Steam Winter Sale 1-1-14

Hello again! Welcome to a new year! I hope everyone that celebrated did so safely. As for me, I'm back with a full keyboard in front of me, so I can comment a bit more on today's sales.


You should of course check out Amazon, Green Man Gaming, Gamers Gate, and The Humble Store for some other deals as well to see if something you really want is on discount there. The Humble Store is counting down the last few days of the last set of games for sale (I didn't realize it was a 72 hour period when I posted yesterday). Additionally, if you made a qualifying purchase from Amazon last month, you should be getting your $5 off an editor's choice purchase coupon pretty dang soon, since that goes into effect on Friday.

Main Sale

The Walking Dead - Reviewed! I played the first game and found the story and characters to be extremely engrossing. Sure, it was a point and click type game (though there were a few FPS moments for some reason), but damn, did it build relationships based on the choose your own adventure style story, and then force you to test those relationships at critical points. The original is $6.24, while the DLC that acts as a filler between the first and second season is $1.24. Then you get into the unknown when you buy the second season at $18.74, though I'm pretty sure that's not much of a stretch.

Civilization V - Reviewed! This game is always on sale, and it always ends up being a game I recommend avoiding, just because it seems like it lacks the depth necessary to make it an enjoyable game. That, and a terrible enemy AI when it comes to diplomacy. The base game is $7.49, while the Gold Edition is $12.49. Note that the Gold Edition includes the Gods and Kings expansion, but not Brave New World. Frankly, I'd recommend skipping this one.

Natural Selection 2 - An interesting asymmetrical RTS/FPS hybrid. The aliens evolve and come in multiple forms, from the large as a rhino Onus to the small wall crawling Skulker. The space marines will gain access to new weapons and armor, including jet packs. All of this depends both on the skills of the commander in upgrading, building, and ordering troops around, especially when they need the extra assistance one can provide, as well as the combat skills and teamwork of the regular players. I loved the first one but never really got into this one when I could test it out on a free weekend. Still, it's $2.49, which seems to be it's usual sale price.

Just Cause - 2 is almost always on sale in this huge open world sand box game that just got a multiplayer mod. While it's something you should probably pick up, you might want to skip Steam. Steam has it marked at $2.99 for the base game, and $14.99 for the whole franchise, basically. Amazon has a Just Cause 2 pack that is missing 1 DLC (Black Market Boom Pack) and the original game for $7.99. You could add the missing pieces off of Steam for $0.39 and $1.39, still leaving you ahead more than $5.

You Need A Budget 4  - Because you need a budget? Actually, the irony in this game being on sale during a Steam sale is that all purchases made during a Steam sale are unnecessarily when you think a bout what you need versus what you want. Anyways, it's $14.99 today.

Castle Story - An early access game that looks like it could be fun, but as it's not actually done yet, I can't tell you for sure. It's $13.39 today.

Mortal Kombat - I'm not a fighting game fan, so I won't be getting into the details of which game in the series is the best. Just know that this one is $10.19.

Hammerwatch - A pretty simple looking action adventure game. Frankly, the description does give very much information, or, for that matter, motivation. It's $3.39 today.

Valdis Story Abyssal City - Another greenlight game, though this one is $3.74. It looks to be a bit of a blend of ARPG and platformer, which could make for an interesting combination. Argh, why don't games have demos?!?


Flash Sales

Legend of Grimrock - This game just hit an all time low (as far as I can recall) at $2.99. It's been in bundles too, so you might have snagged it there. Anyways, it's supposed to be a great dungeon crawler RPG, though I still haven't tried it yet.

Rayman Legends - $19.99.

Super Street Fighter IV - Because if you don't like Mortal Kombat, you can give this one a try at $7.49.

Interstellar Marines - An early access FPS game. I'll tell you more once it's released and I've had a chance to play the actual, final, version of the game. It's $5.09 for the base game, or $13.59 for the Spearhead Edition, which has extra bonuses such as your name in the game.

Past flash sales consist of Contagion for $3.74, Primal Carnage for $3.74, Game Marker Studio for $24.99, a game I can't tell you about because the saved page on my phone is blocked by a game info popup, Desktop Dungeons for $7.49, Sniper elite V2 for $7.49, 7 Days to Die for $23.44, and Cities in Motion 2 for $4.99.


Community's Choice

VVVVVV - Kind of an odd platformer, which isn't surprising since it's an indie game. Also, it's only $0.49.

Previously it was Tomb Raider for $9.99 and Bioshock Infinite for the same.

***

Alright, so that's it for today. Tomorrow is the last day I'm certain there'll be a sale, since it seems like things should end on the 3rd. However, that may just be a Best Of, or there may be an additional day added at the end, which is what happened last year. So long as new things keep getting posted, I'll keep posted. As for what you should buy today, The Walking Dead is the clear winner, though you should probably also grab Just Cause 2 (from Amazon, of course), and maybe Legend of Grimrock.As for all those fighting games and odd early access titles, meh.