It's that time of year again... I figured as (if) I get the chance, I'll post highlights from the bargains here.
2010-11-29
The last day of the Steam sales for the Thanksgiving Holidays, and it seems to be going out with a whimper rather than a bang.
Beat Hazard - $4.99
- As was said earlier about World of Goo, this also was a better deal in the bundle before. Other than that, I'm not sure about the game, but I just thought I'd throw that in.
Metro 2033 - $10.00
- I got it from a previous sale for a little bit more ($13.33 if I remember correctly). I haven't played it, but my reasoning is still sound- solid meta-critic reviews, and good gameplay videos. If I hadn't bought it then, I would now.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - $2.50
- At that price, I'm buying it again to consolidate my digital collection, even though I have it on Direct2Drive, *and* a physical version. It's that good. Of course, it helps that I only paid $2.50 for the other digital edition...
Aliens vs. Predator - $6.80
- If you're not an Aliens/Predator fan, it's a middling shooter, with competent implementation and mechanics. If you are, it's the best version yet, in single-player, and MP is good too, other than some balance issues. I bought it at full price, and don't feel cheated now that it's this cheap.
Indie Air Pack - $4.99
- There's some real goodness packed into this pack; I have most of them, and unlike my big budget game purchases have played them (strange how I play indie games before the big budget ones). They're definitely worth admission at normal prices, and a steal at this price.
Note: There's also the classic
Monkey Island, but I don't say too much about this because I've never played it. Never got into the TPP adventure genre.
2010-11-28
World of Goo - $2.50
-A great indie game, especially at $2.50. It's a physics puzzler where you build things with ... goo. It's hard to explain, other than that it's fun.
Splinter Cell Conviction - $20.09 (Also see
this thread if you want it even cheaper)
-Another great game- the best in the series to me. It's even grittier than normal, and that's saying something for Splinter Cell. I have it on the 360, even though I love this type of game on the PC; it has a form of DRM that's pretty hard to swallow, especially if you live in a rural area like me with an uncertain internet connection. You drop, and it drops. In a single player game. I can recommend the game, but not the DRM.
Street Fighter IV - $10.20
-Another good game that I have on the 360, but this time, because I don't like to play fighters on the PC. There's already a sequel out, so this is an older game, at least on the console (and that one is going for $19.99 on amazon this weekend). But it's still good.
Mount and Blade Complete - $10.00
-I only have the original, not the expansion, but I can say that it's loads of fun. It's a lot different than what I expected, but in a good way. It's sort of a role playing sandbox RTS type of game; you play one character, but control a band, except for in combat, where you control your character. It's a great game; I want the expansion, but the way I play games, I figure that I'll wait until it's available separately.
The Orange Box - $7.50
-I won't say anything other than if you don't have it, pick it up. Especially at this price.
The Ball - $9.99
-I have it, but haven't played it.
It looks like a good game though; for a synopsis see
this DC thread.
2010-11-27
Another day, and more bargains. Off topic, but looking at the bargains, either I spend way too much money on steam for games that I don't play, or there's just not that much selection in these sales. I hope it's the latter, but I fear it's the former.
Left 4 Dead 2 - $5.00
- At that price, it looks like a bargain. I have it, but haven't played it yet; I bought Killing Floor a bit before that, and Nation Red a bit after, so between those two, I get my zombie fix. I should play it at some point though.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - $14.99
- Excellent game, though even at $14.99 it's a bit overpriced since the second one is where all of the action is right now (and Black Ops). Still, it's a decent buy (I bought it even though I have the physical copy).
Supreme Commander 2 - $3.75
- At that price it's a steal, even though I have it and haven't played it yet.
Galcon Fusion - $2.50
- I have it on my iPhone and it's definitely a cool idea, though it does lose it's appeal after a while. There's only so much strategy you can fit in when the game is going this fast. I have it on the PC too, but ... haven't played it.
Laura Croft and the Guardian of Light - $7.49
Laura Croft's return to gaming, and if not triumphant, it's at least not bad. Again, I have it, but I've barely played it. I see a pattern forming here...
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City - $10.20
I don't have this one, but it's the DLC for GTA4, which I do have. There were raves about GTA4... if you liked that, then I hear that these two DLC are worth the purchase, and are stand-alone if you don't have GTA4.
For the indie pack of the day, we have the
Indie Pulse Pack for $4.99. I have AudioSurf, and have actually played it a bit... it's repetitive after a while, but novel. I haven't heard anything about the other games in the pack.
2010-11-26
Again, I have all of the good ones, and don't want the bad ones
I did figure out that the sales are cumulative, meaning that after the 24 hours, it seems that they are adding sales and the old ones don't disappear.
EDIT: It seems to work that way for *some* of the games. Probably the ones that don't sell that well to begin with.
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box - $14.99
- Excellent game, but more for consoles IMO. I have it, but I play it on my 360 a lot more than on my PC.
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 - $13.60
- Again, and excellent game, and an excellent value. I've gotten out of the RTS genre, but this one has something special. But again, I already have it.
Empire: Total War - $14.99
- Excellent game, though getting a bit long in the tooth. The only area that I continue in regularly in the RTS genre is the historical RTS, as I've always liked wargames, back to ASL and way too much money invested in games by
The Gamers. But again, I already have it.
Those three are the must buys if you don't have them, though the prices are a bit more than most things I buy during these sales, so I'm not sure if I'd go out of my way to buy them at these prices considering the age of the games, other than DOW2.
Torchlight and
Machinarium are also supposed to be good; I have them, but haven't played either so I can't really give a recommendation, other than the fact that they're cheap.
2010-11-25
The thanksgiving day sales are a bit underwhelming.
EVE Online Tyrannis - $5.00
- I've always wanted to like this, but it seems a bit too much like work. I want a Sci Fi MMORPG, but I want it to still be a
game.
Defense Grid: The Awakening - $2.50
- I've heard good things about this, but I don't like tower defense games
Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition - $10.20
- So good, I've bought it on PC and Xbox 360
Indie Story Pack - $4.99
- Another pack of indie games, this time with an emphasis on story and worlds. Nothing really catches my fancy though.
Kane and Lynch: Dog Days - $5.00
- I like the story, and the idea. But from what I've heard about this and the first one, the execution falls flat. But for $5.00 I might pull the trigger. I would have definitely, if I hadn't already done the same for
Alpha Protocol on the sales yesterday (which is still showing up at the sales price as of 13:20 EDT... strange)
2010-11-24
Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse - $10.50
- Episodic Sam & Max... what's not to like?
The Deus Ex Collection - $4.99
- A very gripping storyline in the first one, and a positively huge world! The second one falls a little flat, but is still a good ride.
Indie Energy Pack - $4.99
- 5 indie action games at one low price.
Borderlands - $9.99
- Very much a group experience... a shooter with RPG elements. Get it so I have more people to play with!
There's also a 6 pack for Borderlands, an 8 pack for Deus Ex, and a 6 pack for Half-Life 2
