Own a low end PC? Can't run Crysis on super high settings? want something to kill the time but don't want a hardware upgrade? The games will keep you entertained for hours on end. And the best part is they play on ANY good PC.
1. Sam and Max: Season 1, 2 & 3
Sam and Max is a great point and click game where the main characters are a dog and a hyper active bunny, Except the dog and bunny can stand on their hind legs, drive cars and bust bad guys. As Sam and Max you solve a variety of cases. With a hilarious story line, great graphics and some very confusing puzzles you will definitely need help at one point or another. The series has expanded to Season 3 called "The Devil's Playhouse" and will pack 5 episodes so far 3 episodes are out while the 4th will be released in July and the final episode will appear in August.
Season 1 (Sam & Max Save the World):
1. "Culture Shock"
2. "Situation: Comedy"
3. "The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball"
4. "Abe Lincoln Must Die!"
5. "Reality 2.0"
6. "Bright Side of the Moon"
Season 2 (Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space):
1. "Ice Station Santa"
2. "Moai Better Blues"
3. "Night of the Raving Dead"
4. "Chariots of the Dogs"
5. "What's New, Beelzebub?"
Season 3 (The Devil's Playhouse)
1. "The Penal Zone
2. "The Tomb of Sammunmak"
3. "They Stole Max's Brain"
4. "Beyond the Alley of the Dolls" (July 2010)
5. "The City That Dares Not Sleep" (August 2010)
Sam and Max, they may not be as popular as Chris Redfield or Nomad, but these two are with the "Freelance Police" and they solve cases their way, Season 1 & 2 are both episodic content and aren't even heavy. Season 1 has 6 Episodes while Season 2 has 6 episodes. During these episodes you will do everything such as bring Abraham Lincoln back from the dead, become a zombie, defeat aliens, time travel and even go to hell to get the devil his job back.
2. The Monkey Island Series
Guybrush Threepwood an ordinary man who one day woke up to realize he wanted to live the dream of being a Pirate (no not a software pirate but a real pirate) his adventures start on Melee Island where he has to prove himself worthy to 3 pirate lords before he can be called a Pirate, upon completing the tasks he falls in love with the Governor of Melee Island "Elaine Marley" who is soon kidnapped by the most feared undead pirate "Captain LeChuck". In almost every episode you have to save Elaine from one trouble or the other and always have to defeat LeChuck. The series is very entertaining and is a classic that HAS to be played, if you are going to play even 1 point and click game make sure its this one.
The game started off in the 1990's with the following games
1. The Secret of Monkey Island
2. LeChuck's Revenge
3. The Curse of Monkey Island
4. Escape from Monkey Island
The game was such a hit that Lucasart's has remade all the games into HD with better graphics, each of the above mentioned games has been remade to HD with the name "Special Edition" such as "The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition" and right now "LeChucks Revenge Special Edition" is coming in July 2010. Lucasart's also joined forces with the creators of Sam & Max games "Telltale games" to make "Tales of Monkey Island" which follows the story after the 4th part and hence ending the game series once and for all.
The Tales are very entertaining indeed, and a must play for anyone who has played all 4 parts, although someone who hasn't played the 4 parts can play the tales without having to face spoilers but the story makes more sense if you play at least 2-3 monkey island games before playing The Tales.
The Tales of Monkey Island has 5 episodes all together:
1. "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal"
2. "The Siege of Spinner Cay"
3. "Lair of the Leviathan"
4. "The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood"
5. "Rise of the Pirate God"
3. Braid
Played Mario? the 2D side scrolling game where you jump on enemies heads and defeat them to reach the princess who will always be in another castle? Braid tells the story of man who is in love and how he has the ability to manipulate time and space to solve puzzles the game is no where like Mario, at the start you will defeat all the goons by jumping on their heads when in fact you actually have to solve a jigsaw puzzle of each world, each portraying a scene between him and his love. The game is absolutely fantastic and if some of you actually take the time to read those long boring books along the way you will find great meaning in the story where we all make mistakes we regret and sometimes how we wish we could undo them, Braid was made by an indie developer and I have ended it over 5 times and I am still itching to play it again
With mind boggling puzzles, amazing graphics, a great story and lots of different powers to control time you will definitely want to replay the game.
4. Audiosurf
Ever made a fool of your self by rocking out to your favorite song physically? like beating invisible drums or nailing that solo on an air guitar? Audiosurf is a game unlike any other which lets you RIDE your music unlike guitar hero or rock band games you can CHOOSE your own song to play, you control a vehicle of your liking and your basic objective is not only to enjoy your music but its a game of tetris too where you have to match the colors by flying over them the notes are depicted by colored blocks which you fly over, make a horizontal or vertical line with the same color and the color will disappear making room for more. This is a great game to play if you want something to get your mind off a stressful day.
5. Machinarium
Another fantastic point and click adventure game, this also was made by an indie developer but the story line is one of romance, its about a robot finding out the where abouts of his kidnapped girlfriend but along the way he discovers a bigger conspiracy which he feels he should stop. The puzzles are superb and again very tricky sometimes you will spend hours in one area only to figure out that everything you needed to solve the puzzle was right infront of you this whole time.
The game is absolute fun and well worth the story. Although it lacks dialogue and everyone communicates using speech bubble and pictures you can still understand what your objective is. I am in high hopes of this game being followed up by a sequel.
All these games are available for purchase on steam or you can buy these games off your local retatiler or eBay cheap. They are definitely worth the cash, all these games alone have made me remember why I fell in love with PC gaming in the first place.
