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It's the most wonderful time of the year (Steam summer sale)

Started by Josef K, July 12, 2012, 06:51:29 PM

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With Fear 3 on as one of the flash deals, all the other games in the series are also 75% off - which means if you don't have the only good one of the trilogy, Fear 1 (and it's expansions), you can get them for an astonishing £1.74. This is a must-buy.

Zetetic

Quote from: wasp_f15ting on July 16, 2012, 09:28:30 PM
Is Metro 2033 worth a punt for its £3.74 price tag?

I thought it was a very good corridor shooter.

Dark Sky

Quote from: wasp_f15ting on July 16, 2012, 09:28:30 PM
Is Metro 2033 worth a punt for its £3.74 price tag?

I haven't played it (YET!!!! I do own it) but if it's half as good as STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, then it'll be a wonderful, unique shooter.

God I love Shadow of Chernobyl.  Never played an FPS where I've felt so utterly, utterly vunerable, and where the world felt so atmospheric, compelling and ruthless.  That weird frisson of it being based partly on the Tarkovsky film, yet relocated to a real-life disaster area, the shouts of Russian all around, the cries of strange creatures across the plains, the constant crackle of static electricity in the air...  Walk the wrong way and you'll contract potentially fatal radiation poisoning, or come up against NPCs who can kill you within seconds, or a pack of mutated creatures.  Crawling round the ruins of abandoned factories and warehouses, or down in pitch black bunkers where half-invisible mutants roam.  The way the world doesn't pause or wait for you; if you get a radio call for help nearby, you'd better run there because it'll go on without you.  And even if you do help out, fend off the invading forces, you may come back an hour later and a second wave has killed them all.  Such an unforgiving environment.  I was in constant fear.  I loved it.  And if you go out your way to follow up on bizarre clues, you get to a real ending of the game taking place over the rooftops of the power station itself.  So thrilling.  So difficult and frustrating and unsettling and thrilling.  Love that game so much.

Zetetic

I think it's fair to say that Metro 2033 isn't such a thoroughly special experience, but it's a good game and captures another place well. It's a linear game of set pieces, action and otherwise, but they rarely felt forced; it might be fair to say that it makes you appreciate what the STALKER games - and to an extent all such open-ish RPGs (for now?) - sacrifice.

Significant-ish, if a bit vague:
Spoiler alert
It's also wonderful for how much it's prepared to really piss some people off with how it handles the personality of the player character.
[close]

rudi

Hello. Did I mention I've been away? I've been away.

I rely entirely on you clever chaps to point me towards good games and you've rarely let me down and would appreciate more guidance through this sale.

Help a brother out?

Zetetic

I've heard almost nothing good at all about Men of War: Vietnam, if anyone was thinking of buying it.

Gavin M

Every GTA game ever made, a fiver for the lot?  Oh go on then.

Josef K

£1.74 for Limbo today. One of the most refreshing and surprisingly disturbing platformers in recent memory, definitely worth it.

Can't believe how great that GTA deal is, you'd be paying more than than for just one of the GTA IV expansion packs alone.

Definitely shows how weak willed I am that the Steam Sale was enough to make me consider buying a train simulator...

Gavin M

Hehe, that's what I did a few months back and I haven't looked back - 40 hours play on Railworks so far.  Would recommend if you've got time for that sort of thing.

Summer Loven

That GTA deal is daft. My first purchase of the summer sale.

Hangthebuggers

A great metroid/castelvania/minecraft hybrid is Terraria.

A game that combines platform style gameplay, digging, crafting, building, fighting and exploring into one brilliantly refreshing game.

On the surface the graphics are very 16 bit, the music is a bit tweaky but underneath it all lies a wonderful, tough and addictive little treasure. One of my best buys and I'm quite picky about games.

Hangthebuggers

Has anyone played two worlds II yet?

I'm curious, mixed reviews which lean more towards a favourable review. Not sure if it's worth paying a tenner though.

Quote from: rudi on July 17, 2012, 12:05:36 PM
Hello. Did I mention I've been away? I've been away.

I rely entirely on you clever chaps to point me towards good games and you've rarely let me down and would appreciate more guidance through this sale.

Help a brother out?

The two games I recommend every time they turn up in the Steam sale are Gravitron 2 (75p), which is like a souped-of version of Thrust with Geometry Wars-style glowy vectors, and Shatter (£1.75), an ace Arkanoid clone with a reeeally good soundtrack.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Hangthebuggers on July 17, 2012, 07:57:12 PM
Has anyone played two worlds II yet?

I'm curious, mixed reviews which lean more towards a favourable review. Not sure if it's worth paying a tenner though.

Personally, I would hang on before biting the bullet on that one as you might be able to get it cheaper. Although it's been a daily deal, quite a few have been offered as a flash deal for the same discount as the daily one. With the daily deal for Two Worlds II, it was something like a fiver for the game and a shade over seven quid for the velvet edition (which includes some DLC goodies like an extra campaign). At a tenner, it's still going to be good value for money as the single-player campaign is meant to be pretty massive, but a fiver even more so.

I'm likely to get it at some point as the game does some very nice things going for it (as you've most likely read) and have been told good feedback. The main reason I didn't when it was the daily deal is that I've got quite a bit to play! (So all things being equal, I will be buying it if it's discounted further again in this sale.)

Dark Sky

Quote from: Summer Loven on July 17, 2012, 07:38:46 PM
That GTA deal is daft. My first purchase of the summer sale.

It is indeed, ridiculous. Disgusting, even.  Completely devalues games to sell them at such a ludicrously cheap price.  Of course I snapped them all up pronto.

(I love your avatar, by the way, though I really want to know where you got it from and what's going on in it)

Gavin M

Can any existing Steam GTAers suggest the best way to get around the 'not having a big map next to you to look at' dilemma?


wasp_f15ting

I got the GTA pack.. I never completed Ballad of Gay Tony, or the Biker one.. that was a snip, thanks for the reccomendation


mcbpete

You've got an in-game map and radar - I never actually looked at the supplied maps from any of the games from GTA3 onwards.

Dark Sky


mcbpete

Quote from: Dark Sky on July 18, 2012, 12:14:22 PM
In my day we drew all our own maps on graph paper.
Always got annoyed when a text adventure game had an 'up' or 'down' option for that reason...

Dark Sky


eluc55

Quote from: waste of chops on July 17, 2012, 09:05:00 PM
The two games I recommend every time they turn up in the Steam sale are Gravitron 2 (75p), which is like a souped-of version of Thrust with Geometry Wars-style glowy vectors, and Shatter (£1.75), an ace Arkanoid clone with a reeeally good soundtrack.

That Shatter soundtrack is indeed brilliant. Thanks for the heads up.

Zetetic

What would people say of the Thief collection for <£5?

Regarding Indie Bundle VII - I can heartily recommend Vessel (for almost everyone) and Dungeons of Dredmor (for anyone who wants a light and fun Rougelike).

mikeyg27

It's days like this, with the Stalker bundle and the Total War bundle, that make me wish I had a gaming-competent Windows PC. Despite not having one, I'm going to hit my 100th Steam game during this sale. That's either an indicator of the number of quality older and indie games on there, or my lack of willpower. Probably both.

Dark Sky

Quote from: Zetetic on July 18, 2012, 07:24:15 PM
What would people say of the Thief collection for <£5?

Jesus Christ.  My absolute favourite game series.

Thief 1 and 2 aren't games; they're experiences.  The graphics may look clunky (they did at the time, too) but the stealth experience is second to none.  An incredibly atmospheric fantasy world, and a wholly original mix of stealth, horror, and adventure.  Thief takes no prisoners in terms of telling you what to do; the in-game maps are deliberately vague and aloof.  But you're given a host of tools, a multitude of paths, and almost infinite possibilities.  They're games which reward patience, and should appeal most to voyeurs.  You have to get into the mindset of a master thief.  Sure, you can try and head in through the front door of a mansion, firing off arrows, waving your sword...you'll be dead within seconds.  Or you can scout round the shadows, pickpocket the key from a guard, and let yourself in a side door.  Or perhaps you'll send a rope arrow into a rafter and gain entry from above, watching those down below mill about their lives, unaware of your presence.  You become obsessed with the satisfying chime of another piece of loot stolen; you become obsessed with knocking unconscious every AI you come across.  You reload over and over again.  They're also the scariest games I've ever played; no other game has made me scream is horror as much as Thief, and that's not because of any kind of artificially created JUMPS, or overegged atmosphere; it's just from being a world which sucks you in and makes you think you're really there.  Despite the graphics.  Despite the fact you'll be quick loading every three steps to get something right.

Garrett is a great character, a sarcastic rogue abusing specially granted training for a life of petty debauchery.  The City is an amazing creation, a fusion of the medieval, Victorian, Art Deco, and steampunk, where unseen horrors lurk, and many factions dwell, from the grossly religious and vicious Hammerites, to the creepy, childlike pagans.  There is nothing more exciting than extinguishing flaming torches with a water arrow, picking the lock to a door as you hear a guard's footsteps approach closer and closer, creeping up on a guard to knock him out with your blackjack, praying he won't turn around in the next few seconds.  And then...they hear your footstep.  Or, heaven forbid, catch a glimpse of you.  And you creep as quietly as you can to a dark corner of the room, and hold your breath as they get closer and closer, investigating the noise.  Then, with a murmur of, "must've been rats", they turn around and resume their patrol.

Thief 1 and 2 are two of the finest games ever made, despite (or even because of) their various flaws.  Such talented people worked on them, a kind of The Day Today, you might say; after Looking Glass was forced to close, the staff went on to work on games such as Deus Ex, BioShock, Fallout 3, Oblivion, Skyrim, and the upcoming (and very Thiefy looking) Dishonored, and you can genuinely tell.

Thief 3 (Deadly Shadows) is also a good game, though I stress that it feels like a game, not an experience.  There were many technical and project management issues, and it was also a dual development for the very low-spec XBox.  Considerations had to made for the console, and aspects were 'dumbed down' to try and make the game appeal more to console players (including an optional third person view which is not only a cheat, but borked first person movement). There was more emphasis made on being able to fight your way out of trouble, and many icons of the original games (such as huge levels, swimmable water, and the wonderful rope arrows) couldn't be done for technical reasons.  A lot of the intelligence in the detail which went into Thief 1 and 2 was lost, sadly, and most Thief fans despise it.  I rather like it, personally, but it's nowhere near as exciting as the original Looking Glass games.

Thief 4 is currently in development by the studio who made the incredibly good Deus Ex Human Revolution.  I am cautiously excited.

Jim Jarmusch

I made my first ever Steam purchase getting the GTA Collection. So far I've not been successful in mapping the buttons to a Dual Shock controller. Cheap games are useless if they don't match the console experience.

Quote from: Jim Jarmusch on July 18, 2012, 09:17:46 PM
I made my first ever Steam purchase getting the GTA Collection. So far I've not been successful in mapping the buttons to a Dual Shock controller. Cheap games are useless if they don't match the console experience.

The mistake you're making there is the assumption that using a controller is how it should be, and that the console experience is in some way definitive.

Jim Jarmusch

Driving a car with cursor keys hurts my fingers. The keyboard and mouse takes a back seat in this case.