Addiction to meh.
May 1, 2007 6:02 AM Subscribe
For some reason, PC games over the past year or two seem insufferably dull. Help me overcome my addiction to "meh."
It's no secret that single-player PC gaming is tied up and under duress -- from MMORGs, from Wiis, from XBox360s. Single-player game releases of the past year or two seem to be on a slippery slope to nowhere. Half-Life 2? Loved it. Oblivion? Loved it too. But that's the extent of recent games that have had the wow factor for me.
I know what you're going to say. "By a console, get into MMORGs, expand your horizons." But I'm afraid of online gaming addiction, and consoles would just add to the clutter. I'd like to remain a single-player PC gamer, thank you very much.
Is it my imagination, or is the industry evaporating? Will I have to take the plunge into console gaming or MMORGs? Are single-playing PC gamers next year's Smithsonian diorama?
Advice, recommendations, general thoughts. The floor's open.
It's no secret that single-player PC gaming is tied up and under duress -- from MMORGs, from Wiis, from XBox360s. Single-player game releases of the past year or two seem to be on a slippery slope to nowhere. Half-Life 2? Loved it. Oblivion? Loved it too. But that's the extent of recent games that have had the wow factor for me.
I know what you're going to say. "By a console, get into MMORGs, expand your horizons." But I'm afraid of online gaming addiction, and consoles would just add to the clutter. I'd like to remain a single-player PC gamer, thank you very much.
Is it my imagination, or is the industry evaporating? Will I have to take the plunge into console gaming or MMORGs? Are single-playing PC gamers next year's Smithsonian diorama?
Advice, recommendations, general thoughts. The floor's open.
You should check out some of the source mods for Half-Life 2. Sourceforts is fun as hell most of the time, though you might want to turn off voice chat.
I'm sure you already know Garry's Mod is pretty cool too. But I do have to say I'm with nasreddin in that there are tons of old games you never played at all. And some of them are fantastic.
posted by cellphone at 6:12 AM on May 1, 2007
I'm sure you already know Garry's Mod is pretty cool too. But I do have to say I'm with nasreddin in that there are tons of old games you never played at all. And some of them are fantastic.
posted by cellphone at 6:12 AM on May 1, 2007
Here is a commentary on some good-looking single-player PC games.
posted by fish tick at 6:15 AM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by fish tick at 6:15 AM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]
The industry is splitting up and, yes, PC has been in a bit of a decline... But don't lose hope! A lot of the games coming out soonish are going to appear on PC, 360 and PS3. With DX 10 around the corner as well, the potential for future awesomeness is still present.
Single player games to look forward to (on PC) or that are already out:
For first/third person atmospheric games: Bioshock, Crysis, Spore, Alan Wake
RTS/Strategy: Medieval 2: Total War, Silent Hunter 4, Command and Conquer 3, World in Conflict
Adventure and other: Sam and Max!
Also, if you liked Half-Life 2 and Oblivion, I can not recommend S.T.A.L.K.E.R. enough. It's a bit buggy, but has more atmosphere than anything I can think of in recent years.
PC gaming has kind of gone underground a bit in the last few years, but quality has gone up.
Also, multiplayer does not always equal MMORPG. Something like the upcoming Left 4 Dead might be just the ticket for a bit of brief, not-too-immersive online play.
posted by slimepuppy at 6:22 AM on May 1, 2007
Single player games to look forward to (on PC) or that are already out:
For first/third person atmospheric games: Bioshock, Crysis, Spore, Alan Wake
RTS/Strategy: Medieval 2: Total War, Silent Hunter 4, Command and Conquer 3, World in Conflict
Adventure and other: Sam and Max!
Also, if you liked Half-Life 2 and Oblivion, I can not recommend S.T.A.L.K.E.R. enough. It's a bit buggy, but has more atmosphere than anything I can think of in recent years.
PC gaming has kind of gone underground a bit in the last few years, but quality has gone up.
Also, multiplayer does not always equal MMORPG. Something like the upcoming Left 4 Dead might be just the ticket for a bit of brief, not-too-immersive online play.
posted by slimepuppy at 6:22 AM on May 1, 2007
I'd second nasreddin's comment. Newer games have better graphics than previous generations, but there are plenty of games from years ago that are more fun to play. I replayed "Grim Fandango" last year and had more fun gaming than I had in a while.
posted by justkevin at 6:22 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by justkevin at 6:22 AM on May 1, 2007
Spore, of course, belongs in the RTS/Strategy/Life category.
posted by slimepuppy at 6:23 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by slimepuppy at 6:23 AM on May 1, 2007
Come on, try WoW... everybody's doing it and it'll make you look cool. Besides, if I can pass on my WoW additction to you, the gods will release my soul and allow me to leave the game.
posted by matty at 6:42 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by matty at 6:42 AM on May 1, 2007
Psychonauts. Trust me. It's a totally unique game, if you like Invader Zim you'll love the game (similar silliness, and lots of meat). Came out not too long ago, graphics are excellent but not computer-intensive, I highly recommend it.
posted by Meagan at 6:44 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by Meagan at 6:44 AM on May 1, 2007
There's a new expansion pack for Oblivion, for what it's worth.
posted by abcde at 6:45 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by abcde at 6:45 AM on May 1, 2007
Our little man is growing up! Seriously, could it be that you're growing out of gaming period? Feeling restless? The old zing is gone? Nothing satisfies? Maybe you could reclaim those hours and apply them to other areas of life. As a reformed gamer myself, I'm just saying, sometimes you move on. I did relapse for a while when I found Second Life, not that it's quite a game per se. If you're addictive, I agree with your plan to stay away from online games. They will suck you in and destroy you.
posted by kookoobirdz at 6:56 AM on May 1, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by kookoobirdz at 6:56 AM on May 1, 2007 [2 favorites]
Our little man is growing up!
From now on you should only read newspapers, and the only acceptable game to play is golf - you know, for making business contacts.
Seriously, I know you are not too eager to get into consoles but the PS2 is small, cheap (relatively), and there is a huge selection of great games, some of them very cheap now. Resident Evil 4, Katamari, Silent Hill 2, Bully, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War are all games that I've enjoyed playing single player. I've never played the PS2 online, from what I've heard it isn't worth the hassle.
posted by Elmore at 7:26 AM on May 1, 2007
From now on you should only read newspapers, and the only acceptable game to play is golf - you know, for making business contacts.
Seriously, I know you are not too eager to get into consoles but the PS2 is small, cheap (relatively), and there is a huge selection of great games, some of them very cheap now. Resident Evil 4, Katamari, Silent Hill 2, Bully, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War are all games that I've enjoyed playing single player. I've never played the PS2 online, from what I've heard it isn't worth the hassle.
posted by Elmore at 7:26 AM on May 1, 2007
Go to Metacritic and see what's new and highly rated.
Supreme Commander is very good if you like RTS games and have a fast computer.
Oblivion is awesome if you haven't played it yet. Much of the sprawling fun of an MMOG without the addictive social aspect.
Galactic Civilization 2 is a very good 4x space empire game.
World of Warcraft is great, but as you say it can be awfully time consuming.
posted by Nelson at 7:36 AM on May 1, 2007
Supreme Commander is very good if you like RTS games and have a fast computer.
Oblivion is awesome if you haven't played it yet. Much of the sprawling fun of an MMOG without the addictive social aspect.
Galactic Civilization 2 is a very good 4x space empire game.
World of Warcraft is great, but as you say it can be awfully time consuming.
posted by Nelson at 7:36 AM on May 1, 2007
Civ. Get Civ. Hardcore gamers will tell you that Civ II is the best, but Civ IV (the latest iteration) is damn, damn good.
posted by mkultra at 7:55 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by mkultra at 7:55 AM on May 1, 2007
Ignore kookoobirdz. You 'grow out of' playing games in the same way as you grow out of reading books, watching films and listening to music.
If you want to be refreshed, you can always try to more avant garde stuff and underground gaming.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:15 AM on May 1, 2007
If you want to be refreshed, you can always try to more avant garde stuff and underground gaming.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:15 AM on May 1, 2007
You know, I felt the same way, and then I discovered Nethack (via).
posted by benign at 8:30 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by benign at 8:30 AM on May 1, 2007
You 'grow out of' playing games in the same way as you grow out of reading books, watching films and listening to music.
From what sage age cometh this wisdom?
posted by caddis at 8:53 AM on May 1, 2007
From what sage age cometh this wisdom?
posted by caddis at 8:53 AM on May 1, 2007
Tried any online casual games recently?
N Way of the Ninja is an awesome action puzzle platformer.
Desktop Tower Defense great simple RTS.
Bookworm Adventures role playing puzzle/word game.
For some new and refreshing gameplay I love checking out the contestants at the IGF Competition.
PC Demo of Puzzle Quest Role playing gem matching. Yeah I know. Sounds lame, but try it, please. Don't beat me to a pulp when you get addicted and find out they don't have a full PC version yet.
I got into Trackmania for a while. Its like playing with Hot Wheels on your PC.
posted by zackola at 9:05 AM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]
N Way of the Ninja is an awesome action puzzle platformer.
Desktop Tower Defense great simple RTS.
Bookworm Adventures role playing puzzle/word game.
For some new and refreshing gameplay I love checking out the contestants at the IGF Competition.
PC Demo of Puzzle Quest Role playing gem matching. Yeah I know. Sounds lame, but try it, please. Don't beat me to a pulp when you get addicted and find out they don't have a full PC version yet.
I got into Trackmania for a while. Its like playing with Hot Wheels on your PC.
posted by zackola at 9:05 AM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]
The sage age of 25, and working in the industry with people from 18 to 45.
People my age grew up with videogames. It's not separate from other forms of entertainment. The industry has evolved quite a bit in the last two decades. To dismiss all video games based on a few titles is ridiculous.
It's like saying people grow out of listening to heavy metal. Sure, some people do, but when you're asked for recommendations on good metal bands, the suggestion generally isn't 'you're growing out of it, so try listening to classical and reading books'.
But I'm sure you can put this down to youthful folly.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:06 AM on May 1, 2007
People my age grew up with videogames. It's not separate from other forms of entertainment. The industry has evolved quite a bit in the last two decades. To dismiss all video games based on a few titles is ridiculous.
It's like saying people grow out of listening to heavy metal. Sure, some people do, but when you're asked for recommendations on good metal bands, the suggestion generally isn't 'you're growing out of it, so try listening to classical and reading books'.
But I'm sure you can put this down to youthful folly.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:06 AM on May 1, 2007
I'm currently addicted to a transportation clone called Simutrans -- single player, old-school Transport-Tycoon style play but *difficult* to master because it's so many-layered. I think the next big single-player PC game genere is going to be small-company-self-published-ware like GalCiv, or open-source/free games like SimuTrans and OpenTTD.
posted by SpecialK at 9:14 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by SpecialK at 9:14 AM on May 1, 2007
i agree with slimepuppy's recommendation about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Unbelievably immersive and atmospheric game. It's like Oblivion for an FPS.
Also, since you liked Half-Life, give F.E.A.R. a shot. It's more like Doom3, which was also fun enough, but it's far scarier, with a much better story and immersive plot development. I wish I could go back and play it again for the first time. There is also an expansion for it.
and ignore kookoobirdz.
posted by shmegegge at 9:28 AM on May 1, 2007
Also, since you liked Half-Life, give F.E.A.R. a shot. It's more like Doom3, which was also fun enough, but it's far scarier, with a much better story and immersive plot development. I wish I could go back and play it again for the first time. There is also an expansion for it.
and ignore kookoobirdz.
posted by shmegegge at 9:28 AM on May 1, 2007
I second Psychonauts. It's awesome. If you're going to play it on a PC buy a gamepad of some kind.
Also, one of my favorite games of all time is Star Control 2. It's old, but still good, and it can now be had for free.
You probably know about Starcraft, Civilization, etc....
posted by Vorteks at 9:29 AM on May 1, 2007
Also, one of my favorite games of all time is Star Control 2. It's old, but still good, and it can now be had for free.
You probably know about Starcraft, Civilization, etc....
posted by Vorteks at 9:29 AM on May 1, 2007
Nthing Psychonauts.. just a really nifty game.
I usually shoot up with WoW - like half of every other gamer in the world - or Civ IV: Warlords, or Neverwinter Nights 2, which is beautiful but quite buggy.
And for some reason Starcraft and Warcraft never ever get old...
posted by elendil71 at 9:47 AM on May 1, 2007
I usually shoot up with WoW - like half of every other gamer in the world - or Civ IV: Warlords, or Neverwinter Nights 2, which is beautiful but quite buggy.
And for some reason Starcraft and Warcraft never ever get old...
posted by elendil71 at 9:47 AM on May 1, 2007
Oh, and in the Civilization schema, try and get a copy of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Older game, but among Civ fanatics (myself included), its generally regarded as one, if not the finest game Sid has ever created. It certainly has one of the most compelling backstories ever.
posted by elendil71 at 9:56 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by elendil71 at 9:56 AM on May 1, 2007
>Also, multiplayer does not always equal MMORPG.
I want to second this. I dont want to play an MMO because of the time sink and potential compulsion, but I love playing BF2 which is strictly a multiplayer frag-fest. I can burn an hour or so, get 3 or 4 runs in, and call it a day. Unlike spending an hour just to walk half-across azeroth for the vial of some young unicorn.
How against consoles are you? the Xbox360 is nicer than I thought it would be. I've rented a couple of games for it, had a few 'wow this is fucking awesome' moments and am a better man for it. No futzing with the drivers and graphics settings either. And I dont haveto buy games, I can rent them, or if I do buy them I can sell them for store credit. Something you cant do with pc games anymore because of copy protection schemes.
That said, there are still lots of good games for the PC. Like someone above wrote, dont bother with the game websites, just stop by metacritic.com.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:59 AM on May 1, 2007
I want to second this. I dont want to play an MMO because of the time sink and potential compulsion, but I love playing BF2 which is strictly a multiplayer frag-fest. I can burn an hour or so, get 3 or 4 runs in, and call it a day. Unlike spending an hour just to walk half-across azeroth for the vial of some young unicorn.
How against consoles are you? the Xbox360 is nicer than I thought it would be. I've rented a couple of games for it, had a few 'wow this is fucking awesome' moments and am a better man for it. No futzing with the drivers and graphics settings either. And I dont haveto buy games, I can rent them, or if I do buy them I can sell them for store credit. Something you cant do with pc games anymore because of copy protection schemes.
That said, there are still lots of good games for the PC. Like someone above wrote, dont bother with the game websites, just stop by metacritic.com.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:59 AM on May 1, 2007
Here's my story, just in case you might find similarities.
In late 2005, I was a PC user. I'd saved up some money to upgrade my PC into great gaming shape. The time I spent gaming had declined rather dramatically in the last year or so, and I thought that I might rekindle the spark with this upgrade. (I did own a GameCube and a Nintendo DS, too; the GC was basically for occasional multiplayer action only, and the DS was almost unused.)
At the same time, I also had a peripheral interest in Macs. I arranged a semi-valid reason for my employer to get me a Mac Mini as a secondary workstation. Long story short, a PC user since 1988 turned into a hardcore Mac user in less than month. I sold the brand new PC at some loss and bought a Mini for myself, knowing full well that it would mean an end to my gaming. Instead of rekindling the spark, I snubbed it out, and it was surprisingly easy, given the already decreased interest in gaming. I had enough things to occupy my time already, I thought.
End of story? Not quite. Late in 2006, a couple of things happened: Nintendo Wii came out and I discovered Guitar Hero on the PS2. I ended up buying both systems. At the same time, I was looking for a solution to streaming video from my media server to the TV, and ended up getting an Xbox for the XBMC application.
Suddenly I owned a Wii, a PS2, an Xbox, and the DS (the GC is in storage since the Wii is backwards-compatible). Not many games, though - the PS2 was just for GH and GH2, and the Xbox for XBMC.
But then I stumbled upon IGN's Top 25 lists for each of the previous-gen systems, and something snapped in my head. I developed a real lust for gaming again. I wanted to experience all these games that everyone was raving about, all the classics. I felt I was missing out, and I hated it.
eBay didn't know what hit it when I started the shopping spree. In the last couple of months alone, I've spent over 700 euros (roughly a thousand dollars) building a game library of all the "important" games for each console I own (including GC, GBA and PSX thanks to backwards compatibility), and my shopping list still contains a lot of games. Just today I bought a PSOne for cheap because classic PS1 titles run better on it than on the PS2 (especially imports).
I admit to being an obsessive completionist, a bit of a hoarder – but I am also *playing* games and enjoying it more than ever before, so the accumulating backlog will eventually shrink to more manageable proportions. Restructuring my free time was a lot easier than I thought, and the love for gaming never really went anywhere.
I estimate that I'll spend the next 3-4 years playing through all the games I'm buying, and at that point I'll probably buy the Xbox 360 for cheap and start collecting and playing the essential parts of its game selection. (Probably not the PS3, but who knows.)
Since this is Ask MeFi, here's an actual answer at last. You say you want to remain a PC single player. Well, that's what I thought. But it turns out that that was only the case because I hadn't properly subjected myself to other platforms and what they had to offer. I suggest you buy one of the previous-gen machines (the slim PSTwo maybe) and a couple of games with classic status (maybe God of War, Final Fantasy X or XII, Katamari Damacy, or whatever might float your boat – find the IGN Top 25 article for your console of choice). As for MMORPGs, I have no comment – I've never had any desire to play online.
You could obviously buy a Wii, an X360 or a PS3, but an older console might be a safer bet money-wise, in case you find consoles to not be your thing. Sure, they're not the highest of high-end graphically any more, but I've found it utterly irrelevant. Compared to buying only new games, I'm getting some amazing bargains. (Admittedly, I'm also buying some new stuff for Wii and the DS, and the PS2 still gets new games as well.) PC gaming is, it seems, history for me. Good riddance, too: no need for continuous upgrades and, ack, Vista.
So that's my advice. I don't necessarily recommend that you start shelling out kilobucks for games like I do, but you never know...
posted by lifeless at 10:05 AM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]
In late 2005, I was a PC user. I'd saved up some money to upgrade my PC into great gaming shape. The time I spent gaming had declined rather dramatically in the last year or so, and I thought that I might rekindle the spark with this upgrade. (I did own a GameCube and a Nintendo DS, too; the GC was basically for occasional multiplayer action only, and the DS was almost unused.)
At the same time, I also had a peripheral interest in Macs. I arranged a semi-valid reason for my employer to get me a Mac Mini as a secondary workstation. Long story short, a PC user since 1988 turned into a hardcore Mac user in less than month. I sold the brand new PC at some loss and bought a Mini for myself, knowing full well that it would mean an end to my gaming. Instead of rekindling the spark, I snubbed it out, and it was surprisingly easy, given the already decreased interest in gaming. I had enough things to occupy my time already, I thought.
End of story? Not quite. Late in 2006, a couple of things happened: Nintendo Wii came out and I discovered Guitar Hero on the PS2. I ended up buying both systems. At the same time, I was looking for a solution to streaming video from my media server to the TV, and ended up getting an Xbox for the XBMC application.
Suddenly I owned a Wii, a PS2, an Xbox, and the DS (the GC is in storage since the Wii is backwards-compatible). Not many games, though - the PS2 was just for GH and GH2, and the Xbox for XBMC.
But then I stumbled upon IGN's Top 25 lists for each of the previous-gen systems, and something snapped in my head. I developed a real lust for gaming again. I wanted to experience all these games that everyone was raving about, all the classics. I felt I was missing out, and I hated it.
eBay didn't know what hit it when I started the shopping spree. In the last couple of months alone, I've spent over 700 euros (roughly a thousand dollars) building a game library of all the "important" games for each console I own (including GC, GBA and PSX thanks to backwards compatibility), and my shopping list still contains a lot of games. Just today I bought a PSOne for cheap because classic PS1 titles run better on it than on the PS2 (especially imports).
I admit to being an obsessive completionist, a bit of a hoarder – but I am also *playing* games and enjoying it more than ever before, so the accumulating backlog will eventually shrink to more manageable proportions. Restructuring my free time was a lot easier than I thought, and the love for gaming never really went anywhere.
I estimate that I'll spend the next 3-4 years playing through all the games I'm buying, and at that point I'll probably buy the Xbox 360 for cheap and start collecting and playing the essential parts of its game selection. (Probably not the PS3, but who knows.)
Since this is Ask MeFi, here's an actual answer at last. You say you want to remain a PC single player. Well, that's what I thought. But it turns out that that was only the case because I hadn't properly subjected myself to other platforms and what they had to offer. I suggest you buy one of the previous-gen machines (the slim PSTwo maybe) and a couple of games with classic status (maybe God of War, Final Fantasy X or XII, Katamari Damacy, or whatever might float your boat – find the IGN Top 25 article for your console of choice). As for MMORPGs, I have no comment – I've never had any desire to play online.
You could obviously buy a Wii, an X360 or a PS3, but an older console might be a safer bet money-wise, in case you find consoles to not be your thing. Sure, they're not the highest of high-end graphically any more, but I've found it utterly irrelevant. Compared to buying only new games, I'm getting some amazing bargains. (Admittedly, I'm also buying some new stuff for Wii and the DS, and the PS2 still gets new games as well.) PC gaming is, it seems, history for me. Good riddance, too: no need for continuous upgrades and, ack, Vista.
So that's my advice. I don't necessarily recommend that you start shelling out kilobucks for games like I do, but you never know...
posted by lifeless at 10:05 AM on May 1, 2007 [1 favorite]
Oh, and about consoles adding to clutter: true, maybe, but fitting my current systems into the living room was less of a hassle than I feared it would be. I had the same concern initially.
Also, I didn't mean to imply that you, too, should give up PC gaming entirely. Keep the box around, by all means. Once I upgrade to an Intel Mac and install XP into a VM or Boot Camp, I will probably do at least some retro gaming once in a while.
posted by lifeless at 10:12 AM on May 1, 2007
Also, I didn't mean to imply that you, too, should give up PC gaming entirely. Keep the box around, by all means. Once I upgrade to an Intel Mac and install XP into a VM or Boot Camp, I will probably do at least some retro gaming once in a while.
posted by lifeless at 10:12 AM on May 1, 2007
on the casual games front I have to recommend the strategy/puzzle game Oasis.
posted by subtle_squid at 11:58 AM on May 1, 2007
posted by subtle_squid at 11:58 AM on May 1, 2007
Jeez, tough crowd! To clarify, the point wasn't that there is a specific age past which you shouldn't play video games, or that you ever have to quit or feel pressure to quit. This was a possible diagnosis, as in, if you are feeling meh, maybe it's not the games, maybe it's you.
I say that because that's what happened to me. I got bored with the games and finally realized that my priorities has shifted and that I should focus on the things that had become more important to me. The habit still pulled at me because it was a such a longstanding one. And so I kept at it for a while. So I finally chose to just put the console away and move on so I wouldn't sink so much time into it. Civ II still calls at me from time to time. "I'll just play a quick game. Small world. Three civilizations. Medium difficulty. I can handle it. I can quit anytime I want..." But I know myself better and so don't.
If none of this applies to you then do as our testy colleagues here suggest and ignore me.
posted by kookoobirdz at 12:48 PM on May 1, 2007
I say that because that's what happened to me. I got bored with the games and finally realized that my priorities has shifted and that I should focus on the things that had become more important to me. The habit still pulled at me because it was a such a longstanding one. And so I kept at it for a while. So I finally chose to just put the console away and move on so I wouldn't sink so much time into it. Civ II still calls at me from time to time. "I'll just play a quick game. Small world. Three civilizations. Medium difficulty. I can handle it. I can quit anytime I want..." But I know myself better and so don't.
If none of this applies to you then do as our testy colleagues here suggest and ignore me.
posted by kookoobirdz at 12:48 PM on May 1, 2007
If you've not already played them, Max Payne 1 and 2 are still fab games.
posted by iamcrispy at 3:21 PM on May 1, 2007
posted by iamcrispy at 3:21 PM on May 1, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nasreddin at 6:10 AM on May 1, 2007 [2 favorites]