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| 16 OCT 2003 at 6:50pm |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | Problem with finding an Action Adventure that suits you is that AAs are by definition action games and all involve combat to a larger extent. If you haven't tried the following though.....
Sounds like you need the Gabriel Knight (1-3) and more recent Tex Murphy games (Under a killing moon, Pandora Directive, Overseer) - they fit the description of what you're looking for fairly accurately.
Beyond that the Broken Sword series are worth a shot as well. Happy gaming!
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 6:58pm |
Bob_the_BuilderJourneyman
Posts : 956
Joined: 25 APR 2003
Status : Online | Deus Ex and System Shock 2?
Doh, just saw the part where it said not science fiction type. They're still great games though, And deus ex has a great plot. Plus, in Deus Ex, you're only required to kill 3 people, and I can only remember 1 being killed through combat. Morrowind is also a good action/adventure/rpg
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 7:56pm |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4941
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Hi Harriet:
You mean to tell us that Harriet, the virtual grande-dame of JA wants advice from little-ole-us on what to play? It's like anything I might say would sound presumptuous.
But okay, it sounds like you want something new, original, exciting; something to get the ole neurons/synapses firing. And I assume you already know about the Gabriel Knights, Syberia, TLJ and all that. Well, here's my short list (not all of them meet your exact criteria but they're all guaranteed enjoyment!):
1. The Last Express
2. The Pandora Directive
3. Darkseed
4. Byzantine
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 8:51pm |
jujigatameSchattenjger
Posts : 1976
Joined: 14 FEB 2003
Status : Online | SirDave has listed some good games, but they are not A/A games. Outcast is a good one, but it has some sci-fi leanings as well. I'd definetly recommend Redguard, as it has a great plot and some great adventure elements, but if action tends to frustrate you, you may want to take a pass. I found the controls rather sluggish and frustrating and I play a lot of action games.
I don't really consider it an adventure, but if you haven't played it, I'd obviously heavily recommend Half-Life. No One Lives Forever 1 and 2 are great choices as well.
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 9:29pm |
Mike_ASorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 292
Joined: 21 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Ooh, that's a tough list of conditions to meet.
My favorite action/adventure type games by far are Thief and Thief II. There is a good story, as little combat as you can manage (it's part of the game to avoid it), and they're not war oriented or science fiction. There is occasional dialog, but you don't have any choice in it, you only get to listen. It's a combination of mouse and keyboard control. And it's first person. But most of all, as you said, "the less combat and hand to hand fighting the better". That's key to it. There are generally many ways to do something, you just have to figure out what works best for you.
You can always download the demo to get a feel for the gameplay, although not much of a feel for the story. They do keep you very much on edge, though. I didn't really like Half-Life and some other commonly mentioned good games, but I loved Thief and Thief II. The games do keep you on edge all the time sneaking around and I have friends who didn't like it because you are always on edge; they prefer to just shoot and get it over with which is generally a bad idea in Thief.
So, Thief might meet your needs. I love it. You can always check out the reviews of the two here at JA for more info.
Or go fishing. [i]- MI2 [/i]&&Okay. [i]- Me[/i]
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 10:05pm |
KsandraSchattenjger
Posts : 2459
Joined: 2 APR 2003
Status : Online | I'm not generally an action-adventure fan either, but I did enjoy Deus Ex. Although it breaks several of your criteria (sci-fi, quite a bit of combat, 1st-person) it has lots and lots of dialogue and one of the most complex (some would say convoluted) storylines of any game I've played. It has large sections with no combat, and indeed it's possible to play without killing many people at all - you have a great deal of freedom in terms of how you play the game, with your actions often having an effect on the plot.
I wouldn't recommend System Shock 2 - although it's similar to Deus Ex in some ways, it focuses heavily on killing aliens and there's little interaction with other characters. Plus the atmosphere is extremely claustrophobic and tense, and there's no light relief as there is in Deus Ex.
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 10:17pm |
GayleSchattenjger
Posts : 2544
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Well, Morrowind is my favorite of favorites and you would have a good chance with it in the fights, many quests and not all fight quests. Great music, graphics and interaction with tons of characters but do do right it will take a few months.
Might and Magic. These were my favorites until................Morrowind.
Soulbringer.
System Shock 2 is a great choice and I would not have thought of Deus Ex for you (great game though) but thinking about it again, another good one.
Gothic and Gothic II are excellent games. Maybe Gothic to start with, the monsters aren't as hard as in II.
Undying though the last battle is quite something.
Here is one that involves unusual battles (don't worry, very easy), history, adventure, puzzles. Salammbo. A great game IMHO. More adventure than anything else.
Chaser, but think it might be a little heavy on the killing for you.
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 11:06pm |
ConMolSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 396
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I loved Outcast, the only A/A I ever finished. I played with a God mode cheat. There is shooting but it seemed to be only 20-25% of the game. The rest was talking to locals, running errands and gaining info. There were puzzles to solve and gorgeous worlds to explore. It was really an RPG/Adventure/Action game. Alot of them are pretty shallow if you don't like action but Outcast had a story and memorable characters. The interface is pretty complicated and the tutorial at the beginning a little boring but you just have to stick with it! You won't regret it!
Deus Ex was great of course but there is alot of shooting and/or sneaking and I never finished it.
Half Life made me dizzy.....
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| 16 OCT 2003 at 11:14pm |
ConMolSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 396
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I was just remembering Outcast and went to read Ray and Randy's reviews of it. I forgot about the Moscow Orchestra doing the score...it was just stunning all around. Gorgeous.
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 12:10am |
AyaGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7277
Joined: 16 OCT 2002
Status : Offline | for the pc i'd say silent hill 2, unless you hate horror stuff
but if you can lay your hands on a playstation (or an emulator) then by all means Parasite Eve 1 & 2... especially 1, the battle system of which is not exactly real-time and it will suit you well... also, again unless you hate horror stuff, i suggest silent hill 1 - way better than the second (except of course the graphics - since it's older)
all 4 are 3rd person a/a's, with great storylines (esp pe) and a lot of mystery (esp sh)
You have gotten the attention of the mysterious lady. She turns to face you. Her face is devoid of any flesh. You are frozen with horror as she begins ripping your body into a bloody mess.
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 2:25am |
Britney_SpearsIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 77
Joined: 2 DEC 2002
Status : Online | My favourite PC Action/Adventures are (in no particular order)
1. Resident Evil Series
2. Alone in the Dark : New Knightmare
3. Blair Witch Series
4. Twinsen Adventure Series
5. In Cold Blood
6. Nocturne
7. Metal Gear Solid
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 4:03am |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4941
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By jujigatame (16 OCT 2003 8:51pm)
SirDave has listed some good games, but they are not A/A games.
Er, hmmm, gulp, seems I missed the little a/a part of Harriet's question. Never mind!
(Medal of Honor? Prolly not!)
Or you could play my suggested games while doing knee bends. That would give you a little action along with the adventure.
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 6:39am |
AlpineSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 310
Joined: 16 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Harriet, you might consider Realms of the Haunting. It meets many of your criteria:
nice story
not war oriented
not science fiction type
mouse controlled edit: OOPS, sorry, mouse and keyboard controlled)
characters with dialogue
2 problems though: it's 1st person, not 3rd person. Secondly, there is A LOT of fighting in this game, but... you can choose from 4 fighting difficulty levels and if you choose the easiest difficulty level (like wimpy old me did) I really don't think you'll find it too frustrating. It's a very long and great game and one I'd highly recommend if you can live with the combat.
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 7:27am |
Retro128Intergalactic Janitor
Posts : 2
Joined: 17 OCT 2003
Status : Online | What it sounds like you are looking for is a good RPG, and it's too bad it wasn't 10 years ago. The one game I can think of that matches those criteria perfectly is Ultima VII and it's sequel, The Serpent Isle. Those two were the last great Ultimas, after that, feh.
If you can find it, there's a project out there to help it run on newer OS's
http://exult.sourceforge.net/
For newer stuff, most of the Forgotten Realms based games are a pretty good match of your criteria. That's Baldur's Gate and the Icewind Dale series. Be prepared to spend many hours on these games. Planescape:Torment was pretty cool too, but that's out of production. Maybe you can find it in a bargain bin somewhere. Hope this helps!
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 7:51am |
| Deleted User | I'd recommend Silent Hill 2 on "easy" setting and Morrowind - it's huge, the storyline is vast and "killing" things is usually down to you hammering a mouse button and hoping you've bought/stole the correct items. You can always become a wizard and shoot things from afar.
Practice that hand-eye co-ordination! Your gaming life will be much richer for it. Then you can enjoy Mafia.
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 12:31pm |
| Deleted User | I am thrilled with all of your suggestions. I am going to read reviews of most of them and try to locate their homepages for an up-close and personal viewing.
Thanks a bunch for your ideas and the reasons why you have chosen them.
I'll let you know what I decide to try.
Harriet
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 1:05pm |
GarageGothicSpace Cadet
Posts : 152
Joined: 7 OCT 2003
Status : Online | I'd recommend the Hitman games. You can almost avoid combat completely if you're sneaky. They have some character interaction, adventure-like solutions to problems as well as a solid storyline. And none of that silly platform jumping that most other A/A's have.
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 6:34pm |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | Having foolishly suggested adventure games to start with I just want to add another vote to Sinbad's excellent recommendation of the Thief games - by far two of my favourite games ever - the atmosphere and depth are second to none - and yes, the games depend on not killing people but being sneaky (or creeping up behind them and knocking them out, which I did a lot of). Although I'd recommend playing them in order of release just to get the full story, try the free level demo of Thief 2 to get the idea - that's what got me into the games myself - it was so good I played the demo to death till I'd gone everywhere and gotten everything I could! That's a pretty good sign you'll like a game I think!
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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| 17 OCT 2003 at 7:08pm |
Mike_ASorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 292
Joined: 21 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I've never tried the Thief II demo, just the game itself, but I know for Thief there are two demos, Lord Bafford's Manor which has the short introductory training at the beginning (which is extremely useful) followed by the first level of the game. The other demo is Assassins, level 4 from the game. That one is very difficult, at least for me, so I would recommend the first. Once I got to the Assassins level in the game itself, I was better prepared for it.
There's an intensity to the game that you just can't get from an adventure game. I was playing Traitor's Gate and my son asked me what it was and what it was about. I explained it, he watched for a while and said, "oh, like Thief, only more boring." I couldn't argue with him on it. There's a feeling when you actually have to be sneaky, hide in the shadows, etc, that "pure" adventures don't have by nature. And sometimes that's a good thing.
Sorry if I'm getting too off-topic now.
Or go fishing. [i]- MI2 [/i]&&Okay. [i]- Me[/i]
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| 18 OCT 2003 at 4:27am |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | Here is an old game I just found at Ebay. It's called Mysery of the Druids. I was told it wasn't too good but I really enjoyed it. It is fairly long and has pretty good graphics, good puzzles, and a great story.
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| 18 OCT 2003 at 9:39pm |
| Deleted User | I have read reviews of every game that you selected on more than one site and I have to report that I am very conflicted. :'( The story sounds great in some but there is too much fighting. Others have less fighting but less story. I am not sure that action/adventures are made for me. The Silent Hill game sounds reasonably good but I tried SH 1 on the Playstation when it was new to the market and I didn't like it. I like horror but the game just didn't fit me quite right and I found the characters flat and uninteresting.
At the moment, I am giving serious consideration to Nocturn and Thief 2 (the stories sound interesting) and the action seems to be so-so. And they are both CHEAP at some of the online outlets, therefore, I won't be trashing too much money if I don't like them.
Your suggestions have been very helpful. But no matter what I buy I will have to stop playing when Black Mirror and Jack the Ripper are released.
Thanks a lot,
Harriet
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| 18 OCT 2003 at 10:52pm |
Bob_the_BuilderJourneyman
Posts : 956
Joined: 25 APR 2003
Status : Online | Nocturne gets mixed reviews, but the Thief series is very good. I recommend Thief 1 over Thief 2 though because I always thought #2 was harder IMO
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
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| 19 OCT 2003 at 1:16am |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4941
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | Harriet, from what you're saying, I have a feeling that you're not going to find any Action Adventure that you like. I say that because my response to them was just as yours is and I finally decided that if I wanted action I'd go to the 3d action games. Action Adventures just weren't for me.
FYI: I played Thief 1 for awhile and although it's a great game, it does take practice and dedication. Interestingly, I gave it up because it made me dizzy. Have no idea why!
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 19 OCT 2003 at 4:20am |
| Deleted User | Errrr..... what about Twinsen's Odyssey? I didn't enjoy it because of the action elements. I had purchased it believing it to be an adventure game.) However, the sweetness, graphics, and storyline all seemed pretty cool. I know it is a fave of many adventurers.
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