Thread: When done right, PC games are amazing

  1. #1
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    9,607

    When done right, PC games are amazing

    So far it's been a decent year for me with video games. The poor PC doesn't get many really good games that often but then again it's debateable if the consoles do either. They may get more but as we all have found out in PC'dom, more is not always better.

    My first great game this year was was Oblivion which I must say was very close to a perfect game. Jaw dropping visuals and outdoor scenes along with an awesome combat system and quests, quests, and more quests. A few glitches but hardly anything worth complaining about. A bit shallow on the dialogue system but it gets the job done. Since I waited so long I got the expansion pack along with the game for less than the cost of the original release. The expansion pack is far more than just an ad-hoc add in. It is huge and a definite pattern to follow for other companies wanting to do expansion packs.

    Next was Sins of a Solar Empire which was worth every penny. Awesome game that interestingly enough created enough of a back story for the RTS portion that many people wanted a career mode. That doesn't happen very often. Gameplay is tons of fun, graphics get the job done, and no copy protection whatsoever which means no issues. Excellent. Warning, however, you better set aside about 10 hours of your day for this game because it's extremely addicting. It literally took me 6 hours to beat one map (I probably suck though.)

    My newest and most recent game is Mass Effect. All I can say is WOW!! Top notch voice acting and so many lines of dialogue I doubt I've even heard them all after playing through the story twice. The game has excellent graphics, excellent performance (even on my dated rig), and an excellent story to boot. Very few games nowadays leave me sitting there wanting to play all the way through again just to see a different outcome or a different path to the outcome. However Mass Effect has done just that. After playing through twice I'm ready to go through again with a different character and try new dialogue options. Even with my sound drivers glitching and causing the game to pause for a bit I still thoroughly enjoyed the game....both times. There are not many games that you can play through TWICE and see completely different missions, side quests, and dialogue options.
    If you don't have Mass Effect I highly recommend it. Everyone did an awesome job on this game and it's not just an XBox port. It has several new features, control schemes, a new HUD, and ultra high resolution textures all just for the PC version of the game. Thanks Bioware for a definite hall of famer. I'll be looking for new Bioware releases for sure.
    (Shame on EA for the hideous copy protection schemes on this title)

    So far these three: Oblivion, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Mass Effect are probably the best PC games I've played in recent years. Almost reminds me of the old days when PC games were more than just cool graphics.

    If this is the new trend for PC's then maybe it's not all bad. I'd rather have a few select treasures on the shelves than a ton of junk.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 08-12-2008 at 11:13 PM.

  2. #2
    Ethernal Noob
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    1,901
    The first and last aren't really PC-esqe, not just because they appeared on consoles, but because those games lend themselves well to consoles and not just pc. Sins is something that can only be done on the PC, and it's done rather well. I installed the 1.1 and played some yesterday and the learning curve is really steep. After a while you get into the grove but I still have a hard time balancing expansion/exploration/resource management.

  3. #3
    village skeptic
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    31
    I thought Mass Effect was a little short to be honest. The whole thing seemed a bit rushed is all.

    The PC has a lot of awesome looking games on the horizon.

    I have to say, I've been pretty happy with the way the HL2 episodes are shaping up.

  4. #4
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    8,895
    I've heard many good things about SoaSE. I think I need to buy it.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    1,042
    How similar is Mass Effect PC to the XBox version? My room mate played ME on the 360 and I wasn't impressed to be honest.

    On a side note Bubba you should be a writer for a gaming magazine or something. Your posts make me feel like I'm reading an editorial on the subject (which is a good thing).
    I'm not immature, I'm refined in the opposite direction.

  6. #6
    Ethernal Noob
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    1,901
    The content wouldn't be different. Probably better looking since it requires a hd install and there is noticable pop-in on the 360 version (until the fall update). IT was a bit short, but I can only guess it's due to the fact that it's a trilogy.

  7. #7
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    9,607
    Mass Effect does not have the texture pop but on a good PC (unlike mine) but I did see it frequently. However the game manager figured it out pretty quick and selected the more resolute textures within seconds.

    Whether a game is on a console or not does not mean to me it's a non-PC game. You won't find very many games anymore that don't have a console cousin. However the PC version is usually ramped up a bit since there are far less limitations on memory, etc. Companies that fail to 'ramp it up' usually get blasted by PC gamers.

    On a side note Bubba you should be a writer for a gaming magazine or something. Your posts make me feel like I'm reading an editorial on the subject (which is a good thing).
    Given that CGW just closed down and other mags are having problems competing with the internet I think I'll stick with being a programmer for now.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 08-13-2008 at 05:35 PM.

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. Question for PC Gamers: How much have you spent on certain games? ...
    By drallstars in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 47
    Last Post: 05-17-2007, 01:51 PM
  2. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 10-27-2006, 01:21 PM
  3. Post you pc pics (mods)
    By biosninja in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 33
    Last Post: 03-15-2004, 04:15 PM
  4. Some great PC games to watch out for.
    By funkydude9 in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 08-26-2003, 12:18 AM
  5. fav pc games
    By datainjector in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 29
    Last Post: 11-13-2002, 11:43 PM