Another seasonal shift, another ridiculous Steam sale. Hundreds of games marked down, entire publisher catalogues marked down, and so many goddamn bargain hunters that the servers will occasionally cry “No mas!” and give up the ghost.
Perhaps you find such things intimidating. That’s why I’m here…let my ubergeekery and games addiction show you the way to some dirt cheap stuff for less money, and probably some stuff you might never have previously heard of.
Before we start, a brief explanation of how Steam works for those who might not know. You buy games through it, then the client software downloads and installs them, and also automatically updates them whenever updates are issued. You have to run anything bought on Steam through the Steam client. There can be issues getting a mods to work IF that mod uses a customized .exe file, since Steam already runs a customized .exe and the client might read the mod as a hack. The exceptions are when legit mod tools have been released by the developer…in that case, problems shouldn’t exist. And graphics mods, sound mods and stuff like that should also work fine.
Oh, and if you’re some twat hunting the Internets in search of Steam conversation to post how much it suxorz blah blah blah…fuck right off. Take your crazy elsewhere, thanks.
And a few ground rules for this. First, I’ll limit myself to a top end sale price of $25. So very few (if any) of those ‘Every goddamn thing a publisher has ever made!’ bundles will pop up here. Second, if something’s half off but still $24 or something…remember that it MIGHT pop up as a daily deal one of the days of this sale for a higher discount. And that leads me to one final thing to remember…EVERYONE is waiting to see if that happens. If the game they’re waiting for doesn’t get a one day mega-discount, they buy on the last day. So July 4th (the last day of the sale) will probably be total server armageddon. Oh, and going by the timer on today’s deals, the changeover seems to be happening around 11 AM Mountain Time.
For the purposes of this, I’m avoiding mention of daily deals and just talking about regular catalogue bargains that last for the entirety of the sale. I’ll link to every game’s page, and I’ll set the screenshots up so you can click em to biggify em. Oh, and I’m sticking to substantial markdowns. If it isn’t at least half off, IT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. A lot of the games I’m pointing out have demos that are installable via Steam as well.
Today’s post is the first part. I covered the Action and Adventure sections, and started on Strategy (since I’m a strat game freak, that will probably be the most heavily populated segment of this). Over the next few days I’ll cover the rest of strategy and everything else. The sale lasts through July 4th, so you have time. Some games are listed in multiple sections, so I’m going to pick the one that seems most relevant and mention it there.
Let the savings begin!
Action (180 in total on sale)
NecroVision 75% off – $3.24
You like cheezy horror movies? For less than $4, you can play one. I’ll be frank : the controls aren’t great, and you’ll run in to poor level design when you have to hop your way out of a map bug. But…come on, UNDEAD HUNS?! A German sorcerer in WW1 who is raising an evil army beneath the trench war happening above? UNDEAD HUNS?! From the moment that an apparition of a skull appeared out of nowhere and started babbling some poorly acted nonsense about legions of the damned, I was hooked. Hooked and laughing my ass off.
Beat Hazard 50% off – $4.99
I went in to detail about this epilepsy inducing shooter that bases the game play on your music here. For $1 more, add the ability to play AAC and M4A files in game. Game is a blast, but would probably kill someone with a propensity for seizures.
Bionic Commando : Rearmed 33% off- $6.69
Yeah, I said minimum 50% discount. Screw you and your rules! This one is worthy of an exception. Remember Bionic Commando? This is the remake (forget that shitshow 3D version that came out after. Even the developers admit that was a mess). It’s prettier and it sounds better. It can also be played co-op, has better AI, new bionic arm abilities, new guns and badass bosses. If you liked the original game, you need this.
Lead and Gold : Gangs of the Wild West 50% off – $7.49
A team based third person shooter set in the Wild West. There are 4 classes. The deputy (that’d be him in the forefront there) has a 10 round carbine and a 6 shooter. His special ability…he can ‘mark’ members of the opposing team so that his whole team knows where they are. The sniper (the one in the background) has a single shot rifle and a six shooter. She can set bear traps that will bring anyone to a halt if they step in one. There’s also a miner with a double barrel shotgun, a six shooter and throwable dynamite, and an outlaw with a 6 shooter that he can alternate fire at an insanely fast rate. Lots of different game types, and having different character types operating in close proximity means character bonuses (better accuracy, more damage, etc.) and faster healing.
Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising 66% off – $10.19
A fairly serious military simulation. US units enter a Russian island when the Chinese invade for oil blah de blah de fucking blah. Not NEARLY as in depth as Arma 2 (that’s probably a good thing), it also was a bit too ‘on rails’ for my tastes. Still a lot of options with it at this price. Unfortunately, because Codemasters kinda shat the bed when it came to decently optimized multiplayer or mod tools, this game is all but dead aside from the single player campaign.
BioShock 2 50% off – $14.99
I’m rather astounded at this price because the game came out earlier THIS YEAR. I haven’t played this one, but the price warranted mention. The first game was solid, and this apparently followed in the footsteps of the original, and added what seems like a weird and tacked on multiplayer deathmatch mode. Anyway, part of the reason this thing is dirt cheap already…DRM. This one goes just a little over the top. Steam (obviously)…AND an install of Games for Windows Live…AND a SecuROM check on your executable every time you run it…just a little bit over the top. 2K seems to have been unable to decide on one, so they went with ‘All of the above’.
Adventure (60 in Total on sale)
Time Gentlemen, Please!/Ben There, Dan That Pack 50% off – $2.49
I hate point and click adventure games…I tried Ben There, Dan That because it was free. I enjoyed it. Why? It was funny. Not many games actually make me laugh…at least not many that are supposed to be funny…so it grabs my attention when I find one. For the cost of a cup of coffee, I’m willing to pull the trigger on A LOT of games, and this bundle will quite probably be one of them.
Flotilla 50% off – $4.99
You’re dying. With 6 months to live, you set out on a last voyage through space. You might encounter a badger who decides to attack you, or try to negotiate your way past a fleet of battleships commanded by a penguin. Seriously. The tactical battles (such as the one above) pit your blue ships, whatever you might have in your fleet, against the enemy (red). It’s quite simple, actually…every turn, you give basic movement, firing and facing orders to all of your ships. The enemy does the same. Then they all resolve at the same time. Looks weird, sounds weird, but it’s a nice game. Also playable in about 15 minutes most times out.
Penumbra Black Plague : Gold Edition 50% off – $7.49
A first person puzzle/horror/action game. Welcome to Hell! Or…well, a place certainly filled with the damned and monstrosities, anyway. You aren’t armed with much, so spend a lot of time hiding and praying you don’t get seen…oh, don’t stare too long at the monsters, either. Doing so makes your character scared, and they’ll give their location away by pretty much shitting their pants. Some puzzles to solve, too. Interesting (and generally well done) mouse mechanics, where your mouse movements directly control whatever tool you’re holding at the time.
Silent Hill Homecoming 75% off – $9.99
You know you’re fucked when the town nurses are scarred beasts with knives with which they wish to disembowel you. I don’t know a lot about the Silent Hill series. Every game seems to revolve around some stupid fuck going to this town of the damned to find a missing relative. Then a bunch of weird looking demons try to kill them. I’ve been told they’re what the Resident Evil series purports to be…Action/Puzzle/Horror games that will occasionally make you jump from your seat and scream like a punk.
Machinarium 50% off – $9.99
This one is a side scrolling puzzle game. You’re a tiny robot, walking through level after level of really quite nice hand drawn graphics and animation (that picture above is how the game actually looks). Solve puzzles and figure out how to assemble various contraptions to get you on your way. Not a bad game, but my brain doesn’t work in that ‘puzzle game’ way. I can figure out how to manufacture a casus belli to let myself invade a neighbour and take his Center of Trade, but I am not wired to figure out what two items to put together and use to make a sluice door open. If you ARE wired that way, check it out.
Strategy (130 in Total on sale)
Introversion Complete Pack 87% off – $5.00
For that price, you get 4 games. Darwinia is all about leading your army of stick figures to victory. Multiwinia (pictured above) is the same game with more content and multiplayer. Uplink is some sort of a hacker puzzle game. DEFCON is a ‘nuke them before they nuke you’ game inspired by Wargames. Do you really need all that much information? It’s 4 games for $1.25 each, ya cheap bastard! And even Liam’s apparently decrepit graphics card could run these!
Birth of America 85% off – $1.50
I often struggle to come up with good starter grand strategy games to recommend to people. This one fits the bill. Set during the Revolutionary War period, it has a number of scenarios and long campaigns with you fighting for a new found country, or to suppress the rabble. Very little micromanagement, as most of the minutiae aren’t here to bother you. Really nice intro to strategy gaming, and all for THE PRICE OF A PACK OF GUM!
Order of War : Challenge 75% off – $2.49
I never made it past the demo of Order of War proper. It was a fairly run of the mill WW2 Real Time Strategy game (of which approximately 73,014 come out per year). Not bad, but not worth buying. This is something different. They took the engine of that game and produced a standalone multi-player game with it. Co-op matches, taking control points to earn air strikes and reinforcements, it sounds a LOT like a WW2 version of World in Conflict (which I thought was an absolute masterpiece of a game). I intend to try out the demo to this sucker, and quite possibly pick up the game.
King’s Bounty : The Legend 75% off – $3.24
This was one of those games I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from when I tried the demo. What it ended up being was basically my favourite game of 2008. Run around on an overland map, gathering up soldiers, going on quests, and fighting turn based tactical battles (as seen above). Power up your character as you go, and his weapons if you want…you do that by entering the weapons and defeating the army of monks and mages found within. Seriously. Russia done be fucked up with the ideas! I had a lot of fun with this one, and it doesn’t have nearly the same ridiculous difficulty ramp up that the follow up (Armored Princess) unfortunately possesses.
Star Wolves 75% off – $3.24
You command a small squad of space pilots (called, wait for it…THE STAR WOLVES). Going through a campaign of scenarios, you play it as a real time strategy game. You command every ship and what they do. Between missions, level up your pilots and unlock special abilities for the next fight. You also buy and sell equipment and ship upgrades. Really fun little game, complete with a weird Euro-centric techno soundtrack.
Space Rangers 2 : Reboot 75% off – $4.99
Weirdly, I can only find pics of the ground combat. I say that’s weird because it’s the worst part of this entire game! I don’t know how to even describe this game, because it’s a bit of everything. Think Wing Commander : Privateer, where you have a starting ship and gear and can do whatever the Hell you want to. Wanna run freight? Do it. Mine asteroids? Okay. Run a career as a space pirate? Have fun. Fight for the government? You can do that. And it’s all in a top down turn based game…aside from the real time ground battles…and the text adventure sections. Possibly my pick for most underrated game ever. Just writing this makes me want to play it again.
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