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Top 20 Games Under $20

By , About.com Guide

With the holiday season coming up everyone likes a good bargain, especially in a poor economy. The list that follows are 20 great games for under $20. Most of the PC games listed have been released with in the past 2-3 years, with many of them being top picks for the year they were released. Included in are Crysis Warhead, a hot new release from 2008, as well as BioShock, Company of Heroes, and F.E.A.R., highly rated games from the past few years. This is not ranked, the games are listed in alphabetical order.

Rise of Nations Rise of Legends

Release Date: May 9, 2006
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Theme: Sci-Fi
Rating: T for Teen
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Rise of Nations Rise of Legends moved the franchise from a histroical based real world timeline into a fantasy/sci-fi world with massive armies, new technologies and strategic battles. Take your civilization from a small primative village and turn it into a technologically advanced global empire.

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Rome Total War Gold Edition

Release Date: Sep 22, 2004
Genre: Real Time & Turn Based Strategy
Theme: Historical
Rating: T for Teen
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Game Page

Rome Total War Gold Edition includes the award winning Role Total War plus the Barbarian Invasion expansion pack. Rome Total War was the best strategy game as well as one of the best overall games of 2004.

Sid Meier's Pirates!

Release Date: Jul 25, 2005
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theme: Historical
Rating: T for Teen
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Game Page

Another throwback to 2004, Sid Meier's Pirates is a remake of the 1987 classic Pirates! This modern version is a great action adventure game with fun naval combat, character development as well as land battles.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Release Date: Mar 20, 2007
Genre: Action - First Person Shooter
Theme: Post-apocolyptic, Survival Horror
Rating: M for Mature
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Game Page

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is first person survival horror game set in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in the Ukraine. Released last year it's been rated higher than the newly released prequel.

Star Wars Empire at War Gold Pack

Release Date: Feb 16, 2006
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Theme: Sci-Fi
Rating: T for Teen
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Star Wars Empire at War Gold Pack includes the full version of Empire at War as well as the expansion pack Forces of Corruption. Star Wars Empire at War is a solid game from top to bottom. The numerous game modes make the game appealing and playable many times over. Strategy and Star Wars fans alike can rejoice, a strategy game worthy of the Star Wars universe has finally arrived.

Supreme Commander

Release Date: Feb 20, 2007
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Theme: Sci-Fi
Rating: T for Teen
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Game Page

Supreme Commander is a sci-fi real time strategy game set in the 37th Century. Players command one of three factions with the goal of becoming the supreme and last faction standing.

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Timeshift

Release Date: Oct 30, 2007
Genre: Action - First Person Shooter
Theme: Sci-Fi
Rating: M for Mature
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

Game Page

Timeshift was released rather quietly last year even though, for the most part, it was well received. Timeshift is a first person action game that puts you in the role of a famous test pilot Colonel Michael Swift who has just accepted a special mission from the government to travel through time in a machine called the Chronomicon.

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Titan Quest Gold Edition

Release Date: Jun 26, 2006
Genre: Action RPG
Theme: Fantasy
Rating: T for Teen
Game Modes: Single player

Titan Quest is a fun and addictive single player action RPG based in the ancient world of Greek and Egyptian mythology. Players adventure through the mythological worlds and settings to uncover the secrets of the Titans to save humankind. The Gold Edition includes the full version of Tital Quest plus the expansion pack Immortal Throne.

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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Release Date: Jul 17, 2007
Genre: Action - Tactical First Person Shooter
Theme: Modern Military
Rating: M for Mature
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

For those who like complex first person military tactical games Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is for you. It continues the storyline from the original GRAW and puts you in control of one of the U.S military's most advanced soldiers. Set in the year 2014, Mexico has sunken into civil war which poses an immediate threat to the United States.

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Unreal Tournament 3

Release Date: Nov 19, 2007
Genre: Action - First Person Shooter
Theme: Sci-Fi
Rating: M for Mature
Game Modes: Single player, multiplayer

With game play similar to Enemy Territory Quake Wars and the Battlefield series, Unreal Tournament offers online multiplayer game modes, including capture-the-flag, deathmatch, and more. It also offers a full single player campaign.

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Even grown-ups really want fun new toys for the holidays. We'll help you choose the best ones.

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