What should I buy

Chowlett · May 31, 2002, 16:22

Ok, my exams are nearing completion (and have nearly started, as well), I have a bit of cash to spare and a £2.50 voucher for EB which I have to spend by September. So - what should I do? Should I buy:

Half-Life: Generations (HL + the 3 expansions)
Thief: Gold
Morrowind
NWN
Some other RPG I've forgotten about
Something else entirely

I should also note that the first two options, being slightly cheaper, would probably also allow me to buy both Settlers of Catan and the Civilisation board games, while the others would allow me, at most, to buy one or t'other. I also usually wait for a game to hit £20 or £15 before I buy it.

It's even a poll - but constructive thoughts on your reasoning are appreciated.

General Ludd · May 31, 2002, 16:43

My vote goes to either Neverwinter Nights, or Half-Life - depending on what kind of game you want. (Personally, I would prefer NWN)

The main reason for these two games is that they are both designed predominately for multiplayer.
That, and they're just damn good games all around

(well, I 'spose I can't say for sure yet on NWN...)

Chowlett · May 31, 2002, 17:01

The Banana vote is mine - I wanted to be able to see the poll results easier.

I quite like the sound of an RPG, I haven't actually played a proper one yet, but they sound like huge fun.

SnowFire · May 31, 2002, 17:36

Eh, for PC RPGs Baldur's Gate II is probably the best and most famous. And Planescape Torment can be gotten pretty cheaply, I bet. I'm partial to console RPGs myself, which you can get some older ones for free basically via SNES emulation, with the Final Fantasy series of course being the crown of console RPGs.

I just played my first game of Settlers of Catan only recently, and it was quite a bit of fun. It was a nice bootleg style version too with cardboard & playing cards. Nice to see that others play it too.

General Ludd · May 31, 2002, 17:57

Quote:

Originally posted by SnowFire
Eh, for PC RPGs Baldur's Gate II is probably the best and most famous. And Planescape Torment can be gotten pretty cheaply, I bet. I'm partial to console RPGs myself, which you can get some older ones for free basically via SNES emulation, with the Final Fantasy series of course being the crown of console RPGs.

Just for the record, Neverwinter Nights is made by the same people who did Planescape and the Baldur's Gate series.

Neverwinter Nights is probably the closest thing you can get to a 'proper rpg' without playing pen and paper - It allows players to easily create their own worlds, and act as a DM in a multiplayer game.

There are also alot of fan-made persistent worlds planed for it.

Apocalypse · May 31, 2002, 18:01

There are some of the same people who have worked on Torment, BG, and NN, but that number is small. Many people who worked on Torment have moved on from Interplay. Some of them have worked on Arcanum, which has an atmosphere almost on the level of Fallout.

OzzyMander · May 31, 2002, 18:14

Would go for the NWN. Hear its great, i probaly should get it also heh. Know MANY friends who play it..

faded glory · May 31, 2002, 18:50

Go for NWN, that is a great one I hear

Chowlett · May 31, 2002, 18:51

Ok, so a possibility is: Pick up BG2 or PS:T on the cheap, and graduate onto NWN when it comes down in price? Thus allowing the board game purchases, y'see. Or would you just say "Screw that, straight in with NWN"?

General Ludd · May 31, 2002, 19:15

Quote:

Originally posted by Chowlett
Ok, so a possibility is: Pick up BG2 or PS:T on the cheap, and graduate onto NWN when it comes down in price? Thus allowing the board game purchases, y'see. Or would you just say "Screw that, straight in with NWN"?

Can't tell you with out playing NWN (which is released in a couple of weeks) and torment (which I am going to be playing in that time.)

Tuberski · May 31, 2002, 19:20

Morrowind lets you do pretty much anything you want. The game is very non-linear.

Leveling is good, Thieves actually can level up by picking locks and not neccesarily by killing things.

Chowlett · May 31, 2002, 19:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Osweld
Can't tell you with out playing NWN (which is released in a couple of weeks) and torment (which I am going to be playing in that time.)

I'll keep my eyes on this thread then.

Rex Little · May 31, 2002, 19:56

I would always go with the plan of picking up the cheap game and waiting for the newer one to come down in price. This has an additional benefit: if the new one turns out to bark at the moon, you'll find out before you spend your money, rather than afterwards.

I picked up Planescape: Torment months ago for $5, and I haven't even started it yet. Still working on Baldur's Gate.

Scouse Gits · May 31, 2002, 20:00

OK - Baldur's Gate and the that whole stable are fantastic games - but Morrowind is the Elder Scrolls - it was released in the UK TODAY at £29.99 and is on the absolute must buy list!!! In the unlikely event that you can find Daggerfall (Elder Scrolls II) in the discount bin GET IT and you will see what I mean - the Elder Scrolls trilogy IS role playing - you live your life as you like - not driven by some game engine down a moderately linear quest path this is the single failing of the otherwise superb BG family of RPGs.

Buy and enjoy, SG[1] - just finished the second bottle of red

Standup · May 31, 2002, 20:26

Just to confuse matters more how about Arcanum or Fallout 2 ? Both are a bit unpolished but do offer 'proper' roleplaying in that you can chose your approach and still have lots of options. Fallout especially allows an evil approach for most of the game should you want that. Arcanum is feature rich but not as polished as Baldur's Gate 2.
I've just got Morrowind and i'm having to fight my in built resistance to FPS type setups but is does seem pretty free form. Needs a fairly major PC though.

SnowFire · May 31, 2002, 22:36

You can get a pack that includes both Fallout & Fallout 2 for just 10 bucks (one of my roommates did). From what they said and a bit of fooling around myself, Fallout I is superior to Fallout 2, mainly because A) you are beggared beyond beggardom in Fallout 2 unless you ruthlessly steal everything off of everybody you meet, and B) It's too easy to die in Fallout 2- you get attacked by hordes of enemies who get a lot of criticals, and criticals are how you kill people in Fallout. Good old "bypass defense and put one right between the eyes." This may be realistic, but it's not fun to have to play a battle 7 times even with good health and great armor.

In the unlikely event that you can find Daggerfall (Elder Scrolls II) in the discount bin GET IT

Eh, probably better ways to spend your cash. But if you do get Daggerfall, by all means patch immediately before wasting any time at all.

Tuberski · May 31, 2002, 22:50

Eh, probably better ways to spend your cash. But if you do get Daggerfall, by all means patch immediately before wasting any time at all.

I agree. It still has problems, but it IS better with the patches.

Marid Audran · June 1, 2002, 01:42

Ah, Chowlett, the other lone contributor to the SMAC/X FAQ besides myself. Heed well my words and go and buy Thief: Gold right now!

For the role-player in you, of course, one can't go wrong with any of the Bioware/Black Isle specialties (Baldur's Gate I/II, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, Fallout I/II, and ostensibly the upcoming Neverwinter Nights). However, my vote definitely has to go towards Thief. It's just such a revolutionary game and engrossing environment, taking the first-person-shooter genre and actually giving it a non-violent bias and unprecedented depth. Very sensory, sound-orientated experience. You play a thief, obviously, living by his wits, stealth, ability to hide in shadows and pilfer whatever he can find. Realistic physics and attention to detail is given in-game and with the plot. After SMAC I think Thief I/II are some of the best games ever made. And this is from someone who hates FPS as a general rule. By getting Thief: Gold instead of the original The Dark Project, you'll alo get all the extra enchancements and 3 Gold-only levels to boot!

It's also a pretty bargain at this point; you can save up for those board games you mentioned. Don't scorn it because it's not as new-fangled a game as some; superior games are timeless.

tishco · June 1, 2002, 05:04

I chose HL 'cos its great, but runs out of steam a bit at the end

if there was a second choice: morowind, although for me i wouldnt play enough of it to be worth £30

GTA3 and mediaval total war are the games i am saving up for

Chowlett · June 1, 2002, 06:03

I played a level and a half of a friends Thief a while ago - I had to give it back before I became proficient enough to actually get into the house with the scepter from in the cellar (as in, the house had the scepter, I didn't)

.

So the consensus atm seems to be that, if I buy an RPG, I should buy an older, budget one. That seems sensible - make sure I like the genre before I blow the big bucks...

Sarxis · June 1, 2002, 07:04

Get Thief gold for sure, plus another.

Sava · June 1, 2002, 09:05

Don't buy any of them, go on mIRC chat, and download them all.

Chowlett · June 1, 2002, 09:42

I have never downloaded a commercial, still-published game, and I'm not about to start. Not in a public chat-room, anyway - who knows whaty I might get sent...

OTOH, I do know people with Thief (not Gold), and BG2 (and JK2, for that matter) who might be willing to, erm, lend me their CDs... Just for trial purposes, of course.

Urban Ranger · June 1, 2002, 13:20

Haven't played it yet, but read that Morrowind is excellent.

Capitalism 2 is a good business strategic game, if you are into that genre. The price should have come down some.

Footie Mad · June 1, 2002, 16:01

Get the first Baldurs Gate game for cheap if you dont have it, after that get BG:2 with the throne of bhaal expansion at a low price. Now you're set for hundreds of hours of addictive gaming )

FrustratedPoet · June 1, 2002, 16:02

Chowlett: If you want Fallout 1 + 2 then just PM me your address and I'll post you my copy of them. I bought them for about 10 or 15 pounds and didn't like them, so you can have them for nothing. It's a budget bundle thingy with both games in the same box. It has nasty pdf manuals, though.
I think I still have them ... although I might have thrown the CDs out ... I can't get my hands on it until Tuesday anyway ... so we'll see, but if you're interested then just PM me. Since you're in Cambridge (that's correct, yeah?) the postage will be almost nothing for me so you can consider it an end-of-exams present if you like.

You could have my copy of Baldur's Gate 1 + expansion too if you like ... I'm never gonna use it.

I would also recommend that you buy Final Fantasy 7 for the PC ... it is bound to be in a bargain-bin by now ... if you can find any copies of it at all.
It's the best console RPG I've ever played ... except perhaps Final Fantasy 10 on the PS2, but I haven't finished that one yet so can't give a proper evaluation.

Chowlett · June 1, 2002, 16:27

You serious? All 3 free of charge? I think I might take you up on that...

But I'll happily reimburse at least the postage if you like.

FrustratedPoet · June 2, 2002, 04:16

Of course I'm serious.

If I'm gonna send you all of those games then I suppose the postage might cost a few quid since Baldur's Gate comes on about a million CD's (I'm not sure why it needs to) and it will need to be a reasonably-sized parcel. We'll see how much it costs me and make suitable arrangements.

Anyway, please feel free to PM your snail-mail addy to me and we can work stuff out. Like I said, I can't get them until I go home from Uni on Tuesday, and I'm not 100% sure I still have them (about 80%

), but I seriously doubt I'll ever want to play them so they'd only gather dust on my shelf if you don't take them off my hands.

Chowlett · June 8, 2002, 09:56

Hmm, well, complications. The two shope I thought had Civilisation in them have both sold out (although Settlers of Catan was purchased about half an hour ago), which means I might consider Morrowind. Odd thing is that it's definitely out (HMV has a copy), but EB and Game don't - which is unfortunate, since I have an EB loyalty card, and a £2.50 voucher. And a 10% discount from being a student. I think some more option-considering, and then an inquiry of the staff as to whether or not they have it. And if not, why not?

Incidentally, the man who sold me Catan, who is quite knowledgable about these things, had apparently heard rumours of Sid Meier making a board game conversion of his Civilisation. Interesting...

Pythagoras · June 8, 2002, 15:58

Id go with Torment, very much worth the price.