Currently Playing List - Imbacore's Best PC Games for Dec 2010

[Note: This post is not meant as a universal "Best PC Games for December 2010" article. I just want to show the PC video game purchases I made this month.]

So Steam has been going on a video game sale warpath this month. I bought several PC games both classic and modern.




In order to meet whatever gaming mood takes me, I've picked PC games from different genres.

My choices after the jump.



Tower Defense:

Defense Grid: The Awakening

>>>Want a freeware tower defense game? Click HERE

First-person shooter-RPG hybrid:

Deus Ex: GotY Edition
Deus Ex: Invisible War

>>>Click HERE for freeware first-person shooters (free to play FPS)

Space Simulator Shooter:

X Superbox (which contains X: Beyond the Frontier, X: Tension, X2: The Threat, X3: Reunion, X3: Terran Conflict)

>>>There's a free to play space simulator shooter. Click here to see my Star Wraith: Shadow of Orion sci-fi game review

Role-Playing Game:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

>>>Interested in free to play World of Warcraft clones? Click here to see my Runes of Magic review (one of the best WoW clones)

>>>Click here to read more...

Link to the Full Version of the Freeware PC RTS (Real-Time Strategy) Game Ground Control

Thanks to Deals4Downloads, I recently discovered that in my Ground Control review article, the link to the freeware strategy game led to a nonexistent webpage. I've already fixed this; the article discussing how to acquire the full version of the free PC RTS game now has a link leading to a working Fileplanet download page.

Please take note though that downloading the game now requires you to register with their free download manager service, Comrade. (For more information about Comrade, please click HERE.)

>>>See my review (and the download link) about the freeware PC RTS (real-time strategy) game Ground Control HERE

(Nothing after the jump)

>>>Click here to read more...

Nvidia 260.99 Video Card Graphic Driver Benchmark Software Results

It has been a long time since I did modified and WHQL driver benchmarks but finally I found the time to test Nvidia's most recent WHQL release. I also included Tweakforce.com's Xtreme-G version of the same Nvidia driver. Both performed well in my benchmarks, producing richer, crisp colors than earlier Nvidia video card drivers. They exhibited inferior frame rates compared to version 196.21 but their image quality is well worth the framerate drop. (The Xtreme-G version performed marginally better than the vanilla WHQL driver in the tests though; its FPS rates were better by a couple of frames in several of the runs. Not substantial but still worth mentioning, given that modified Xtreme-G drivers produce superior image quality.)

The Nvidia 260.99 video card graphic driver benchmark software results (both WHQL and modified) after the jump.



The Nvidia 260.99 is one of the more impressive drivers I've tested. In the Lost Planet performance test, I was able to discern splotches of green in some of the aliens' carapace, something I didn't notice in earlier video card driver runs.

>>>See the Nvidia 260.99 video card graphic driver benchmark software results HERE (The link leads to my benchmark results page, which shows benchmark software results of Nvidia graphic drivers I've installed and tested.)

>>>Click here to read more...

Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Gameplay Videos and Tweaks

I tried out this freeware DLC first-person shooter (free if you own Half-Life 2 or The Orange Box) and got a surprise. While I've read that this free PC shooter game is incredibly short (it is; it's only 38 minutes or so), I didn't expect this Steam game to be so graphically arresting.

>>>Click here for the tweaks I've made to the PC shooter game to improve frames per second and overall PC first-person shooter performance.

The village of St. Olga is located on the shores of a large, idyllic cove flanked by moss-encrusted granite cliffs. Entrenched on one is a Byzantine monastery, looking so much like a sword thrust into the rocky spire like a weapon from the Arthurian legends, a bastion of hope looming over the rustic town.

Unfortunately, Combine soldiers have built a Headcrab Shell launcher, an alien device that launches metal pods into densely populated areas. Inside the pods are (tada!) Headcrabs, alien organisms the size of melons that look like gigantic ticks. These parasites pounce on any human they find, transforming their hosts into Headcrab Zombies.

It's, needless to say, your job to destroy the infernal machine.

Me playing the the free Steam shooter game on my PC:



The second video and tips on how to improve PC performance and the various tweaks I made to improve the graphics in the above video after the jump.





Interested in improving your PC's performance? You should know! It enables you to save up on CPU and memory resources so you can enjoy stutter and hitch-free gaming (or enable you to record HD videos while experiencing a flawless PC shooter gaming experience)! Click here for tips on how to improve your frames per second (FPS) and overall PC gaming performance.

>>>Click here to read more...