Today on twitter, someone brought this article to my attention again:
Dark Matter is Basically a Mass Effect TV Show
I say again because I posted a link to the article when it first appeared back in July of 2016. But rereading it got me to thinking. I’ve never been a gamer only because I figure that once I start, I’ll be adding one more all-consuming hobby to my already jam-packed schedule. As it stands, I don’t watch enough television (although I plan to rectify that with the following shows lined up on my Netflix queue: Dark, Trapped, The Five, Mindhunter, Trapped, Frozen Dead, and that British horror series about a Big Brother set overtaken by the zombie apocalypse), do I really want to add gaming to the mix?
The answer is yes! But I need your input. If you’re a gamer – and knowing me as well as you do – what game(s) would you recommend? Let’s lean toward genre titles and give weight to those games that have yet to be adapted to the big or small screen.
Go!
Tetris ? 😛
(Mindhunter was a blast for what I’m concerned.)
All the old classic games have been done… check out the movie Pixels (2015) with Adam Sandler.
Rick Dangerous, then. ^^
I used to game, but gave it up years ago because it took over my life, so good for you for not starting.
Have you seen Travelers? I just discovered this fantastic show, and it’s good to see so many Stargate cast and crew involved.
Travelers is so good, lots of SG alumni on the cast of crew too.
Mass Effect is a given! Horizon Zero Dawn is amazing also. It isn’t set in space, but it’s here on Earth years after everything was destroyed. I can’t say much more without spoilers, but it may be the best game ever.
I’m not much of Modern day Gamer.
I like my games to be in a fun happy family friendly style.
Mario and Zelda on Switch took up most of my 2017 game playing time.
Ironically, I also write games, at AGameAWeek.com, but those again tend to focus on the oldskool “gameplay comes first” style of gaming. Little or no story, just a Start button and an inevitable Game Over.
To me, a game should be a game, and a story should be a story/movie/tv.
Interactivity in stories leads to increasingly complex threads that never seem to come to a decent conclusion, or get shoehorned together in the last level.. Either that, or it’s a bland, uninteresting game, driven by a story.
Very rarely am I content when the two are combined.
I’ve always been a big fan of Quake, Doom, and the Wolfenstein series of games. I also enjoy Myst, Obduction, and other lost-in-a-strange-world puzzlers. I’m not into multiplayer games because that involves other people and I game to escape the real world – and that’s where the people live.
Mostly I just like killing things FPS style. It helps relieve a lot of stress and probably says a lot about my psychological health, or lack thereof. Not that I care. 🙂
Have you tried The Last of Us?
A huge Myst fan and Obduction along with StarCraft and X-Beyond The Frontier
Also played Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, etc, but my weakness was Unreal Tournament, especially UT2004, It started taking over any and all of my spare time, and sometimes I’d end up staying up til 6am playing non-stop. I was even in a league back when it was popular. There’s still a small community that plays online, but I realized as I started playing again, that it wasn’t relieving stress; in fact it was actually causing more stress. I was getting trapped in the same cycle again, so I just quit cold turkey and haven’t played since. There’s so many good new immersive games out that I’d like to try, but I find myself lacking patience these days. I might try Star Citizen if it’s ever officially released. 🙂
Last of Us is definitely one you’ll want to check out. Fantastic story, wonderful graphics, just a great game all around.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is another great one.
When it comes out, Detroit Become Human looks like it is going to be outstanding.
I’d highly recommend checking out Breath of the Wild. It’s a fantastic game.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Bioshock
Mass Effect
Gears of War
Fallout
and…
Last of Us, this game is a masterpiece.
All of these are awesome. Horizon Zero Dawn is probably the best game of 2017. The others are series and require some commitment, but they are excellent games
Question for the mailbag (if you still field them):
How long have you and Paul been writing partners?
How is Paul doing since you’re no longer writing partners?
Have you already finished watching Stranger Things and what did you think about season 2?
Thanks for doing the mailbag!
Happy New Year Joe, Akemi, Suji, Lulu and everyone on the blog.
Get Steam on your laptop, if you carry a laptop with you everywhere. Here’s why. Let’s say you get into a console, or several, and maybe you even get into a game franchise exclusive to that console. Ok, fine, more power to ya. But what if you can’t carry the console with you everywhere? Or you just want to travel light? Or you don’t enjoy the console’ shame selection, and you want more variety? Or any host of other issues consoles have? Keep your laptop close, check the Steam website, download their Steam client app on your laptop, and just browse through their site for any game(s) that look fun. Put some on your laptop (which you can download anywhere as long as you have Internet connection, and then you can play even when you don’t have that connection). You can now play these games anywhere, any time you want to. Just keep a USB controller nearby if you want console style gameplay (the Steam app should take care of the rest when you plug it up), and maybe keep an HDMI cable with your laptop if you want to plug into a big flatscreen tv for better visuals. The Steam client also has “Big Picture Mode” for playing on a television. (As an extra, while HDMI cables are handy, Steam/Valve also sell this thing called Steam Link that can link up wirelessly to smart TVs).
But, all in all, in short, get a laptop, get Steam on it, get a USB controller and HDMI (and/or Steam Link), then get some games, and toucan take this setup anywhere you want.
Agreed. Steam is the way to go and their own controller is pretty nice. Plus, they’ll email you when games on your wishlist go on sale. That’s one of my favorite things about Steam.
Agreed to all that too. The Steam Controller alone is cool to tinker with and figure out if you’re the kind of person who likes figuring out new gadgets.
There are other online game providers “like” Steam, but Steam is the one and only original, all the rest are copies or knock-offs who aren’t as good.
Game recommendation: for quick fun, laughs, and multiplayer with a buddy or 3, play Castle Crashers.
Forget Steam. I hate steam. Good Old Games is the way to go. None of this, “have to run the Steam client to play anything”, everything is drm free. I will admit though that Steam has the larger collection of games.
Just because “YOU” hate Steam, doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy recommendation. Take your self-centered opinions and BS somewhere else. Stay off my comments.
Assassin’s Creed is a great game for exploring and fighting. You get to wonder around the world solving puzzles and taking out bad guys and good guys.
Lara Croft is another great game for exploring. There is not much fighting in the older games, they focus more on solving puzzles. In the newer renditions there is still exploration and puzzle solving, but you are also fighting for your life.
Any of the Lego games. They cover Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel and DC comics, Indian Jones and more. The concept of the game is you solve puzzles through out each level in a world. This earns you extra characters and abilities; Both of which are need when you go back to play through the levels again to complete them. They are very laid back and light hearted and good to play with a partner.
Now if you don’t mind older games:
Psychonauts is a PS2 game and is an absolute blast. It’s about a kid named Raz who runs away from the circus so that he can stole away at psychic summer camp for kids. It is completely bizarre and hysterical. My roommate was playing this game when I came home and I stood there for about 10 minutes trying to figure out what the heck the game was about. She was battling something in a land of meat and I was very confused. Something happened and I remember saying “what the hell was that?” just as I finished saying it Raz says “What the hell was that?” I was sold, as soon as she was done I started playing.
“The adventures of cookie and cream” is another really good PS2 game but requires a partner to play. It about two bunnies trying to get from point a to point be. The screen is split in two vertically and there is a player on each side. Bunny 1 must do things on his side of the screen to allow Bunny 2 to move forward and vise versa. It can be a true test of friendship at times especially in the later levels. But I like the concept of having to rely on partner to work out the problem together.
cutie, and I would look how you play
If you have a Playstation 4, I stand behind The Last of Us being on of the greatest stories told in gaming. It has heart and emotion. There is a 95% chance you’ll tear up in the first hour (and a 5% chance you are dead inside…) and the acting is phenomenal. Ennis Esmer’s current co-star, Ashley Johnson, is one of the two main characters and she does a fantastic job. Aside from great storytelling and action, the game is beautiful. It was actually one of the last games released on the PS3 before the shift to PS4 and the graphics were off the charts at that time. They remastered it for the PS4 and it’s superb.
The plot revolves around a man and a young girl trying to survive in a world that has been ravaged by a virus based on the Cordyceps fungus that does, in reality, exist and attacks ants. This virus turns humans into varying degrees of zombie like monsters. The man, Joel, and the girl, Ellie, are on a mission to get her across the country to a research station. Ellie, as it turns out, is immune to the Cordyceps infection, making her the most important person on the planet.
I cannot state enough how amazing Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson are in this game. The surrounding cast is also spectacular, but you will absolutely cherish your time with these two characters. If you can make the time, roughly 15-20 hours, it’s well worth it. This game is up there with LOST and Dark Matter for me. I revisit these worlds at least once a year, if not more, because the characters resonate so well with me.
Hey Joe. Our Jeff T is a gamer. You might ask him for some recommendations too. I’m sure he’d more than welcome and appreciate being called on for his knowledge. Hope you’re keeping warm and well rested at your moms.
Hugs to all always xo
Don’t play Skyrim; you will start speaking with a Nordic accent and will get nothing done. It was created by the same company that did Fallout (Bethesda). It’s brilliant; open world where you can interact with just about every facet in the environment, then smash it with a hammer and set it on fire.
I am obsessed with Call of Duty’s zombie 80’s movie homage game, it’s a beautiful mash up of John Carpenter, MTV and Walking Dead. You don’t get to choose your character; you could enter the game as a valley girl, rapper or classic nerd, but you all have to work together to defeat zombies. It’s silly fun and crazy intense, but I’m horrible at playing the game myself.
I also loved Life is Strange, Gray Matter and the Blade Runner game, I love PC games that let you get lost in a big world. I hardly play anymore but my favorite is Gray Matter, Jane Jensen wants to make that into a tv series. https://youtu.be/-hA3tlz8Mgo
Gears of War – good story line, bad ass CoG’s (good guys) aliens you hate
Given your interest in comics/novels there are the rocksteady Batman games (Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight), for future scifi there are the excellent Deus Ex games (set in tge near future where people are augmented with technology and there is a vast conspiracy to take over and a fight for the rights of augmented people, etc) if you like sword, magic and monsters there is The Witcher trilogy based on the novels of a polish fantasy authors (which have won all sorts of awards)
“Life is Strange”. Great story, brilliant characters, beautiful artistic style and cinematics, and an incredible detail world with many obvious and subtle motifs. There are also a lots of cultural references to literature, TV shows and photography that the developers were fans of.
I’m what you would call a “casual gamer” for exactly the reasons you list. Life is too crammed with other stuff to devote a lot of time to games. I fear that if I start an RPG it’s a rabbit hole I will not be emerging from.
Because I only dip into games occasionally (cumulatively maybe only one to two hours a week) anything with a strong narrative is a waste. My memory is so bad I can’t remember anything that happened last week and I want to get stuck into playing, not watching cutscenes. As a result, I tend to play puzzle games where I can fire it up, solve a couple of puzzles, then stop.
Here’s some of my favourite games I played last year:
The Witness – A first person puzzle solver. You wake up on a mysterious island with no memory of who you are or how you got there. As you wander around the island you find statues of people in odd poses and recording devices with quotes from philosophers and scientists. But mostly you find increasingly difficult logic puzzles to solve simply by drawing lines on the screen. Why are you on the island? What do the statues mean? What happens when you finally solve all the puzzles?
This was my favourite from last year. I’ve spent over 42 hours on it. Don’t expect much of a story but if you like solving logic puzzles it’s awesome! The artwork and design are gorgeous but you need a beefy graphics card to get the full effect. It is very playable on lesser graphics, though. It’s available on Steam for Mac and Windows and the Apple Store for iPhone.
Hue – A puzzle platformer. You discover a device that allows you to change the colour of your world from the normal black and white. You can make elements in the world appear and disappear by matching the background colour to the colour of the objects. By doing this you can move around the world in search of your mother. If you like platform games you’ll love this one.
It’s available on Steam for Mac, Windows and Linux (hurrah!).
Day Of The Tentacle Remastered – A classic point-and-click adventure. I played the original back in 1993. Tentacles are taking over the world and in order to stop them you play as three different characters in three different time periods. This game was hilarious to my young self and, while my sense of humour might have matured in the last 24 years, I still really enjoyed playing this game again. I’d also forgotten how hard some of the puzzles were!
Steam. Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.
Firewatch – A first person mystery. You take a job as a fire warden in the Wyoming wilderness. You’re alone other than another warden on the end of the radio. The game is quite linear with a few moments of genuine tension. It only took me about 5 hours to play (giving rise to a lot of complaints about how short it was) but I enjoyed it. One of the few non-puzzle games I played.
Honourable Mentions from previous years:
Portal and Portal 2 – The original(?) first person puzzler. Using a portal gun to open a connection between two portals you solve puzzles at the behest of an increasingly erratic computer. And the sequel, which is more of the same . . . only better. My favourite game of all time. I replay it at least once a year.
The Talos Principle – Another first person puzzler. If you like Portal you’ll like this as well. Very similar in concept except without the portals and a lot more philosophy about the nature of existence.
Unreal Tournament – First person shooter. If you just want to quickly fire up a game and shoot at things with ridiculous guns then this is the game for you! No story, no narrative. The nearly 20 year old graphics dates it a bit but it’s still a lot of fun. When you’re running full pelt firing rockets down a corridor you’re not looking at the graphics anyway.
For a first time gamer (or anyone, really), I highly recommend an indie game called Oxenfree. It’s a purely story-based game, so it doesn’t matter what your relative skill level is, and it’s a great game. Hard to nail down in terms of genre; it’s probably closer to horror than anything else, but it’s more creepy and surreal than genuinely scary. It’s pretty short, so it won’t take up too much time, and it features excellent voice-acting, an amazing soundtrack, and beautiful stylized graphics.
I’ll also second Portal and Portal 2. The puzzle gameplay is easy to pick up, but still challenging, and the humour is brilliant. They’re also, again, fairly short, so won’t tax your schedule too much.
If you feel like going old school, one of the greatest game ever made is No One Lives Forever, which is a spoof of/love note to the spy craze of the 1960s. It’s incredibly clever and full of humour and sass. You can’t buy it anymore, but fans have made a “revival edition” that works on modern systems and can be downloaded for free. Highly recommended.
Something else to look into might be episodic games, which tend to be short and story-driven. TellTale’s Batman series is fantastic — a really fresh take on the mythos with some interesting twists on the old characters — and Bear With Me is hilarious and surreal if you’re interested in a good hard-boiled teddy bear detective noir/thriller/mystery/comedy/thing.
I love the Mass Effect series, and they have great stories, but they are quite long, so keep that in mind. Also, the first game has some pretty wonky game mechanics, so it might not be the best option for someone new to video games. You could jump straight to Andromeda (the most recent installment) if you prefer, as it more or less reboots the story and is a bit more playable.
Also, as much as I love both Dark Matter and Mass Effect, I can’t say I see them as being very similar. They both have great characters, but the resemblance pretty much ends there. Mass Effect is more like if Star Trek: The Next Generation was a video game. Shiny happy people maintaining order in their shiny happy future. Andromeda is more adventurous, though; feels a bit like SG:U, though with a much more optimistic bent.
I’m not sure I’d recommend an MMO for someone with limited time, but I’d also like to note that the first companion character bounty hunter players get in Star Wars: The Old Republic is pretty much exactly Five. Bright, optimistic orphaned tech genius. All she’s missing is the blue hair.
With so many great recommendations, I must add that the Uncharted series is very much worth checking out, and I am looking forward to the new Spider-Man. As for mindless body count, I like to lose myself in any of the Dynasty Warriors game, but those are pretty much all the same.
I’m back in the dark ages. Very much prefer CD/DVD load the game to my puter and play. Not fond of the stuff on-line, especially when there are in-game purchases IF…you want to make progress or succeed.
Prefer the RTS – over FPS. Found that in my old age the FPS sometimes create dizzies/disorientation.
Favs over years – Command & Conquest, the ancient DUNE original and they had one upgrade that was decent.
Not same league, but HATE candy crush again because of the in game purchases. You know that realllllly adds up.
Rather spend money on books. OR…if they bring back something like my old age loves…sigh.
Check out Good Old Games. They have a great collection of older games, all of which can be played offline.
Last of us
Skyrim or Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas
My hubby suggested “Path of Exile” if you like adventure games.
Comment re TV… Have you seen Brad Wright’s Travelers? So good. Season 2 was mind-blowing. Another show that I was sad to see go is Halt and Catch Fire. Season 1 and the fourth, and final season, were extraordinary.
If I was you I would play these 3 in this order
Batman__The_Telltale_Series
Cartonish, immersive story (would make a good Dark Matter game)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/498240/Batman__The_Telltale_Series/
Quantum_Break
Great story ,Time related,
http://store.steampowered.com/app/474960/Quantum_Break/
Prey
Story,Horror (Dark Matter similarities) Great Graphic.. you will love it
http://store.steampowered.com/app/480490/Prey/
Me personaly I dont like games puzzles or games That doesn’t advance fast enought like Mass effect1 too much talking to one and the other too slow pace
More sugestion as I find more your game type tastes ;P
I don’t do gaming – sorry… but I recommend the Travelers series too. And all the episodes of Black Mirror were great!
If you want a powerful story it would be The Last of Us, it was super emotional, raw, and real. One of the best storylines ever.
Other story based games; Skyrim, Fallout 4, Mass Effect, Assassin Greed etc. are world class, entertaining, and not overly addictive.
Hmmm not a gamer myself so can’t offer anything from personal experience. My oldest is a computer science major and he only plays games on his computer. I think a lot are purchased through Steam. If none of the above work for you, and you’re looking for PC based gaming, let me know.
Definitely Zelda Breath of the Wild, for either the Nintendo Switch or the Nintendo WiiU.
Soma was my favourite game of recent years.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/282140/SOMA/
It’s set in a scientific research station at the bottom of the ocean, where the escaped experiments have blurred the lines between human and machine in all the worst ways.
From my son (as I don’t game):
Doom
Titan Fall 2
Wolfenstein
Witcher 3
The Middle Earth Shadow Series (Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War)
Call of Duty 4
The Batman Arkham Series
Skyrim
Fallout
Alien: Isolation
Like you, I’ve avoided gaming as I have enough on my plate as it is.
I’ve already seen Life is Strange, and Portal suggested, but I’ll reiterate them as things you should urgently check out.
I’ve not played any of the Telltale games, but I suspect them of being light on difficulty and big on story like life is strange. Portal may be a challenge for someone new to FPS. The Stanley Parable is another notable game that’s lots of story with little difficulty.
Faster Than Light is an instant classic, and is easy to pick up.
Kerbal Space Program is about building rockets (and inevitably watching them explode). It remains the best way to learn about orbital mechanics EVER.
Mechwarrior Online, which I work on, isn’t particularly new player friendly, though the related and upcoming Battletech game should be more your thing.
I’m a big fan of Doom, Quake, Hexen, Heretic, etc.
That said, my favorite FPS game is called Kingpin: Life of Crime. It has a soundtrack by Cypress Hill. It is an ultra violent video game where you play a petty thug working his way up to become a kingpin of crime.
I like this game way better than GTA.
For an amazing scifi story and engaging strategy, I recommend playing through StarCraft Remastered (all campaigns including the Brood War expansion), then StarCraft 2 (all campaigns).
I love StarCraft, and it’s definitely one of the best sci-fi stories/universes in gaming, but it’s also quite challenging and hectic and possibly not the best choice for someone new to gaming.
Also, if someone’s new to StarCraft, they’d be much better off getting the Mass Recall mod (which can be played via StarCraft II) than StarCraft Remastered. It has fully modernized graphics and polishes off the rougher edges of the old school gameplay (like the intolerably buggy pathfinding) while maintaining the core experience, and it’s free. The only reason to ever get the official remaster is if you’re absolutely determined to play competitively, as Mass Recall is purely single-player. In every other way, MR is the vastly superior experience.
MR also has a variety of difficulty settings, making it friendlier for a new player.
Syberia(and its sequels)
The Longest Journey
Broken Sword(and its sequels)
Myst(and its sequels)
Silent Hill 2
Forbidden Siren
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Prisoners of Ice
Shadow of the Comet
I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream
Arcanum
Post Mortem(2002)
Gray Matter
Fran Bow
Gabriel Knight
Black Mirror
Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder
Darkfall
Darkfall Lost Souls
Sanitarium
Technobabylon
These are all story based games with minimal gameplay and perhaps good for giving yourself inspiration for a new TV show
I love the ethereal Scarlet Furies music in Gray Matter and Dying for Daylight.
Thanks for mentioning The Longes Journey, was to suggest that game myself. Since it is an old school point & click adventure, ir might be good start to someone who hasn’t done much gaming in the past. I would also add it’s sequels Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters to that list.
My problem with first person POV games is they make me seasick. They look beautiful, but they make me dizzy. I have a neglected Wii, and Bejeweled Blitz and NekoAtsume on my phone. Apparently I am older than dirt because I miss playing drunken Pong in bars. I got into Guitar Hero for a while, but gave myself tendonitis in my hand. Oops.
There is a gaming website I frequent called Gamefaqs. They have alot of walkthroughs and such for games, but another thing they have are top 10 lists. Lists created by users of top 10 games of a particular category. From silly things like top 10 games with bananas as weapons to the usual top 10 rpgs of 2017 and the like. I like to skim through those top 10 lists whenever I am looking for a new game recommendation. https://www.gamefaqs.com/top10
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice on the surface it is a horror survival, it is ultimately a journey of triumph over mental illness, from the suffers point of view.
(No idea if I posted already – my phone is being wonky)
I’ve played Mass Effect and the trilogy is good. I enjoyed Andromeda but it lacks in story. Dragon Age (Origins, 2, and Inquisition) are amazing IMO. Bioware devs write an amazing story with fantastic characters. And Claudia Black voices the ever lovely Morrigan.
Dishonored and Dishonored 2 is just hella fun to play. The first has a stronger story but the gameplay in 2 is better.
I’m an RPG person. I also like Skyrim and Fallout 4 but you have to personally drive the story. There’s a lot of “head canon” so to speak.
I feel like you’d be interested in games with a good story, which leans me toward RPGs. Games by Bioware (Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, Jade Empire [oldie, but still one of their best]) and Bethesda (Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, Dishonored) are good bets and genre, ranging from sci-fi and fantasy to post-apocalyptic. Problem is they’re all very long games (could easily do 100+ hours) and if you’re worried about adding a time consuming hobby maybe not the best. But RPGs offer the blend of character and story along with action, versus a lot of shooters, fighting games, etc, lack that aspect (or it’s poorly done).
The Last of Us is yes, an excellent game. Also long.
If a shooter with a no-holds-barred, utterly ridiculous story that propels you from one massive action set piece to another in around 20 hours sounds appealing, the Call of Duty series delivers. If competitive multiplayer online play appeals, there’s a robust community.
Of course there’s MMORPGS like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy that will be *massive* time sinks, also subscription based.
Telltale Games has interesting “episodic” games, often based on other major properties. eg, they have a Walking Dead one (I believe it focuses on original characters), there’s a werewolf one The Wolf Among us, etc. They’re very well regarded, much more digestible pieces.
Other titles that come to mind, Portal and Portal 2, Witcher series, Bioshock, Halo series, Far Cry, Deus Ex series, the new Lara Croft series, the Resident Evil games of course.
I was a HUGE gamer up until a few years ago. Literally thousands of hours spent. I can highly recommend (although some are a bit old):
Stand alone:
The Fallout series – By far my favorite series of games ever. And I think you’ll love the story aspect. Post-apocalyptic, FPS goodness with a really solid story line. Your in game decisions and attributes actually affect how NPC’s interact with you.
The Elder Scrolls – MASSIVE medieval RPG, with a beautifully created world.
Skyrim – Ditto
Half-Life – An EPIC game from Valve studios. It redefined the FPS genre. Also 20 years old, but still playable, and with a couple sequels. And probably very cheap on Steam.
BioShock – An amazing, immersive and creepy FPS that places you in an underwater experimental biodome that is inhabited by some creepy survivors who want to do nasty things to you. One of my top 5 games ever.
MMO
World of Warcraft – I played for about 10 years. It’s a fantastic fantasy game with really rich history. But be prepared to lose a few years of your life and deal with a metric ton of asshats per square inch.
Planetside 2 – I loved Planetside 1. Planetside 2 is also fantastic, albeit not as. It’s a MMOFPS that features three unique factions that battle for control of locations within planets, and planets within a galaxy. It’s capture the flag on a galactic scale.
How’s Planetside 2 doing these days? I did play it for some time a few years back, while it was limited to one planet with three sectors.
Also, Fallout 4 bored me. The DLC stories were okay, but the MSQ is your typical Bethesda crap.
I haven’t played PS2 for a few years, but my gaming buddy tells me they’ve made a lot of positive changes.
EVE Online is a science fiction, spaceship MMO that certainly fits your genre request. Most of the story in EVE comes from the players themselves (which is enhanced by the fact there’s only one server, for certain definitions of ‘one’), so if you’re not into PvP or cooperative play, it might not be for you. Having said that, I’ve been playing without a ‘guild’ for more than a year and really enjoying it.
Fortunately they introduced (and have been expanding) a free-to-play option, so it’s a lot easier to try out nowadays.
As some Mention Half life 1 ..it’s now old But after Half life 2 was made many years ago ,Gaming community wish and Hope for an Half life 3 (from Valve, Steam).it’s always something that is comming back in the Gaming world When HL3 ? No news as I know ..will ever be one HL3 ?? IF ever you Participate in the making of HL3 ..it’s will be a HUGE bomb in the gaming industry and community more than any Film sequel Franchise could Bring ..just saying 😉
I’d think you’d enjoy the old fashion paper and pencil RPG like Pathfinder and their new game Starfinder. Depending on the game master, the story is driven by the GM and players (rather than a fixed story line like most video games).
Speaking of which, I was actually hoping to contact you regarding a personal game I’m creating and would LOVE to use the Dark Matter universe as the background. This is just something personal and I might use it at conventions. Please let me know your thoughts on this.
The new (2016) Prey game is a pretty decent, cerebral, open world survival horror. Plus, the aliens will look familiar to you. 😉
Destiny 2 is good for some mindless fun, even if you can’t dedicate a few hours for a raid.
Warframe is a free-to-play labor of love about bionically-enhanced space ninjas battling cybernetic merchant guild and degenerate clone military dictatorship. Also, mutant zombies.
If you are going to try gaming, you simply must pick up “Chrono Trigger” for either the SNES, PS1, or DS, the latter being the best version.
“Chrono Trigger” is widely considered to be one of, if not THE best video game RPG. It is also known for its three main developers: the guy who created “Final Fantasy”, the guy who created “Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest”, and the guy who created “Dragon Ball Z”.
Definitely a great RPG, but I think Final Fantasy VI is the best of all time. I still play it every once in a while, and the story never gets old.
FF6 is another that most definitely rates in Top 5 Best RPGs. I prefer “Final Fantasy 4” or “Final Fantasy Tactics”, but I still recognize the greatness of 6.
Another really series that is worth playing is “Suikoden” play the Playstation 1 and 2. Suikoden 1-5 and Tactics all take place in the same world. They have a few recurring characters (with 108 total recruitable characters in each game except for Tactics). You can also import your save data in most of the games, carrying over your choices and bonuses to any returning characters. There are also visual novel games that take plus around S2, with the main character from the novels being recruitable in S3.
Wow, lots of responses. Me? I got nothing. I’m not a gamer. My Wii has been unplugged for 2 years.
Might I suggest watching Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. Loved the “movie” promotion for a Halo release. Nicely done and stars Mike Dopud.
There is only one, Starcraft 2, and, then you have to do a tv-show about it, the story is there, characters and the lore, someone just have to make it happen! And the game is the best to, I used to describe it as playing chess, but with 3 boards, and no waiting for your turn, just do the moves.
After the flop with Warcraft movie I don’t think Blizzard will make any new Movie on any of their franchises anytime soon
If you can find a way to play all or most of Myst series (Riven, Exile, Revelation, End of Ages) it’ll be worth your time. Bioshock (the first one) is also worthy of attention.
Hello Joe!
Gaming is super awesome, because it’s like an immersive movie where you can often choose the story line you want! The question is whether you want to play console or PC!
PC is most powerful and you can play almost everything, but you could run into some technical problems and a little IT knowledge would help you a long way.
PC is the most expensive too. I wouldn’t buy a gaming pc anywhere below 600$, regardless if you are a beginner or not. For example, mine was 1200€ and it’s an ok machine.
I just bought a PS4 and I love it. There are some amazing games for it and great for single player, which I assume you want, because they are most story intense. BUT, console controls are harder than using mouse and keyboard, especially for a beginner. Buying a PS 4 pro gives you the most amazing 4k graphics on your tv, if you want the full experience. (It also plays blue rays and substitutes a player for movie nights)
Absolutely amazing single players are:
Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4 only) – post machine apocalyps, female protagonist, scifi setting,
The Witcher 3 (PS&PC) – fantasy game made from the books from Andrzej Sapkowski, extensive world, lore and you can influence the story line by the choices you make ,
Mass Effect series (1-3 are best) (PC) – scifi series, you’re trying to safe the galaxy from an alien race,
Banner Saga I&II (PC) – fantasy 2D stategy, story game, has easy controls with point-and-click, you’re playing a young man who leads his people away from an enemy army, your choices decide over life and death of your friends. Absolutely beautiful game,
Deponia (PC) – point-and-click puzzle, fantasy, comedy, you’re playing an idiot who ruins everything he touches, takes nothing seriously and just goes with the flow, great humor,
Life is Strange (PC&PS4) – this game is hard to describe, but, what if you had the ability to turn back time as a teenager? you could safe your best friends dad who died in a car crash, but at what consequence?,
What remains of Edith Finch (PC) – also hard to describem, but incredibly beautiful with great graphics. All you know is that you’re looking for a small boy. You find clues and follow their trails. Will you find out what really transpired?
Ori and the Blind Forest (PC) – jump and run. You play the protecting spirit who was ripped from the ghost tree and saved by a friend. The forest is calling you to his aid. Can you safe it from the evil scourge that has infected it?
I can elaborate more on each game, but you could also google the titles or best of all, you could just enter “let’s play “game name”” in youtube and watch one or two episodes for each game and get a feel for what it’s like, the controls and what it’s about.
My personal favourite is Horizon Zero Dawn even though I like all these games. As a long time gamer, this game had the most immersive, fun game play, beautiful story, great characters that I have seen for a long time in a game. The game has about 55hrs of game play without the additional DLC, which is like another small story you can buy additionally at any point in time. This game also has amazing potential to be put on screen. I’m suprised it wasn’t already done!
Hope you get to check out one of these games! I’d love to hear what you think.
Best wishes from Germany!
Birdy
I forgot “The last of us”. PS 3 /4 only. I think it won almost every award there was, when it came out. Absolutely deserved! The start of the story still makes me cry. Not the easiest game, but together with Horizon Zero Dawn the “must play” titles if you get a PS4, in my personal opinion.
The story is similar to a zomby apocalypse. I won’t say more though. This game should be experienced first hand.
Birdy
This!!!
Danganronpa
Or
Night in the Woods
Or (even though I know you won’t play it)
Xenogears