New game suggestions

[Kongamato]

I'm going to go buy a game tomorrow, and the games I'm looking for are rare and not likely to be available. My first pick is Cossacks II: Battle for Europe, but I doubt that it will be in stock at my local stores. The second pick is Space Rangers II: Dominators, which I remember seeing two copies of at one of the stores I'll be going to. I may have to steer clear of this one, as it uses Starforce. If I do decide to get it, what dangers might I face?

I'd like some suggestions for other games if nothing's available. I'd like a quality game that takes more than just twitch skills to beat. I would prefer it to have some entertaining action as well. I wouldn't mind a good simulator, either. Oblivion and MMOs are vetoed as they will be too addictive. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate them.

[econ21]

Civ4 is the highest quality game I've bought in the last year or so. It's like Civ2, but more fun. Probably fails your "must not be too addictive" rule though and if you'd like it, you've probably got it already.

Extending a little further back than that, if you can pick up Vampire Bloodlines, it may be the best game of the last 5 years - a woefully under-rated full blooded RPG.

[Geoffrey S]

Extending a little further back than that, if you can pick up Vampire Bloodlines, it may be the best game of the last 5 years - a woefully under-rated full blooded RPG.
Seconded. It's a little rough around the edges, but I enjoyed it immensely. Great story, excellent graphics (Source driven), and the best script in years. And you can pick it up for a fiver; I know I did.

Apart from that I'd recommend Fahrenheit, or Indigo Prophecy as it's called in the US. An extremely good adventure game that gives you a large amount of control over how you develop the plot. Also either Knights of the Old Republic games.

[BDC]

Cossacks II is poor. Has potential but it has been abandoned, without the big flaws being corrected.

I'd suggest Prey. Played the demo of it the other day. Never had vertigo or felt sick due to a computer game before. How Doom 3 should have been.

[Martok]

I you like space strategy games, then I strongly recommend getting Galactic Civilizations 2. It's got a couple issues (a few niggling bugs and a somewhat steep learning curve), but overall it's a fantastic game. The AI provides a good challenge (even at lower difficulty levels), the ship design feature is tons of fun, and it's extremely customizable (map size/type, victory conditions, you can create your own race, etc). There's a lot of other great features GalCiv 2 has going for it as well, but those are three of the biggest ones.

Oh, and one other thing you'll like about GalCiv 2, Kongamato: It has no copy protection whatsoever. ~:)

[Kongamato]

Thank you for the suggestions so far. I have Vampire: Bloodlines and Indigo Prophecy already after reading boards like this one. Also both KOTOR games. In fact, those are the last 4 games I have bought! VB and IP were both hit/miss with me and, well, I'm going to rant about them in another thread. I may also skip the search for an intelligent game and go for an actionfest, like Painkiller. That game, for what it was, was done right. FEAR might get picked up.

[Dunhill]

If you like wargames with good AIs try Birth of America or Conquest of the Agean, for strategic play, or Take Command 2nd Manassas for tactical play. The AI in all three of these games are very good.

However, these are games for grognards. Take Command is very immersive. You feel like a commander in the field, movement is well done and timed.

The game is very moddable, and easy to do. The developers post regulalry on the forums. Se my other thread about TC2M somewhere else in the Arena. I can't say enough good things about this game.

Cheers,