Galactic Civilizations IITurn Based Strategy
Metacritic Rating: 86/100GalCiv II is a grand strategy game set in space. It is a bit like Civilization, in which you expand your empire, explore new worlds, war with your neighbors, advance your technology, and so on. I don't have much to say about it other than that it's a pretty solid game.
Company of HeroesReal Time Strategy
Metacritic Rating: 93/100Company of Heroes is the most meticulously detailed RTS I have ever seen. Engineers build entrenchments and sabotage bridges. Tanks will knock down walls and crush barbed wire and sandbags. Infantry fortify buildings, take cover behind walls, and duck into craters. Squads advance with bounding tactics. Soldiers pick up and fire enemy weapons. Artillery blows apart buildings. Once you've played Company of Heroes, games like Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, and Warcraft seem distinctly primitive in their execution.
Sins of a Solar EmpireReal Time Strategy
Metacritic Rating: 88/100There isn't really any other game like Sins of a Solar Empire. It takes the RTS genre, slows it down, and scales it up. You command an entire empire in an interstellar war, and not an Age of Empires scale empire, but an actual Civilization scale empire, fighting planet by planet, developing individual colonies, and generally conducting all the exploration, research, diplomacy, and empire building that you'd expect from a grand strategy game like that. This game is beautiful, the action is exciting, and it's so unique that there's really no competition for it out there. For me, a typical game of SoaSE lasts 2 to 8 hours straight, non-stop real time action. It's also great if you have trouble with the fast pace typical of RTS games, but still like the genre.
Left 4 DeadFirst Person Shooter
Metacritic Rating: 89/100Left 4 Dead is a cooperative zombie shooter. You play as one of four survivors of a zombie apocalypse, and try to get to rescue. There's no point in getting this game if you don't plan to play online. If you do play online, it is incredibly fun. I've seen multiple people who are giddy that they're playing a game this fun. Also, since this is made by the same company that made Half-Life, you may be interested to know you have tons of ammo. Even if you run out on your primary weapon, you'll just switch to pistols, which have infinite ammo.
Mass EffectRole Playing Game
Metacritic Rating: 89/100If you like Western RPGs (Fallout and Arcanum among them), you should really check out at least one BioWare game, as they're a very respected company, and they specialize in the genre. Mass Effect is their newest game, and comes highly recommended. Granted, there is a lot of clicking in combat, and it is real time, but not in the Diablo-style click-fest you might expect. Mass Effect's combat is modeled after first person shooters, with RPG stats. It is vaguely similar to Fallout 3 in terms of its combat style. Mass Effect has the best dialogue system I've ever seen in an RPG, full voice acting, and an epic science fiction story set in a new universe. Plus, if you're into it, you can keep your save game, and use it in the upcoming sequel -- important, since your choices in the game have permanent effects on the game world, and even who lives and dies among your allies. This would be a great option to branch out into other RPG styles beyond the top-down style of Fallout 1 & 2 and Arcanum.
Puzzle QuestPuzzle
Metacritic Rating: 84/100Puzzle Quest is basically an RPG where you engage in combat by playing Bejeweled against your opponent. Casual and hardcore gamers agree: The result is way more fun than it sounds or has any right to be.
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Topic: RECOMMEND ME GAMES! I just bought a NEW COMPUTER! (Read 10097 times)