3 is the intro cinematic.

Google "The Ur-Quan Masters HD"

Have fun! :D
 

Caitlin Black

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Wow, loads of suggestions here! I'm going to have to come back to this thread later today and go YouTube all these games for gameplay info.

Just wanted to add, though, that I tried playing Baldur's Gate (I bought a multi-pack of I, the expansion, II and that's expansion) but it wouldn't work properly for some reason. No idea what the problem was, but it wouldn't let me install either expansion pack, so I returned the game to the store. This was probably 3 years ago... Would that be the Enhanced edition thingy?

And wow, Tomb Raider... I haven't played that since the very first game came out! For some reason, I could never make it past the second level... More difficult than I expected.

Okay, thanks all. I've got tonnes of games to look into when I get a chance. :)
 

JimmyB27

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Just wanted to add, though, that I tried playing Baldur's Gate (I bought a multi-pack of I, the expansion, II and that's expansion) but it wouldn't work properly for some reason. No idea what the problem was, but it wouldn't let me install either expansion pack, so I returned the game to the store. This was probably 3 years ago... Would that be the Enhanced edition thingy?
Don't think so. The enhanced edition was released in 2012. You can get it via Steam.

ETA....okay, so 2012 is about three years ago. Bugger me, where does the time go? Then again, I don't think there was a hard copy version of it, so maybe it still wasn't?
 
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Bicyclefish

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Steam (you can search by year or price: http://store.steampowered.com/search/ ) and Good Old Games both carry older games I'd suggest checking out.

  • The original Thief series
  • Psychonauts
  • Torchlight if you like dungeon crawlers
  • Ghostmaster if you like sims style
  • Papers Please is a newer title reminiscent of the old text based adventure style games that ran fine on my laptop
Speaking of old games, anyone recall Drakan and Longest Journey? Ah memories...
 

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If you like sneaky games then the Hitman-series, and of course the original of that genre, Thief. Also have a look at Bethesda's Dishonoured. It's a newish game, but it is actually pretty kind to older hardware.
 

Caitlin Black

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Mass Effect, Crysis, Portal, and Thief look to be most my type of game.

Going to write them down and look to see if I can find any in stores during the after-Christmas sales. Thanks again, all. :)
 

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You're welcome!

I kind of wish I could blank my memory of all the games described here, just so I could enjoy them again!
 

Caitlin Black

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Actually, I just wanted to say somewhere that I'm rediscovering my love of gaming. For a long time, I couldn't get into it - but not anymore it seems. I just played an *insane* level of Dawn of War 2, and it was freakin' awesome when I beat it (in one try!).

Of course, this may not bode well for my attempts at writing... :tongue To be fair, though, I'm not going to write/edit until 2015 starts - I just finished a Uni degree in November and am still recovering from that student mindset.

So yes... Rambly ramble McRambleson.

*is excited that he seems to be nearing The End of DoW2 and can then buy the expansion pack for the first game he's finished in, gosh, YEARS*
 

Zoombie

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Ah, Dawn of War 2...the high water mark of Warhammer 40k games.

After that, THQ exploded, and now 40k games look like and are crap.
 

Brightdreamer

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I don't do Steam, but GOG has some good oldies...

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is my personal favorite RPG ever, one of those games that really remembered the "RP" bit. (You could play good or evil or neutral. You could join the baddie in the end, or even talk him into surrendering. Do game companies even think this way anymore?)

Titan Quest (the Immortal Throne expansion) is a favorite hack-and-slash. Sometimes I just wander around and look at the scenery...

For citybuilders, the classics Pharaoh/Cleopatra, Zeus, and Poseidon are always fun choices, back when games still could have a sense of humor. (Emperor was fun, too, but for some reason it's harder to find.) The followup, Children of the Nile, is much more intense, but still fun in its own way. (On a similar note, I hear from my citybuilder-obsessed sibling that the new indie game Banished is a great entry in the genre.)

The Sims original practically runs on phones these days, and Sims 2 can be fun, too. Beyond that, though, and you get some Issues...

And Roller Coaster Tycoon 2's a nice change of pace now and again.
 

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Oh god, how I loved Arcanum. Personally, I'd love to see that in the next Elder Scrolls: where mundane tech is starting to outpace magic. Nothing fancy, say in VI they've reached around 1550 - muskets, early cannon and clockwork.

Here's my 'check out!' list...

(Note: I'm trying to avoid games listed before)

Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind. Possibly the most open-box game I've seen offline. Yeah, the combat is a little flat, but makes up for it with the sheer size of the world to play in.

Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic II. For me, it's joined the pantheon of the dozen or so good games of the franchise.

Europa Universalis III. For the budding 'alternative historian' in all of us. Yes, the learning curve is pretty steep. But worth it.

Supreme Ruler 2020. Okay. Learning curve is like cliff face. Welcome to the world of micromanagement. But once you've got the hang of it, it is fun. If you like that kind of thing.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Yep, a vampire game. If that offends you on a primal level, think of it is magic or Jedi powers instead. Quite an interesting play.

Civilization III. For older machines, perhaps the best mix of gameplay/eye candy available. The fact there's a ton of scenarios to download too extends gameplay.

Armed Assault. Wow. This is one real hard war game to play. But it's a must for anyone who despises CoD and all it's clones.

STALKER. Yeah, it's linear as hell. But it's not a bad shooter/adventure game.

Rome - Total War. Don't play the game. Download 'Rome - Total Realism' then play it. Got a good mix of economics, grand strategy and tactical fighting.

The Sims II. With the large expansions, it's a good 'pick-up, put down' game. You can avoid the sillyness parts of it if you so wish.

And 'honourable mentions'...

Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion.
Sim City III.
Star Wars - Knights Of The Old Republic.
Hearts of Iron II.
Victoria.
Operation Flashpoint.
Railroad Tycoon II.
Fallout - Tactics. (no, not trolling. It's not that bad).

And my 'final thought'...

You mentioned you already had Neverwinter Nights II. Have you taken a look at some of the fan-made addon games? Most are rubbish, but there's a couple of gems there too...
 

Caitlin Black

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Adding Knights of the Old Republic and Vampire: The Masquerade to my list. :)

KOTOR looks like a reasonably fun game, and V:tM was really well written, at least what I saw of it on YouTube just now.

Thanks. :)
 

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With KOTOR (if you you're a purist, play through I first, then II) make sure you get the 'Restored Content' mod. (for II). Made by Obsidian (who made Neverwinter Nights II) it has the same problem of being rushed onto market and having some of it's features unfinished and disabled (which the mod finishes and brings back). Luckily, it also has similar mechanics, so it's not much of a learning curve play-wise.

With VtM, make sure you get the official patch, then Wesp's Unofficial patch. Troika (the maker) went bust when the game was 90% complete, and the staff worked for free to get it out to market. But many things remained unfinished. My tip - do not play as a Malkavian or Nosferatu first time round. While fun, it ruins the replay value.
 
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