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Steam What Are the Defining Games of the Past Five Years?

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by meisterjonny, 31 Mar 2015.

  1. meisterjonny

    meisterjonny What's a Dremel?

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    Years back I'm sure I had an account on here, but I can't remember my username nor the email associated...anyway...HI AGAIN!

    I was a PC gamer through and through growing up, until about 5 years ago I when I had a...controlling...girlfriend who wasn't best pleased with my gaming. So I swapped to consoles as something easier to pick up and put down, and in her eyes was more socially acceptable. 'Everyone has a PlayStation or an Xbox, but you just sit in your room...' Fast forward to now, the lunatic girlfriend in question has long since gone, and my new partner is thankfully totally different.

    For my day job I'm an academic in a UK university working on CUDA, and I've just retired my two year old PC containing two (well used) Titans, home (my PC!). That means I figure it's time to fire up a PC game for the first time in a long long time... :D

    My question to you all is If you had an empty Steam library, what games would you say that it must contain. And preferably ones a few years old or so for nice cheap prices on Steam, not latest releases for £40 a pop. If you had say £100, how would you spend it on a varied steam library, a few RPG's, shooters, RTS' and so on... (not all just massive RPG's to get most play hours for money!)?

    My taste? Back in the day I racked up 1000's of hours on WoW and CoD:MW. Other faves that stick out: Dragon Age (I fully plan to buy this again anyway), Oblivion, Mass Effect, HL2, The Witcher, Aion, Deus Ex, Civ 4...

    Any input greatly appreciated, as I feel very out of the loop, and don't really no where to start to get back into it...
     
  2. suenstar

    suenstar Collector of Things

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    Welcome back to the community.


    As you enjoyed putting time into Oblivion, then an obvious choice to pick up that is often up on sale is the Skyrim Legendary Edition (contains the core game and all the DLC).
    Many people here, myself included, have easily burnt away hundreds of hours playing and modding the game.


    As for my own list of favourite Steam games with £100 to spend (in no particular order):

    1. Europa Universalis IV + the El Dorado DLC (this is hands down my favourite game at the moment, I love the mixture of diplomacy, global domination and exploration)
    2. The Binding of Isaac Rebirth
    3. Just Cause 2
    4. Skyrim
    5. Borderlands 2
    6. Fallout New Vegas
    7. X Rebirth
    8. Civ 5
    9. FTL
    10. Anno 2070
    11. Homeworld 1&2 Remastered

    Depending on whether they're being bought at sale prices or full price, I'd imagine that'd be well under £100.

    Aion I believe is free now, so you could easily pick that one back up if you wanted.
    Another free to play that is generally a good time-sink is ArcheAge.
     
    Last edited: 31 Mar 2015
  3. Aterius Gmork

    Aterius Gmork smell the ashes

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    For no other reason than coming to mind first here are five games I really enjoyed in the last years:

    Bioshock Infinite for the nice graphics and entertaining story.

    Civilization 5: Brave New World is the best turn based strategy game of the last years, no matter what the nay-sayers might say. Forget the new one, Civ 5 is better.

    Dark Souls. My favorite game of the last years. Praise the sun etc.

    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the best RPGs of the last years. Skip TESO, this is the Elder Scrolls game you want to play.

    Portal 2 is just as much fun as the previous installment. If you haven't played it yet get it NOW.


    Oh, and even though it's no steam game get Minecraft.
     
  4. DLDeadbolt

    DLDeadbolt Space Cadet

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    HumbleBundle.com is a great place to pick up weekly packages of games, the money goes to some great causes.

    You can also get cheaper CD keys of other sites like G2A or CJ'S. The Steam Summer Sale should be starting in a month or two, so theirs always that.

    Now for the games (since you are an old school gamer, I'm assuming you'd click on a few names):

    Ori & The Bind Forest - Recently released, and I have yet to see a negative review that stands up to scrutiny (apart from some people complaining certain parts are hard... pansies)

    Bastion & Transistor - A pair of fantastic games, Bastion has probably the best soundtrack of recent years (voice acting is brilliant aswell)

    Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Needs no introduction for consoler's.

    Civilization 5: Brave New World - My favourite (apart from Alpha Centauri) of the series. Be sure to skip Beyond Earth, not worth the time or money yet.

    Counter Strike: Global Offensive - It's CS, what more to say.

    Team Fortress 2
    Dota 2 or League of Legends - Either are a great MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), though I prefer DotA.

    RTS's: their haven't been any in recent years that I'd really recommend, though you can pick up HD remakes of Age Of Empires 2 or Age of Mythology

    Starcraft 2 - Shoudlnt really need to give this an introduction

    Homeworld - Another recent remake of a great game.

    Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Good, but not great. I'd recommend if you can get for £10 or less.

    Pillars Of Eternity - recently released RPG. If you've played PLanescape Torment or Baldurs Gate in the past, you should like this (it is pretty tough though)

    Alien: Isolation - If you've watched the original Alien film, and enjoy a bit of a scare, you should like this. The atmosphere of the game is astonishing.

    Free to Play games:

    World Of Tanks - Free to play, great game, matchess lasting ~15mins so easy to just jump on for a quick battle.

    WarThunder - Aerial combat with WW2 planes. Also has a Ground Forces side for tank combat.

    Path Of Exile - It is a good succesor to the Diablo style of RPGs. I think it is a lot better than Diablo 3

    A few notable mentions from the horror genre (something I don't like playing): Amnesia, Alan Wake, Dead Space, The Evil Within, Five Nights At Freddy's,

    ----------------------------------------------

    I'll make another post later with a few more additions.
    I'll also check my past Humble Bundles for some codes I never redeemed.

    Hit me up on Steam, details below
     
  5. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    If you enjoyed the Witcher then you owe it to yourself to continue the story with the next two instalments.

    If you fancy something completely out of leftfield in the soft-RPG genre, I quite enjoyed Risen 2: Dark Waters. Pirhana Bytes games are a bit Marmite, but I like the humour personally. I'm sure Risen 3 is more of the same.

    Assassins Creed: Black Flag was a temporary return to form for the series.

    Tomb Raider if you enjoy button mashing action.

    Ensure you catch up on any Mass Effect instalments you never got round to playing as well.

    Dishonored was pretty fun and worth a couple of playthroughs if you have the time.

    For a few cheapies that are very different (but also short) try Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Grow Home.
     
  6. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    It's tricky, because if you've been gaming on a console for the past five years then you've probably played a decent number of the games being recommended above. As such, are you specifically looking for PC-only games (i.e. ones that you haven't played on your console), or games that you might have played on console that are better/different on PC?

    If it's the latter, then given that you enjoyed Oblivion, Skyrim is a no-brainer, especially given the enormous range of mods available on PC. These can totally transform the game from the plain vanilla version and show one of the great advantages of playing on PC versus consoles.
     
  7. SMIFFYDUDE

    SMIFFYDUDE Supermodders on my D

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    Alien: Isolation
    Amnesia: The Dark Descent
    Anno 2070
    Crusader Kings II
    DayZ (early access)
    Grim Fandango Remastered (if you haven't played it originally)
    Kerbal Space Program (early access)
    Metro 2033 Redux
    Metro: Last Light Redux
    Project Zomboid (early access)

    If you don't already know, check out Humble Store, Bundle Stars and GOG, they are good alternative (to Steam) PC focused places to get good deals.
     
    Last edited: 31 Mar 2015
  8. GeorgeStorm

    GeorgeStorm Aggressive PC Builder

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    Some of the games I've enjoyed most over the last couple of years:

    Anno 1404/2070
    Team Fortress 2
    Crusader Kings II
    CS:GO
    Towerfall Ascension
    Metro 2033
    Don't Starve
     
  9. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    Borderlands 2 for none mmo game it's fun and very addictive.
    Starcraft 2 is still beat rts game out there.
    Asserto corsa is a very good racing game.
    Just cause 2 on pc it's better than gta for my money it's massive open world gaming as it should be done.
     
  10. loftie

    loftie Multimodder

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    Welcome back.

    I can't check dates since I'm on too lazy to do it on my phone :p

    Skyrim
    Borderlands 2
    Mass effect 2
    Portal 2
    Minecraft

    That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.
     
  11. meisterjonny

    meisterjonny What's a Dremel?

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    Awww you guys! Thanks for all the replies. I tried to post this on /r/pacgaming but it got deleted because game requests aren't allowed and on /r/gaming but it got deleted for no reason given...

    Trying to get back into my first and oldest love of PC gaming is part of my 'restore life to last known good configuration' and hearing from you all was great. Even posting here takes me back, I used to be quite a prominent folder back in the day when GTX 9800 GX2's were still cool.... I got my name in Custom PC once. Does that magazine even still exist?!

    What I can take away form this:

    SKYRIM - Never played it on console. Console gaming was a way to keep myself playing games without annoying the ex....but playing anything involving that required more than an hour at a time was out of the question! Definitely getting that then!

    ANNO - Keeps coming up again. A city building sim with RTS elements? Sounds good :thumb:

    METRO - For a game I've only ever seen sitting on the preowned shelf and never given a second thought to it seems to come up a lot, I'll add that to the list!

    MASS EFFECT - I never played it past one and more than one person recommended the rest

    BORDERLAND - I'll be honest I know nothing more than the name...but you all seem to like it

    And a shed ton of games I don't recognise! Thank you all haha. I notice PC gaming has gone through a resurgence in indie gaming?! Browsing through Steam mindlessly I don't seem to recognise any of the titles anymore. Thanks for giving me some starting points though!

    I recognise homeworld too! Pretty sure I had that on a PC running windows 98...! Interesting to hear that still around...

    And @DLDeadbolt thanks! I'll defo add you on Steam! My friends list is a tad sparse haha.... I just need another week to get a desk so I can actually boot the desktop up!
     
  12. loftie

    loftie Multimodder

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    I'd like to throw in Makicka, Edwards and I played that and had a laugh. Best with someone though. The RTS elements in Anno are small, it's mostly about economic dominance. Gunsmith has videos of it on his YouTube channel. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but its not something I'd often recommend as it'd bore some people.
     
  13. suenstar

    suenstar Collector of Things

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    Indie studios have definitely been taking a lead in the spotlight recently, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on releases by small unknown developers as you can often pick them at insane value.

    As mentioned, Humble Bundle is a great website to pick up bargains and they often show a good range of Indie games.
    Another few good websites to keep on your list of places to constantly check for bargains are:

    Good Old Games - www.gog.com
    Green Man Gaming - www.greenmangaming.com
    Bundle Stars - www.bundlestars.com


    Homeworld is indeed still around, it received a massive upgrade and re-release earlier this year with HD textures, re-done sound, UI upgrades and other wonderful little bits. If you enjoyed the classic game then it's definitely worth having a gander at that.


    Like DLDeadbolt, feel free to add me on Steam as I'm happy to join in a game if you want to do co-op. My Steam name is in my signature below.
    Definitely join the Bit-Tech HQ group on Steam as well.
    https://steamcommunity.com/groups/bitdashtechdotnet


    Also, if you like chatting over voice with people online while you play, there is a community TeamSpeak server for the forum:
    http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=226275
     
  14. SMIFFYDUDE

    SMIFFYDUDE Supermodders on my D

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    Be sure to check the Latest Steam & General Gaming Bargains thread. So many of my game purchases have been as a result of checking there for sales people have found.
     
  15. Ramble

    Ramble Ginger Nut

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    I'm in this (almost) exact situation - I've been playing console games but I've missed out on the last 5 years of PC gaming. So far I've restricted myself to games that happened to be on sale but I would recommend the following.

    Alien Isolation - Not played a huge amount but excellent atmosphere already. I can only play 1-2 hours at a time due to the stress.

    Bioshock Infinite - I was a big fan of the original. This is even better, graphics are nice too.

    Borderlands 2 - I played the first two on Xbox. if you have friends to co-op with then it is a must have.

    CS:GO - Counter Strike.

    The Witcher 2 - I haven't played much of this yet and I never played the original but so far it's a cracking game.

    Mass Effects - If you haven't played the third then play it.
     
  16. Grimloon

    Grimloon What's a Dremel?

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    Another vote for Civ 5 here, hours of "If I do that then I can do this which leads to that... hang on a minute, I can do this too!" followed by "Hello! I just lost a day again, didn't I?" :D

    Beyond Earth is good but give it a while, it's not on a par with any of the other Civ games yet. Starships is different but fun, sort of a reimagining of Pirates! but still needs a bit of work to make it great.

    Star Conflict is turning out to be serious value for money for me, free to play by the War Thunder bods with similar mechanics but space based. Fairly quick team skirmishes and co-op missions with the option to just go off and bimble around for a bit. Vastly improved the open beta 2 years ago that was so memorable I forgot that I'd even played it...
     
  17. meisterjonny

    meisterjonny What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks again for all the suggestions! :)

    I've only just managed to get a desk setup, so not been able to test any of them out yet... Thanks to all the people who offered Steam add's, I'll defo take you all up on the offer soon enough.

    And a bit-tech Steam group sounds ace!
     
  18. Yadda

    Yadda Minimodder

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    Origin not Steam but Battlefield 3 is a classic if you like online shooters. Having said that, BF4 is currently only a tenner if your pooter-me-bob has sufficient wizzbangs.
     
  19. dolphie

    dolphie What's a Dremel?

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    d00d all teh EA games are teh orsumest most difining gamez of teh past 10 years and also everything by ubisoft and activivisions
     
  20. Newton Sporkfondle

    Newton Sporkfondle Spork, the all-purpose eating tool!

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    "orsumest"?

    Would that be games with more 'orses?
     

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