S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Third game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. The first game, subtitled Shadow of Chernobyl, is my favorite FPS of the 21st century. Super atmospheric, realistic ballistics modelling for an action game, and some of the better AI out there. Got it for $9.99. I can't wait to start playing it.
Ikaruga
The instant classic shmup from Treasure. One of the most beautiful looking 'shoot 'em up' ever made, and that's saying something as there are some seriously visually amazing games in this genre. I may do a blog on that subject. Got this for 4.99. I used to have the Gamecube version, but I wasn't ready to put in the time it demands back then.
Civilization V: Brave New World
What Civ 5 should have been from the beginning. Civ 4 is still probably the high point of the series, but this expansion gives Civ 5 the depth it needed, finally making it worth of the series. Been wanting this a long time. Got it for 7.49
Those STALKER games have so much atmosphere it's like playing in a moody soup. Love it! Have fun!
Yes, and I find their take on post apocalypse more convincing than other games. The media should have been banging the drum for this series more than they did, but whatever.
I need to get into the STALKER series. It's seems to be made for me. Civ 5 might be a good game for me to jump into that series of games which I'm not familiar with. Ikaruga is hard as fuck!!!
Vanilla Civ 5 is the simplest of the games worth playing (I don't see the point in playing anything before 3). It was my first Civ, and I put 200 hours into it, without expansions.
I remember wanting to pick up Ikaruga for the GameCube, but it was getting more expensive every day back then. Then it came to XBLA and I played the demo and realized it's hard like most shmups. Does look amazing though.
It's not my favorite shmup by any stretch of the imagination (I prefer shmups that have different weapons and power ups), but I consider it a work of art in the genre and that's why I play it. It's just great spectacle.
SoC is one of my favourite games too. I prefer it to CoP but I'm also in the minority on that one. Enjoy!
It will be hard for CoP to capture the magic of the first time, methinks