New to PC gaming: Recommendations?

Well tomorrow I am finally going to upgrade my PC so that it can easily run current games. I don't have the cash to have it run Crysis, but it will be able to run Mass Effect on normal settings.

I currently have a Wii and a PS3 (mainly for exclusives and the like), but I recently decided to make the upgrade to get the chance to play the other games I've sadly missed out on. My main problem however is just what I should buy right now. As mentioned earlier, I'm a little short on cash, just enough for one game. However, I have been looking into: The Orange Box, Mass Effect, and Left 4 Dead as of right now. Among these games which do you think would be the best investment? Is the Left 4 Dead community still good or should I wait for the second one? And I'm also new to the Half Life universe so would it be wise to get the whole box, or get select games off of Steam?

Also, any other suggestions to a new PC gamer would be welcomed. Even if it's a more niche title, I may take a look into it. Any advice is greatly appreciated :D.

If you want the Orange Box, definitley get it. Also get Mass Effect if you can afford it too.

Try this nifty thread.

the L4D community for the second one might be really big, or really small, a lot of people are boycotting it. If you could run Mass effect on mid. you could prob. run crysis with everything set to the lowest, (thats what I do, it has a steady framerate if i do that). well, i might be wrong. I would simply suggest the COD series. Cod6/modernwarfare 2 is coming out later this year...well 2-5 months, and I'm getting it. It costs around 50-60 dollers.(which is my guess) unless you want to get a limited edition >.>. Before you get any games, i would reccomend downloading those free MMOFPS's to see if you like the mechanics of PC games. If you want more adventure you should get something like Bioshock or Mirrors edge. Google any of these games, a whole bunch will come up >.>okifoxjl

Well tomorrow I am finally going to upgrade my PC so that it can easily run current games. I don't have the cash to have it run Crysis, but it will be able to run Mass Effect on normal settings.

I currently have a Wii and a PS3 (mainly for exclusives and the like), but I recently decided to make the upgrade to get the chance to play the other games I've sadly missed out on. My main problem however is just what I should buy right now. As mentioned earlier, I'm a little short on cash, just enough for one game. However, I have been looking into: The Orange Box, Mass Effect, and Left 4 Dead as of right now. Among these games which do you think would be the best investment? Is the Left 4 Dead community still good or should I wait for the second one? And I'm also new to the Half Life universe so would it be wise to get the whole box, or get select games off of Steam?

Also, any other suggestions to a new PC gamer would be welcomed. Even if it's a more niche title, I may take a look into it. Any advice is greatly appreciated :D.

Will2Live

You can't go wrong with any Valve game, so The Orange Box or Left4Dead would be great. If you're interested in the Half-Life universe, also look into getting HL1 at some point--the original version if you want to have access to tons of mods, or the Source engine version if you want somewhat better graphics. If you do get HL2, consider buying the $10 Garry's Mod on Steam, which is a build/do anything mod that uses characters and items from HL2 and other Source engine games (the more Source games you own, the more things you have access to in GMod). If you get GMod, you can get links to mods for it (maps, tools, and pretty much anything else you can think of) off of garrysmod.org and facepunch.com (the former is where the lion's share of the mods can be found, and the latter is where bunches of mod release threads are made).

I also highly recommend the The Elder Scrolls series of WRPGs if you're into WRPGs. The first two games in the series (old DOS ones) are both available for free off of Bethesda's website. TES3 can be found for cheap and TES4, as you probably know, is a current gen game. Get the Game of the Year Edition if you get either.

If you want the ultimate bang for your buck, I suggest getting The Orange Box and Garry's Mod, or TES3 or TES4 and modding the heck out of it.

Note: Applying mods to GMod is very easy. As of yet, I haven't modded either of my TES games, but it's a significantly more involved process, especially with overhaul mods.

Note 2: Valve's Steam service has weekend and weekly deals on games frequently. You can find some really good deals on there. While not included in one of these deals right now, I still have to recommend Dead Space, as it's only $30 right now.

If you really are strapped for cash, the ideal thing to do would be to get the game that offers the best bang for your buck, which would lead me to recommend The Orange Box. At the very least, it was the best deal i could possibly get myself considering that I never ever played the Half Life 2 series before that (my loss really).

Well first of all, you've gotta get steam. That's the best way to play pc games, because you can download all of them on there. Also, I'd recommend getting xfire, a great way to communicate with friends. It's like your "dashboard" for pc. For specific games, there's tons of great ones. Depends on what you're into. Strategy games are huge on pc, and I personally love them. FPS are great too, mainly counter strike and other valve games.

In response to okifoxjl: I got Modern Warfare on the PS3 and still have fun with it to this day. Whether or not I get 2 or not is kinda up in the air at this point. It really depends on how much Infinity Ward changes up the dynamics of the game.

In response to Angry_Beaver: I've heard great things about Gary's Mod coincidentally from a friend named Gary. He says it was probably the most bang for his buck he's gotten in a really long time. When it comes to Elder Scrolls I'm a bit iffy on it. I rented and tried Oblivion on the PS3 and I really couldn't get into it. To be honest if I get it, Mass Effect will be my first Western RPG (though I did play a lot of JRPGs last console generation). I did hear good things about the Witcher though, could you comment on that?

Finally, the link was very helpfu steameffekt :D.

In response to okifoxjl: I got Modern Warfare on the PS3 and still have fun with it to this day. Whether or not I get 2 or not is kinda up in the air at this point. It really depends on how much Infinity Ward changes up the dynamics of the game.

In response to Angry_Beaver: I've heard great things about Gary's Mod coincidentally from a friend named Gary. He says it was probably the most bang for his buck he's gotten in a really long time. When it comes to Elder Scrolls I'm a bit iffy on it. I rented and tried Oblivion on the PS3 and I really couldn't get into it. To be honest if I get it, Mass Effect will be my first Western RPG (though I did play a lot of JRPGs last console generation). I did hear good things about the Witcher though, could you comment on that?

Finally, the link was very helpfu steameffekt :D.

Will2Live

I'm way behind on purchasing current gen games. This includes The Witcher, unfortunately, so I can't comment on that other than to say it's near the top of my wish list. Also, it has a sort of morality system in it (think Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, etc.), which is one of the reasons I want it so much. Be sure to get the Enhanced Edition if you decide to get it. If you're in the U.S., there will be Director's Cut content later on (which I think will be free for those who purchased the Enhanced Edition) that will give us the complete version of the game, as a bit was held back in our Enhanced Edition compared to the EE of other countries.

Mass Effect is also on my list, but not as high. The game sounded better than it turned out to be, and it has bugs that need fixin'. I think the PC version has a patch for the bugs.

If Oblivion caused you to be iffy on the TES series, I suggest reading up on Morrowind (TES3) before sidelining the series. There are many differences between the two games. Also, just remember that there are tons of mods out there if you want to alter either game more to your liking. I grew frustrated with Oblivion's level scaling system, so I'm waiting to play the game again until I mod it. However, I still love the game.

If you get GMod, just remember that having fun with it is entirely player-dependent, since there's no story and all it does is give you a whole bunch of stuff to mess around/work with. It's boring to many people for this reason. But even if your imagination isn't that colorful, just remember that other people's content is just a few clicks away, and it's typically easy to install.

The Orange Box really should come with every new PC...

Its just something everyone should have.

Make a list of games you really want and buy the cheapest one. You may have enough to buy 2 if you can get them cheap enough.

Always... and i cant stress this enough, ALWAYS take a hardcopy instead of a softcopy especially if the price is within +/- 5%. Softcopies will make you dependant on a 3rd party throughout the life of the game you own. Never let someone else control your access to media you own unless you really want to get screwed in the future. If the softcopy is significantly less expensive then go for it.

Orange box, you get 3 amazing games. (5 if you count the episodes)

Try this nifty thread.

Steameffekt

The Orange Box really should come with every new PC...

Its just something everyone should have.

psn8214