I played STALKER a few hours yesterday and it was incredibly hard, much harder than I remembered a year ago, I think I started on the wrong difficulty level, I could barely pass the dogs in the open. Installing the mods was a pain at first as well, I only managed after I used that STALKER mod installer program. I’ll think about adding some more mods, thanks for the suggestion.

I had the same problem with the combat system of Witcher when I briefly played it, but hearing all the great stories about it I guess I should give it another go after the overhaul.

STALKER – A flawed masterpiece that really must be played with mods to get the best out of it. I see you’ve got a great one lined up but don’t be afraid to add others; there are some fantastic ones out there that fix things which should never have been broken in the first place. I’ve played it all the way through and it’s definately worth finishing if you enjoy atmospheric, immersive experiences. Taken as a pure shooter though, it’s very flawed. So yes, it’s up to you to get out what you put in.

Assassin’s Creed – I just finished this a couple of days ago and I can safely assure that the story is not shit. It definately takes some risks and uses a few concepts that have never before been tried in gaming, and executes them quite flawlessly. AC is another game that prioritises atmosphere and cinematic visuals over deep and involving gameplay; if you can accept this and let yourself be taken along for the ride you will enjoy it. Otherwise, you’ll wind up frustrated and unhappy. This games requires a different mindset to enjoy fully, but after finishing it I can again say that it is worth playing all the way through, as most of the story is revealed in the climax.

Pathologic – Haven’t played this one, so I’m only going off the RPS article too. It sounds great, but I’d leave this at the bottom of the list. The other games are better.

Vampire: Bloodlines – Extremely good when it comes to character creation and dialogue progression. Very well written with strong adult overtones and some fantastic voice acting that really suck you in. The combat mechanics are pretty broken though, and you’ll need to turn on God mode just to pass some Boss fights. If you accept that the combat is bad and just trudge through the combat scenes, you’ll be rewarded with some of the best story delivery in an RPG ever. It’s worth sticking through, moreso than any other game on this list.

The Witcher – Haven’t played it as I just couldn’t get into this one. I’m really over fantasy RPG’s and the combat in this bored me to tears. I’m going to try it again though once they release the huge overhaul patch and new retail version.

I have completed Deus Ex at least 10 times (I’ve lost count) and it’s still my favourite game ever