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I'm sorry I really can't help this thread (I'm sure it has been done before!).

I accidentally came across Steam having a sale while starting up DoW:R and rather randomly found an all-time classic game (in the proper sense not we released this 6 months ago so heres the classic edition!) that has always facinated me - X-COM Apocalyse.

For those that are not up to speed on XCOM - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM:_Apocalypse
I bought this when I bought my first ever PC in the late 90s and played it fanatically in uni. I lost the disk sometime later but still have the big box that games used to come in and all of the cotents. So finding I could download the game was a reall boon, especially for a couple of quid!

In the past 6 days that I have had this set up it has pretty much taken over my spare time, all wargaming project have been forgetten and Dakka useage has plumetted.

In honest reflection even for the time the graphics were not great, but the game play is immense and really draws you into the story of growing your outfit and battling the alien. I am now commited to playing this to the end hwever long that takes.

The odd thing about all of this is that I already have an XBox wired up to nice sized HDTV and have stacks of new games (recent birthday) but all of this has been collecting dust for some time. They are pretty but I tire of more FPS and none of the captivates me like this old classic, not even Fallout 3 or Mass Effect(bth of which I really like).

Anyone else feel that Graphics have overtaken gameplay?

Reccomend any old classics?

You know the first two were even better, right?

You know how the saying goes: "Old skool. Because it was done right the first time."

If you love X-com make sure to check out the Jagged Alliance series, too.

Dragonage 2, CoD:Black Ops, and Dead Rising 2 are all on hold on my X-Box because....

Icewind Dale (the original)
and
Baldur's Gate 2

Just got into those two games again. Have been playing them for some time.

Trying to track down Vampire:Bloodlines for cheap but on Ebay its pretty expensive right now. I'd love to play some more Birth of the Federation, but my disk got broke and that friggin game goes on ebay for about 60 bucks due to it's out of print state.

Newer X-box Roleplay doesnt hold a candle to the classics put out in the late 90's early 00's.

Yeah, I have JA2 in all of its editions (wildfire?) and most of the online alternative missions/MODs, halfway through that again. (some of those cust scenes were just awful though ).

I also have Baldur 1 and 2 waiting to go.

I only ever played 1, but got distracted and bought 2 with the intntion of playing but never did, also on the to do pile.

Yeah, the first X-com was the best, though if the third is on sale....

This game isn't old, but it's labeled as a "casual game".
BEAT HAZARD!!

The game is completely simple, it's Asteroids thrown into a vat of ecstasy. It's freakin amazing. The game is controlled by your music. So I find myself listening to songs I haven't listened to in a while because they're fun to play in the game.

The fact that I actually really enjoy this game, which I picked up for $2.50 on Steam, compared to most games nowadays with their $60+ price tag says a lot.

The problem is most developers just want to churn out cookie-cutter games and leave out the FUN aspect of gaming.

If you like Baldur's Gate series... try PLANESCAPES: TORMENT. This game is the effin bomb. In my opinion it utterly destroys Baldur's Gate in terms of awesomeness as it combines the open ended play of Baldur's gate with:

Extremely strong storyline

Unlockable character advancement through character interaction supplements the usual combat based advancement

Planescape setting lets you go to a variety of different places and join a variety of different factions. Joining a faction will change how others interpret you.

Other awesome games from the past:

Ultima 7
DOS era RPG with the following awesome features:

Day/Night/Weather cycles

Every NPC has built in AI routine which governs their behaviour - i.e. they will sleep at night, go out to work etc.

Stealing has penalties... hence, if you are going to steal, steal while the owners aren't looking, and do it out of sight of your more upstanding party members.

Persistent game world - you can take crates from one town to another, or even build a crate fort in the middle of the wilderness. Two of my favourite tricks are: Putting a cannon on the horse cart and putting candles (they provide light but don't run out like torches) on the flying carpet.

Wing Commander: Privateer
Also DOS game: I never did get into the story, but hell if it wasn't fun to just kill crap in the Wing Commander universe while customizing your own ship and raking in the money. IMHO, this would make a great MMO in the vein of Phantasy Star Online where players form temporary parties in hub zones (in this case Space Stations and Colony Worlds).

SYSTEM SHOCK/SYSTEM SHOCK 2
Sci-Fi horror FPS. The first was for DOS and the second was for Windows 9X. Both are great examples of emergent gameplay as you can finish the game using various different methods.

-edit-

STAR CONTROL 2

Huge galaxy to explore

Huge cast of aliens / ships to acquire

Upgrade your mothership to your own specs!

Epic storyline

Some of the best BGM from the DOS era. I believe the tracks were composed on Multi-tracker. Graphics hold up well considering how old this game is. It will run on a 386! (somewhere in my memory I recall it will even run on an IBM XT, but I could be mistaken!)

Time limited - though they don't fall into the trap of rushing the player. You have tons of time to finish

Supermelee sub-game where you fight your friends using a custom fleet made up of the in game ships

-edit- You can get this game as abandonware from the original makers - Look up the UrQuan Masters. You won't regret it.

Install 7 kingdoms.

Realize your still up at 4am.

Have fun.

I find that some new games are lacking something that old games have because the devepers at the moment only are thinking about the graphics and how they can make them better but the old games just have something that the newer games are missing... can't put my finger on it.

keezus wrote:
Ultima 7
DOS era RPG with the following awesome features:

Day/Night/Weather cycles

Every NPC has built in AI routine which governs their behaviour - i.e. they will sleep at night, go out to work etc.

Stealing has penalties... hence, if you are going to steal, steal while the owners aren't looking, and do it out of sight of your more upstanding party members.

Persistent game world - you can take crates from one town to another, or even build a crate fort in the middle of the wilderness. Two of my favourite tricks are: Putting a cannon on the horse cart and putting candles (they provide light but don't run out like torches) on the flying carpet.

I put 20 barrels on the carpet and loot the whole world.

Master of Orion kept me up more nights than I'll ever admit. Silicoids must die!!