NationStates Jolt Archive

So, I'm quite bored, and fancy playing something meaty in the run up to Christmas. I'm a fan of games with strong, story-driven plots such as Max Payne, Fahrenheit, Mafia, Half Life and the like, but I'm struggling to find any games similar to that which I've not played before.

It has to be a PC game, and it has to be able to run on my fairly average computer. I can't play FEAR - it doesn't run smoothly. That should give you a guage of what games I can play.

So, your suggestions?

Just get battlefield 2, who cares about the story :p

Just get battlefield 2, who cares about the story :p

I do. Games with repetitive, mundane goals like that bore me stiff.

Sam and Max hit the road?

Sam and Max hit the road?

Too cartoony. I want meaty storylines.

Planescape: Torment.

I do. Games with repetitive, mundane goals like that bore me stiff.

You mean games which are fun. Games with a story tend to be very linear, battlefield 2 lets you make decisions and be creative against real people.

If you like peeing yourself, Doom 3 is a good bet. If you like your games with few heart attacks, Day of the Tentacle is a good oldie.

Quake 4 has a surprisingly good storyline.

You mean games which are fun. Games with a story tend to be very linear, battlefield 2 lets you make decisions and be creative against real people.

I'm not a big fan of fps because I suck at them. If I'm playing online, I play strategy games. Besides, I like plots.

If you like your games with few heart attacks, Day of the Tentacle is a good oldie.
Wo0t!

Try Deus Ex, any of the Monkey Island games (preferably 1 or 2), or, uh, Lemmings. Great story, that.

Planescape: Torment has a good storyline. It's an RPG, though. Quite different from your list, but with a good story nonetheless.

I think Deus Ex would fit more with your list though.

Far Cry is pretty good.

Too cartoony. I want meaty storylines.

S.D.I?

I’m not a big fan of fps because I suck at them. If I’m playing online, I play strategy games.
I’m quite content tagging mp3s till Spore comes out. And proud of it too;my foobar is pretty.

old games...
Phantasmagoria (great story!)
Diablo and Diablo II
Final Fantasy 7 (there is a PC version)


Yeah... Old games... :(

Try Deus Ex, any of the Monkey Island games (preferably 1 or 2), or, uh, Lemmings. Great story, that.
Indeedle.

Just get DOSbox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1) and all your gaming needs are fulfilled. Endless nights of Transport Tycoon Deluxe and Fuzzy’s World of Minature Space Golf await...

Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 has a good storyline.

I would also recommend Deus Ex. Fantastic rpg/fps gameplay and an even more fantastic storyline! The plot will really amaze you. Its a bit old, but that means your system should be able to handle it smoothly ;)

It must be my all-time favorite game :)

Neverwinter Nights, any of the expansions and the sequel.

So, I'm quite bored, and fancy playing something meaty in the run up to Christmas. I'm a fan of games with strong, story-driven plots such as Max Payne, Fahrenheit, Mafia, Half Life and the like, but I'm struggling to find any games similar to that which I've not played before.

It has to be a PC game, and it has to be able to run on my fairly average computer. I can't play FEAR - it doesn't run smoothly. That should give you a guage of what games I can play.

So, your suggestions?

Have you tried Halo for the PC? It's quite good. Excellent storyline, too.

Knights of the Old Republic 2. Best. Storyline. Ever. Also best characters ever.

Fallout 1 or 2 (or both...).

Evil Island: Curse of the Lost Soul

Knights of the Old Republic 2. Best. Storyline. Ever. Also best characters ever.

Bah humbug. First one was better.

Half-life, or one of it's 2 million mods, each with their own story.

Bah humbug. First one was better.
I found the second one more fun as it was more dark and moody, and the storyline was more original. Number 1 certainly had a good storyline as RPGs go, but "find and destroy evil dark side thing" wasn't as interesting as number 2. Some of the characters in 1 were pretty boring as well, but all of 2's characters had great backstories.

So, no one has yet suggested StarCraft? Let me be the first, if only for reasons of nostalgia.

So, I'm quite bored, and fancy playing something meaty in the run up to Christmas. I'm a fan of games with strong, story-driven plots such as Max Payne, Fahrenheit, Mafia, Half Life and the like, but I'm struggling to find any games similar to that which I've not played before.

It has to be a PC game, and it has to be able to run on my fairly average computer. I can't play FEAR - it doesn't run smoothly. That should give you a guage of what games I can play.

So, your suggestions?

Great story driven game?

Get "The Longest Journey." I suggest the four-CD version, as that typically is easier to run on XP computers. (It makes me giggle to hear people complain about how it crashes all the time. There's a "run in compatability" mode for a reason, people.) You'll have to tell it to run with Windows 98 compatability, as it's one of those games made around the time when NT was ignored and since XP is basically NT+, there are several games that won't run on it properly even though they should. TLJ is one of the best adventure games ever. Great characters, great voice acting, fun story, fun gameplay, all sorts of crazy stuff.

I found the second one more fun as it was more dark and moody, and the storyline was more original. Number 1 certainly had a good storyline as RPGs go, but "find and destroy evil dark side thing" wasn't as interesting as number 2. Some of the characters in 1 were pretty boring as well, but all of 2's characters had great backstories.

Number 2 was even worse as basic premise goes. "Find the Jedi jerks" doesn't have the same feeling to it as "Stop the crazy bastard."

And who was boring? Number two had some great characters, sure, but I liked the first set better..

Knights of the Old Republic 2. Best. Storyline. Ever. Also best characters ever.

KOTOR 1 was better. KOTOR 2 will not be complete until the two restoration patches are released.

Pong has an awesome storyline.

Number 2 was even worse as basic premise goes. "Find the Jedi jerks" doesn't have the same feeling to it as "Stop the crazy bastard."

And who was boring? Number two had some great characters, sure, but I liked the first set better..
It was the reasons behind finding the Jedi! Or something. :p
Juhani and Mission were boring IMO. Number 2 had Kreia, who was awesome, and Visas, who was also awesome. Of course, they both had HK-47, who's just the epitome of awesome, but overall the characters in 2 were more awesome.

Knights of the Old Republic 2. Best. Storyline. Ever. Also best characters ever.

Yeah that storyline. Loved how it ended.:rolleyes:

And the first one had Jolee, who sets the bar for cryptic advisers far above Kreia.
She's really cool, and a better philosopher, but there's no one in two, with the exception of HK and occasionally G0-T0, who beats Jolee in sheer funny.


That, and I LIKED Juhani! It's fun to watch her waver. Mission, not so much. But it was more her personality. And the fact that since I was ALSO a scoundrel, she was mostly useless.

And the first one had Jolee, who sets the bar for cryptic advisers far above Kreia.
She's really cool, and a better philosopher, but there's no one in two, with the exception of HK and occasionally G0-T0, who beats Jolee in sheer funny.


That, and I LIKED Juhani! It's fun to watch her waver. Mission, not so much. But it was more her personality. And the fact that since I was ALSO a scoundrel, she was mostly useless.
That's true, I guess. Most of the characters in number two were pretty depressing, really.

It was the reasons behind finding the Jedi! Or something. :p
Juhani and Mission were boring IMO. Number 2 had Kreia, who was awesome, and Visas, who was also awesome. Of course, they both had HK-47, who's just the epitome of awesome, but overall the characters in 2 were more awesome.

Kreia was a pain, you couldn't please her. Really no matter what options you picked (conversation wise or light or dark) you still failed and got a lecture. Visas was just there. HK-47 is beyond reproach, you cannot dislike HK.
And finding the Jedi was pointless, either you kill them or Kreia does and either way its tedious.

Try Oblivion. If you've got a good rig (and I mean really good) and can stand bugs try Gothic III. I'm still holding out on that one till I get a new proc and more RAM. And Fable has already been mentioned. Hopefully that'll satiate you for a bit.

That's true, I guess. Most of the characters in number two were pretty depressing, really.

Which is why I didn't like them as much. 1 depressed character in a group is interesting. (Carth) A whole group of them is an emo overload.

Which is why I didn't like them as much. 1 depressed character in a group is interesting. (Carth) A whole group of them is an emo overload.

It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't cut all the stuff from it that they did. Now Obsidian and Bioware need to get off their asses and make the third one to tie up the loose ends from KOTOR II. Seriously.

And the first one. I want my Revan back!


On another note, these guys called the Knights of the Old Republic II Restoration project are trying to return some of the dropped content.

KOTOR 2 was amazing and i would say even better than the first one for about the first 80% of the game. it then feels like the developers couldnt be arsed finishing it off and just put it out as it was.

And the first one. I want my Revan back!


On another note, these guys called the Knights of the Old Republic II Restoration project are trying to return some of the dropped content.

I already mentioned that in passing.

Revan was great:p

KOTOR 2 was amazing and i would say even better than the first one for about the first 80% of the game. it then feels like the developers couldnt be arsed finishing it off and just put it out as it was.

Actually they had to cut much of the final part (including an entire planet) to meet the release date.

Actually they had to cut much of the final part (including an entire planet) to meet the release date.

didn't know that but i would have guessed somthing like that must have happened, shame it makes a great game distinctly average

Try Oblivion. If you've got a good rig (and I mean really good) and can stand bugs try Gothic III. I'm still holding out on that one till I get a new proc and more RAM. And Fable has already been mentioned. Hopefully that'll satiate you for a bit.
If he can't run F.E.A.R. there's no way he can run Oblivion, my friend.

Also, original poster, if you finish up with TLJ--which is about 50 hours worth of gameplay--there's always its sequel, which while far inferior as a game itself still has an interesting enough storyline. More of the quality top notch stuff from Tornquist, anyway, which is always good.

Plus you get to find out what happens to April Ryan. I actually played Dreamfall first, so I was confused immensly throughout the whole game, hence why you need to play TLJ first.

didn't know that but i would have guessed somthing like that must have happened, shame it makes a great game distinctly average

No, that really did happen. The planet was meant to be inhabited only by droids, Vash was there and her apprentice joined you not Disiple. They also cut the HK-50 production factory and a lot of the end sequence.

Fortunately there are two modding groups trying to dig up the lost content.

If he can't run F.E.A.R. there's no way he can run Oblivion, my friend.

Run it in windowed mode, tone down the settings. That's how I got by.

Run it in windowed mode, tone down the settings. That's how I got by.

It's no fun unless you can run it on Ultra-high settings like I can. :D

It's no fun unless you can run it on Ultra-high settings like I can. :D

That is great isn't it.:D

It's no fun unless you can run it on Ultra-high settings like I can. :D

Well, I'm content with medium settings. Low settings, no, but medium is fine so I can appreciate the game content and the graphics.:D

I'd say Deus Ex, but I cant get it to run in XP. Can anyone help?

Just get battlefield 2, who cares about the story :p

I much prefer Call of Duty 2. When I shoot someone I expect them to die, I don't expect them to take half a magazine of SMG ammunition to the chest. I also liked most of the Rainbow 6 games.

Shame about the cut content in KOTOR 2, there are times when I hate having it on Xbox. No mods for me. :(

If you want to play Oblivion on a bad computer you can use this (http://www.oldblivion.com/), it's a bit buggy but at least it allows you to play the game and it actually doesn't look that bad.

I'd say Deus Ex, but I cant get it to run in XP. Can anyone help?

Runs fine for me. Might try a different compatability mode; it's all I can suggest.

Actually they had to cut much of the final part (including an entire planet) to meet the release date.

Release dates wreck story driven games. Same thing happened to Neverwinter Nights 2.

I promise you haven't heard of this one, it's got great plot, but bad graphics. It's called Nethergate, you can find it at:

www.spiderwebsoftware.com

That place also has many other good games.

I promise you haven't heard of this one, it's got great plot, but bad graphics. It's called Nethergate, you can find it at:

www.spiderwebsoftware.com

That place also has many other good games.

Oh yes I have. The Exile/Avernum series was good up until Jeff Geneforged it. Geneforge is the end of anything decent from them anymore, I swear. Piece of crap those games are.

if you want some good non-shooter games with good stroylines I suggest you check out the following:

Freespace 1 & 2
Freelancer
Edler Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

hell, just play any sort of RPG, and you'll have your story line.

You won't regret playing these:

Star Control II (sc2.sourceforge.net), which now has a freeware remake, so there's no excuse not to play it. Best game ever.

The Baldur's Gate series. Theres a mod for BG1 that makes it run in the BG2 engine. You don't have to play them in order, but if you play BG1 first, you can can continue BG2 with the same character. Awesomeness awaits.

System Shock 2. Haven't played the first one (but shall do soon now that my ancient DOS machine is up and running), but the second is scary as hell. It'll grip you by the nuts or respective other bits.

Arcanum.

The Ultima series.

The Elder Scrolls Series.

EDIT - another often overlooked one: Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines.


Planescape: Torment.

Yep. I never owned it or finished it, but i've played it, and it definely has to rate from what i've seen and going by what others have said.

Deus Ex

Hell yeah.
Fallout 1 or 2 (or both...).

Hell yeah.

Knights of the Old Republic 2. Best. Storyline. Ever. Also best characters ever.

I found the second one more fun as it was more dark and moody, and the storyline was more original. Number 1 certainly had a good storyline as RPGs go, but "find and destroy evil dark side thing" wasn't as interesting as number 2. Some of the characters in 1 were pretty boring as well, but all of 2's characters had great backstories.

That's true, but as already said, it was broken. A couple more months of development and it would have possibly been my favourite RPG ever, but there was so much missing stuff. :(

Even so, i've replayed it a couple of times, just like the first one. So much of my life lost, with no regrets. ;) At any rate, it's better to play KOTOR 1 first to figure out what the hell is going on.

Run it in windowed mode, tone down the settings. That's how I got by.

Windowed mode is likely to be slower...

Unreal (original) + Return to Na Pali expansion

So, no one has yet suggested StarCraft? Let me be the first, if only for reasons of nostalgia.

I was going to mention that one actually. Really, the storyline is great.

PC wise, StarCraft and the Half-Life games get my vote.

So, I'm quite bored, and fancy playing something meaty in the run up to Christmas. I'm a fan of games with strong, story-driven plots such as Max Payne, Fahrenheit, Mafia, Half Life and the like, but I'm struggling to find any games similar to that which I've not played before.

It has to be a PC game, and it has to be able to run on my fairly average computer. I can't play FEAR - it doesn't run smoothly. That should give you a guage of what games I can play.

So, your suggestions?

Deus Ex hands down for storyline. Look for it in the bargain bin.

It's long, though. LONG. Will keep you occupied for months to finish.

It's almost like a FPS but its stealth and brains rather than point-and-shoot.

I agree with the others. You have to play Deus Ex. The Elder Scrolls series (Morrowind and Oblivion) are great as well.

Also, I think it would be worth it to buy a PS2 if only to play one game: Metal Gear Solid 2. Absolutely amazing in every single way. Final Fantasy 9 is my personal favorite FF game, and can be played on a PS2.

Steambot Chronicles for the PS2.

Great story, but you still get a lot of control over the story (there's A LOT of dialogue choices and side quests).

It's almost like a FPS but its stealth and brains rather than point-and-shoot.

Oh, yeah. That reminds me: The Thief series. Pretty good plot driven stealth action with a bow.

Dawn of War is a cracking little story driven rts for the campaign, though it can be pretty confusing if you don't know your warhammer 40k but thankfully the internet is there for one of the best scifi settings around. We don't need no stinking peaceful federation or republic of planets, we're happy being a bunch of xenophobic races out to massacre each other and claim as much of the universe as we can. While the Tyranids attempt to reduce everything into raw genetic material to satisy their hunger and the Chaos Powers hunger to devour the entire universe and drag it screaming into the Warp.

I would say get Oblivion, but if you can't run FEAR, then that might not run for you either. You could try Morrowind or Daggerfall though. The whole Elder Scrolls series is quite good as far as being story driven.