Weekend Gamer: PC GotY?

[Jetherik]

In all that has gone on, I do not believe we have done the PC Game of the Year. We did overall, but not PC. So, to almost finish wrapping up the list, what is your PC game of the year? I believe I know what the list will go, but maybe there will be a surprise. Tomorrow we will take everything and put it into a poll.

[Rakael]

I will lay money that HL2 wins by a long shot.

[fitbabits]

I will lay money that HL2 wins by a long shot.
Before I say that HL2 came out in 2004, just how much money are we talking here? :D

[joruussuun]

I can't really think of what came out in 2005... um... Civilization IV?

[txa1265]

HL2? Um ... that was a 2004 game!

Civilization IV

[Kyle Jones]

Psy-cho-naaaaaauts

[Meusli]

Yeah Ill go with Civ 4 for game of the year, with battlefield 2 as my secound choice.

[Nite_Moogle]

F.E.A.R.
Civ4 as a close runner-up

[bapenguin]

Civ 4 for me too.
Guild Wars a close second.

[joruussuun]

Wasn't Guild Wars 2004 (or I might be thinking Beta...)?

[NELS]

F.E.A.R. for me, and if GMod wasn't a mod I would vote for that.

[The Letter 3]

Civ IV FORever! Hahaha! Oh boy... wow... funny... ... *dies in ecstasy over own wordplay*

[Kefkataran]

I'm tossing my hat into the Civilization IV crowd. F.E.A.R. was a lot of fun too, but not the kind of must-play, never-ending, will-probably-still-be-clicking-five-years-from-now fun that Sid Meier divied up.

[AntB]

One Acronym~! F.E.A.R.

CivIV was a little too tedious for my tas...PRETTY LIGHTS! SHINY LIGHTS!

/Giggles like a child.
//Runs around in circles.

[Evil Avatar]

When did Battlefield 2 come out?

[Citizen Philip]

CIVIV.

..is that 144? 100 4 4?

F.E.A.R., I'm still playing: it is a great game: but I'll be playing CIV IV for years.

[Echani]

I'm gonna say FEAR as well, though I didn't actually buy many PC games last year. BF2 was good, but the release was just far too buggy to merit naming it for GOTY. To their credit, they cleaned up a few major issues quite quickly.

WoW came out in Europe in 2005 ... but then again, I became so anti-WOW when I quit that I couldn't possibly look at myself in the mirror again if I nominated it. I still plan to go back for the expansion though :P

When did Battlefield 2 come out?
Summer 2005, July I think.

[Taco]

CivIV is game of the decade.

[Dr Quincy]

Seeveeloizayshun Phwoar!

[Onea]

Age of Empires 3!

[Spigot]

Civ 4
Darwinia
Freedom Force Vs. The Third Reich!

[bapenguin]

Wasn't Guild Wars 2004 (or I might be thinking Beta...)?

April 26th, 2005 (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/guild-wars).

[Jetherik]

I thought last year was a good gaming year - but it is kindof scary that we can barely remember what came out. Gothic 2 Gold would get my vote, except the German version had been released the year before. The Movies was really fun. I need to get Civ 4.

Other games to consider (or remember):
City of Villians
Stubbs the Zombie
BF2
Quake 4
Age of Empires 2
Dungeon Siege
Sacred: Underworld
Warhammer: Dawn of War: Winter Assualt
Day of Defeat
Dragonshard
Call of Duty 2
Star Wars: Battlefront
Darwina
Battlefield 2: Special Forces

[Mr.Green]

FEAR....

Place them yourself.

[MrMeatshake]

cIV FTW!

my message is not interesting enough. please make it more interesting.

[dotbomb]

I'm down with FEAR too.

[Nite_Moogle]

Civ 4 is the game we'll all be playing until Civ 5 comes out when we need our world-empire fix, but I think that Civ the franchise is basically due for a Lifetime Achievement award to let other games in for GOTY. I love Civ 4, but I really think that FEAR needs to be given its due. I haven't been so goddamn scared to play a game since I first played Doom on a Sound Blaster-equipped machine (I can still hear the demons snorting in the background), the lightning is unlike anything else I've played, and despite the obvious repetition of the levels I never got bored.

I think it's a testament to the atmosphere of the game that I relaxed when I heard the clone troopers talking around the next corner because I knew Alma wasn't going to jump out and scare the shit out of me for a few seconds.

[Steve_Erhardt]

I'm torn between FEAR and Winter Assault. I've spent WAY more time with Winter Assault, and it truly deservers it, IMO, but FEAR stands out really well and is the only one that leaps to my mind without effort for 2005.

[Taco]

I put CivIV on a pedastel by itself away from the other Civ games. They just took it to a whole new level. It's like they reached into the collective brains of Civ fans, pulled out what they wanted and delivered nearly perfectly(needed one patch). And in the process made it one of the easiest games to mod ever.

I get your point though Moogle.

[Kefkataran]

I put CivIV on a pedastel by itself away from the other Civ games. They just took it to a whole new level. It's like they reached into the collective brains of Civ fans, pulled out what they wanted and delivered nearly perfectly(needed one patch). And in the process made it one of the easiest games to mod ever.

Speaking of, I've been really curious to see what kind of stuff the CivIV mod community has to offer but have no clue where to start looking. Any suggestions?

[Atepsflame]

Civ 4, Guild Wars, or F.E.A.R, for certain.

[Taco]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=158 and http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?t=sub_pages&cat=349

And the mod forums for both.

[agentgray]

I would have to say Guild Wars.

However, I just got Civ IV from gogamer (on DVD even ,yeah!) real cheap a week or so ago. I've yet to play it. I'm excited to hear good comments about it here.

[baz]

CivIV for me... although a played a hell of a lot of PC games in 2005 so my view is biased towards the games that came out in the last few months of 2005.

[Conner Dain]

F.E.A.R did it for me..

[Librum]

Civ IV was fun, though, I really haven't played it nearly as much as I thought I would. Call to Power II was the last one of the civ-type games that I really got lost in, with both Civ 3 and Civ 4 feeling too slow and bloated.

FEAR looked nice and was initially interesting but man, it just doesn't live up to the hype at all. Feels like a retread of 'The Ring' crossed with 'Universal Soldier'. It really didn't do anything for me that I hadn't seen before, though the engine and the physics were nicely polished.

I might have to go with Call of Duty 2, though in the end, nothing's kept me occupied more than World of Warcraft, so that does make me hope 2006 produces some more engaging games.

[YoungAlCapone]

CivIV is game of the decade.

That sounds about right.

Civ IV is one of the greatest games I have played in the 21 short years of my life.

[Borys]

P.H.E.A.R.

Pretty bland year for PC gaming.

[PIPBoy3000]

Civ 4 and FEAR are the two clear big guns for last year. I love Civ 4, but also haven't played it as much as I thought I would. FEAR kept me pretty excited and focused and scared all the way through.

Now that I reflect back, I mostly played 2004 PC games in 2005. I have high hopes for 2006, especially for games like Oblivion and NWN2.

[Heretic Machine]

In all that has gone on, I do not believe we have done the PC Game of the Year. We did overall, but not PC. So, to almost finish wrapping up the list, what is your PC game of the year? I believe I know what the list will go, but maybe there will be a surprise. Tomorrow we will take everything and put it into a poll.

Civ IV... I can't praise this game enough. THIS is how you make a game.

[trip1eX]

Battlefield 2

[TheKeck]

Battlefield 2 for me. There's also Call of Duty 2 and FEAR to consider.

[StoneGut]

FEAR and Battlefield kept / keep my attention going last year. COD2 was also great but that's just me...

[kid cabelgo]

I would vote for Battlefield 2, just because I probably put way more hours in with it than any other game.

Then again, F.E.A.R. was probably the most rewarding gaming experience I've had in a long time

[Xaerin]

I would have to go against the grain and say GTA:SA but since it should probably be a PC exclusive I'll concede and say Civ IV.

[Jukey]

Has to be Guild Wars for me (Haven't played Civ4 yet)

[OpTiMaL]

Psychonauts. Shame most people seem to completely overlook this great game.

[ezzkmo]

Civ Cuatro for sure.

[LilEvilFish]

Darwinia you goddamn robots

[Nite_Moogle]

Darwinia you goddamn robots
Does not compute

[Klade]

Battlefield 2

[Alexious]

Another vote for Darwinia though, to be fair, I haven't played Civ 4 yet. I know, I know... I'm a huge Civ fan too. Just afraid of the comments my wife will make if I buy another game. :D

[Abash Alarmist]

die Zivilisation Vier

[GrinR]

World of Warcraft. Shut up, I know it came out in 2004. That fact only emphasizes my selection. WoW has managed to keep me at a high level of entertainment for well over a year. I hardly play any other games anymore, and certainly didn't get captured for very long by any releases this past year.

Except maybe Fahrenheit.

[Neosho]

As a diehard fps player, i'd have to say FEAR, didn't really get into civ 4.

[A Lusty Alien]

I'm going to nominate Starships Unlimited 3 (http://www.apezone.com/stun.htm?)

I've been playing STUN since about 2001. First it was StarShips Unlimited, then I got Starships Unlimited: Divided Galaxies, now Starships Unlimited 3. It's nothing fancy, just your basic 4X space game. But when I want to kill some time on the computer, its the one I always fire up.

[Taco]

Fahrenheit was alright, it was entertaining and worth the time and money for every adventure fan. Didn't knock my socks off though.

[GrinR]

Fahrenheit was alright, it was entertaining and worth the time and money for every adventure fan. Didn't knock my socks off though.

Calling Fahrenheit an adventure game is like calling World of Warcraft a RPG - technically correct, but comprehensively far from the mark.

[Taco]

All of it's good qualities are the same qualities that make adventure games fun. Except there were not any puzzles really(which may not be a bad thing since that usually fizzles into pixel hunting).

[TheKeck]

Calling Fahrenheit an adventure game is like calling World of Warcraft a RPG - technically correct, but comprehensively far from the mark.

Yeah, good call. Except for a little bout of confusion in the bookstore, I never got stuck trying to figure out what to do. You just play through the story.

[Furtive]

I'd have to say FEAR as well... with Fahrenheit getting an honorable mention for just trying to be different and managing to not suck. Of course if this GotY is based purely on play time then its gotta be DoD:Source for me.

[mightbe]

For GotY PC:
Guild Wars - I played it into the ground when it released and took two clans to the top ten rankings. Now I get sick thinking about playing the game. That makes it a fantastic game, right?

Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space - Budget title of the year! A slick interface and hours of play while retaining enough variety to have me playing at least two games a night of it at work.

Civ IV - Great gameplay, diverse strategy, decent multi, better than III. Civ is back on top of the heap.

Oasis - Not sure on the release but it's an amazing indie strategy title. With the interface of minesweeper and the complexity of Age of Empires, it's a masterpiece of design and implementation. Pick it up if you dare!

What games I DON'T think should get GotY PC:
F.E.A.R. - Very, very, *deep breath* very pretty. Best nuclear explosion in a game ever (exluding Fallout 1&2). Now, where was the gameplay? Ahh, that's right. It's over in CoD2.

..

XCOM?
*cough* sorry.

Can't EvAv have a Lifetime Achievement Award or a Best Game That Won't Get Any Awards award? I say we have a fifth column that caters to our special brand of collective sass and general grumpiness.

Isn't that the Evil Avatar way?

[Kefkataran]

Calling Fahrenheit an adventure game is like calling World of Warcraft a RPG - technically correct, but comprehensively far from the mark.

Hrm. I'd call Fahrenheit an adventure AND WoW an RPG (or, well, MMORPG, but still). Not srue what I'm missing. *shrug*

[hg321]

Dungeon Siege 2 , but Civ4 was a close second

[Ultima Thulian]

I'd say Battlefield 2 and Civ4 are good. Psychonauts is also a lot of fun. And F.E.A.R. was cool, but I don't think it is as awesome as people make it out to be. It is fun, but doesn't really do much new.

[Nite_Moogle]

I'd say Battlefield 2 and Civ4 are good.It is fun, but [F.E.A.R.] doesn't really do much new.
Head... exploding... from... irony...

[Ultima Thulian]

Head... exploding... from... irony...

Aw c'mon! BF2 has some great team gameplay/strategies...uh....and Civ4 has a lot of variety...shit...yeah, that is ironic, and I just shoved my foot in my mouth. But to be fair, Civ4 was the first Civ game I've played, so it was new to me.

[Taco]

If you don't didn't play CivIV much, or didn't get past spam clicking on Chieftan, then I could see people thinking it didn't do anything new or different.

[Neosho]

What games I DON'T think should get GotY PC:
F.E.A.R. - Very, very, *deep breath* very pretty. Best nuclear explosion in a game ever (exluding Fallout 1&2). Now, where was the gameplay? Ahh, that's right. It's over in CoD2.

I'd agree with you if i didn't feel like teh nigh invunerable soldier in COD.

I played through FEAR on hardcore the first time though, so maybe that has something to do with it. The game is much, much more fun when played that way.

[Kyle Jones]

Psychonauts. Shame most people seem to completely overlook this great game.

I'm not alone! Yay!!!

Also, I loved Dungeon Siege 2 and would nominate it, but I never gave it what it deserved as I got re-addicted to WoW part way through.

[Fubl]

im going with Act of war...most people over looked it great title to hold you between DOW and its WW expansion pack. anyone know anything about its expansion pack?

[Sensei-X]

It has to be either Age of Empires III or Black & White 2.... what?... this isn't the award for buggiest, most disappointing sequel?

In that case I'll say I'll say Call of Duty 2, but Battlefield 2 is an extremely close second.

[LilAbner]

Battlefield 2, hands down.

[SnappyCrunch]

I can't believe more of you jackasses haven't nominated Psychonauts. Sure, Civ4, BF2, and F.E.A.R are great games, but c'mon. Writing, visual style, gameplay? Have we forgotten these things? Have you forgotten the Milkman level? Napoleon? Most of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

[Kefkataran]

I can't believe more of you jackasses haven't nominated Psychonauts. Sure, Civ4, BF2, and F.E.A.R are great games, but c'mon. Writing, visual style, gameplay? Have we forgotten these things? Have you forgotten the Milkman level? Napoleon? Most of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I think a lot of people (myself, certainly, at least) are sticking to PC exclusive titles for the PC and console exclusive titles for the various console entries. Either way, no need to be so bitchy about it.

[Pumped'Up]

hmm, tough one. 2005 was terrible for PC games. If I must, perhaps Guild Wars.

[Thenetcase]

I'm going Age of Empires III even though I know this game is too under rated to get it.

[Thenetcase]

im going with Act of war...most people over looked it great title to hold you between DOW and its WW expansion pack. anyone know anything about its expansion pack?

Act of War definitely deserves a nomination, but not to win. :)

CIV IV or Age of Empires III ... Very good games.

-TNC-

[bean19]

Think there are some really good nominees on here.

I have to say Guild Wars for my vote. Loved Civ IV, FEAR, CoV, and Battlefield 2, but had more lasting fun with Guild Wars.

[Spigot]

I can't believe more of you jackasses haven't nominated Psychonauts. Sure, Civ4, BF2, and F.E.A.R are great games, but c'mon. Writing, visual style, gameplay? Have we forgotten these things? Have you forgotten the Milkman level? Napoleon? Most of you should be ashamed of yourselves.
We're sticking with PC exclusives. I think Psychonauts got a LOT of representation on the Xbox and PS2 GOTY threads.

Though, if we ARE sticking with PC exclusives, didn't BF2 come out on the Xbox as well, or am I thinking of Battlefront 2?

[Kefkataran]

Though, if we ARE sticking with PC exclusives, didn't BF2 come out on the Xbox as well, or am I thinking of Battlefront 2?

A version of BF2 came out, but I think it was way gimped compared to the PC.

[Expugnare]

We're sticking with PC exclusives. I think Psychonauts got a LOT of representation on the Xbox and PS2 GOTY threads.

Though, if we ARE sticking with PC exclusives, didn't BF2 come out on the Xbox as well, or am I thinking of Battlefront 2?
It did, but come on it's a Battlefield game. It's meant to be played on a computer. And my GOTY is by far Guild Wars. I rarely played anything else.

[TrackZero]

I can't really think of what came out in 2005... um... Civilization IV?

Battlefield 2, FTW.

[Ultima Thulian]

I can't believe more of you jackasses haven't nominated Psychonauts. Sure, Civ4, BF2, and F.E.A.R are great games, but c'mon. Writing, visual style, gameplay? Have we forgotten these things? Have you forgotten the Milkman level? Napoleon? Most of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Haven't forgot about, I just played on my Xbox. But Psychonauts has one of my most favorite bosses ever, The Critic. I laughed my ass at just the notion of him, let alone fighting him.

[Ultima Thulian]

A version of BF2 came out, but I think it was way gimped compared to the PC.

You're right. In many ways it's a completely different game. And by different I mean it's mediocre instead of fun.

[bean19]

Haven't forgot about, I just played on my Xbox. But Psychonauts has one of my most favorite bosses ever, The Critic. I laughed my ass at just the notion of him, let alone fighting him.

My favorite part of this game was the Milkman level. Incredible. . . just incredible.

[Spigot]

I loved the Black Velvet level as well. That was an astounding bit of artistic design.