Alex's top five for under 20

While great computer games come out each year, like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry, and Sims 2 this past year, I don't really like shelling out $45 to 50 apiece for these games. All too often, we gamers get caught up in the thrill of the moment and don't remember to buy those games we were excited about three years ago but never got around to playing. Even games from several years ago can be fun, exciting, wildly entertaining and greatest of all, dirt cheap.

In that spirit I offer you my favorite five computer games that can be easily found for under $20.

Number Five - Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3

Genre- Action/Skateboarding

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (THPS 3) came out in 2001 and was lauded for building on the winning formulas of the original THPS and THPS 2. Since then, THPS 4, Tony Hawk's Underground and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 have been released, making further additions to the series.

In THPS 3 you play as a skater, either one you choose from a list, or one you design yourself. The character design tool is very powerful, offering tons of features, from clothing, to tattoos, to hairstyle and height.

The game itself is very entertaining, offering several play modes, including an untimed freestyle mode. The most exciting of these is the career mode, where the gamer must skate through different maps and complete challenges within a time limit. These challenges are interesting and varied, ranging from doing a certain trick to scoring a certain number of points to the now-classic task of collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E from around the level.

Although the game is very amusing, I never found myself really captivated, and I would usually only play for an hour or two at a stretch; which was convenient when I was just looking to fill some time. Some of my best moments with the game came after I unlocked the secret characters through cheat codes and played with the really fun characters like Darth Maul from Star Wars, Wolverine from X-Men, a random police officer and more.

The levels in the game are varied and fun, with interesting locations that vary from a suburban town to a skate park to an airport, and in the final level, to a cruise ship. All are excellently laid out and fun to play.

While THPS 3 may not have amazing graphics compared to newer games or be the most engrossing of any game ever, it's certainly a fun experience and is worthy of picking up, especially because it can be found brand new for under $10 on half.com and for under $5 used in good condition.

Alex's game rating-B

Number Four – Black & White

Genre- Role Playing Game/Real Time Strategy

Black & White is a game that lets you play as a god, and while it may not appeal to those with strict religious leanings, it sure is a lot of fun.

Black & White places you in control of your kingdom as the god of the realm. You must control your realm, helping or hurting your people, as you choose. As a god, you get a creature, which you must raise from a little cub into a benevolent giant or destructive titan, depending on your heart's desire.

Monotheism goes out the window in this game, and you will eventually find yourself in collusion or at war with other gods.

In addition to the interesting and exciting single-player story mode, the game offers a single-player skirmish mode and online multiplay that are also a lot of fun.

While the premise of the game is great and the game is amusing, it requires a little too much micromanagement, and I found that after going on Black & White binges, during which I would play for days at a time, I would get tired of the game and not play for months.

Even so, I highly recommend the game, and at only $11 on half.com, it's a steal.

Alex's game rating-B+

Number Three – Freelancer

Genre- Space Shooter/Role Playing Game

Freelancer is probably the least known of any game on this list. In Freelancer, you play as Edison Trent, one of the few survivors of Freeport Seven, a space station destroyed in a mysterious "accident.”

The plot thickens as other Freeport Seven survivors start disappearing and one gets shot before your eyes. Things continue to become more and more confused, and eventually you become a fugitive from the law.

The bulk of the game is spent in space, where you pilot the ship you buy and outfit with weapons, shields and engines. Interspersed with the fantastically enacted scripted scenes and missions, there is downtime when you must to "freelance” to get more money and advance to the next story mission.

Freelancer

Photo: Fighting in Freelancer sure is a bunch of fun.

Fighting in Freelancer sure is a bunch of fun.

 Photo courtesy of Alexander Gold.

The game includes a truly massive universe, including 48 star systems, each with several planets and space stations to visit. Each system has a distinct appearance, and the entire game is very visually pleasing. Amazingly, there are no load points within each star system even though they are immense, and loads between star systems are brief.

Sadly, the actual freelancing falls a little short as there is little reason to want to get to a higher level aside from the next story mission. The non-story freelancing missions are largely formulaic and usually consist of killing someone, capturing someone or stealing supplies. Such tasks quickly become hackneyed.

Even though the missions themselves can occasionally be boring, there can be few complaints with the gameplay itself. The mouse and keyboard interface is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Flying your ship is a breeze, and combat is entertaining.

With this game costing only $13 on half.com, the flaws of the game can certainly be ignored for the larger picture, one that is very pleasing overall.

Alex's game rating-B+

Number Two – Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Genre- First Person Shooter

In Jedi Outcast you play as Kyle Katarn, hero of the classic, ground-breaking games Dark Forces and Jedi Knight. After saving the galaxy from a massive clone army in Dark Forces and a dark Jedi in Jedi Knight, Kyle Katarn has put down his lightsaber and renounced his Jedi heritage for fear of falling to the dark side of the force.

When Katarn is dispatched on a routine surveying mission, it turns out that things are more suspicious than they appear and that someone is trying to clone dark Jedi. Things quickly turn sour for Katarn when his closest friend and companion Jan Ors is kidnapped by fallen Jedi Desann, whom Katarn is no match for in his force-deficient state.

The game then follows Katarn's quest to get Ors back from Desann, reclaim his Jedi heritage and save the galaxy or fall to the dark side.

Star Wars fans will be delighted when famous Star Wars characters like Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker (who you get to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with in one of the great moments of any Star Wars game) make appearances.

The entire game looks great, and the controls are uncomplicated and easy-to-use. It's really simple to effectively integrate a number of force powers into your play style. The powers have flashy and exciting animations that are sure to delight. My personal favorite is force lightning, reminiscent of the Emperor's power in "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi".

Although parts of the game can be frustrating at times, and puzzles in the game occasionally feel arbitrary, the game on the whole is great to play, automatically allowing for really cool acrobatics and attacks with your lightsaber.

Additionally, multiplay both against computer controlled bots and other humans is straightforward and a lot of fun. The number of user-created modifications for the game is simply staggering, and some are of nearly professional quality. Modifications give this game far more replayability than your average first-person-shooter.

I unconditionally recommend this game, even if it were still selling for full price of around $50, and for only $14 on half.com and for $10 at many stores, you might just feel guilty about all the fun you're having playing it.

Alex's game rating-A

Number One – Knights of the Old Republic

Genre- Role Playing Game

Some people might just say that I am partial to Star Wars games, seeing as my first and second choices are Star Wars games, but I know good games when I see them, and Lucasarts, developer of all games Star Wars, tends not to disappoint.

The Star Wars epic Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) was released for PC and Xbox in 2003 and won more than 40 "Game of the Year” awards from various PC and Xbox gaming publications.

The game is set about 4,000 years before the events of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," and the quality of the entire game is about 4,000 times that of the abysmal Episode I. Your character, who you get to name, decide a look for and assign skill points to in a number of areas, wakes up at the beginning of the game with amnesia. You quickly get sucked into the galactic struggle against Darth Malak. Malak, a Jedi turned sith (bad), took over the helm of dark lord of the galaxy after his master, Darth Revan, disappeared when a Jedi strike team went after him and Malak turned against his master.

Kotor

Photo: Darth Malak stands no chance against the fury of my force lightning in KOTOR.

Darth Malak stands no chance against the fury of my force lightning in KOTOR.

Malak is now trying to find a mysterious weapon known as the star forge to conquer the galaxy once and for all. You either have to stop him and destroy the star forge or fall to the dark side and take the star forge all for your own.

On this adventure, your band of up to nine characters travel to seven different planets and meet tons of memorable characters that you will actually care about and remember later.

The graphics are beautiful but will require a pretty good computer to let you see all the neat textures and light effects. Additionally, the game occasionally slows down to the speed of a slide show, significantly taking away from the visceral experience. However, all that can be excused because of KOTOR's fantastic story, and can quickly be remedied by turning the graphics quality down.

While other games put gameplay first, character development and story second, KOTOR manages to balance both. The story that unfolds and the characters that tag along with your party really matter. I frequently felt myself actually considering the moral implications of my actions or of saying something harsh to one of my party members.

About halfway through the game, the game manages to add a whole new dimension with an immense dramatic twist. After I watched the cutscene revealing this twist, I was even more hooked and ended up playing the game through twice more.

Kotor 2

Photo: My character, Lecis Lightfoot, easily parries Lord Malak's onslaught in KOTOR.

My character, Lecis Lightfoot, easily parries Lord Malak's onslaught in KOTOR.

The fantastic story is backed by a great soundtrack that meshes perfectly with music from the Star Wars movies, making a player feel like they are playing the best Star Wars movie to come out since the 70s. Additionally, the sound effects like blaster fire and lightsabers crackling add to the mood and help to highten the dramatic tension.

My only regret with this game was that it ended after around 31 hours of playing my first time through, about 26 on my second and will probably take less time on my third (which I'm 6 hours into now). I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel at the moment, hoping that its way to my mailbox right now.

I cannot endorse any game more fully than I do Knights of the Old Republic, and it would be worth the cost for way more than $50. With prices as low as $15 for a new copy on amazon.com, I can't imagine not owning it.

Alex's game rating-A+