PC Computer Games

Personal computers have been a gaming environment for many years. They offer a large variety of games from adventure, strategy, role-playing, simulators, and first-person shooters to simple games like solitaire. Since computers are not restricted by memory, games on a PC are usually more involving and longer in length. Are they worth investing your time and money into? Read on and find out.

PC games are great for playing strategy and role-playing games. Due to the complex nature of their design, the games are never too easy and allow a lot more creativity and flexibility with how a person wants to play. The use of a keyboard and mouse makes these challenging titles easier to play with function key short cuts (like F1, F2 button) and simple right or left mouse clicks. By contrast, currently a console game cannot handle some of these types of games due to the limitation of the controller. For instance, placing multiple troops, buildings, weapons etc on a large map would be difficult simply because you cannot point to a specific location with a standard controller.

The Internet has taken gaming into a whole new level. PC games have taken full advantage of it by having the strongest presence on the web. Gamers can play others from around the globe, email other players and download some neat stuff like extra levels, scenarios, images, video and sound files. However, with the introduction of the new generation of console game systems like the Xbox 360 and the PS3, the computer gaming industry may have some serious competition for an online player’s attention.

The game is not over yet, is it? For PC games, this is not a big problem. Not only are they designed with more levels and options than a standard console game (so far), they can add more to an existing cool game with expansion sets. Popular titles like Civilization, Heroes of Might and Magic, Age of Mythology, Warcraft, and Everquest keep gamers busy for countless hours. As a big role-playing game player, I really enjoy it when I find a cool game I can continue to play without having to wait for the next installment, which sometimes takes a couple of years before being released!

Certain PC strategy games, simulations and role-playing games offer a way for gamers to create their own scenarios, different characters or even design their own maps to play on. Game editing leaves room for a lot of creativity, giving even more life to an existing game. I still enjoy hours of play from Pharaoh, an Egyptian simulation strategy game by experimenting with different types of scenarios. Even though its graphics may be considered dated, I never seem to get sick of it.

Despite all the cool advantages that a PC game has, computer bugs seem to be a constant. It seems that many of these games are designed so quickly, that they cut out much of the testing/troubleshooting time just to get it released. Sure, they do come up with “game patches”, but in the meantime your gameplay can be inhibited by troublesome problems like missing characters, game freezing, lack of a map etc. For example, a couple months ago I was playing a game called Dungeon Lords. The game itself was pretty cool, but it was missing a few key features that made it difficult to play. Fortunately, new patches were created that corrected the majority of the problems and I was able to continue with it. I will still play computer games, but in a perfect world I wish that they would release them all bug-free.

As new technology creates better, faster and more intense graphics, sound and motion, more problems seem to arise when it comes to installation of a PC game. As the game is designed, what is not realized is that a person may have to upgrade their computer just to play it! This can add up to a lot of money that you may not want to spend. Graphics and sound drivers seem to be the biggest problem. It gets really irritating to buy a game that you were looking forward to, then try to install it only to have it crash on you when you try to play.

Unfortunately, when you want to try out a PC game, you have to buy it. There are no PC games that can be rented since they are fairly easy to copy. That is why I try and research a PC game thoroughly before purchasing it since I will be stuck after I spend the money.

It all comes down to preference. If you are a strategy or role-playing game person, PC games offer the largest variety of challenging titles. You can extend your play with expansion sets, game editors and online play. On the downside, there is a chance that the game may have a bug or some compatibility issues. You may even have to spend more money to get the right upgrades on your computer to get it to work. Worth it? If you are a game addict like me, certain games just cannot be played on a console. But if you are a casual player who wants a simpler game, maybe PC games are not your style.

By Sheila Robinson (CA-gamer)

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