Six Titles That'll Work on Nearly Any Machine

(Vacation Gaming)

It's inevitable. You have to visit the parents or grandparents, or if you're an orphan - somebody. This generic familial being generally has a crap computer. But all is not lost. Thanks to sites like gog.com, the-underdogs.info, and various other digital distribution outlets, you can still find things that'll run on nearly any machine. While this list may not be available at some of the usual suspects, most can be found on the web - or better yet, you should already own them. Honestly, they're all must-play titles, even if they're fairly obvious. Really, if you're anything like me, you always make sure you have a gaming vacation during a real vacation. That is, unless you're at a beach. Anyway, here are the title I took on my most recent vacation, and I'd recommend them to you without hesistation.

Diablo 2 (Blizzard, PC/MAC):

I'm not entirely sure I need to say anything about this. Having bought it 4 times due to constantly losing my keys, Blizzard allowing you to add it to your account at their site was a godsend. As such, if you have a copy, you should really add your keys at Blizzard's store so you can download it wherever you go. Assume that any other Blizzard main-franchise titles are included with this recommendation as they can be found at the store. Additionally, if you didn't already know, World of Warcraft is not available there. Blizzard doesn't take kindly to bandwidth hogs (hi bittorrent). That said, odds are, if your parents' computers are like my own, well, they're not going to run WoW very well anyway.

Planescape: Torment (Black Isle & Bioware, PC):

Basically the best RPG ever. Not available digitally as far as I know, simply because Wizards shelved the license. If you have a copy, you should play it again just to remind yourself how crap the writing is in every RPG that came before it and every RPG that came after it, other than...

Deus Ex (Eidos, PC):
Honestly, if you haven't played Deus Ex, you're part of the problem. I recommend picking it up and playing it as soon as possible (hey, it's available on Steam, as well as almost everywhere else), so I don't have to find you on your vacation and bludgeon you with a sock full of quarters. Also, if you haven't played it, you'll be happy to know that it's basically the most quotable FPS ever made. If you don't believe me or agree with me, you're wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

We've had to endure much, you and I, but soon there will be order again. A new age. Aquinas spoke of the mythical city on the hill, soon that city will be a reality and we will be crowned its kings. Or, better than kings... gods!"

Yes, I do believe I'll be playing this again soon. Oh, by the way, there's a high-resolution texture pack if the machine you're playing on isn't total trash from the last century. Said texture pack is available right here.

Civilization 2 (Firaxis, PC):

Still the best Civ title, possibly due to the involvement of Brian Reynolds. Don't be deceived by Sid Meier's name on the box or in the title. This is a Brian Reynolds game and it shines like a beautiful bright shining star. Speaking of Brian Reynolds, I should probably recommend...

Rise of Nations (PC):

OK, Rise of Legends was pretty much crap comparatively but RoN is still one of the best RTS titles available today. I'd recommend just biting the bullet and picking up the gold box for it. You'd be surprised what this title can be run on. After patching, it runs pretty flawlessly on anything since roughly 2002 - which makes sense given it came out in 2003.

Fallout 2 (Black Isle, PC):

Look, just go buy it at gog.com. It's like $5 or something. Jesus. I shouldn't even have to recommend this.

Well, those are pretty much my standby games whenever I'm away from my totally kickass e-peenputer. Now, it's the day before Thanksgiving, I'm going home and enjoying a trough full of food and a barrel full of cheap liquor. Then I'm going to pass out and count sheep until I'm hungry again - and repeat that for 5 days.

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