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sb:recommended:windows [2017/06/23 02:23] the_blueberry_hill link to Lost Planet 2 page |
sb:recommended:windows [2017/09/13 14:11] swarm Recommendations by Swarm! |
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| The [[hardware:pc|IBM-compatible personal computer]] has a long and storied history as a piece of gaming hardware. It is the bastion of North American game design, and its games historically reflect a less arcadey, more patient, approach. The PC is also the current hub of independent game development. | The [[hardware:pc|IBM-compatible personal computer]] has a long and storied history as a piece of gaming hardware. It is the bastion of North American game design, and its games historically reflect a less arcadey, more patient, approach. The PC is also the current hub of independent game development. | ||
| - | [[software:Steam]] has become an incredibly popular way to purchase (digital copies of) Windows-compatible software, often at exceptional prices. [[wp>Good_Old_Games|Good Old Games]] (GOG) has been releasing updated, digital, versions of DOS games compatible with modern systems, while emulators such as [[hardware:pc#DOSBox]], and [[wp>ScummVM]] allow people to run their older copies of games. | + | [[software:Steam]] has become an incredibly popular way to purchase (digital copies of) Windows-compatible software, often at exceptional prices. [[wp>Good_Old_Games|Good Old Games]] (GOG) has been releasing updated, digital, versions of [[dos|DOS games]] compatible with modern systems, while emulators such as [[hardware:pc#DOSBox]], and [[wp>ScummVM]] allow people to run their older copies of games. |
| For Linux users, [[wp>Wine_(software)|Wine]] is generally incredibly good these days, with >90%+ compatibility with anything I've purchased from [[software:Steam]] (felix). | For Linux users, [[wp>Wine_(software)|Wine]] is generally incredibly good these days, with >90%+ compatibility with anything I've purchased from [[software:Steam]] (felix). | ||
| - | For controller users there should be some helpful info. in the [[hardware:pc#Controllers|hardware section]]. | + | For controller users there should be some helpful info. in the [[hardware:pc#Controllers|hardware section]]. Generally games work just fine with 360+ and PS4 controllers. |
| ===== Recommended ===== | ===== Recommended ===== | ||
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| ***//Betrayal at Krondor//** | ***//Betrayal at Krondor//** | ||
| * bleak: A turn-based RPG with a flat-rendered 3D world navigation system and an intensely difficult combat system. Under the hood you'll find enough numbers to satisfy the nerd within you, though they are by and large unnecessary to pay attention to. Explore a volatile fantasy world rife with disease, racism, and social unrest and get the crap kicked out of you! I have yet to beat this game but I have never regretted playing it. | * bleak: A turn-based RPG with a flat-rendered 3D world navigation system and an intensely difficult combat system. Under the hood you'll find enough numbers to satisfy the nerd within you, though they are by and large unnecessary to pay attention to. Explore a volatile fantasy world rife with disease, racism, and social unrest and get the crap kicked out of you! I have yet to beat this game but I have never regretted playing it. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ***//Big Red Racing//** | ||
| - | * The Blueberry Hill: A racing game with several vehicle types that's a real good time over a network. Spent a lot of time playing this at school when I was supposed to be studying computer animation; a choice I do not regret. | ||
| ***//Binary Domain//** (also on: 360, PS3) - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=30572|forum thread]] | ***//Binary Domain//** (also on: 360, PS3) - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=30572|forum thread]] | ||
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| * JChastain: //Forget-Me-Not// is really fucking good. | * JChastain: //Forget-Me-Not// is really fucking good. | ||
| * galaxyghost: [[hardware:iPhone]] game of the year for me. | * galaxyghost: [[hardware:iPhone]] game of the year for me. | ||
| + | * the_blueberry_hill: Definitely recommended if you're into any of those new //[[games:pac-man_series|Pac-Man]]// games. | ||
| ***//Freedom Fighters / Freedom: The Battle for Liberty Island//** (also on: GC, PS2, XBox) | ***//Freedom Fighters / Freedom: The Battle for Liberty Island//** (also on: GC, PS2, XBox) | ||
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| * Toptube: hey freedom fighters is a fun game. its like dungeon siege but with guns all the time. and you directly control one of them. and I like the controls because you can take cover well, without having to rely on fumbly context controls. | * Toptube: hey freedom fighters is a fun game. its like dungeon siege but with guns all the time. and you directly control one of them. and I like the controls because you can take cover well, without having to rely on fumbly context controls. | ||
| - | ***//Freedom Planet//** | + | ***//Freedom Planet//** (also on: Linux, OSX, PS4, WiiU) |
| * The Blueberry Hill: A top-notch [[genre:sonic_loans|Sonic-like]]. I think I've enjoyed it more than any //[[game:sonic_the_hedgehog_series|Sonic]]// game, actually. | * The Blueberry Hill: A top-notch [[genre:sonic_loans|Sonic-like]]. I think I've enjoyed it more than any //[[game:sonic_the_hedgehog_series|Sonic]]// game, actually. | ||
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| ***//Hyperspeed//** | ***//Hyperspeed//** | ||
| * Bennett: Like //[[hame:star_control_2|SC2]]//, only in 3D and better, and you get to go to the engine room and upgrade and repair your systems with rare and exotic components. | * Bennett: Like //[[hame:star_control_2|SC2]]//, only in 3D and better, and you get to go to the engine room and upgrade and repair your systems with rare and exotic components. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ***//Jagged Alliance 2//** | ||
| + | * Swarm: An awesome turn-based tactics game, one that you can easily sink hours into without realising. Has a fairly steep initial learning curve, but once you get over it you're treated to an incredibly satisfying gameplay loop: hiring mercenaries, taking over territory and mines, which gives you the money to train up militia, buy new weapons and gear, and hire more mercenaries to take on tougher territories. All the mercs are unique and each have a unique personality, I fell in love with all my lil' pixelated guys and girls. Flanking an enemy and having them run right into your line of fire then blowing them away is awesome and never gets old. Feels quite light-hearted in spite of the body count, like playing with toy soldiers in the yard as a kid. Stay away from the sequels/remakes. | ||
| ***//Jetpack//** - [[http://www.adeptsoftware.com/jetpack/|download]] [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=35616|forum thread]] | ***//Jetpack//** - [[http://www.adeptsoftware.com/jetpack/|download]] [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=35616|forum thread]] | ||
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| *Felix: There's an Amiga emulator for Android that works pretty well, which is how I'm playing this for the first time. Nice to see how much it expands on the original, though it might not seem repetitive /enough/ initially if you only played the first game for twenty years. | *Felix: There's an Amiga emulator for Android that works pretty well, which is how I'm playing this for the first time. Nice to see how much it expands on the original, though it might not seem repetitive /enough/ initially if you only played the first game for twenty years. | ||
| - | ***//Little Big Adventure / Relentless: Twinsen's adventure//** (also on: PlayStation) - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=42073|forum thread]] | + | ***//Little Big Adventure 2 / Twinsen's Odyssey//** (also on: MSDOS) |
| - | * misadventurous: Twinsun is is, i think, a unique setting in videogames: a cartoon fantasy world where the struggle between good and evil is expressed with very modern, real-world imagery. The goofy, storybook looks of its natives jar with unmistakable scenes of oppression & despotic rule. Armed soldiers guard barbed-wire covered ferry checkpoints; robotic clones patrol the streets, looking for people to shoot at or chuck into jail. Twinsen, the hero, is a fugitive from justice, an enemy of the government. In every town, on every island, he is at risk of being imprisoned, or even killed. should he be captured, it's The Man himself who shows up to slap our hero across the face, in a clever, cartoon exaggeration of government interrogation. | + | |
| - | * Brooks: Really wonderful soundtrack (rare excellent use of synth-horns), and the actual pacing of events is nigh perfect, I can't think of a single section that dragged or felt redundant. At the time I also recall being legit terrified of certain enemies like the higher tier robot animals and those skeletons in the Temple of Bu; [[character:Twinsen]]'s lack of mobility had much to do with this | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | + | ||
| - | ***//Little Big Adventure 2 / Twinsen's Odyssey//** | + | |
| * HarveyQ: It's really imaginative and charming. A little bit clunky, but man! Getting your wizard diploma, going to the Moon, going to the alien planet... it has a real sense of adventure and scope. [[game:little_big_adventure_series#Little Big Adventure|The first game]] is even clunkier but lovable for the same reasons. | * HarveyQ: It's really imaginative and charming. A little bit clunky, but man! Getting your wizard diploma, going to the Moon, going to the alien planet... it has a real sense of adventure and scope. [[game:little_big_adventure_series#Little Big Adventure|The first game]] is even clunkier but lovable for the same reasons. | ||
| - | ***//Loom//** | + | ***//Loom//** (also on: Amiga, FM-Towns, MSDOS, MacOS, ST, TG-CD) |
| * gary oldman dwarfism: I finished //Loom//. I wish I'd played it as a kid, so I could really like it. Talking birds? An anvil city? No inventory? Puzzle design so spare that it's nearly impossible to get stuck? Short enough to finish in a day, switching off with my cousin? AND there's a spellbook of my very own to fill out? Sign 1995-me up! I would totally take this over King's Quest 7 or Mixed Up Mother Goose. But now, it's too linear, too simple, and over too fast. Well, and the ending that's nearly a giant TO BE CONTINUED..... sign, with no sequels. There also doesn't seem to be much reason to go through it again on other difficulty levels.\\ It's still fairly beautiful, though more childishly cartoonish than I'd expect from [[company:LucasArts]] ([[character:dame_hetchel|Hetchel]]'s portraits, mostly). I might grab some of the landscapes for backgrounds. Oh, and Chaos vaguely resembles the Head of the Navigator, especially those slight grins. | * gary oldman dwarfism: I finished //Loom//. I wish I'd played it as a kid, so I could really like it. Talking birds? An anvil city? No inventory? Puzzle design so spare that it's nearly impossible to get stuck? Short enough to finish in a day, switching off with my cousin? AND there's a spellbook of my very own to fill out? Sign 1995-me up! I would totally take this over King's Quest 7 or Mixed Up Mother Goose. But now, it's too linear, too simple, and over too fast. Well, and the ending that's nearly a giant TO BE CONTINUED..... sign, with no sequels. There also doesn't seem to be much reason to go through it again on other difficulty levels.\\ It's still fairly beautiful, though more childishly cartoonish than I'd expect from [[company:LucasArts]] ([[character:dame_hetchel|Hetchel]]'s portraits, mostly). I might grab some of the landscapes for backgrounds. Oh, and Chaos vaguely resembles the Head of the Navigator, especially those slight grins. | ||
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| ***//Mount&Blade: Warband//** - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?p=693900|forum thread]] | ***//Mount&Blade: Warband//** - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?p=693900|forum thread]] | ||
| - | |||
| - | ***//Nahlakh//** | ||
| - | *T.: Another one that opens with the ambush of the [player characters]. Meshes the world design and lovely CGA graphics of //[[game:ultima_v|ultima v]]// with a detailed combat system influenced by the //[[game:wizards_crown|wizard's crown]]// and [[wp>gurps|gurps]] (locational damage! no exp!) | ||
| ***//Nimbus//** | ***//Nimbus//** | ||
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| ***//[[game:ace_patrol_series]]//** (also on: iOS) | ***//[[game:ace_patrol_series]]//** (also on: iOS) | ||
| * The Blueberry Hill: The //Ace Patrol// games are compact little strategy games, based around aerial dog-fighting in scenarios based around events on WWI and WWII (depending on the game). You can take the role of one of several different countries, and thankfully the pilots are split evenly between male and female. It works really well!, and each round is quite brief. Tactics pertain mostly around movement and position, which are made much more interesting because of the variety of ways there are to move your planes: loops, banks, rolls, and so on. Well worth a few dollars! I prefer the first to the second, though they're not so different. | * The Blueberry Hill: The //Ace Patrol// games are compact little strategy games, based around aerial dog-fighting in scenarios based around events on WWI and WWII (depending on the game). You can take the role of one of several different countries, and thankfully the pilots are split evenly between male and female. It works really well!, and each round is quite brief. Tactics pertain mostly around movement and position, which are made much more interesting because of the variety of ways there are to move your planes: loops, banks, rolls, and so on. Well worth a few dollars! I prefer the first to the second, though they're not so different. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ***//Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri//** | ||
| + | * Swarm: I can never get into the Civilisation games, but Alpha Centauri is something I can fuck with. Play as the hippie and build up a communist domain and send your captured mind-worms out to murder every polluting heathen on the planet, then transcend into a shared AI consciousness. The game has some real spirituality to it you hardly see in games, with some surprisingly touching quotes about our species' place in the universe that's way too pretty to be in a video game. A bunch of the cutscenes jack footage directly from //Koyaanisqatsi// and //Baraka// to give you an idea of the vibe this game is going for. | ||
| ***//SimCity 2000//** | ***//SimCity 2000//** | ||
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| ***//Squad Battles: Soviet-Afghan War//** | ***//Squad Battles: Soviet-Afghan War//** | ||
| *T.: I own and adore all but one of the [[game:squad_battles_series|squad battles series]]. simple enough tb hex wargames pretty much as you'd expect from [[people:John Tiller]], but that explore unusual and very cool settings and battles (such as this one, or the soviet invasion of Finland, the Spanish civil war, French colonialists in Vietnam, etc.) | *T.: I own and adore all but one of the [[game:squad_battles_series|squad battles series]]. simple enough tb hex wargames pretty much as you'd expect from [[people:John Tiller]], but that explore unusual and very cool settings and battles (such as this one, or the soviet invasion of Finland, the Spanish civil war, French colonialists in Vietnam, etc.) | ||
| - | |||
| - | ***//Star Control 2//** | ||
| - | * Broco: GOTY 1992 for me as well. But, I agree with your criticisms. Ships have jerky turning behavior, making it easier to over/undershoot targets, and the camera likes to unpredictably flip to a totally different perspective. //[[game:star_control_3|SC3]]// made both of these things gradual and smooth, and that's the one place where it's an improvement over //SC2//. But the //SC2// way just takes some getting used to and it's fun, in fact the jerky turning becomes part of the tactics of it (you can squeeze between enemy turn increments).\\ I don't think //SC2// combat is particularly "unfair" either, I'm not sure what you're complaining about exactly there. Sometimes the battle starts with both ships very close to each other, but you just have to be aware of that possibility and you can take advantage of it as much as the enemy can.\\ Aside from these details though, //SC2// still stands up really well as an ambitious game successfully fusing together many different scopes in a way that still today few games either try or succeed at doing. You've got freeform exploration, RPG development, excellent sci-fi writing, and live-action battles, all cohering together to give you the whole awesome space-captain experience. It's like //[[game:mount_and_blade|Mount & Blade]]// in space and with a well-written story. | ||
| ***//Starseed Pilgrim//** | ***//Starseed Pilgrim//** | ||
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| ***//Stonekeep//** - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=29463|forum thread]] | ***//Stonekeep//** - [[http://forums.selectbutton.net/viewtopic.php?t=29463|forum thread]] | ||
| * bleak: An excellent real-time first person grid-based hack'n'slash dungeon crawler with full voice acting (rob paulsen is in there), decent puzzles, meaty yet optional RPG elements, lots of secrets to find, and a difficulty that delivers the goods without being overly pressing. Strategy and tactics are required. Has a sort of easy mode accessed through in-game means. Very considerate, tight, and satisfying dungeon adventure, and it maintains a great air of levity throughout. | * bleak: An excellent real-time first person grid-based hack'n'slash dungeon crawler with full voice acting (rob paulsen is in there), decent puzzles, meaty yet optional RPG elements, lots of secrets to find, and a difficulty that delivers the goods without being overly pressing. Strategy and tactics are required. Has a sort of easy mode accessed through in-game means. Very considerate, tight, and satisfying dungeon adventure, and it maintains a great air of levity throughout. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ***//Stunts / 4D Sports Driving / 4D Driving//** (also on: Amiga; PC-98) | ||
| - | * vamos: I played the DOS version. It has a brilliant [[software:stunts|track editor]] with loads of weird glitches / exploits. Hours of fun setting up tracks that launched the car high into the sky. | ||
| ***//Super Hexagon//** | ***//Super Hexagon//** | ||
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| *Kitten ClanClan: One of my top 15 games of all time, Super Meat Boy is an astoundingly well-designed, but challenging platformer focused intensely upon finishing levels as quickly and perfectly as possible. Homages many classic series and independent games without becoming derivative. Newground aesthetic felt initially off-putting, but became very charming over time. | *Kitten ClanClan: One of my top 15 games of all time, Super Meat Boy is an astoundingly well-designed, but challenging platformer focused intensely upon finishing levels as quickly and perfectly as possible. Homages many classic series and independent games without becoming derivative. Newground aesthetic felt initially off-putting, but became very charming over time. | ||
| *Felix: It's the leaderboard-era platformer refined to (relative) perfection. I'm not crazy about these sorts of games (and I kind of prefer the Runman series to this one), but if you're among those who don't think this genre is dead, this game is totally on your side. | *Felix: It's the leaderboard-era platformer refined to (relative) perfection. I'm not crazy about these sorts of games (and I kind of prefer the Runman series to this one), but if you're among those who don't think this genre is dead, this game is totally on your side. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ***//Syndicate//** (also on: 3DO, Acorn, Amiga, CD32, Jaguar, Mac, Mega Drive, PC-98, SNES) - [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/syndicate/syndicate.htm|HG101 article]] | ||
| - | * Bennett: Easily the best [[people:Peter Molyneux]] game, and the model for a whole line of Western-made realtime tactics games. | ||
| - | * The Blueberry Hill: You're best going for the //Syndicate Plus// version (Amiga/PC), which includes the expansion //American Revolt//. | ||
| ***//Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri//** | ***//Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri//** | ||
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| ***//Ultima VII//** (use [[wp>Exult]] emulator) | ***//Ultima VII//** (use [[wp>Exult]] emulator) | ||
| * Bennett: Probably the best western RPG ever. Although it's true the combat is a weakness, this is true of all western RPGs, and it is completely made up for by the adventuring aspect. A world full of mystery and interactivity. This game stands so far above all the others of 1992, both then and now, that I'm not voting for anything else. | * Bennett: Probably the best western RPG ever. Although it's true the combat is a weakness, this is true of all western RPGs, and it is completely made up for by the adventuring aspect. A world full of mystery and interactivity. This game stands so far above all the others of 1992, both then and now, that I'm not voting for anything else. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ***//[[game:Umbrella Corps]]//** (also on: PS4) - [[https://selectbutton.net/t/umbrella-corp-free-demo-july-22-23-ps4/2034|forum thread]] | ||
| + | * Drem: [[https://selectbutton.net/t/umbrella-corp-free-demo-july-22-23-ps4/2034|I wrote]] about //Umbrella Corps// last year when it came out and it really surprised me. It's definitely janky and low budget but it was one of the most fun I'd had with a shooter in a long time. It's got so many weird ideas, like the zombie repellent backpacks everyone wears that can be destroyed, to the emphasis on looking at noise on the radar to find enemies as opposed to seeing them clearly. You've got sickles with which to chop people's legs off but you can also do counters and instantly kill anyone who tries to melee you. You crawl at the speed of light. The maps are small but you zoom really fast so rounds typically last around 30 seconds at most. It's a fast paced shooter about teamwork, setplay, and reads. And no one plays it on PC. | ||
| ***//Unreal//** | ***//Unreal//** | ||
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| *T.: what is this my third [[company:paradox_interactive|paradox]] game listed lol | *T.: what is this my third [[company:paradox_interactive|paradox]] game listed lol | ||
| - | ***//[[game:videoball]]//** (also on: PS4) | + | ***//[[game:videoball]]//** (also on: PS4) [[https://selectbutton.net/t/videoball/2181|forum thread]] |
| ***//The Walking Dead//** (also on: 360, Android, iOS, PS3, Vita) | ***//The Walking Dead//** (also on: 360, Android, iOS, PS3, Vita) | ||
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| ***//Warhammer® 40,000® Space Marine//** | ***//Warhammer® 40,000® Space Marine//** | ||
| * Ronnoc: //Space Marine// is awesome because it really looks like a [[genre:belt_scrollers|beat-em-up]] and everything about it keeps telling you it's a beat-em-up, but then you play it and you realize it's a twin-stick shooter with sections of panic melee. | * Ronnoc: //Space Marine// is awesome because it really looks like a [[genre:belt_scrollers|beat-em-up]] and everything about it keeps telling you it's a beat-em-up, but then you play it and you realize it's a twin-stick shooter with sections of panic melee. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ***//The Wheel Of Time//** | ||
| + | * Swarm: I don't know why I like this game so much. Maybe it's the fact that this is some real, genuine 90's fantasy before those Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones adaptations came along and fucked it all up forever. Or maybe it's because you play as a squishy, plain-jane looking sorceress who kicks ass through a bunch of Unreal Engine 1 maps while blasting magic missile like a thousand times. You get to use magic in some strategic ways like crowd control and buffing. So yeah, just think the Thief games, but if they took out the stealth and replaced it with magic. | ||
| ***//Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom//** (also on: Mac; PlayStation) | ***//Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom//** (also on: Mac; PlayStation) | ||