Fallout 3-if nothing else is going on game of choice.
X-Com
Doom II-at least once a year
Quake Classic-ditto, still like to go back and speed run the first episode.
UT Classic-playing a t work sometimes.Still oh sooooo good.
City of Heroes
Until my X-Box 1 died on me, I would occasionally go back and replay the first five levels of Halo, occasionally skipping the third after doing the first part on the cliffs. Pillar of Autumn on the highest difficulty goes from tutorial to crazed challenge. Especially the bit with the open three storey room with the catwalks in the middle and the two elites at the top. Halo is a fun level, especially with the introduction of the Warthogs, but the Silent Cartographer just shines. While Assault on the Control Room does introduce the repetetive level design that Halo’s known for, its setpieces are fantastic and never seemed to play out the same way. The bit where you’ve been going through tunnel after tunnel and then it opens up and there’s a huge battle going on between UNSC soldiers and Covenant troops, with the soldiers attempting to hold it together at their downed Pelican while taking heavy fire from a Covenant tank and a half-dozen turrets is downright brilliant. It’s a great level anyway, as you’ve got the Warthog there, then it introduces the tank and then if you’re a clever asshole you can get a Banshee long before the game really meant for you to have one.
Hell, I kind of want to go back and play it now. Too bad none of the sequels ever got me the way the first one did.
I play Bejeweled 2 pretty regularly. Others I just can’t ever seem to quit playing:
Geometry Wars 2
Tie Fighter (keep an old computer around just for this and X-Wing)
all of the Janes flight sims
Civ 4
Oblivion (I WILL finish that game one day before I die!)
Civ4
Fire Emblem: SS (Which reminds me, I have an unfinished AAR lying around here somewhere)
DoW1
Oblivion and Fallout (360 versions) used to be on that rotation but I can’t member the last time I fired up either. Although I did just buy all the Fallout DLC when XBL had a sale and the GOTY Oblivion for the PC…
Alpha Centauri. It was a day one purchase back in 1999, and it’s been installed and played on every computer I’ve owned since.
System Shock. Though I only discovered this game in 2004, I’ve beaten it six or seven times. Even though it’s ancient, the setting, story and gameplay always suck me back in. ("the mutant are nesting in Gamma…")
Ultima V. The oldest game I still play. Since the recent Ultima 6 thread, I’ve dug out the old cloth map and spell book, applied the English instead of Runes patch, (not going to decipher all that again, thank you) and a fresh notepad for clues and info and away I go.
Geometry Wars 2 - one of these days I’ll finally unseat Jab2565 and Mageical in Pacifism…one of these days.
Diablo 2 - it always sucks me back eventually.
Trials HD - trying to shave microseconds off my times.
Wizard’s Crown - was one of my very first PC games.
Fallout 3. Just gotta try this new build I thought of…
– Baldur’s Gate II
– Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and 5
– X-Wing series
– Civ 4
– Starfleet Command 3
Civ IV and Dwarf Fortress. It’ll be 10 pm, and I’ll think “I could play a little Civ or DF.” Then it’ll be 4 am, and I’ve got to be at work in 5 hours.
Those two games created my backlog, I’m sure!
Diablo 2 - Nine years of periodic binges on this game and counting! Unbelievable how long it’s remained addictive, I’m definitely looking forward to Diablo 3.
World of Warcraft - I started in late beta, and I’ve played it off and on (mostly on) ever since. Such a quality piece of gaming software with oodles of content.
Civilization IV - I’ve played this off and on since release day, with a few years of weekly multiplayer to boot. While I’m excited for similar upcoming games (Elemental, Civ V), this one will probably always find its way back into my active rotation from time to time!
Master of Orion 2 - Since 1999, I have literally fired this up for a weekend-long binge at least once each year. It’s a permanent fixture in my gaming hobby, and even the fantastic Galactic Civilizations 2 has failed to completely replace it.
Icewind Dale - This is actually my favorite of the Infinity Engine D&D games. IWD2 may have had better mechanics (I prefer the 3/3.5 edition ruleset to 2nd edition), and the BG games may have had a bigger scope and more memorable characters, but IWD was such a perfect classic fantasy romp with the best soundtrack I’ve heard in any game that I can’t help but fire it up every so often to re-experience it. Dammit, now I want to play Icewind Dale again!
Going to jump in with Farscry and say Icewind Dale. I agree that the second might have had better mechanics but the first is by far my favorite Infinity Engine game out there. I’ve replayed it multiple times and always keep it installed on my laptop. I’ve tried to redo the Baldur’s Gate series because my first play was so much fun, but I can never muster the energy to. With Icewind Dale, that’s never a problem.
I also load up some Ultima 5 and Bard’s Tale 3 every now and then. NWN 1 a bit, LOTRO even though I find myself having more minute to minute fun with other MMO’s (and I don’t dig Moria now that I’ve spent a chunk of time there).
Windy Dale is great and runs on just about anything.
They should release it for the iPhone/iPad. That’d be a good match.
Morrowind for me. I go back to Vvardenfell at least twice a year, sometimes I never leave Seyda Neen, other times I get further. Only occasionally I get all the way to the end of the main quest nowadays.
It was my first open world RPG and like a good wine, it only gets better over the years (partially thanks to mods). It’s the one game that’s always on my hard drive.
Spectromancer. I love games that play in a few minutes but still make me think. Carcasonne on the IPad is filling this slot nicely.
Dawn of Discovery. I love logistics games where you have to optimize for the best results. I like Settlers 7 for the same reason but I’m not as addicted to it.
WoW-I just like going in and working on leveling or crafting and selling stuff in the AH.
This would be so perfect. I think the 1024x768 screen res of the ipad would also work perfectly with Icewind Dale and the Heart of Winter expansion and the touch screen wouldn’t be that different than the mouse interface.
Eve Online.
I love the game, and think it’s one of the most exciting games out there. But a lot of the time, I simple didn’t have the spare time to play it. Especially during university when I had loads of projects, when what little free time I had I spent with friends. And the rest of the time I was sleeping. Things went on like that continuously for almost two years, no summer break. I tried fitting it in a couple of times when I had little lulls, but I couldn’t make it stick. Now I’m back to it, and having a blast.
I’m going to subvert this a bit, because it basically involves listing the games currently installed on my PC:
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Baldur’s Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal
Cave Story
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Civilization IV: Colonization
Company of Heroes
Curse of Monkey Island
Dwarf Fortress
Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom
Fallout 3 (sort of–I can’t currently play it due to video card issues)
Frozen Synapse
Jagged Alliance 2
Knights of the Old Republic
Kingdom of Loathing
Master of Orion 2
Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries
Oasis
Panzer General 2
Peggle
Planescape Torment
Plants vs. Zombies
Rome Total War
Silent Storm
Spelunky
SWAT 4
Team Fortress 2
TIE Fighter (well, actually the TIE Fighter total conversion for X-Wing Alliance)
Torchlight
World of Goo
- Alan
I think the only game I regularly go back to now is Half-life 2 for when I just want to shoot things
although I do regularly reinstall UfO Afterlight (easer to get working than any of the old Xcom games)
Same here, except I don’t play multiplayer - I just watch replays and shoutcast.
Jason, hit me up for some games, I need some practice.
Heroes of Newerth for me.