Are you stuck with a crappy on-board integrated graphics card that can barely run anything?
Here's an example of a pretty low-end system:
- CPU: AMD FX-4100, Quad Core, 3.6 GHz
- GPU: ATI HD 3000 (pretty bad)
- RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333 MHz
- OS: Windows 7
- Half-Life (including expansions) - The FPS genre would drastically change after the release of this game. I absolutely recommend it. It's still as enjoyable as it was years ago when I were but a child.
- Starcraft - No summary needed. You know what this one is all about
- Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven - Classic styled RPG but slightly friendlier than it's predecessors.
- Unreal - Half-Life's twin in a way (not really, but you get the idea) which was the first game to utilise the initial version of the game engine which we all know today.
- Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - The first in a very popular series of Real Time-Tactics games. Too hard for me, to be honest.
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six - You probably know this one. The "tactical shooter" concept took form with it's release.
- Fallout 2
- Grim Fandango - I'll play it one day, I promise.
- SiN - A shooter game which I haven't played. Plenty of people say that it's quite good.
- Blood II: The Chosen - The sequel to an impressively good FPS DOS game. I recommend both of them.
- Thief: The Dark Project - Extremely influential, but I just could not get into it. The gameplay feels unresponsive to me rather than deliberately slow (it is a game centred around sneaking after all). I might give it a go again in the future.
- Baldur's Gate - Name says it all. I haven't played it yet though. A lot of people advised me to skip the first. I'm not entirely sure if I want to do so.
- SimCity 3000 - Not my type of genre to be honest, but I know that there are people who love City Management games out there.
- Heroes of Might and Magic III - I'm not the biggest TBS player either, but Heroes is extremely popular and with good reason. I plan to give this one a go at one point.
- Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri - Heh, plenty of Turn Based titles this year.
- RollerCoaster Tycoon - ...and City (park in this case) Management as well.
- Counter-Strike - Only because GO is extremely popular at the moment, it doesn't mean that the original CS is going anywhere. Gather up the lads and lassies and give it a go for the old time's sake!
- Dungeon Keeper 2 - Must play tower (dungeon in this case) defence game.
- System Shock 2 - THIS! This is the best game I've played this year. I love everything about it. The atmosphere, the way the story is told, the progression, the environments, the UI, I like it all. Bioshock used to be my favourite series of all time, but I had to refer to it as the "Shock Series" after playing SS2. It took me 18 hours to beat it, only because I had to search every nook and cranny and see all that there was to see. I absolutely recommend it.
- Homeworld - One of the best strategy games out there. A remaster of this game has also been released.
- Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings - One of the games I liked the most throughout my childhood. A lot of content to be had in here. I recommend it along with the expansion, The Conquerors.
- Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Even more strategy games!
- The Longest Journey - Haven't played it yet, but plenty of people mention it as one of the best point and click adventure games ever made.
- Planescape: Torment - I am quite ashamed to admit that I haven't played this one yet. It's probably the closest you can get if you like reading but want to do it in a video game. And it's sitting there, at the top right of my desktop, awaiting my attention.
- The Sims - The only reason I've even played any of these games was for the house building. Might also be pretty fun when drunk or high with friends.
- Thief II: The Metal Age - Haven't played this one either, but I truly plan give the third Thief game a go. I might come back to this one and the original after that.
- Soldier of Fortune - Extremely hard to get these days. A cheesy, violent, fun shooter.
- Shogun: Total War - The birth of the Total War series.
- Deus Ex - This has to be the second best game I have played this year. The level design is fantastic, as well as the plot. The gameplay is actually quite good once you decide what you want to level up, and what combat style you want to adopt. It can, however, be a bit slow at times.
- Diablo 2 - Hack and Slash then loot it all, lads.
- Icewind Dale - Another one of those classic CRPGs that everybody loves.
- Baldur's Gate 2 - ^
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - One of my favourite RTS games of all times. A lot of variety and fun to be had here. Absolutely recommend it.
- The Operative: No One Lives Forever - Charming is not a word that you would usually hear when it comes to the FPS genre. Well, this is an exception. One that you have too see yourselves.
- Severance: Blade of Darkness - You desperately want to play the Souls game but your system won't allow you to do that? Try this one instead. You could call it the Grandpa of Souls.
- Cliver Barker's Undying - Painfully underrated. Similar to Bioshock and System Shock 2 in a lot of ways, combined with a charming setting, great atmosphere and interesting plot. The progression and the pacing are really well done. I definitely recommend it if you fancy spooky games similar to the Shock series.
- Red Faction - Short and fun, though it's not as entertaining as it was back in my childhood.
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter - Fun. Mindless fun. Low end or not, just play it, please.
- Black and White - I was planning on playing this one but I just couldn't get into the mood for it. Some people say it's underrated, but the general consensus is that it's a great game.
- Max Payne - Great atmosphere, great presentation, GREAT GAMEPLAY. It can be hard as hell, though.
- Alien versus Predator 2 - A tad underrated if you ask me, but not a masterpiece either. Still worth playing.
- Civilization III
- Return To Castle Wolfenstein - It's hard, it's fun, it's sometimes spooky, a lot of weapons that can be carried at the same time, a lot of variety between the levels and a decent atmosphere. Totally worth playing.
2002
- Medal of Honour: Allied Assault - And so, the era of WW2 shooters is finally beginning. Well made and polished. Give it a go.
- Serious Sam: The Second Encounter - Even better than the first game, in my opinion. If we were to be honest, we'd have to admit that it's more of an expanded expansion than a different game. But it does improve the core formula, making it even more fun to play and bad ass. That's all I ever wanted out of a Serious Sam game, and this one might as well be my favourite. And as a bonus, the soundtrack is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - It just finished installing. This winter season is going to be a lot of fun. I cannot wait!
- Arx Fatalis - Underrated. Some sort of Dungeon Crawler, a bit similar to System Shock.
- Grand Theft Auto 3 - Very obscure game that a lot of your probably haven't heard of.
- Neverwinter Nights - New gen CRPG if I can call it that.
- Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos - Do you like RTS games? Play this. RPGs? Play this. Do you like video games at all? Play this. Low end or high end system? Doesn't matter. Play this. As well as the Frozen Throne Expansion.
- The Thing - Haven't played it yet, but it looks like it might be similar to Dead Space in certain aspects. I'll give it a try.
- Medieval: Total War
- Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven - I'm quite hyped to play this. And you should be as well.
- No One Lives Forever 2 - Remember what I said about the first game? It's the same, only it's better.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - It wasn't too well received but I still plan to give this one a go, only because I like the universe and the lore.
- Age of Mythology - Arguably my favourite RTS game. Very similar to the Age of Empire series, but a lot more personal when it comes to the story and more interesting universe. And yes, the characters are great. The soundtrack is probably my favourite soundtrack of all time. It wakes up butterflies inside my tummy :P.
- Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers - Critically acclaimed. I honestly can't wait to play this one.
- SimCity 4 - Again, not my favourite genre, but a lot of you might like this one!
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - I'm confident that this series is well known by now.
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield - Tactical shooter
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Oh look, one more of those obscure titles that nobody has ever heard of.
- Rise of Nations - Pretty interesting concept when it comes to strategy games that I have to experience soon.
- Homeworld 2 - Sequel to the first Homeworld, it was also recently remastered.
- Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
- Command & Conquer: Generals
- Freedom Fighters - Pleasing reviews. Looks like a hidden gem to me.
- Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
- Call of Duty - Let's see how well you can 360 no scope here. I recommend getting the expansion as well.
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - A must play that I haven't played yet. You should play it as well. All of you
- Beyond Good & Evil
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - The start of a great series. Great game, even though Warrior Within is my favourite.
- True Crime: Streets of LA - I don't know too much about this one
- Deus Ex: Invisible War - I wonder if this really is as bad as people make it out to be.
- The Suffering - Underrated Gem
- Manhunt - Gruesome but satisfying
- Far Cry - Before Crysis, there was Far Cry. And you should totally play it.
- Painkiller - A darker (not as good) Serious Sam.
- Thief: Deadly Shadows - I'm eager to play it. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it so much that I will go back and play the first two as well.
- Spider-Man 2 - Because why not?
- Doom 3 - Now look at this bad boy over here. This is one of 2004's highlights.
- The Sims 2 - Get high and do shit that you are too lazy to do in real life at that time.
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - A rather unique (at least for that time) take on the RTS genre.
- Rome: Total War
- Need for Speed: Underground 2 - I don't play racing games very often, but everyone seems to love this one.
- Half-Life 2 - this is why I consider 2004 to be the greatest year of the sixth generation.
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines - So underrated. I can't wait to play it.
- Prince of Persia: Warrior Within - My favourite PoP game to date. Amazing atmosphere, amazing gameplay, amazing setting and amazing story.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth - Really underrated RTS game. Get it alongside the expansion.
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - I don't know too much about this one, but a lot of people seem to like it.
- Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
- Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II - Not as good as the original, but still worth a look.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Sorry for bothering you with all these obscure titles.
- Star Wars: Republic Commando - First Person Shooter with tactical elements no.1
- Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 - First Person Shooter with tactical elements no.2
- Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Often considered the best in the series
- SWAT 4 - Tactical Shooter
- Psychonauts - Play this while high
- Fahrenheit - Heavy Rain's Father
- Black and White 2
- Serious Sam 2 - Highly underrated. It's true that it is a lot more cheesy and senseless, but it's more awesome and fun at the same time. One of my favourites.
- F.E.A.R. - One of the best shooters ever released. I absolutely love this game and both of the expansions. Can be a bit demanding on the hardware.
- Quake 4 - I'm curious. I truly am.
- Age of Empires III - One of my favourite RTS games of all times, alongside with Age of Mythology, Warcraft III and Red Alert 2.
- Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - Underrated. A tad hard to get into, but once you're in you can't get out.
- Call of Duty 2
- Civilization IV
- Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones - Doesn't compare to The Warrior Within, but it's still a worthwhile game.
However, I urge you to not forget about emulators!
You might not be able to run a PS2 emulator, but everything else is acceptable. Please keep in mind that there are a lot of handheld games worth playing. The GBA and DS emulators should be your friends.
My favourite is PPSSPP (PSP emulator) which is extremely well designed and plays mostly every game flawlessly (on PC as well as Android!). There are plenty of amazing PSP games worth playing, so keep this in mind, please.
Amazing gaming experiences are everywhere to be had. You just have to look carefully not to miss what's right in front of your eyes ;).
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