List of old PC video game "gems" - Things that I missed but "must play".

[YurdleTheTurtle]

I was wondering if we could get a list of PC video game "gems" that I missed out over the years. This includes any "old" games since 1998, more or less.

Basically, I want to play all those excellent games I've missed over the years.

My second reason is that, well, my computer bites and it may be a long time before I get a new one - so I need to get games I can actually play.

You can contribute any "old" video game gem. I'd prefer to get games that have a lot of value like adventures and RPGs.

Here's what I got so far:

- Beyond Good and Evil
- Indigo Prophecy
- The Longest Journey + Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
- Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 + 2: The Sith Lords (Already played 2, currently playing the first one)
-Half Life (Already played it a very long time ago)
- Starcraft (Obviously already played this a long time ago)
- Warcraft (Obviously already played these games as well)
- Diablo (Never played any Diablo games yet! AHHH)

[Romaneck]

You cant love your life if you havent played Sacrifice.

Great game with so much replay value you will try different combos and not quite taste boredom

[Esa]

X-com: Ufo defence/enemy unknown
Isometric anti-alien management TBS game. might be hard in todays standards

Age of wonders
fantasy tbs in hex, its pretty awesome.

Seconding Deus Ex and Ground Control.

[Sparki]

X-Com Ufo /Enemy unknown, by far one of the awesome games of the past . Loved X-Com Apocalypse even more despite the hate from other fans.

Jagged Alliance 1 and 2.

Deus Ex.
An FPS, but not just the typical FPS - It's a game with one heck of depth and detail. You play as a federal agent in a dystopic (sp) future. There are different approaches to chose to meet your goals, like stealth or run-and-gun.

Ouf, I have a sack full of old games in my head. Could take a while to dig em up, boss.

[Rednova88]

Homeworld, in the unlikely case that you haven't played it before.

Any of the old Mechwarrior games, all the old ones are pretty good if you like the whole mech thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MechWarrior_(video_games)

Recoil: Can't remember much, but the story revolves around you and a team stealing some sort of highly experimental tank that's incredibly versatile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoil_(video_game)

The Elderscrolls II: Daggerfall. If memory serves me it's about 10 times bigger than Morrowind and Oblivion combined. If you want a long ass RPG then look no further.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eld...II:_Daggerfall

Breaking the rules here, but Freedom Fights was an often overlooked gem of a game, it came out 03 I think. Think if Socom and Command & Conquer had babies. You are able to recruit a small militia and order them like you would in an RTS. Single player is linear but the cool thing is that you can climb over pretty much anything you think you'd be able to in real life, the AI actively take cover and have really good path finding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom...rs_(video_game)

The only RTS I've ever played that can even come close to rivaling Homeworld in sheer awesomeness. Warzone 2100 is one of those RTS games you can't possibly forget.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warzone_2100
It's freeware too! http://wz2100.net/download

Total Annihilation: Came out around the same time of Starcraft, and was vastly superior in many many ways but didn't carry the same hype because the developers didn't have a rep like Blizzard. Made by the folks that have recently made Supreme Commander, so you probably know what to expect here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_annihilation

Yes another RTS! Ground Control was released in 2000, and is not your traditional RTS. No resource management or economy. You pick from a set of units, and make the best of what you have.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_Control
It's also free! http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/groundcontrol/

Also what Sparki said. I played Deus Ex several years ago when I got for free with an issue of PC Gamer. Seriously it's got to be one of the best games out there, no matter how old it becomes it will always be a fond memory to those who played it.

*has nothing better to do so he will continue to list old games that were really good*

[Xan]

Baldur's Gate series and Planescape Torment. KotOR pales in comparison to these two masterpieces, especially Torment.

[Skrzyp]

Monkey Island 1 - 3: Fun adventure series. I'm especially fond of #3, although you can probably skip #4. They decided to make it 3D which didn't really add anything.

The Thief Series: I've only played Deadly Shadows (yay Steam), but I found it very enjoyable. A refreshing alternative to standard FPSes where beating unknowing individuals over the head is encouraged.

Freedom Force and its sequel Freedom Force vs the Third Reich is a fun, campy action/rpg. You control a group of various super heroes through various comic book story lines.

[Romaneck]

I also forgot Clive Barker´s Undying, that game is awesome while it is a FPS it really stands out as a tale that it is expressed in a great way.

You may also try American McGee´s Alice, that game gave me some good challenges but once you got the "hidden weapon" the game becomes easy.

Rise of Legends while not old, has a really, really good Single Player campaing

[TheWickedGerman]

Any of the old Mechwarrior games, all the old ones are pretty good if you like the whole mech thing.

MechCommander 1+2 where pretty cool. Real time tactical, with usual mech customization, + leveling pilots who can specialize their skills for different task. You had a foxed weight your landing boat, so you had to decide iwhat to take with you, which adds more depth. Also you could make use of small vehicles and minelayers.

I heard its free now, not sure if this is true.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 is also worth a try(You build a and mange a own theme park and design Coasters and other rides). You can adjust so many details, even the ammound of ketchup on your burgers. Part 1+2 are also great, but the graphic are even older. But building coasters was easier with them.

Runaway 1 was quite cool too, but it´s not that old. If you like RPG´s than try Fallout 1+2 if you didn´t try them. And I agree that BG + Planscape Tornment where awesome. I never finished PST, I feel i have something to do.

[Void]

Planescape Torment and Arcanum:Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Two of the best RPGs out there. They both have very original storylines and backstories. Two "Must Play" of the RPG genre.


Edit: <- Torment Fanboy ;d

[SquidDNA]

System Shock 2

[JAL-18]

Freespace 1 + 2

[-Str!ker-]

Thief games are all awesome, the first 2 better then Thief:3 Deadly Shadows.

Jade Empire by Bioware was an excellent game with an original setting and storyline.

Red Faction is a great FPS that has some good substance to it.

I've been playing through Titan Quest, that's a fun Diablo type game in an ancient Greece setting.

[KON Air]

Battlezone I&II

[Starblade]

Homeworld. It is flawless and without peer.

[[Vertigo]]

Sacrifice is a great game. Planescape Torment and System Shock were great as well.

[Quaetam]

Homeworld > Starcraft. I love both games however and would recommend them to you any day. Homeworld was so innovative at the time and remains so today through its truely epic plot and brilliant game mechanics. Even its now outdated graphics still shine. It has always been and remains my single favorite game.

Although it isn't old at all, I enjoyed Command and Conquer Generals thoroughly. Its plot was weaker than the other games of the C&C franchise by a mile, but I found it rather enjoyable nevertheless.

A relatively old FPS I loved was C&C Renegade, although the skirmish is useless for me with my horrible internet and lack of more than 2 computers for lan. The campaign was just plain fun.

Freelancer was a fun and interesting space sim that you should check out.

[Croaxleigh]

Dune II/Dune 2000. The cutscenes alone make it worth it. Supposedly Emperor: Battle for Dune is a good game too, but it's one of those that I missed because when it came out it was too advanced for my computer at the time.

[JRL3001]

Master of Orion II

classic turn based stratagy game

[fuggles]

Hostile Waters
Giants Citizen Kabuto
Outcast
Psychonauts
Vampire Bloodlines the Masquerade

[Elukka]

The Longest Journey and Dreamfall. Especially TLJ. Both are on Steam and both are great adventure games.

Dreamfall is short, sadly, and I didn't really like how it was wrapped up.

And Homeworld, duh.

[Psymon]

Vampire Bloodlines the Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. One of the best written and acted games in ages, with a superb dialogue system and pretty good combat and sneaky stuff. Somehow makes being a newly created pawn of the vampire higher-ups very compelling. Worth a few playthroughs to try out the different clans, particularly Nosferatu and Malkavian. Nosferatu are hideously deformed, meaning you have to move around in the sewers whenever possible to avoid detection. Malkavians are great fun to play as, because their clan 'thing' is being completely batshit insane. You can get into an argument with a road sign! It's also got John DiMaggio in it. Available on Steam, very buggy but the fan patches (I think they're up to version 6.0 now) fix most of the problems and add a fair bit of content that didn't make it to the full game.

Stronghold is a great old RTS in which you run a castle. Its sequel, Stronghold Crusader was a little more difficult because you couldn't grow food on desert, which most the map consisted of, but added a lot of cool new units.

Tropico is the best management sim ever. You are the corrupt dictator of a tiny banana republic in the Caribbean. Have fun! The expansion pack, Paradise Island, adds touristy stuff to build on your island. There is a sequel, Tropico 2: Pirate's Cove, but I didn't find it as good, however appealing running a pirate base is.

On that note, Sid Meier's Pirates! is an utterly brilliant game in which you play a pirate captain in the Caribbean. Great fun.

[JAL-18]

I am disappointed that Good Old Games doesn't have the System Shock series.

[Jianaran]

Aliens vs Predator 2. Awesome FPS, and very very tense.

Also, I'm going to second Ground Control. First game by Massive (Guys who made WiC), and still great fun. The sequel, Ground Control II, isn't worth the time you'll spend installing it though.

[BmB]

Giants Citizen Kabuto

By Planet Moon. These people are the Monty Pythons of the video game industry.

[Rafta]

Has "Armed and Dangerous" already be mentioned?

I nearly pissed my pants because of laughing during the cut scenes.

[Croaxleigh]

As a random note, when looking at the OP list:

- Starcraft (Obviously already played this a long time ago)
- Warcraft (Obviously already played these games as well)

It's not necessarily so obvious... after all, some folks (such as myself) have never played Starcraft or any of the Warcraft games. *smiles*

[Starblade]

Like me. Who needs Starcraft or Warcraft anyway?

[fuggles]

well I strongly recommend the WC3 single player owing to the over-arching plot and sheer variety of RTS missions. The ex-pack also has a splendid and innovative central gimmick.

[KON Air]

I've reinstalled Red Faction from a Cd that has more straches then a straching post of a kitten with adamantium claws... and it worked. And it crashed spectacularly. A patch fixed it. Then I died. The I noticed there is no such thing as autosave. Then I rage quitted windows. Booted Knoppix, it failed, then I booted windows and post this.

I still have excessive rage.

[n0z3k1ll3r]

Thief games are all awesome, the first 2 better then Thief:3 Deadly Shadows.

That said Thief 3 has the single best level of all three games, marking the definate high point of the series. It's worth playing for that alone.

[nyyti]

Museum, island mansion and shalebridge cradle were the gems in Thief 3. Two first are great for ghosting, and 3rd is one of the scariest missions ever that I've played at night .

Baldur's Gate series has been mentioned already I see, but I'll just go and tell you it's the best high-fantasy rpg game ever made. The environments, the story, the characters, the gameplay...SOLID. GOLD.

Also Icewind Dale series. More combat oriented. but still awesome.

[Deunan]

Planescape Torment and Arcanum:Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Two of the best RPGs out there. They both have very original storylines and backstories. Two "Must Play" of the RPG genre.

Let me second these two. Nothing has ever come even remotely close to torment in my book.

Mention system shock 2, AVP 1|2, fallout 1|2 and total annihilation (you could probably find the free ware spring variant) and the earth games.

[molo]

I'll echo the suggestion of Ground Control, and add a few:

- Railroad Tycoon (the original or Deluxe version) is a great RTS without the typical elements.
- Descent 1 and 2 are fantastic, pioneering shooters from days gone by.
- Jagged Alliance 2 is a great turn based tactical game, and it's cheap on Steam.

[Bowkers]

Well I guess I have to say Homeworld. Would have loved to play that, and I probably will get a copy over the easter break, but never saw this game when I was growing up, seeing as it's only £4.95 on amazon.co.uk.

I would also say, echoing other people's views here, that I never played Warcraft 3whilst growing up and I've Starcraft I played a couple of times, but I didn't really find the appeal of Warcraft. Also, I believe I was too into Freelancer at around this time to care about any other games..

[Kryopsis]

I recently picked up a turn-based strategy game called 'Disciples II' (the Gold pack is available for 9.99 from GOG.com). I remember stumbling upon the demo of the first title five years ago but wasn't impressed back then. The game is similar to Heroes of Might and Magic but with a distinctively dark and depressing universe. While the combat could be called simplistic (it involves no movements, only formation positioning and attack targets) it does involve a degree of thinking and the AI is rather bright. The first two games, as well as the expansions, were developed here in Montreal, whereas the third title coming out soon is being worked on by a Russian company.

If you like games like Heroes of Might and Magic or Age of Wonders, you should consider Disciples II, if only for the wonderfully moody visual style.

[SmellyTerror]

Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far. Brilliant WW2 strategy game. No dopy "puzzle" missions that plague single player RTS. A million details that nevertheless don't get overwhelming. Your guys have NAMES, every single soldier, and each one has seperately modelled morale. Your units even have ammo.

Scariest flame throwers ever.

[molo]

Damn, I can't believe I failed to mention ABTF. It's a 2D version of what I hoped Relic would do with the CoH series. The later CC games were good as well, but ABTF was the best. The first time you face off with a Tiger or 88, and all you have is some infantry, an M4A1, and some bazooka teams, you really have to start planning!

[Kronoch]

How about Worms Armageddon. I always really enjoyed playing the Worms games. Little pink worms blasting the crap out of eachother in the most hilarious ways on a 2d map. Long live the banana bomb!

[BmB]

Naw, world party ftw!

[molo]

I had a lot of fun playing World Party in the dorms. A friend had a projector in his room and we'd hot seat our way through some pretty ridiculous games.

[mikami170]

-dark reign 1 rts came out right before starcraft so it was ignored but it was awesome specially the story

-dark reign expansion rise of blackhand also unique story

-battlezone (rts/fps) + exp by pandemic studios, ignore battlezone 2


dont play dark reign 2 that was crap made by someone else


-system shock 2


-deus ex, ignore sequel

[archaon376]

Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far. Brilliant WW2 strategy game. No dopy "puzzle" missions that plague single player RTS. A million details that nevertheless don't get overwhelming. Your guys have NAMES, every single soldier, and each one has seperately modelled morale. Your units even have ammo.

Scariest flame throwers ever.

Oooh, another CC series fan? I've pretty much been preaching that game a lot in these forums (because of all the interest in tactical games [spawned by DoW2]).

CC2 is a bit outdated compared to the other releases though.

[Gorb]

Worms in all it's incarnations is great, my favourite was Worms: United. Armageddon was very fun, but it felt more like a reskinned United to me.

Also, I can't believe no-one has mentioned Alpha Centauri (Wiki link here) yet. Such an awesome game, even in this day and age. Plenty of replayability and a surprising amount of customisation when it comes to planet generation, game rules and faction descriptions.

[n0z3k1ll3r]

-deus ex, ignore sequel

Actually much as I used to hate it I'm beginning to gain a grudging respect for Invisible War. Whilst it fell down horribly in a lot of areas, some of those (the inefficient engine for example) aren't to big an issue on newer PCs where it should run easily on max, and there's a few things it did do better than the first: you're not railroaded into having any one faction as the "big bad" like in DX1 for example, and in a way the core plot is actually cleverer than the first game (or at least deals with some more highbrow themes on the nature of humanity and transhumanism rather than just zomgconspiracy). The only massive sticking points remain the removal of skill points and the single ammo type, both of which were just unnecessary dumbing down of game mechanics.

Overall don't go expecting a game quite the quality of the first but it's still one that's worth playing.

[Panzer General]

1. Age of Empires 2
2. Age of Mythology
3. Stronghold series
4. Sid Meier's Pirates


You people make me want to get Homeworld!

[Delta_Assault]

Well, Homeworld 1/2 come to mind but this IS Relic's forums, that shouldn't need to be said.

FreeSpace 2: A commercial product lovingly crafted with care and detail. A sci fi story epic in scope and layered with mysteries. An instant classic with legions of die hard fans in a niche genre. Boy, they don't make em like this anymore. All these glowing sentences describe Volition's much beloved FreeSpace 2. Not to be confused with the partitioning utility software, FS2 is a sci fi space simulation which deals with an alien threat to humanity out among the stars. Sound cliched? Yes, it is. But combine the best aspects of space sims (Wing Commander/TIE Fighter) and polish it until it gleams with radiant storytelling and space environments, and you've got this treasured masterpiece.

The first FreeSpace got everything pretty much right, but Volition outdid themselves on their second outing. Introducing dense nebulas to their already painterly regular space environs, the cosmic ether is a wonderful place to fight in. The pace of the game is leisurely at the beginning, but quickly ramps up to a deadly tempo as you fight to save humans and their Vasudan allies from the return of the Shivans, the antagonists of the first game. And boy, they return with a vengeance. Don't be comfortable now that mankind's built a huge new capital ship named the GTVA Colossus, the Shivans can more then match it. The twists and turns in the narrative are never anything less then captivating, and the entire game does everything to make you feel apart of an epic struggle betwen spacefaring civilizations. In the end, questions will linger, which unfortunately must remain unanswered as it doesn't look like we'll ever get a FreeSpace 3 due to poor sales of FS2. One of the greatest injustices in history. Anyone who hasn't played FreeSpace 2 doesn't deserve to call himself a PC gamer. Unlike a classic like MechWarrior 2, FreeSpace 2 absolutely holds up today. Absolutely.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory: What can I say, I've got a hard on for this particular brand of realistic gameplay. Also why I find Counter-Strike such a disappointing and disgusting phenomenon. Ah well, back to Sam Fisher. Splinter Cell was one of the greats, and why it isn't on this list is simply because Chaos Theory, the third one in the series, just takes everything from Splinter Cell and makes it better. Better weapon mechanics, better graphics, better lighting, better enemy AI, better level design, and holy shit they added a knife for Sam! Truly, the most important addition to any series, ever. Slicing someone's throat open from the side with it is one of the most satisfying moves in gaming.

Chaos Theory is also superior in its addition of a fantastic co-op mode online. Instead of sneaking around by yourself, you could actually sneak around and perform stealth knockouts with a teammate. While limited to four levels, it was not a thoughtless addition and provided some genuinely exciting and tense action. While not anywhere near as cinematic or annoyingly labored with its storytelling as the Metal Gear Series, Splinter Cell is the superior stealth genre series in my humble opinion. PS: don't get SC Double Agent, it's a buggy mess on the PC.

Knights of the Old Republic: The very first RPG I ever played. And goddamn, couldn't have started off on a better foot. This is sorta like deciding to watch your very first superhero movie and picking The Dark Knight. Everything that comes after just seems like a letdown. That's kinda how I feel about KOTOR. And you've gotta know this about me, I fucking hate Star Wars. Never been fond of it. But this game... this story just sucked me in and never let go. I absolutely had to keep playing to find out what was going to happen to these characters I'd become attached to. To do this to me, someone who had never played RPGs, didn't like em, and had no interest in Star Wars either, well... that's just about the highest compliment I think I can give. Too bad its sequel couldn't match the great story of the first one. But alas, lightning in a bottle only happens every once in a while.

Lastly, Act of War: I played this RTS religiously for about a year before I moved on and found out about Dawn of War. Anybody who likes RTSs at all should try this little-known gem from Atari. To put it simply, Act of War is in my opinion the perfect Command and Conquer game. It takes everything that made Command and Conquer great and dials it up to 11. This is strange because Act of War isn't actually an official Command and Conquer game. IMO, Act of War got exactly the right scale of combat. With DoW 2, you have small intimate squad battles. With Supreme Commander, you've got a ginormous scale with epic battles across entire peninsulas. Act of War had the perfect average of scale with good infantry action (even inside buildings!), while also allowing for devastating nuclear strikes and massed tank rushes. They even managed to pull off air combat in an innovative realistic fashion, which Relic later mimicked in CoH. Even Command and Conquer 3 came out later and tried to follow the magic and execution of Act of War, but I think they fell short. About the *only* complaint I can ever make about Act of War is that the infantry are individual units rather then squads, but I played it before DoW so that didn't bother me at the time.