Good games not obssessed with fighting and violence

Hi,
First of all let me point out I have no problem with violence in games and I really enjoy TF2 online and such it's just I want a game with something different besides shooting/fighting. I recently bought The Orange Box on Steam and I'm playing through the games on it (I've already completed Portal before though). I'm also playing Shogun 2: Total War. I'm getting a bit bored of all the constant shooting and bombardment of enemies in these games though and I feel like they're getting too repetitive. What I'm looking for is a game with a world which I can explore but don't necessarily have to go around killing everyone. Basically I want a game with a really well driven story (Like ME) but without all the constant action. So I was thinking something like Fallout 3 or Oblivion but is there still a huge amount of fighting/shooting in these games? because I want something new which I won't be bored of immediately. Please note I'm not looking for a puzzle game or something like that I want the game to have a story but focus more on exploration and other things besides fighting.
Thanks in advance.

Hello,I would suggest you to try assassins creed 2,but what you are saying here is yet to come.So you can settle just by playing any of the rockstar games,its got a lot of exploring,killing,story,everything.I still play gta sanandreas as first of all its got a awesome story line and secondly you can almost do anything.Have you played batman arkham asylum?

While I haven't played it, I think you'd enjoy L.A Noire. It's a very story driven game but I'm not sure if it has the same exploration element you are looking for like Oblivion. However, you do a lot of killing in Oblivion and it is mostly hack and slash.

this has to be 1 of the saddest topics ever. not because the op wants violence free games, but because there isnt many withing the criteria he has laid down...

who am i kidding. ARE YOU NUTS!!!...

seriously pal if you want violence free games play pokemon tiles or something then again the implied violence would probably be to much for you...

games are based on fantasy and most of the time it will include some level of violence. if you take out the hack and slash from a hack and slash game, what have you got. some pretty pointless gfx...

what your after just doesnt exist in the real world of games because they just dont sell.

I would have said Portal 2, but you got there first - unless you've only played #1? Get #2 ASAP if that's the case.
If it's not the violence but the gameplay that's the problem, what about whole other genres, like RTS? Starcraft FTW.

Yes, Hexit, if you take the hack and slash out of hack and slash you're left with nothing. That's just why he doesn't want hack and slash.

I'm sure there are excellent sandbox games out there, but I don't have a large game vocabulary.

You could try Civilization if you like strategy

your rite in that there are so many different games, but 90 percent or more have 1 thing in common. violence.

i reccon you would like splinter cell. you can play most of them none lethal.

Oblivion - Great game with a beautiful world to explore. I'd still recommend it despite your reservations about the fighting. It's great fun to play.

Fallout 3 - Great exploration too, the fighting is more tactical than most games and the way you can make you own weapons, buy your own house etc really helps create an immersive experience.

X3 Reunion - Space trading\fighting\mining game. You can set yourself up as a trader\miner and steer clear of dangerous systems etc. The graphics are beautiful and you can play the game in whatever way you want.

I recommend the Hitman series.

It is a first person game and yes it does have violence, but you decide on how much violence you want to apply in the game. You can kill all the "bad guys" and be labelled a Mass Murderer (or something like that), or you can focus on just killing your primary target and earn the title Silent Assassin.

There is a lot of strategy and stealth involved while trying to evade patrols or looking for a disguise (if one exist in the level). That is if you are going for the stealth approach.

If you are good, then you can figure out a way to kill your target without firing your weapon which is possible in some levels. The number of shots fired will be used in figuring out if you can obtain the Silent Assassin rank. Hint... you need to fire your weapon as few time through out the entire game as possible.

X3 Reunion and the X3 Terran Conflict are good games where you can ignore the story and play it in sandbox mode where you don't even need to fight. I concentrated on both combat (which includes fleet building) and expanding my industrial empire.

The only bad thing is the game is single threaded, meaning it will only run on one CPU core regardless if you have 2,3,4 or 6 cores in your CPU. But it is beautiful to fly through.

Haha, I actually loved Bully back in the day of my old PS2, or Canis Canem Edit as I believe it was renamed to.

It's got a great setting (school and nearby town) and has lots of nice little features in it and quite a long story. It's also quite sandbox, and there are a lot of unlockables and fun things to do that don't necessarily revolve around fighting. I'd go so far as to say I preferred it to GTA IV, but that's just me. However there is fighting in this game (I remember one stage that required you to win a fist fight to end the term.) Also, a lot of the more "fun" pranks to play are things such as pushing people into lockers, stuffing them in bins, firing at them with your slingshot, etc. However, you do go to classes (minigames), you can go around exploring, you can cycle, you can buy clothes/tattoos, you can sneak into the girls common room, you can interact with school members, you can steal things, etc etc etc.

-Nih

I agree... try Amnesia: Dark Descent. There are no weapons in the game at all. If you are seen, you need to run and hide, lol!

How about Civ. 5 or Rome: Total War

I'll give an early recommendation for Hitman: Absolution. It is expected to arrive sometime in 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5-m06HYUvg

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/06/ [...] d=14348845

I extremely recommend Oblivion as although the main story lines do involve a lot of violence they only take up a small percentage of the total experience. Download some recommended mods such as realism and I guarantee you will be blown away.

You could always try Wurm Online.

+1 on Amnesia; you will have to take frequent 10 min breaks while playing -its that scary.

I see a few people saying " It sucked, I didnt get scared!" but i think thats means exploring the castle and trying to solve the story and such was out of their range of fun and they would rather barrel down the hallway with a shotgun blowing zombies away... oh what have you done to horror games capcom?

Im sorry, Im just over capcom. been there for a long time

Just like to add one more non violent game. Fahrenheit: The Indigo Prophecy. It's an old game but is worth the time. At least for me.

1)Amnesia
2)Civ 5 (gets boring for me though since I always play conquer the world, wife likes it when she plays to goals)
3)Angry Birds! fun for the whole freaking family!!
4)X3 or even Free Lancer (a little old and simple but you can finish the game and sand box for ever)

Older series such as Thief or even Deus Ex are fun with a mesh of simple limited violence and lots of exploration/sneaking but if your on a Win7 I think both have issues even in compat mode..

Would love to hear where you settle in at..always looking myself..quite often it's the older gems I end up having the most fun with and amongst those the RP's that involved non-comp type guys in thier development are usually the best I find, we tend to be a little to fixated at times.

I can't go with the violence free requirement, but if you want a story-driven game, try The Witcher series (start with 1; #2 is a continuation of the story).

They are based on a compilation of short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, who was an international trade broker before becoming a breakout author, and is now one of Poland's best-known authors.

The Witcher is about a man named Geralt who has undergone rigorous training and some genetic mutation to become a monster slayer, a Witcher. Witchers travel from village to village, hoping to make some coin by slaying any number of supernatural monsters that haunt the people.

The games keep the books' settings perfectly, and there is no right or wrong choices, although you are constantly evaluating your morality and motivations. The games are known for this and each choice has consequences later on down the road.

The games (and books) also cater to a more mature audience, and tell a much darker tale than today's contemporary fantasy (LotR, Harry Potter, WoW)--the storyline deals with racism, genocide, terrorism, rape, and revenge. And there is sex, which isn't so much for titillation as enhancing the believability and authenticity of the games.

If you are looking for something a little deeper than today's mindless violence, I highly suggest TW1 and TW2.

And Good Ole Games (GOG.com) has TW1 for $9.99. Can't beat that for what will be 40-60 hours of rich storyline.

You should play Mass Effect. There is fighting and stuff, but there is a lot of story and stuff like that. Especially in Mass Effect 3, you can play it on story mode, so you do minimal fighting, but do still have to do a little bit, but there's a lot of really good story and character interactions / choices to make.
Enjoy!