Low Spec Games and Old Classics.

[Magicaldave]

These are mostly going to be MY personal favorites, but this is also the list I'd give anyone else:
Similar to the above poster, I'd suggest Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. Both are excellent games, but Redemption is a bit older and doesn't give you so much freedom. Still - one of my favorite games ever.
I may also suggest Diablo 2's MedianXL mod. It's been hopping versions for a while now but really improves the experience - I prefer it to D3RoS.
KOTOR is a must. Divine Divinity and Sacred are really cool - pretty similar to Torchlight, but I'm partial to these.
Also, nobody's mentioned Postal 2. Also a must-play - cathartic murder rampages or a nice walk through town: you decide.
It would also be blasphemy not to mention emulation: I used to run a pretty low-spec laptop with an Intel IGP and I was able to handle just about any game I wanted to play, except for a few Wii/GC stragglers with really high performance demands.

 

[RA92]

So, good people of the internet, please recommend me some good games so I can fly the flag!

http://www.classic-gaming.net/

CGN has a sizable collection of abandonware (so you can DL for free legally) games. Free to DL as long as it's under 100MB.

 

[TrevHead]

I just recommend you try out games that you wouldn't normally play, especially the type of games that require an investment of time and energy to play properly, something that you normally wouldn't try if you had access to you gaming rig and the games you normally play.

I say this because I was in a similar situation 4 years ago when the fan on my GFX card melted and I didn't have the funds to replace it so I was stuck with 2D games. Because of this that I rediscovered 2D 8bit / arcade / Doujin games and especially 2D shmups that I quickly became fanatical about once I learned about 1 credit only play (1CC) and score attack.

As for actual games here are some good 2D games.
Blue Wish Resurrection & BWR+ (freeware) Is the shmup I cut my teeth on, good for learning the genre.
Crimzon Clover World Ignition (Steam) Fantastic CAVE like Shmup very highly regardard by players
Gun Girl 2 (freeware) Cave Story + Zombies + Doom Shogun fun weapons
Noitu Love 2
Vagrant Story
VVVVV
Lumines (on Steam IIRC)
FTL
LESBIAN SPIDER-QUEENS OF MARS (Adult-Swim Flash / downloadable freeware)
Jamestown (fun co-op, if it'll run)
SEGA's Megadrive Classics (on steam) as well as other retro game collections like Taito Legends
Plus get a version of MAME the arcade emulator on your system, it's decades old so you should be able to get a version running no matter how lacking in horsepower your Laptop is and should keep you entertained for many hours.

Also don't forget the original versions of Serious Sam are on Steam not just the HD versions (+ Shadow Warrior)

BTW Xpadder or a similar controller remapper is useful when playing retro games

 

[Irick]

Hi All,

I am currently without a gaming rig! First time I have not been gaming on the reg, or at least semi reg since about 1996! First time I have been without a gaming PC since 2000! Long story short, I have moved to a new country to be with my lovely g/f.

In fact, so lovely is she that she has bought a new laptop. It has some sort of onboard graphics, and I was not expecting much. To my surprise it runs Bastion really really well, I also tried Defcon and that worked a treat. I'm gonna install Half life 2 to see how that goes...

So, good people of the internet, please recommend me some good games so I can fly the flag! I'm talking great indi games or classics from yester year. Torchlight and System Shock 2 spring to mind, both of which I own.

Is it one of the new Intel HD (4000+) chipsets? If so... well, it can probably run anything you really want at around 720p. UT 2k4 is always a good time to fire up. Doom 3 BFG will probably run alright. I even could run some interesting Emulation on my old i5 based Ivy Bridge, up to Wii level in fact.

However, you should totally fire up some of the old lucasarts adventure games. Grim Fandango is <3 and available on GoG. The PixelJunk games will probably all run fine. The Fall (http://store.steampowered.com/app/290770/) is a great little indie sidescroller point and click with some nice atmosphere.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Fun games that are low spec from many moons ago. And hey, running around as a Jedi badass is always entertaining. xD

Jedi Academy has some pretty cool mods as well and the multiplayer I feel is still one of the best saber battle systems. It actually can take a lot of skill to play well.
Overall JK Outcast and Academy are the best Jedi games I've ever played. While Force Unleashed is fun, I felt it really went too over-the-top with Force usage. The Jedi Knight series did it without having to overpower the Force.

 

[Tanis]

CAPTAIN CLAW!

You'll need to download some fan made mods/updates, but it's still a damn fine game.

PLUS!
People are STILL making custom mods/levels for it!