I'm bored, so:
JediNeophyte wrote:But seriously, it started as a very respectable mod and I played it quite a bit. But the community and the game with it has degenerated to the point where I would rather play Swamp Buggy Racing for an entire week than play CS online (I could theoretically be tied to a computer and forced to play it in a LAN party, though).
Notice this is what most of the naysayers...say. "The community sucks". Just fucking ignore the community and play the damn game. There's thousands of servers running at any time, if you don't like the people on one, FIND ANOTHER! (If you live in the South-Eastern US, especially FLA/GA I can give you a few good ones) CS != Everquest, it isn't important whether the players like each other or not. (although it does help to like your team, one good reason to try and find a local clan)
Day of Defeat is a very good HL mod, though it too has degraded somewhat with the latest version, IMO. Firearms is an average mod, has some goods, some bads (namely, the few last lingering CS-style game mechanics).
Firearms was okay, I haven't played it in a long while tho.
The newest version of DoD is the best so far, I think (yes I've played the earlier versions). It used to be pretty good, yet lacking something. Then they changed it, and it was horrible crap, and STILL lacked something. Now, it is okay, and almost has "something". It is actually FUN to have to plan and play good defense when you are getting your ass kicked.
But aside from HL mods, there's quite a bit of good stuff out there.
Agreed.
- America's Army, this one is a no-brainer, its fucking free.
I didn't like AA, it was a good idea, but not implemented well. I played when it first came out, I liked the idea of training off-line before being able to go on-line, but all the damn servers for the final (on-line) training course were always full. Maybe that's fixed now, but I dunno. It's all a big Army recruitment thing, play it if you want, but the Army can shove it. (If I want to join the Army, It's not because a video game told me to...)
- Battlefield 1942 is very fun if you don't mind the lack of historical and technical realism.
VERY VERY fun, if you don't care about the historical aspects. Great game for just shooting the hell out of stuff in a big warzone, along with 63 of your friends. I love piloting the submarine, fun as hell. (if you don't like your team, grab the carrier and spin it around while people are launching their planes. That provides 5 min of fun, before they kick you). Of course, it's not all ships n' planes. There are some cool vehicles, and being on foot kicks ass (so does crashing a plane into a tank, parachuting out at the last second, and then capturing the last enemy flag... erm..)
- Jedi Knight II is always a good thing, though you might want to wait for Academy.
Bleh, JK2 isn't worth your time, with Academy coming out. I mean, it's fun online, but why buy this with an updated version of the same damn thing coming out soon?
For strategy, I highly recommend Rise of Nations. Age of Empire 2 + (Empire Earth - shittiness) + new = good
AoE = t3h c001n355!!!!111
The entire C&C series was good too, I haven't played Generals much, so I don't know about that, but Red Alert (1 and 2) both kicked incredible ass. Just make sure to stear clear of Tiberium Sun tho (different story, not as good I think)
Blitzkrieg is quite impressive as well, if you don't mind shitacular American voiceovers, piss-poor British ones, and shabby German.
(Read: the game is awesome, but voiceacting talent seems to be rare in south-east Europe)
I've never played this, I have nothing to compare it to.