Four Great Games Your PC Can Play

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear about PC gaming is that to be a PC gamer, you have to spend upwards of $1000 to be able to play the latest games. While the dollar amount is generally overestimated, I find that most people don't realize the PC is 100% backwards compatible; you don't have to be able to play the latest and greatest games. There's plenty of great games from the oft forgotten past of PC exclusivity that your secondhand Pentium III or laptop can handle. Here I'll list a few and describe them a bit, and their system requirements.

Deus Ex

You've probably heard of this one. To be fair, it's not a PC exclusive, a PS2 port exists, but the PC version is much superior. I can recommend this game to anyone who likes to play a game with their brain turned on. The shooting action isn't frantic in this game. It feels more like an adventure game, the world is highly interactive and there are so many ways to accomplish your missions without even firing a single bullet. It's a very intelligent, very unique game. It was also published in 2000, which makes it a bit ugly by today's standards, but easy on the hardware.

System Requirements:300 MHz Pentium II or equlivalent, Windows 95/98, 64 MB RAM, DirectX 7.0a compliant 3D accelerated video card 16MB VRAM, Direct X 7.0a compliant sound card, Direct X 7.0a or higher (included), 150MB uncompressed hard drive space, Keyboard and Mouse

Similar Games; System Shock 2, Thief

Age of Mythology

I'm not a big RTS fan, as a matter of fact, this is the only RTS game I have ever played through and beaten. It's a great game, though, and I can highly reccomend it to all, both the RTS veteran and those not familiar or inexperienced with the genre. The story mode is pretty unique among RTSs in that the story is focused on a few select characters instead of some historical log, and is actually pretty good. The backdrop of Ancient Mythology provides a great atmosphere to the game, and the expansion only makes things better. You have to try it.

System Requirements: One of the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Note Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT are not supported. 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM. Approximately 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard-disk space. 16 MB 3D video card is required; 32 MB video card is recommended. DirectX 8.0-compatible sound card with speakers or headphones. Multimedia computer with a Pentium 450 megahertz (MHz)-or-higher processor. 4x CD-ROM. Microsoft Mouse or other compatible pointing device.

Similar Games: Warcraft III, Civilization II Test of Time

Cave Story

It brings tears to my eyes that people yet haven't played this game. It's TOTALLY FREE, available as a download from a plethora of sources for a variety of operating systems. I think people are put off by freeware games because they lack the overall quality and attention of most commercial games, but this game contradicts that. There's an actual story, and it's good. Big explorable world. Boss fights. Awesome platformer/shooter gameplay. Original graphics and music. This is basically the game everyone would be telling you to get for your DS or something, except it's free and you can download it now. So do it.

System Requirements: Windows 98, 2000 or XP, DirectX 5.0+, Mac OS X 10.3.9, AmigaOS 4, Linux (by fan conversion)

Similar games: Commander Keen

Myst

Adventure games are a peculiar genre, almost completley exclusive to PC. Either you like them or you don't, but I think everyone should try them at least once. Especially if you've liked console games like Zack and Wiki, which stem from the populated PC adventure scene. A good place to start is Myst, which is a legendary game in the industry, and pretty old. The story is deep and fairly original, and you may find yourself sucked in trying the mind-boggling puzzles and liesurly exploring a beautful world full of creativity. This sort of thing may not appeal to everyone, I'll admit, but like I said, you have to try it at least once.

System Requirements: Windows 3.1 - MS/PC-DOS 5.0 386DX 33Mhz (486 recommended) 4MB RAM (8 Recommended) Super VGA (640 x 480, 256 colors) with compatible drivers CD Rom drive (double-speed drive or higher recomended) Mouse and Hard drive

Similar Games: Exile, Monkey Island


Finding these shouldn't be too difficult despite their age. You can check Steam or Gametap for some older games, Ebay is also always an option. Heck, some of them are so old the original devs don't care and they're being openly distributed on the internet.

So, I guess you can talk about these games here, or recommend other games that can play even on crappy hardware. My point simply is: you don't need a monster machine to play some killer apps.

I just want to say, I have Cave Story [the *Chans are good for something, I guess :/] and I love it!

Super Monkey Island series
Day of the Tentacle
Grim Fandango
Full Throttle.

EarthBound
Star Fox 2
Star Fox
Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds

They're games; my PC plays them; they count.

Myst. I use to play that game when I was much younger. I know there is crazy puzzles in that game and I actually want to retry playing it again.

And another game that I believe is either a sequel to Myst or same creators as Myst is called Riven. Another great puzzle solving game that I wouldn't mind starting over again.

They're both old games: however, they are worth trying out.

Age of Empires II and Age of Mythology are excellent. Both are relatively old games and dont need much hardware to run (especially AoEII).
May not be up to par with today's visual potential, but it's more about gameplay than anything else ;3

Originally Posted by Dr. von Fish

While the dollar amount is generally overestimated, I find that most people don't realize the PC is 100% backwards compatible; you don't have to be able to play the latest and greatest games.

I just wanted to point out that this is not actually true. I have a couple of games from the Windows 95 era that refuse to work on anything newer than Windows 98, because they think your operating system isn't actually advanced enough to play them. I know you can run the PC in compatibility mode, but that doesn't really help much when you can't even install the game. :/

That said, it's not a common situation.

Age of Mythology
. . .

Similar Games: Warcraft III, Civilization II Test of Time

...what? O.o Have you ever actually played Test of Time? They're nothing like each other. <.> They're not even in the same genre!

Cave Story

It brings tears to my eyes that people yet haven't played this game. It's TOTALLY FREE, available as a download from a plethora of sources for a variety of operating systems. I think people are put off by freeware games because they lack the overall quality and attention of most commercial games, but this game contradicts that. There's an actual story, and it's good. Big explorable world. Boss fights. Awesome platformer/shooter gameplay. Original graphics and music. This is basically the game everyone would be telling you to get for your DS or something, except it's free and you can download it now. So do it.

System Requirements: Windows 98, 2000 or XP, DirectX 5.0+, Mac OS X 10.3.9, AmigaOS 4, Linux (by fan conversion)

Similar games: Commander Keen

I think I've heard of this one before, but this is the first time anyone has said it was freeware. I might want look into it later, when I actually have a PC of my own up-and-running again.

For my personal favourites, I just want to mention StarCraft. I don't think anyone here really needs me describe it at all. (And I don't actually know the system requirements, but I'm pretty sure it was a 95 game, so any computer less than ten years old should be fine.) Also - Lemmings! Really cheep to get hold of, will run on practically anything, and still a ton of fun more than a decade down the line. ^_^

Desu Ex - Spot on. The second best game I've played, basically.

I'd pick Civilization 2 (not 3 or 4) or Age of Empires II (give or take expansion) over Age of Mythology, though. It also has better system requirements.

Civ III is fine on most computers these days; IV is the only one where you have to worry about system requirements. Civ III is somewhat more complicated than Civ II, though, so someone who's never played a Civ game would be better off starting with II. Or even just Civilisation, if they don't mind the graphics.

I have... no variety in PC games. In fact, the only ones I have are every AoE (not AoM) game (+expansions).

But I must say, I do REALLY want to download Cave Story. Once my computer finally has internet, I'm going to get it ASAP!

Deus Ex, AoM, Cave Story, Myst...

Got it, but for some reason never finished it. I watched my brother finish it though, so it's not like I missed out on any of the (absolutely fantastic) plot.

Got it. Finished it AND the expansion. Easier than beating AOE2, I'd say. (I still prefer the music of the original, non-expansion, Age of Empires though.)

Got it, but it doesn't seem to want to work properly. The text in the text boxes keeps wanting to write over the top of itself. (if anyone could help me with this, it'd be greatly appreciated)

Don't got it, but I'm not particularly interested anyway. Not my style of game.

Originally Posted by Tiroth

Civ III is fine on most computers these days; IV is the only one where you have to worry about system requirements.

I mean, I got bored to death with Civ III and I found Civ II a much better game overall.

Oh, right. xD

I think there's actually a fair bit more you can do in Civ III, but it's a little baffling when you've been used to playing Civ II for about ten years. My games on Civ III never seemed to last as long, though.

Oh, and for anyone here who's never played a Civ game before - only do it if you've got lots of spare time. Honestly, you can spend hours and hours on those games without realising it.

Cave Story is amazing, it's one of my favourite games ever. But Commander Keen as a similar game? o.O It's clearly inspired by Metroidvanias more so than anything else.

And if we are recommending old games, you should all check out Baldur's Gate 2 (best thing bioware have made by a huge margin), Diablo 2, Planescape: Torment, Total Annihilation, Knytt (awesome free atmospheric platformer), Kyntt Stories (also free), Within a Deep Forest (also free), Grim Fandango and Monkey Island series.

*Cough* Team fortress 2 *Cough*

Here's some good games my PC can play:

• Bioshock
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Call of Duty: World at War
• Fallout 3
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
• Crysis
• Crysis WARHEAD
• Mass Effect
• Gears of War
• The Witcher Enhanced Edition
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
• Company of Heroes
• Supreme Commander
• Far Cry 2
• Unreal Tournament 3

My computer is hardly a state-of-the-art gaming machine, yet I can run all these games at high settings or above. Quit contributing to the "omg those games will melt your computer" mythos.

For the record, you gain points for mentioning Deus Ex. You lose some by not praising it as one of the top five games of all time.

sea loses this thread for mentioning Crysis.

I do just want to mention that I have played Cave Story, and it is amasing. Not what I was expecting though; I think I expected a clever, mellow game like Braid, but got somthing more like Gunstar Heroes or Metroid. Awesome, anyway.

Another I'd like to reccomend: Beyond Good and Evil. I brought this ages ago when hearing how good it was but only started and finished it recently. Certainly deserving of the praise it gets.

I imagine that by now Half Life 2 should just about get into this category of games, but if not Half Life 1 certainly does.

Originally Posted by Dr. von Fish

Deus Ex

Own it, but, alas, don't much care for it. I just find the controls too cumbersome.

That said, I know it's got a massive fan following, and I suspect that if I was more into FPS games I'd adore it.

Myst

The entire Myst series is amazing.

Myst III: Exile is the easiest of the games, while Myst IV: Revelation is definitely the hardest. Riven: The Sequel to Myst is regarded as the best of the bunch, but none of them make much sense unless you've beaten the first Myst game. (You can play the others in whatever order you wish, but I then II is probably the best way to start.)

Originally Posted by fratey

I mean, I got bored to death with Civ III and I found Civ II a much better game overall.

Civ IV is the best of the lot by far.

III wasn't that great, with far too much emphasis on combat and expansion and a rather skewed balance.

IV fixes all that.

Originally Posted by Princess Glitter Fairy

And if we are recommending old games, you should all check out Baldur's Gate 2 (best thing bioware have made by a huge margin),

No question. None at all.

Play Baldur's Gate II now. All of you. It's still in stores, I belive, despite being rather old. It's just that good.

It has excellent and highly memorable characters, a very solid plot, and a massive world full to overflowing with sidequests.

The only problem it has is its use of the 2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons ruleset, which can be quite confusing. Fortunately, there are many guides online as to what all the stats mean and how the rules work.

The game also has a massive modding community that are, even now, releasing fan-made patches that improve the game. It's just that good.

Buy it. Buy it now. It costs almost nothing and will be the best RPG purchase you will ever make....

Planescape: Torment,

...Save, perhaps, for this. Planescape: Torment, while not as long or side-quest-laden as Baldur's Gate II has a simply amazing story and an almost-as-memorable cast of characters.

If you can find this game then add it to your collection. It is astoundingly atmospheric given when it was made, and has the most creative and unique story I've ever seen in a video game.

Morrowind should be on there as well. I can't believe nobody has mentioned it.

GREAT RPG, great system requirements, so many things to do.

Baldur's Gate 2 confused the heck out of me.