Widescreen Gaming Forum

So, I work from 7 - 4 and I get off and proceed home. My wife usually works nights, so most of the time, I'm sitting there watching tv, wasting away on the couch.

I have some games I play on my PC, but not having the internet at home (I'm writing this from work) I can't play BF2 anymore.
I've beaten, numerous times:

Oblivion
FarCry
Deus Ex 2
HL2
FEAR

I play Civ2 all the time, but that game is starting to get on my nerves too. I hate RTS, puzzle, and RPG's are starting to annoy me. Since I don't have the internet, do you guys know of a great out of the box game that doesn't require me to download 16 patches before I can actually play it (Gothic 3)?

Also, I don't want to get out of the house and walk or do exercise or something. I just want to entertain myself.

Any ideas?

Firstly, I think its interesting that you consider playing games more productive than watching TV. I'm with you and feel the same way, but it is a funny way to look at things. Along that note, if I spend the whole night watching TV, the night feels wasted. But if I stay up until 2am playing the latest game thats caught my attention, its another matter all together.

To answer your question, games to play out of box;
GRAW (Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior)
Rainbow Six: Vegas

Both have patches, but are only needed for the online playing side of the games.

Good luck!

Classic games which are free Transport Tycoon TD patch is great. E-comerce ahoy.

Otherwise endless hours out of crash day enjoyed it loads.

not to mention Fable. that's pretty cool.

Never thought of GRAW. I played the first Rainbow 6 back in the day, but it didn't really draw me in.

I think my problem is that I'm too addicted to BF2, and I can only play the really horrible bots. I mean, I get in the chopper and I can desimate them on their highest difficulty setting. :roll:

Firstly, I think its interesting that you consider playing games more productive than watching TV. I'm with you and feel the same way, but it is a funny way to look at things. Along that note, if I spend the whole night watching TV, the night feels wasted. But if I stay up until 2am playing the latest game thats caught my attention, its another matter all together.

Most computer games give you a fake sense of accomplishment, making it feel like playing them isn't really unproductive at all. You defend planets from invading demons, save hostages from fanatic terrorists, get shiny new armour for your RPG avatar, command your troops and conquer your enemies, win World Cups and Grand Prixs, and you can compete with other real people over the Internet.

But, erm, yeah, I play computer games a lot. Maybe too much. MMOs are the worst of all, so stay away from those, Jenkinsbball!

Try Company of Heroes. Yeah, it's a strategy game, BUT it's very different from stuff like Command & Conquer or Warcraft. In the singleplayer campaign, you mostly just command a small number of squads, and there's hardly any base-building. I've heard of many players who dislike traditional RTS games, but really dig CoH. So give it a shot.

Oh, have you played Deus Ex (1)? It's much better than 2. (Unless you play games for the visuals rather than the game).

But, erm, yeah, I play computer games a lot. Maybe too much. MMOs are the worst of all, so stay away from those, Jenkinsbball!

Not likely to be a problem for him, as he said he doesn't have internet access at home. :)

Try Company of Heroes. Yeah, it's a strategy game, BUT it's very different from stuff like Command & Conquer or Warcraft. In the singleplayer campaign, you mostly just command a small number of squads, and there's hardly any base-building. I've heard of many players who dislike traditional RTS games, but really dig CoH. So give it a shot.

For what it's worth, I was convinced to try CoH with this same rationale, but in the end it was still just an RTS to me. A well-done RTS, but I'm not a big fan of them, and CoH was no exception. Foruntately I got it for only $20 at Best Buy.

Never thought of GRAW. I played the first Rainbow 6 back in the day, but it didn't really draw me in.

Vegas isn't really anything like the previous versions, none of the planning and the action feels like its on steroids :o

[quote]Never thought of GRAW. I played the first Rainbow 6 back in the day, but it didn't really draw me in.

Vegas isn't really anything like the previous versions, none of the planning and the action feels like its on steroids :o

That's what I hated. All that planning crap and following it and such. I want to just find my way in and massacre them without worrying I didn't go through this or that door.... or something.

Oh, have you played Deus Ex (1)? It's much better than 2. (Unless you play games for the visuals rather than the game).

Even if you play games for the graphics, Deus Ex was better than its sequel. ;)

Have you seen Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines? Hitman: Blood Money? Hitman: Contracts? Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay? Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy in the US)?

The games that have kept me entertained the longest that are OFFLINE are

- PES4, 5 and 6 (over 250hours combined)
- NFS:Most Wanted (76 hours)
- GTA: San Andreas (42 hours)
- Toca Race Driver 3 (28 hours)

This is going by what my xfire profile tells me :D

For sure, I am not a driver game man, but a good racing game will keep you going for along time. just have to get yourself a steering wheel.

I second the recommendations of Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines and GTA: San Andreas (also Vice City, if you never played that one).

Also:
Civilization 4 (you say you're getting sick of Civ 2 -- Civ 4 is a big step up, IMO)
Galactic Civilizations 2 (similar to Civ, but far better AI, again IMO)
Neverwinter Nights 2 (it was buggy on release, but is pretty clean now)

can i suggest simcity 4 rush hour? if you have any interest in city planning/architecture/transpotation design it's a great game with a HUGE GIGANTIC mod community

can i suggest simcity 4 rush hour? if you have any interest in city planning/architecture/transpotation design it's a great game with a HUGE GIGANTIC mod community

Does that have widescreen support? It's be EA... >_<

You want entertainment?!

Go here:
http://www.widescreenbabes.com/

Oh wait... no internet.

I would have to suggest Company of Heroes. I realize you said that you hate RTS games, and I do too normally but this game is amazing. I think I have played at least one skirmish game practically everyday for a month.

I've a bundle of FPSs that I've played to death, and the ones I come back to on the merit of the fun of their gameplay (as opposed to the storyline or experiencing the new environment, for example) are Halo, Painkiller, and Alien v. Predator II.

I think most games have at least an upgrade or two, so avoiding that entirely may be a chore.

If you have a good system i'd highly recommend Dark Messiah, which i thought was horribly underrated. I come from a Thief series background and play many of the same games. I played the game through 3 times in a row( thats a first for me), first as a fighter, then mage, then thief. The combat in itself is complex and found that that was part of the fun but because timing is such a huge part of the combat you'll really need to run at high framerates. Graphics are very detailed and i would find myself slowly panning around in many scenes to soak in the atmosphere the dev's were trying to create.

I ran 7950 GX2 @ 1920x1200, 3800+, 1 gig, all high settings except no AA and high textures(as opposed to very high).

(btw, turn on mouse smoothing)

Prey got some good reviews as well(that reminds me: i just ordered it)

Chronicles of Riddick was epic imo, if you never play this that would be a shame i think...

Call of Cthulu -surprisingly good fps/story/thriller

Advent Rising -fps/story i've heard nothing but good

Darkstar one looks interesting
http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646686

Myst-like titles using just a notepad and my brain were pretty fun at times for me...

Tombraider legend

maybe a book on Yoga or meditation :D

...ya that that was little longer than planned...

Chronicles of Riddick was epic imo, if you never play this that would be a shame i think...

Very, very good game. Surprised me, and alot of other people, with the quality it has, and it doesnt hurt to have great graphics and near perfect WS support!

maybe a stupid thought but if you're allowed/able to browse forums why not download (critical) patches at work and put them on an USB stick so you can install them when you're home?

Maybe you should get the internet back.