A lot of people are just listing their favourites like FenixP stated.

I think to try and look at it from a modern gamer perspective the 3 games I would recommend are:

Unreal Tournament 2004- A great fast paced shooter with a lot of options, a still active online community & not too far removed from modern gaming.

Dungeon Keeper 2- (Would say Theme Hospital but the game seems broken.) A great example of an old school game that has heart. Build your own dungeon & manage it's denizens to attack or ward off those pesky heroes. It's a British game from the days when the Brits were amongst the very best developers in the world.

Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 or 2- It's a good introduction into the more complex sim management games of yesteryear but very accessible at the same time. It has a wealth of menus and stats to play with if you so desire, but they can also all be ignored.


I chose these 3 because graphically they won't put off someone not used to old school. They're still good today, none of them are exceptionally difficult and all of them can be picked up and played.

Games like Baldur's Gate have a huge following but they are hard games and require a lot of reading to really understand. I'd also recommend giving the free game "Beneath a Steel Sky" a whirl to see if you like the Point & Click Adventure Genre.

I think that's a good selection of games for someone young who is just now getting into older games. Beneath a Steel Sky was one of the first adventure games I played when I was a kid and the one that really got me into the whole genre. Highly recommended (plus it's free, as has been said).

I would also recommend that if you want to try one of the old-school RPG's on this site - get Fallout first. It's by far the easiest to get into (as serpantino says, the BG games take a while to understand how to play properly - for me, it was mainly because of the D&D ruleset they use).

If you do actually want an rpg then Anachronox will probably be the best choice for you. It's a brilliant game in a very unique setting and more accessible than a lot of the older, more hardcore, games. Eurogamer did a retrospective on it that sells it far better than I could. You can find it here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-17-retrospective-anachronox

I have beyond good and evil on xbox 360 thats fun and i got psyconauts in the humble indie bundle love them both

Little Big Adventure 1 & 2. Nough said.

LMAO yeah that happens in every single "recommend me a game" thread.

Then you are a very good person. Bob bless you.

Sounds like you enjoy fast-paced games. If you have a good joystick, you can consider Descent 3. If you don't, you can still give it a try; or, if you want a good FPS, you can take a look at either Kingpin or Blood.

Since you like TPP games, I think the MDK games will be right up your alley too.

This is going to be a bit of a stretch of a suggestion, but if you like BF3, you may want to consider getting SWAT 3, just to see how a tactical shooter is really like. You may or may not enjoy it.

Btw, since you have Duke 3D, did you know there's quite a lively modding community for it? There are a few mods worth checking out - some improve on graphics, while others change the gameplay. In fact, you can survive on just Duke 3D mods for the next few weeks. It's that replayable. Here are a few resources/mods to get you started.

Eduke32 port (you need this)
Duke Plus
Attrition mod
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Duke4.net forums. There are a lot of mods here.

Yep, I'd really recommend Blood as well, since you're saying that you enjoy Duke Nukem 3D. It's the same engine, very similar gameplay, but it pokes fun at horror instead of action movies. IMO it's even better than DN3D, and if you don't mind the graphics (and you wouldn't play DN3D if you would,) the game's a real blast.

I just looked at screen shots of that...it has a pitchfork as a weapon? is that what that is? I want it now.

Pitchfork, sawed off shotgun, tommy gun, voodoo doll ... I hesitate to say it's better than Duke 3D, but I can tell you that, IMO, it is one of the best FPSes ever made. Oh yeah, you can also dual f*cking wield tommy guns. Seriously, no joke.

Oh yeah I updated my post for Duke 3D mods. Check it out.

Going by this i would suggest the Thief trilogy, there all amazingly fun stealth games... Siphon Filter is also an option, but not as fun imo

XIII is an absolute must play FPS style game with one of the greatest looks ive seen

Oddworld Strangers Wrath is unique in the way it presents itself... half old school 3D platformer half FPS game with "living" ammo

Two Worlds, im a massive Oblivion Skyrim Morrwind fan and i have (couting gogs) 4 copies of Two Worlds, its amazing!

If you like flight sims at all the Decent games and Freepsace are increadable... im a flight sim Nutball and these are my favorite...

along with that Aquanox and Aquanox2 are underwater decent style games with better graphics and better storyline and wicked underwater fights

Giants: Citizen Kabuto i suggest this more then any other game, its the funniest, most challenging and yet highly rewarding game ive played in a long time.... its truly funny like you'll be laughing so hard you'll need to pause the game.

Painkiller: Black -- not much can be said but really awesome metal music, tons of weapons and the ability to slice off a body part and nail it to the wall... with waves and waves of non-stop killing

If you like Painkiller then go for Serious Sam First and Second encounter...

You mentioned Duke 3D? then man go get yourself Duke Nukem Manhattan Project Its duke but as a side scroller rendered though the unreal engine....

speaking of unreal i can only say if the word UNREAL is in the title your safe buying it and having a blast... the first game simply titled "unreal" has some of the toughest AI bots i ever played with adaptive learning, its nuts... and all the tournaments are fantastic... i play with bots all the time and i still have a blast!

If you truly loved Duke3D then you MUST try Blood great music, funny one liners and some of the creepiest and most atmospheric gameplay of that decade...

moving from there Redneck Rampage is just beautifully silly and packed with awesome alien butt kicking mayhem... you get a machingun bra!

Lastly there is Arx Fatalis, the defacto underworld 3D morrowind esq style game... i love it, have 3 different copies and do recommend it... there are tons more but thats just going off the interests you've shared...

if you like GTA style games check out Postal Uncut... and Postal2 for a more modern fun... Postal 2 btw is the nastiest most disgustingly amazing game i ever played...