Great games that don't need great hardware to run

Rage_3K_Moiz

Posts: 5,403   +43
Tell me if any games are missing and I shall update the list as frequently as possible. Any games suggested should work on a Pentium IV 1.7GHz CPU and a GeForce 6200 card. Thanks for all the contributions and I hope this helps everyone with a very old PC who wants some good games to play.
  • Advent Rising
  • Age of Empires 1 & 2
  • Age of Mythology + Titans expansion
  • Alien Arena (free, available here)
  • Alien vs. Predator 1 & 2
  • Allegiance
  • Altitude
  • America's Army
  • American McGee's Alice
  • American McGee's Scrapland
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent
  • Area 51 (available for free here)
  • Argametron
  • Audiosurf
  • Avernum
  • Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
  • Battle Realms
  • Battlefield 1942
  • Battlefield 2
  • Battlefield Heroes
  • Battlestation Midway
  • Beyond Divinity
  • Beyond Good & Evil
  • Black & White
  • Blade & Sword
  • Blood 1 & 2 + all expansions
  • Blood Omen 1 & 2
  • Braid
  • Breath Of Fire IV
  • Broken Sword (all)
  • Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
  • Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
  • Caesar 1-3
  • Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of The Earth
  • Call of Duty (all upto MW2)
  • Cavestory
  • Carmageddon(all)
  • Carnivores 1 & 2
  • Chaos Legion
  • Chessmaster (all)
  • Chromium
  • City of Heroes + all expansions
  • Cityscope
  • Clive Barker's Undying
  • Codename Panzers (all)
  • Cold War
  • Cold Fear
  • Combat Mission (all)
  • Command & Conquer (all)
  • Commander Keen (all)
  • Commandos (all)
  • Colin McRae's Rally (all)
  • Counter-Strike & Counter-Strike: Source(w\dx 7 and dx8\8.1 hardware levels)
  • Crashday
  • Crimson Skies
  • Crusader: No Remorse
  • Crusader: No Regrets
  • Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
  • Dark Reign (all)
  • Darwinia
  • Dawn of War + all expansions
  • Day of Defeat + DoD: Source
  • Day of the Tentacle
  • Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
  • Descent (all)
  • Desperados
  • Deus Ex 1 & 2
  • Diablo 1 & 2
  • Diner Dash
  • Disciples II Gold
  • Doom 1 & 2
  • Doom 3 (only on low settings and with performance tweaks)
  • Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
  • Driver (all)
  • Duke Nukem 3D + all expansions
  • Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
  • Dune (all)
  • Dungeon Keeper (all)
  • Dungeon Siege 1 & 2
  • Empire Earth (all)
  • Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom
  • Europa Universalis
  • Everquest (all)
  • Evil Genius
  • Exile
  • Fable: The Lost Chapters
  • Final Fantasy VII and VIII
  • Fahrenheit\Indigo Prophecy
  • Fallout 1 & 2
  • Fallout: Tactics
  • Far Cry
  • Fate
  • F.E.A.R. including all expansions (good performance only achieved by forcing DX8 shaders)
  • Fiesta Online
  • F.I.F.A. (all)
  • F.I.F.A. Street (all)
  • Flatout
  • Fractal
  • Freedom Force 1 & 2
  • Freespace 1 & 2
  • Frets on Fire (available free here)
  • Frogger
  • Full Spectrum Warrior
  • Full Throttle
  • Gabriel Knight (all)
  • Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords
  • Galactics Civilizations II: Dark Avatar
  • Geneforge (all)
  • Geometry Wars
  • Giants: Citizen Kabuto
  • Globetrotter
  • Gothic 1 & 2
  • Grand Theft Auto (all upto GTA: San Andreas)
  • Grandia II
  • Grim Fandango(my personal fave)
  • Ground Control 1 & 2
  • GTR (all)
  • Guild Wars
  • Gunbound
  • Gun Metal
  • Gunroar (get it free at Sourceforge)
  • Gunz Online
  • Half Life + all expansions
  • Half Life 2 + all episodes
  • Halo 1 & 2
  • Hearts of Iron (all)
  • Hegemonia
  • Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2
  • Heroes of Might & Magic(all)
  • Hidden & Dangerous (all)
  • Hitman (all)
  • Homeworld
  • Homeworld: Cataclysm
  • Icewind Dale 1 & 2
  • IL-2 Sturmovik + all expansions
  • Imperialism I & II
  • Imperium Galactica (all)
  • Impossible Creatures
  • Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis
  • Keepsake
  • Kohan (all)
  • Legacy of Kain: Defiance
  • Limbo
  • Little Fighter (all)
  • Loom
  • Lock-On Air Combat
  • Lords of War
  • Mabinogi
  • Machinarium
  • Madden NFL (all)
  • Mafia
  • Manhunt
  • Maple Story
  • Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
  • Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
  • Master of Magic
  • Master of Orion (all)
  • Max Payne 1 & 2
  • Mechwarrior 4 : Vengeance
  • Medal of Honor(all)
  • Medieval: Total War (all)
  • Messiah
  • Metal Gear Solid 1 & 2
  • Midnight Club (all)
  • Midtown Madness (all)
  • Minecraft (Get it here)
  • Monkey island (all, including all the Tales of Monkey Island episodes)
  • Motocross Madness (all)
  • Mount & Blade
  • MTX: Mototrax
  • Myst (all)
  • NBA Live (all)
  • Need for Speed (upto NFS: Carbon)
  • Neverwinter Nights + all expansions
  • Nexus: The Jupiter Incident
  • NHL (all)
  • No One Lives Forever 1 & 2
  • Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi
  • Nox
  • Oddworld (all)
  • Onimusha: Demon's Siege
  • Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis + expansions
  • O.R.B.
  • Pacific Fighters
  • Panzer General II
  • Penumbra Trilogy (Overture, Black Plague & Requiem)
  • People's General
  • Pharaoh
  • Planescape: Torment
  • Planetside
  • Populous 1 & 2
  • Portal
  • Postal
  • Prince of Persia (all upto The Two Thrones)
  • Pro Evolution Soccer (all)
  • Project IGI
  • Psi-Ops (all)
  • Psychonauts
  • Quake 1-3
  • Rakion
  • Radiosurf
  • Recoil
  • Rainbow Six 1-3 + all expansions
  • Red Faction 1 & 2
  • Resident Evil (all)
  • Ricochet
  • Rise of Nations + all expansions
  • Return to Castle Wolfenstein + Enemy Territory
  • Rogue Trooper
  • Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 & 2 + all expansions
  • Rome: Total War
  • Rune + Halls of Valhalla expansion
  • Sam & Max (all)
  • Sacred
  • Sacrifice
  • Savage (Get it free here)
  • Scarface: The World is Yours
  • Sea Dogs
  • Second Sight
  • Septerra Core
  • Serious Sam (all)
  • Severance: Blade of Darkness
  • Shank 1 & 2
  • Shogun: Total War
  • Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
  • Sid Meier's Antietam!
  • Sid Meier's Civilization series
  • Sid Meier's Pirates
  • Silent Hill (all)
  • Simcity
  • Simon the Sorcerer 1 & 2
  • SiN
  • Sins of a Solar Empire
  • Sniper Elite
  • Spider-Man (movie version and comic-based version)
  • Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro
  • Soldat (free; get it here)
  • Soldier of Fortune 1 & 2
  • Soul Reaver 1 & 2
  • Space Empires IV
  • Splinter Cell 1 & 2
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
  • Starcraft + Brood Wars
  • Starsiege Tribes (all)
  • Startopia
  • Star Wars: Battlefronts
  • Star Wars: Empire at War + Forces of Corruption expansion
  • Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds + Clone Campaigns expansion
  • Star Wars: Galaxies(all)
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight (all)
  • Star Wars: KotOR (all)
  • Star Wars: Rebel Assault 1 & 2
  • Star Wars: Republic Commando
  • Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
  • Star Wars: Starfighter
  • Still Life
  • Sumotori
  • Super Meat Boy
  • Stronghold
  • Stronghold: Crusader
  • S.W.A.T. (all)
  • Syberia 1 & 2
  • System Shock 1 & 2
  • Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror
  • Team Fortess Classic
  • Terraria
  • Test Drive 6
  • The Binding of Isaac
  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
  • The Chzo Mythos (All, available here)
  • The Dig
  • The Elder Scrolls: Arena (Available for free here; needs DosBOX)
  • The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (Available for free here; needs DosBOX)
  • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (With Oldblivion, available here)
  • The Godfather
  • The Longest Journey
  • The Lord of The Rings (all)
  • The Movies + all expansions
  • The Orange Box (all games)
  • The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (graphically polished version of the original, WITH sound!)
  • The Ship
  • The Sims + all expansions
  • The Sims 2
  • The Yahtzee Trilogy (available here)
  • Thief (all except 2014 reboot)
  • Throne of Darkness
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour
  • Titan Quest
  • TOCA Race Driver (all)
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon + all expansions (not Advanced Warfare!)
  • Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 1-3
  • Tomb Raider (all, upto TR: Anniversary)
  • Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (all)
  • Torchlight
  • Total Annihilation (all)
  • TrackMania (all except United Forever)
  • Tremulous (available for free here)
  • Tribes (all)
  • Tron 2.0
  • True Crime: Streets of L.A.
  • Tropico 1 & 2
  • Ultima (all, including Underworld series)
  • Uplink: Hacker Elite a.k.a. Uplink: Trust is a Weakness
  • Unreal 1 & 2
  • Unreal Tournament GOTY Edition
  • Unreal Tournament 2003 & 2004
  • Warcraft I, II & III + expansions
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War + expansions
  • Warlords (all)
  • Warsow
  • War Wind 1 & 2
  • Wing Commander (all)
  • Wizardry 8
  • World of Goo
  • World of Warcraft + The Burning Crusade
  • World in Conflict
  • Worms 1-3 + all expansions
  • Worms: Mayhem
  • XIII
  • X-Com (all)
  • X-Men Legends (all)
  • Zeus: Master of Olympus
  • All Popcap and Miniclip games.
Many of the games mentioned above are available in free ad-supported form. Look here and here for them.

Most indie games like Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac, will also work fine on these specs. I haven't (and won't) mention them above since the list is quite exhaustive. You can find most of them on Steam or Desura. The same goes for older titles such as those found on GOG.com.

For those of you with netbooks, look here for frequently-updated lists of games that have been tested with different netbooks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Would they run on an MX440 with a PIII 800MHz? I'm guessing not but if anyone knows otherwise, let me know and I'll add them to the list.
 
Zeus: Master Of Olympus is also a great game that should run on almost any machine. I used to play it on my PII back in the day :) It's just a little hard to find. Amazon has it though :) :grinthumb
 
Is there a list of graphic intensive games? I spend a lot of money on a new system and intend to use it to its fullest!

Regards,

Korrupt
 
Flatout is a good crash & burn type driving game that looks really nice and runs pretty well even on as little as a Radeon 9600. Does that count?

Chromium is a pretty little free shooter available for linux and windows
 
bought yahoo poker superstars II - very addicting and cheap for $20.00 Been playing it a lot!
Pocket tanks is another and super dx ball.
 
Thank you all, feedback appreciated and list updated accordingly.

@LNCPapa, the minimum requirements for Flatout are a 1.5GHz P4 so I doubt it will even start on a PIII. Chromium looks nice though.

@Korrupt, why don't u try BF2, GRAW, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth 1 & 2, FEAR, Quake 4 and Half Life 2(Episode One included) if u haven't already. Or why not create a new thread with that topic? ;)
 
Rainbow Six series and Rogue Spear series.
Midtown Madness 1-2 and Motocross madness 1-2
 
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