Dig out best of bargain bin PC games

ByABC News
December 20, 2008, 1:48 PM

— -- If you find yourself cash-strapped this holiday season but have a few gamers on your gift list or want to treat yourself to a virtual getaway consider picking up an inexpensive computer game.

Many game retailers and online merchants devote a section of their stores to "bargain bin" games those slightly older, overstocked or undersold titles. If you look hard enough, you can find a real gem poking through the pile. And these games generally will not require the latest PC hardware to run them.

The following are five recommended $10 picks that won't disappoint, found at software vendors (including Electronics Boutique), computer stores (such as Best Buy) and value chains (like Wal-Mart), unless otherwise specified.

'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2nd Edition' (Rockstar Games; rated Mature)

This well-crafted adventure from Rockstar Games spans three huge cities, based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, and many points in between. As "CJ," you must perform dozens of "run-and-gun" missions to track down his mother's killer, and climb behind the wheel of dozens of cars and other vehicles to explore these sprawling metropolises. A great soundtrack of '90s rock and rap songs adds to the fun.

Portal (Valve Software/Electronic Arts; rated Teen)

In this ingenious strategy game meets 3-D shooter, your job is reach a destination by firing your gun to create interdimensional portals in objects such as a floor or wall. A blue portal (left mouse button) is the one you can jump through and an orange portal (right mouse button) is where you'll appear. As the game gets tougher, you'll need to send objects through the portals, consider the speed in which you're traveling, and solve other challenging tasks to reach the end.

Penumbra: Black Plague (Paradox Interactive; rated Mature)

Adventure gamers with a yen for scary films will enjoy clicking through Penumbra: Black Plague, a critically acclaimed interactive horror experience with thought-provoking puzzles. You play as Philip, trapped in a creepy underground complex, who must use items in the environment to escape and unravel the mystery behind his father's disappearance. This macabre game uses real physics, so you will use the mouse to pull on a drawer handle to open it, turn gears by cranking clockwise and push boxes around to climb on.