can a kind soul recommend me some games?
 

I've been pretty much scouring the interwebs (gamespot.com) for games I can run on my old PC that I'd like. I seem to go through them like I go through a woman so they don't last that long, but that doesn't make them bad, just makes me kind of too into it.

Can someone recommend me a bunch of:

-Strategy games,
-RPGs,
-Adventures
-FPS'

that I can run on an old AMD Athlon XP 1800+, 1 gig DDRII RAM and an ATI Radeon 9000 video card?

I'm looking for good ones that might have slipped under my radar, and maybe those pearls you just forget are there. SOMEONE PLEASE HOLD ME

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2562/picture1cn6.jpg
How about some Arcanum? It'll run on anything, and deliver hours of gameplay.

Also, Sanitarium. If you don't have it, get it. And while you're browsing your local game dumpster, also look for Planescape Torment. One of the best RPGs on par with Arcanum, and probably Witcher (which would be reason enough to upgrade your PC).

I think you might have already heard of them, but for strategy games to play on an older pc you could do a lot worse than Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and its' expansion pack Alien Crossfire. They're really good fun and you should be able to pick them up cheaply via e-bay.
Also, if by any chance you haven't played Planescape:Torment (as recomended by Kuze), you owe it to yourself to play it. Lots of dialogue, great characters, and a very different setting. If playing on XP you will have to turn down the graphics acceleration in Dxdiag though.

mmm.... Torment... One of the best RPG ever made.
Also try Baldur`s Gate 1&2 and Icewind Dale( only first game).
All of this game use the same engine, but in Icewind Dale - the important part it`s battles, in Torment - dialogues, Baldur`s Gate - in the middle of them.

From FPS - Half Life 2 for solo game, Tribes Vengeance for Multiplayer.

Whowa guys, it's an old PC but it can run any of the games you told me in good detail. I've tweaked it nicely and all.

Let's see, games... I played Torment, loved it. Played HL2, loved it. Tried playing Arkanum once and didn't really get into it, seemed a bit complicated. As for the rest, good suggestions, I'll check them out, thanks. Keep 'em coming :P

( kinda off topic :) )
Do I need to play the 1st one to enjoy\understand the story of HL2?

Not really, no. If nothing else, for the simple reason that Half-life has zero narrative or story in it. There's no characters, no conversation, no nothing. It's basically run-and-gun, shoot monsters. Half-life 2 has all the story details in it from the previous game.

You're blind and/or deaf. No, really. :P HL1 does have a story and it's actually a pretty cool one. All they do is give it out in very small doses so it doesn't get boring. Want more story? fight for it. I like that.

My recommendations
 

So, recommendations... Let's see: if you hadn't already you should try
HALO: Combat Evolved (pretty decent FPS SciFi, extremely fun and easy to play, with a wee-bit of depth), Brothers in Arms (if you're into WW2 realistical FPS), Deus EX (a highly praised, perfect mix between RPG and FPS cyberpunk), Fallout 1,2 (post-apocalyptical RPGs Mad Max style), Fable (if you like your RPGs a little more fantastic... orcs and dragons and such), the Silent Hill series (if you have strong nerves and a healthy stomach :) for the wickedness of japanese horror; although, SH isn't neither RPG, nor FPS, nor adventure. it's survival horror) and Scratches (a modern adventure Myst-style horror masterpiece).
I guarantee that all the above mentioned run like a dream on your rig. I hope you'll enjoy them.

Off the top of my head

Age of Empires 2
Age of Mythology
Civilization 1-4
Knights of the old Republic 1 and 2
Far Cry (if it will work on your computer)
Max Payne 1 and 2
XIII

And they are cheep as well

Thanks for the suggestions, let's see...

Played the "Age of" games. Civ 1 and 4, both KOTORs (still waiting for team gizka to release their ultra awesome patch to replay it), played Farcry, and both Max Payne games. Played Halo (with some trouble in the graphics department), Deus Ex, which happens to be my favourite game evar, Brothers in Arms, both Fallouts and Fable, but have never come across either Scratches or Silent Hill for PC.

First person adventures aren't quite up my alley and I did see some videos of scratches on the web and I gotta say, meh :P

XIII I think I can't play because it needs a radeon 9500 or something like that.

Hey, don't blame me! Like I said, I played a LOT of games, and I did mean a lot :( But I'll be on the lookout for the Silent Hill games. Should I play them in any order?

Keep em coming guys, I need games!

Haha. Well, I did omit the few lines that the scientists utter if you hit the use key on them long enough, like, "Don't talk to me until the experiment's over" which, obviously, suggests that there's going to be an experiment. So you've got me there. However, the game fails to tell you what the experiment is about, or why you're doing it, or anything else for that matter, and this same example can be extended to just about every instance in the game. Also, backstory and characters beyond the Gordon Freeman (if you can even call him a character) are completely lacking. But then again, I suppose I was spoiled rotten by playing Half-life 2 first.

Freeman's an MIT graduate going to work at Black Mesa on a secret experiment. He's a physicist. And you do know what they were trying out, which was teleporting technology. Then they open up rifts to the alien world and all hell breaks loose. I thought that was obvious, am I mistaken?

To cut a long story short: NO. I haven't and I found the stories remotely connected. However, try not to be put off by the quasi-extreme nature of the games. I especially recommed Silent Hill 2. Most of the gamers say it's the worst of the series, but do ask any SH-fan and they will tell you that SH2 is the masterpiece.
You should also check out the Prince of Persia games and Metal Gear Solid (this one does have a sequel story, so you should try them in order. As does the Prince games, as a matter of fact).
Oh, yeah. And any of the Total War games. Although they are not RTS, they are the highest quality RTT combined with TBS. In particular ROME Total War: Alexander My favorite!

Well.. yeah, but that's where the story ends. You might scrape that much off of the game, or maybe just the description on the back of the game box, but there are no details to the story beyond what you just described. Remember that Marc Laidlaw, the awesome writer who is responsible for the story and characters of Half-life 2 and its episodes, was brought in to work on Half-life 1 only after it was almost completely finished.

I don't want to argue with you, Catbert, but you have to admit that the game's story is little more than an excuse to shoot monsters with big guns. :P Whether that can be attributed to the game's design or technological limitations of the time I don't know.

You don't need to, but I would still recommend you to play the first one, because even 10 years later, it is still one of the finest FPS'es out there. If you get a chance to play it, make sure to also play its expansion pack Opposing Force which improves on the original game in every way.

If you like comic books, I whole heartedly recommend Freedom Force and its sequel Freedom Force vs The Third Reich. They are developed by Irrational Games (now 2k Boston the developer of Bioshock), and they provide a wonderful strategy/RPG hybrid. The comic book characters are all original, and I like some of them more than the Marvel/DC characters. Seriously this is one game which is absolutely brilliant, but under appreciated by the gaming community.

I played all of those :|

Ever played Breath of Fire 4?

It's a wonderful old-school RPG with a really nice story and memorable characters. :)

Nope and have no idea what it is. Will check it out on the webs.


edit, some time later: OH DEAR GOD KEEP THE JAP RPGS AWAY FROM ME THEY SUCK :P