Recommend me some budget games...

[Locutus]

I have a birthday coming up soon and my sister is badgering me about what kind of present she should buy me (and no doubt others will follow before long). Any recommendations for cheap games (€/$20 or less)? I'm not looking for very immersive strategy titles like Civ -- I got plenty of those and no time to play them -- but more casual stuff you can reasonably play for 30 minutes or whatever to wind down for a bit. So more arcade-style games like FPS, space sim, racing, football -- those types of things... I have a reasonable gaming platform (2GHz, 1GB RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro) so that shouldn't be too much of a limitation for this price range.

Note that my sis is a total n00b when it comes to computers so buying games online isn't an option (ruling out stuff like Popcap games, which I do love, or games from TotalGaming.net). Getting one in a mortar & brick store will be challenging enough for her (and she doesn't have a credit card anyway).

Ones I'm considering (feel free to tell me if they're worth getting):

- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- any Need for Speed title that fits the price range (I have no idea what's out there but my last one is from 1998ish so I can use an upgrade)
- FIFA 2006
- Dungeon Keeper 2
- Doom 3

[DrSpike]

DK and the sequel are a laugh. Most levels take more than 30 mins though, at least the later ones do.

Doom3 isn't very good, but you can easily play it in 30 min chunks.

[duke o' york]

Pro Evo whatever number we're up to now is better than FIFA - on the consoles at least, and it won't matter too much if the latest one is too expensive for her, because the last one will be great too.

[Standup]

I've just bought No One Lives Forever 1+2.

I bought the first one in a buy 2 get one free offers not expecting to enjoy it but i did. I'm not a FPS fan (and generally a bit rubbish at them) but I've really enjoyed them - not too challenging (yet) but mainly a game that's funny and has a lot of variety. Good for dipping in and out of.

I paid nothing for the first and £2.89 for the second game so should meet your under $20 limit.

DK2 was fun for a while but i found it a bit repetative and not that different from DK1. Probably more enjoyable as a game for dipping in and out of.

[Zopperoni]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Pro Evo whatever number we're up to now is better than FIFA - on the consoles at least, and it won't matter too much if the latest one is too expensive for her, because the last one will be great too.

I agree here. FIFA is overpriced and worse in gameplay than PES. PES5 should be in the price range, since PES6 was released recently.

PES5 is 16 euros at GCshop (PES6 is 34.50 euros, which isn't retardedly expensive either). It doesn't have the real player names, but fortunately, there are folks with too much free time on their hands. Patches for real player names and real kits are available at www.pesfan.com

[Locutus]

Thanks for the advice, guys, I added NOLF and PES to my list

[Adagio]

Re: Recommend me some budget games...

Originally posted by Locutus
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- any Need for Speed title that fits the price range (I have no idea what's out there but my last one is from 1998ish so I can use an upgrade)
- FIFA 2006
- Dungeon Keeper 2
- Doom 3

San Andreas is better than Vice City, so my advice is putting that on your wishlist instead, unless you've already got that game. Not sure if it's in the same price range, haven't checked, but the game is 1½ year old or something like that

[Locutus]

No, I checked, it's a bit too expensive. €25 is the cheapest I've found and that was online (mortar and brick shops tend to be a bit more expensive). I would like to get that as well, but I guess I'll have to put that on my Christmas list

[DrSpike]

NOLF and the sequel are well worth picking up.

[vee4473]

I like Doom 3.

[DrSpike]

Well there's no accounting for taste.

[vee4473]

[CrONoS]

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2; it's great!(dont go for the underground series)

Unreal Tournament 2004 (i play this games, at night to chill out, around 30 min)

[Adagio]

Originally posted by cronos_qc
(dont go for the underground series)

I liked the underground series for the drifting part

[Addled Platypus]

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