12 Dec, 2011
When trying to buy gifts for the PC Gamer, you tend to be buying gifts for a different type of gamer. A PC Gamer tends to look upon their console brethren as lesser gamers and have a more discerning taste. Strangely though, a lot of the top games that should be on the list of a PC gamer will also be on the list of a console gamer. It is interesting to see how the two markets have started to coalesce into a unified game stream, and most of them turning out to be solid hits for either platform. Trying to put together a list of games for a PC Gamer can be a challenge, but we have compiled a list of several games that will suit the particular tastes of a PC Gamer. These titles will provide a little something for every gamer, no matter whether they are a strategy guy or a first person shooter. But enough of my long-winded banter; let’s get to the games at hand.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks, November 2011, $49.99)
If you know a PC gamer that is still playing Oblivion, or loves the idea of exploring a huge world for hundreds of hours, Skyrim should be at the top of your list. Skyrim is more of an experience than a game. This world allows the player to either focus on the main story, which is interesting enough, but it provides the opportunity to just point in a direction and just let the world provide a host of random adventures.
Looking extremely sharp with a refined graphics engine, it is the pinnacle of the Elder Scrolls franchise.
To put all of this into perspective, I have spent about 20 hours in the world of Skyrim at this point, and I have just scratched the surface of the main story. My time normally starts off with a focused goal of where I want to go, but I lose myself to the world about five minutes in and just start wandering around, looking for all the fun little random encounters that are to be had in Skyrim.
If you PC Gamer has not put this game in their list at this point, first laugh at them for their stupidity, and then thank them for allowing you to provide them one of the best Holiday gifts you could get for a gamer.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal/Square Enix, August 2011, $49.99)
While not as open as a Skyrim, Deus Ex Human Revolution offers up a futuristic, Blade Runner like experience where human augmentations are common and arguments have been waged over the idea of humanity being lost with these robotic enhancements. Your character is thrust into this argument against his will and has to sort out a huge conspiracy surrounding these augmentations. Deus Ex Human Revolution also gives players choice – do I sneak around this encounter and even up the odds from the shadows, or attack outright and fill people up with a lead diet.
From the look of the world, to the character stories that inhabit it, Deus Ex Human Revolution offers up a fun and unique gaming experience that can be tailored to the experience of the player. It also fits in nicely as an introduction to this long running PC series and allows for multiple playthroughs with different styles.
It also helps that the game will easily be had for a discount come post-Thanksgiving Day sales, so you can provide a high quality gift for a friend or loved one and not break the bank to do it. High fives will go around to all on this pick.
NBA 2K12 (2K Sports, October 2011, $29.99)
Even without a basketball season, you can still brighten up the best of PC Gamer sports fans everywhere with NBA 2K12. This basketball title continues to push on last year’s stellar entry with a host of NBA Legends that you can unlock for play in your game. Who hasn’t fantasized at one point of being Larry Bird, Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson at some point in their life? On top of that, the quickplay modes are a quick way to get into a game and the My Player mode can eat up dozens of hours as you craft your own likeness in the game and then go about trying to create a superstar career.
More importantly, this is one of the few sports titles that are available for PC Gamers and thankfully, it plays well as well. While the keyboard and mouse support is not the best available, it does have full gamepad support as well and if you plug in a Microsoft Xbox 360 wired gamepad, it plays and looks just like its console counterparts.
NBA 2K12 also finds ways to appeal beyond basketball fans with its slick tutorials and levels of difficulty that let anyone jump in and just play without having to know the difference between a pick and roll and post play.
Portal 2 (Valve Software, April 2011, $29.99)
I like to think of Portal 2 as being the thinking man’s shooter. While you never pick up a gun and kill things, you do use a Portal gun to manipulate the world and of course, injure robot turrets in the process. It constantly finds ways to make you laugh and rage at the same time with its quirky sense of humor and ramping up difficulty. Portal 2 is a game that challenges you on so many levels and when you finish the fantastic single player campaign, you have a ton of challenge rooms and co-op play to find even more twisted ways to solve puzzles.
Adding up more support for this title is the idea that even with its linear nature of play; you can go back and play the single player campaign several times through, trying new solutions to the puzzles. Just cruising around YouTube will have you finding all sorts of new ways to tackle the puzzles that you may have not even known existed.
Fun game, wicked humor and clever puzzles make Portal 2 a must have for any PC Gamer, and an easy out for you during the holidays.
Saints Row The Third (Volition/THQ, November 2011, $49.99)
I have pontificated on how awesome Saints Row The Third would be when it arrived and now that I have spent many hours wrecking the world of Steelport, I can firmly state that any PC Gamer should have this title in their collection. It offers up so much for the finicky gamer, with shooting, flying, driving, a huge open world to explore and a people cannon. Yes, you read that right a freaking truck that vacuums up people and shoots them out cannon. Mix in a ton of customization options for your characters and too many extra activities to count, you could spend over a hundred hours in this world and still not see or do everything.
It revels in its levity and it is a break from most of the more serious titles that have come up on this list, Portal 2 excluded. It offers the player a world to roam free in and create their own fun adventures, to the point where you can just ignore the story and move on with just creating your own mayhem. It is not technically perfect at this time, but hey, where else are you going to beat down zombies with a purple dildo baseball bat? Exactly, put this on your shopping list today.
OnLive Microconsole (OnLive, Inc, $99.99, but can be had with a game for a huge discount)
This is kind of a bonus pick and not exactly a PC game in its own right. The folks at OnLive are all about streaming games via the Internet and while you can play those games via any PC with their client, the new Microconsole allows you to take those experiences to your living room television without moving your entire PC.
OnLive is slowly building itself up as a competitor in the digital marketplace, and allows you to play the same PC experiences that you would get at the retail store, but with the ability to play them on just about any PC, regardless of the specs in your box. It is all streamed via the cloud, so your games just stream over your Internet connection and show up on your little, hand sized device.
While the console is $99.99 on its own, it normally ships free with any pre-order purchase, and with the OnLive PlayPack for $9.99 a month, you get access to over a hundred PC titles for $9.99 a month. While OnLive is not for every PC Gamer, it might be for the ones that tend to dabble in PC gaming, but don’t want to make the full investment on a top tier graphics card and more.
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Bioware/Electronic Arts, $59.99)
This was another bonus pick that I thought should be on this list, even though the game is not actually out until about five days before Christmas this year. However, it is one of the most ambitious MMORPG titles to come out, sporting fully voiced audio, unique quests for each class and of course, based in the Star Wars universe. For those that have been fans of the Knight of the Old Republic game, this is about as close as you are going to get to a full on sequel to that game as Bioware has called this game KOTOR 3, 4, 5 and six bundled up into one game.
The Old Republic will offer several classes to choose from at start, specialty classes for each of these and the ability to play on your own, or in a group with several other people for better items. Many are looking at this title to be the game that finally takes on World of Warcraft, and while that boast is made with most MMO titles that come out, this might be the first that makes it happen.
So there you have it, just a few things for you to pick up for the PC Gamer. Sure, there are a lot of other games out there and this is only a list to get you pointed in the right direction, but I do want to part some advice for parents buying for their children: read the titles of what they want. So many times as a kid, I was burned by my parents picking something up that sort of matched the title, but was as far from what I was looking for. Make sure you buy Battlefield 3 and not Battlefront 3. Nothing will kill a person’s morning on Christmas or at night on Hanukah than opening up a gift and seeing a terrible game. Do your research and read the list and you will be on top of things. Also, Happy Holidays from all of us at GGS Gamer.
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