For my birthday my parents got me one of the new Alianware X51 computers and i am needed advice on games to get to play. I would appreciate it because i have been away from pc gaming for so long i do not know where to begin.

What sort of games do you enjoy?

I'll tell you where to begin: get steam

Shogun 2 is an epic sophisticated pc title that will make good use of your hardware. It was easily the best game of 2011. It was discarded like trash because it was A) a strategy title and B) Not a console title

Get steam along with all its indie PC exclusives, like Legend of Grimrock and Binding of Isaac. As for fully-fledged PC games, here goes. Witcher 2. Dragon Age 1. Crysis 1 / 2. Skyrim for its mods. BF3. The rest are multi-platform.

@Klei said:

Get steam along with all its indie PC exclusives, like Legend of Grimrock and Binding of Isaac. As for fully-fledged PC games, here goes. Witcher 2. Dragon Age 1. Crysis 1 / 2. Skyrim for its mods. BF3. The rest are multi-platform.

Skyrim is a console port. Crysis 2 is a console port. Battlefield 3 was a console port (console development took over) and every one of those are multiplatform.

On topic: Along with Shogun 2 I would recomend Napoleon: Total War. Tribes: Ascend. Team Fortress 2. Arma 2: Arrow-head. Dawn Of War II: Retribution and Company Of Heroes.

As well as this, check out GOG for many older excellent (far superior than the shit today) titles.

Hard Reset (there's also an expansion coming soon)

what video card did you get with your x51? The stock option is integrated graphics (geforce 545) so if you plan on playing anything other than World of Warcraft you are going to have a bad time.

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/kidavenger/pc-exclusives-everyone-should-have/46-73737/

Any time anyone asks what to play, my go-to answer is Bastion. That any anything made by Valve, including Ricochet.

Hard Reset and Bastion I think are both must. Also in terms of graphics just to bring the computer to it's knees I would recommend Metro 2033. That game maxed is beautiful but takes a pretty damn powerful PC to run. Also games like Dragon Age:Origin and most other RPGs like that are great on PC.

Check out the Mount&Blade series, I believe the demo of Warband is available. Probably the only ones you need from the series is Warband and maybe the DLC, Napoleonic Wars if you're into that sort of stuff. Having massive multiplayer battles/events with up to 200 players is a good PC-exclusive experience in this current generation in my opinion.

I will have to agree with the people who recommended Shogun 2 and Mount and Blade. Fantastic games with lasting appeal.

Majesty 2 is really neat.

Since others are getting the obvious stuff out of the way, I'll just namedrop SpaceChem, my 2011 GotY runner up right behind Portal 2. There's a demo out on Steam I think, play it before you buy it, it serves a very niche audience.

There should be a Steam sale soon (maybe 2 months or so from now), I'd probably buy only a few games now and wait to see if the stuff you want goes on sale then.

Diablo 3 in 13 days.

@whyareyoucrouchingspock said:

Battlefield 3 was a console port (console development took over)

Team Fortress 2.

Nope.

the PC version would be getting extra attention, in the sense that they would not limit themselves to the technical capabilities of consoles, and that the different versions were being developed separately.

Also, Team Fortress 2 made an appearance on consoles. Do you think that was a port as well?

On topic, I recommend giving at least one or two strategy games a whirl as it's one of the PC's biggest strengths and can be done playably on consoles but not well. Really, I recommend first looking for things that can't or aren't done on consoles, or aren't done as well on consoles besides graphics. To that end, Battlefield 3 because of its 64 player count instead of 24 and Dragon Age Origins because of all the options still available. I'm not a big PC gamer so I can't point out many other things, but I'm certain the rest of the GB community will find some great things for you to look in to.

@believer258 said:

@whyareyoucrouchingspock said:

Battlefield 3 was a console port (console development took over)

Team Fortress 2.

Nope.

the PC version would be getting extra attention, in the sense that they would not limit themselves to the technical capabilities of consoles, and that the different versions were being developed separately.

Also, Team Fortress 2 made an appearance on consoles. Do you think that was a port as well?

On topic, I recommend giving at least one or two strategy games a whirl as it's one of the PC's biggest strengths and can be done playably on consoles but not well. Really, I recommend first looking for things that can't or aren't done on consoles, or aren't done as well on consoles besides graphics. To that end, Battlefield 3 because of its 64 player count instead of 24 and Dragon Age Origins because of all the options still available. I'm not a big PC gamer so I can't point out many other things, but I'm certain the rest of the GB community will find some great things for you to look in to.

Adding features on doesn't stop a port being a port. If you read another article they say they started with the pc but moved onto the console later in development. Most of Battlefield 3 is designed with consoles in mind regardless of graphical fluff much like Arkham City.

@whyareyoucrouchingspock: I don't necessarily agree or disagree with you but in your mind what makes something not a console port aside from it being pc only?

The Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 will be great games to test capabilities of your new PC.

@CrazyBagMan said:

@whyareyoucrouchingspock: I don't necessarily agree or disagree with you but in your mind what makes something not a console port aside from it being pc only?

A game specifically built from the ground up with pc mind 100% is not a console port in my eyes. I wouldn't even call the Witcher 2 a pc game. It plays exactly like a console game compared to the witcher 1.

@whyareyoucrouchingspock : Aye, console ports they may be, but they're madly optimized for the PC AND way better than the console vanilla versions.

If I got an Alienware I would take it back for a refund and get a personal computer.

@whyareyoucrouchingspock said:

@Klei said:

Get steam along with all its indie PC exclusives, like Legend of Grimrock and Binding of Isaac. As for fully-fledged PC games, here goes. Witcher 2. Dragon Age 1. Crysis 1 / 2. Skyrim for its mods. BF3. The rest are multi-platform.

Skyrim is a console port. Crysis 2 is a console port. Battlefield 3 was a console port (console development took over) and every one of those are multiplatform.

On topic: Along with Shogun 2 I would recomend Napoleon: Total War. Tribes: Ascend. Team Fortress 2. Arma 2: Arrow-head. Dawn Of War II: Retribution and Company Of Heroes.

As well as this, check out GOG for many older excellent (far superior than the shit today) titles.

"The DICE boss shared the news in the latest issue of PSM3, where he revealed that despite Battlefield 3 looking very much like a shooter designed for advanced PC hardware, the latter stages of Battlefield 3's construction lead on PS3 and Xbox 360 in order to meet release on time." And this means it's still a PC port. If you develop a game from the start to the latter stages it kinda shift the lead, but still not where it was developed.

For games to get, avoid Steam like it's the plague, it's horrid place which force you to run the POS at all times. Use GoG.com, Gamersgate.com, GoG.com, Direct2Drive or gamefly or whatever it's called now, and impulsedriven.com. Try to avoid anything like Steam and Origin, where Origin is the better one, as it don't force you to run it with all games you buy there, but still, avoid both.

For games you should get, the fact is, most games dosn't matter if it's a console port as long as they are fun.

The Witcher 2(and 1 if you've never tried it)

Deus EX: Human Revolution

Skyrim

Total War: Shogun 2

Legends of Grimrock

Battlefield 3

Botanicula

Batman: Arkham City

StarCraft 2

Alan Wake (I already had it on Xbox, but enjoyed it a lot more on PC, and it already was a fantastic game)

Arma 2.

Tribes Ascend.

Every Stalker game that has been released to date if you haven't played these yet.

There is plenty out there, way to many to even start to list them, as the pc kinda gives you the experience you want in any genre. Also, you can just sit down on your ass and wait for games like Arma 3, Borderlands 2, Diablo 3, Dead State, Dishonored, Planetside 2, Torchlight 2, Prey 2, both Xcom games, Grim Dawn, Carrier Command, Metro: Last Light, Firefall, End of Nations, Hitman: Absolution, Thi4e, Warlock: Master of the Arcane, Overgrowth(awesome rabbit something killing stuffz) Natural Selection 2!,

@supamon said:

I'll tell you where to begin: get steam

This.

As for the games, you didn't really tell us what you're interested in, so I'll just give you some suggestions. Witcher 2, Company of Heroes, Empire Total War or Shogun 2, Stalker games, Civ V, Starcraft 2, Mount and Blade. All of those are recent-ish games. If you're willing to play older games i think you'll find a lot of gems, Fallout, Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate II, Stronghold, Rome Total War, Deus Ex, Morrowind, Anachronox, Far Cry.

There are many more, but these should get you started.

I agree. Steam saved pc gaming and most of the 40 million people on it choose to use it because it is good.

As far as i'm concerned these people saying "steam is the devil, don't use it" might as well be saying "I wish pc gaming was dead". Cause without it, it mostly would be.

Play Total War, if you enjoy Microsoft Excel. It plays very similarly, but it has way better graphics.

The Witcher 2, if you haven't played it already.

The Steam summer sale will be fun for you

@Fattony12000 said:

If I got an Alienware I would take it back for a refund and get a personal computer.

I know right, his parents could've saved 2 grand and have a pc with the same capabilities for a third of the price, and not have to worry about voiding the warranty if he wants to upgrade it at a later date.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

@supamon said:

I'll tell you where to begin: get steam

This.

As for the games, you didn't really tell us what you're interested in, so I'll just give you some suggestions. Witcher 2, Company of Heroes, Empire Total War or Shogun 2, Stalker games, Civ V, Starcraft 2, Mount and Blade. All of those are recent-ish games. If you're willing to play older games i think you'll find a lot of gems, Fallout, Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate II, Stronghold, Rome Total War, Deus Ex, Morrowind, Anachronox, Far Cry.

There are many more, but these should get you started.

All of these. Also, I only started playing games a lot more around 96-97, so I missed quite a few good games and also, being a kid, couldn't afford to play more than one at a time for 3 or 4 months at a time, but as time went by I played a significant chunk of the games you mention in the second line-up. Unfotunately I never got round to playing Fallout... Until now. And god damn I didn't know what I was missing! Can't get enough of it. Currently in Junktown and showing a certain unnamed fat person what the inside of my gun-barrel looks like.

Oh, man. It's always hard for me to not recommend PC gaming classics like Baldur's Gate II or Half-Life 2.

Witcher 2 & Battlefield 3 are both PC-centric games that are amazing on the PC. Skyrim is several times better on the PC, especially with mods. I'm a huge fan of strategy, a definite strength of the PC, so I'd recommend games like Starcraft 2, the Total War Series, and Civilization IV. Civilization V is easier to get into, but the strategy is pretty weak at high level play. I'm also a huge fan of Dragon Age: Origins on the PC, but there is a wealth of RPGs on the PC, mostly older.

Oh, and Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2.

@TorMasturba: You realize you just stole another say, 40 hours from me? Cause I'm gonna have to go and start a new playthrough of Fallout...thank you. Oh and I'm glad you finally started to play it.

http://www.gog.com/

http://store.steampowered.com/

@mm665 said:

The Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 will be great games to test capabilities of your new PC.

@believer258 said:

@whyareyoucrouchingspock said:

Battlefield 3 was a console port (console development took over)

Team Fortress 2.

Nope.

the PC version would be getting extra attention, in the sense that they would not limit themselves to the technical capabilities of consoles, and that the different versions were being developed separately.

Also, Team Fortress 2 made an appearance on consoles. Do you think that was a port as well?

On topic, I recommend giving at least one or two strategy games a whirl as it's one of the PC's biggest strengths and can be done playably on consoles but not well. Really, I recommend first looking for things that can't or aren't done on consoles, or aren't done as well on consoles besides graphics. To that end, Battlefield 3 because of its 64 player count instead of 24 and Dragon Age Origins because of all the options still available. I'm not a big PC gamer so I can't point out many other things, but I'm certain the rest of the GB community will find some great things for you to look in to.

Adding features on doesn't stop a port being a port. If you read another article they say they started with the pc but moved onto the console later in development. Most of Battlefield 3 is designed with consoles in mind regardless of graphical fluff much like Arkham City.

If your looking to both test its capability and play a kickass game, Witcher 2 is what you want.

Tribes: Ascend, Team Fortress 2, Dunegon Defenders, Left 4 Dead 2, Half-Life series, and Minecraft

@Doctorchimp said:

Diablo 3 in 13 days.

This, only it's 8 days now? Math is hard.

Hordes of Little People Blowing up (Strategy)

Starcraft 2

Civ 5

RaPaGa's (RPGs)

Witcher 2

The Shooty Shooty

(Free) Super Monday Night Combat

(Free) Tribes: Ascend

Battlefield 3

Team Fortress 2

The This Game Makes Me Want to Kill Myself

Dota 2 beta

Try out Civilization V. It's a fantastic turn based strategy game where you start in the early ages and build your way up to the modern era. The expansion pack comes out in summer too which will have enhanced features, new civilizations and religion. It's an easy game to get into and it's fun, and since it's turned based it's fairly stressless.

Steam, GOG..Diablo 3 next week(?)

For an excellent older shooter, get the origonal Painkiller. A dirivative something or other, not bad so far , besides the origonal (best) game, is on Steam.

@BeachThunder said:

Hard Reset (there's also an expansion coming soon)

Been waiting for that!!!!!!! Where is it, thought that was suppossed to happen by now ..

Honestly, if I had a pc that would run it, the first thing I'd play would be Amnesia. I know there are "better" games out there, but that one seems to offer something that a lot of others don't. It's on Steam too.

If you are looking for a good multiplayer game you should try Super Monday Night Combat on steam, its free and probably the best game ive played in a long while.

I just bought an X51 myself, to replace my 5-year old Alienware Aurora. I've played BF2, Witcher 2, and tons more on it, and its ran them all really well. Mine is the mid-ranged model (because I work for a living), and I can't say enough good things about the PC. As far as recommendations go, you can't go wrong with Sins of a Solar Empire, Civ V, Battlefield 3, Witcher 2 and Bastion. Oh, and Legend of Grimrock. That's a great game that's getting over looked.

@WinterSnowblind said:

Play Total War, if you enjoy Microsoft Excel. It plays very similarly, but it has way better graphics.

...I can't imagine what you'd think of a game like Hearts of Iron 3 or Victoria 2, if you think Total War of all things resembles a spreadsheet.

As for suggestions: Crusader Kings 2. It's a game experience that's simply impossible to have on anything but a PC.

@bybeach said:

@BeachThunder said:

Hard Reset (there's also an expansion coming soon)

I wish I knew They keep pushing back the release date :( It's going to be free though, so that's cool.

Thanks everyone Steam came one the computer i got the Warband series great game you guys should check it out i got the Old Republic and a few others Witcher will be next though