Looking for some PC action games with a decent story.

So I just finished Max Payne 3. It got me itching to play PC shooters again. Something with a half decent story, lots of twists, messed up stuff, that sort of thing. Action games work too, for that matter. Hoping people can suggest some things for me.

Games I HAVE played:

Max Payne Series

Dead Space Series

Modern Warfare series (really sad to admit this one)

Dishonored

Just Cause 2

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Deus Ex Series

Far Cry Series

Bioshock Series

And a few more I can't remember right now.

It doesn't have to be limited to action/shooters, I mostly just like stories with twists, stories where really messed up stuff happens, hard choices, that sort of thing. Does have to be on the PC though, I don't have anything else to play on. I thought about getting some Splinter Cell games, but I don't know if they have a decent story or not. Or at all.

My suggestions; they all have very interesting stories and gameplay that I enjoyed. Some of these games have stories that change based on a player's actions. All games listed are available on PC.

• Spec Ops: The Line (third-person perspective, cover-based shooter): A traditional cover-based gameplay wrapped around a twisted story. Available on Steam.
• Alpha Protocol (RPG - real time combat, third person perspective): Complex story with decisions made in real time. Game changes significantly based on your decisions. Available on Steam.
• Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (first-person RPG - real time combat): Dark fantasy action game with an intense story. Very cool combat. Available on Steam. Available on Steam.
• FEAR 1, FEAR 2, FEAR 3 (FPS shooter): Bizarre story. FEAR 1 has the best enemy A.I. I've ever encountered. FEAR 2 has a story concurrent to FEAR 1's and FEAR 3 has the story of what happens afterwards. All three are available on Steam.
• The Witcher 1 and the Witcher 2 (RPG with real-time combat): Deeply interesting setting with a very intense, mature, morally-grey storyline. Very difficult decisions to be made in this game with lasting consequences. Long games! Witcher 2 has a much more action-oriented combat system than Witcher 1. I recommend buying them from gog.com.
• Sleeping Dogs (open world, third-person perspective action game): Highly atmospheric and engrossing story set in an authentic Hong Kong. Available on Steam.
• Fallout: New Vegas (open world RPG, third or first-person perspective): Highly dynamic story with a very open world. People, places, and entire factions will be influenced by your choices. Many mods available online to improve the game as well. Available on Steam.

Also, and while they may not be what you're looking for, I'll suggest them anyways: Saint's Row 2, Saint's Row 3, and Saint's Row 4 all have an audacious storyline that progresses through each game, following the same player-character. They are open world, third person action games. Although the games are much less serious than the others I listed, they have an amazing dedication with keeping the storyline consistent and logical, such as it is. Available from Steam. (linking to the franchise pack for convenience, no need to buy ANY Saint's Row DLC; also, F.Y.I.: Saint's Row 2 has a terrible PC port)

Hopefully you like RPGs! That's where all the most interesting stories are.

no need to feel sad, MW and MW2 are some of the best action games ever and the story is okay too.

I'd recommend

Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 4 ( RE4 HD is coming to PC very soon)

Alan Wake and Alan Wake's American Nightmare by Remedy (They Made Max Payne)

Metal Gear Solid Revengance is pretty good to.

If you have a strong gaming pc, metro: last light is something i think might be right in the area you are looking.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R series

Spec Ops - The Line

Metro 2033 & Last Light

E.Y.E Cybermancy (good luck figuring out the plot though, its heavy!)

Binary Domain

Mafia II

The only thing I struggle with in my backlog is picking what to play next, and going through every game's different qualities can be somewhat distracting.

Good luck OP. Hope you enjoy some vidya soon.

@sytakan: Noblenerf's suggestions above are great, and I'll specifically second the FEAR series and Spec Ops as games that sound like they'd be right up your alley.

You might also check out System Shock 1 & 2, which are spiritual predecessors to the BioShock series. I played through both for the first time about 2 years ago and liked them. They're somewhat rough around the edges due to age, but given the context of when they originally released, they're both pretty amazing.

As a stuck-up, gameplay-obsessed, looking-down-my-nose-at-modern-game-design kinda guy, the campaigns Modern Warfare 1 and 2 are actually quite good. I dunno, it's like comfort food or something. Modern Warfare 1 and 2 are the AC/DC's of video games.

Anyway, I thought Bulletstorm's story was surprisingly good. It's not quite what I'd call award-winning stuff, but the character development and interactions are quite nice. The hero, especially, develops from a really shitty guy to a slightly less shitty guy and none of it comes across as bad. This is downright amazing for the game that coined the term "dicktits".

Sleeping Dogs was my game of 2012 partially because it's also a good video game story. You could probably play through this game with a mouse and keyboard but I'd suggest using a controller instead.

Binary Domain should not be that good......but damn it is.

Currently playing metro 2033. If you want to enjoy FPS excellence play the game on hardcore(not super difficult) and enjoy.

There was a lot more response than I expected! Thanks to you all! I've added several more games to my library now. And yes, Noblenerf, I do enjoy RPGs. Quite a lot, in fact.

I keep seeing Binary Domain all over the net when I search for this particular topic. I've been on the edge on it as I've heard it wasn't ported well.

L4D and HL2 series have the best stories that doesn't feel like beating it over your head. The gunplay is simple and fast

@sytakan said:

Good to hear you enjoy RPGs! They're probably my favourite genre.

I completely forgot about Binary Domain; add me to the list of those recommending it. I had no issues with the PC port, though the controls for the menus seemed a little odd when using a keyboard.

Binary Domain is a very unique game, probably the only one I've played where the most basic enemy is never boring to fight against, though the bosses are pretty awesome too. The voice command stuff the player uses to reply to squadmates are simply button prompts if you lack a mic - think of them as basically quick time events. And no, you'll never have any idea what your character will say based on the possible answers that are listed.

If you're on the fence, try out the demo on Steam to see if it is up to your standards.

It was patched and now is totally fine. IF you like shooter you really should play Binary Domain for the Story alone^^

Why the fuck hasn't anyone recommended Mass Effect yet?

So yeah, Mass Effect 1,2 and 3 would be my recommendation.

@clonedzero: He was looking for games with a decent story, so I guess I subconciously overlooked them.... If you don't mind a story less coherent than the Saint's Row series, they would be worth a try.

Mass Effect is fun in an action-blockbuster-don't-think-about-anything sort of way.

@sytakan: Binary Domain and Remember Me. Cool games, cool stories, great setting. Binary Domain is especially fun to actually play.

I just played and beat Binary Domain within the past week and I would definitely recommend the game. Its really quirky and besides a few spots it plays pretty well too.

So I'm playing Binary Domain. It's... Interesting.

I don't like the control setup. The buttons for selecting vocal response are really annoying, and the keys are kinda all over the place. I plugged in my xbox controller, and it's a little better, but still weird in some areas. I'd really prefer my mouse, but even when I changed the keymapping (Which it wont let me do for my xbox controller) it still feels weird, so I'm sticking with the controller.

Trying to SPEAK to command my teammates is a chore too. There's no outside noise, and I have a really nice headset. REALLY nice. In the entire prologue, it only got my command correct three times. And I know I'm speaking clearly. It also seems to register what I'm saying at all times, usually when I'm cursing at Bo for randomly wandering into my fire. He keeps doing this. I'm not telling him to charge or anything, he just really loves running in front of my bullets. He did this SEVEN TIMES. I just turned the mic off and stuck to choosing commands.

The robots are really fun to fight though, usually. I really enjoy how they break apart and all that shit. Can't seem to figure out what makes allies happy and mad in combat. In one fight I killed six robots with a grenade, and Bo was happy. Trust gained. Then after the fight he yelled at me, calling me useless in it. Okay? The next fight I spent in a corner looking at something while he killed everything and got shot a lot. Then he came over to compliment me on how great I was in that fight. What? I'd be more annoyed if the robots weren't really satisfying to shoot. I'm not sure why I've come across THREE different assault rifles now, if the one you start with is the best, what with it's nifty charge blast. That's also the same button as reload. I've yet to accidentally fire it, but I've come close. I tried giving one to Bo or Charlie, since neither has a second gun, but I can't figure out if that's even possible.

The game is a little silly, which I enjoy. Too much grimdark, gritty seriousness going on in games nowadays. I was worried it was going to be a GoW or Mass Effect clone, to be honest. They kinda look like GoW cogs, actually.

I'm only halfway through the second level, staring at a rocket launcher that I would really love someone else to grab, since I ain't putting down my shiny new sniper rifle that I can't aim to save my life. I can't aim with controllers at all. I'd use the keyboard, but the only thing I REALLY want to remap are the keys to choose voice commands, and it wont let me remap THAT. I keep mashing the wrong thing by accident over and over.

Overall it's enjoyable, but really frustrating. The tutorial level introduced some bad voicework that put me off a bit. Bo goes from screaming randomly to calmly explaining things in the middle of battle, and Dan, in the middle of walking, went from happily joking around to screaming to HQ as if he was about to be blown up.

That's my impression anyway. I plan to keep playing for now.

@crithon said:

Half-Life 2 and its episodes.

Dark Messiah has awesome combat but a not great story; even if you have a strong affiliation with the Heroes V/VI universe.

Cryostasis...which is unfortunately not available anywhere anymore, unless you can find a physical copy somewhere.

The Metro games are pretty good. I'd also recommend Zeno clash 1 and 2 from the little I've played of the first one and crazy stuff I've heard about them.

Since no one mentioned: Silent Hill 2 (3 is fun too). However some (most) PCs nowadays will have problems running it. It was designed for a single core. There are simple fixes for it though and any Silent Hill forum will tell you about it.

About Splinter Cell stories, they fit the game but are not necessarily good. I would still recommend playing the first 3 (the first and Chaos Theory are my favourites).

@sytakan: Yeah the voice stuff is really bad so i would totally disable that. and as far as I remember you do not need to speak with your team mates much or even at all. However the standing of your teammates will also change the story in the end so better be careful not to hit them in fights. Otherwise you should be totally fine. Binary Domain is a great game which story at least for me was compelling till the end. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Glad you are enjoying it^^

Spec Ops: The Line
Singularity
Enslaved

The Punisher is the bestest.

I'll throw in for a few I've recently played that are really good:

Dust: An Elysian Tail
The Walking Dead
Hitman: Absolution
Hard Reset
Syndicate
Spec Ops: The Line

Really? Glad I own copies in 2 different places then :D

People will recommend Dark Souls for any reason, won't they? It barely has a story.

It's there if you're willing to look for it, but to be honest I forgot about the story part in the Op's request when I added dark souls to my original post. I was mainly recommending it for the action. You're right, looking back It really wouldn't apply for what Op is asking. My bad :D