Lot of good games today, most of which I've just bought, or will be keeping a close eye on for when I have some more time, and pick them up in the future. Still, I figure I'll recommend them, if just for a look.
Buy:
Plants vs. Zombies - Popcap's take on tower defense. It is incredible how good such a simple game is. Played this thing for hours earlier in life, almost 47 hours too. For $2.49, that's a great deal.
Amnesia - Was either the flash sale or community choice a few days ago, and I mentioned it them. Highly recommend this, but it is so good, you'll have to do a self assessment of just how scared you can handle being. It's not a one jumpy moment, it's the overwhelming sense of dread that will get you. Again, $4.99
The Witcher 2 - This got mentioned a few days ago as well, and the consensous is that it's a great RPG. Haven't tried it yet myself, for full disclosure, but I will recommend it anyways. $15.99.
Fallout New Vegas - Loved Fallout 3, though I will freely admit that the game felt a little slow paced at times, what with such an expansive world to play in. Despite a rocky start, the game is supposed to have improved greatly, and now you can get the complete version for $9.99. That is why it pays to wait.
Unknown:
Krater - I'm going ahead and picking this up. Seems like a very solid, huge rpg. Hope the crafting system delivers what they talk about in the videos, because if it does, this could become on of my favorite new games. $7.49
Alan Wake - Mentioned this before the other day. Three years later we get the port, but it is supposed to be a great game. Plus, no games for windows live, which is always a plus.
Sniper Elite - This one has been around at least once before too. I will say that the game looks like it's got promise. While the game is $24.99, you may want to consider coughing up a bit more if you're interested, and get the franchise for $28.43.
Gratuitous Tank Battles - I haven't tired the gratuitous games yet, so I don't know what to say. But you can get both for $10.19.
Indie Bundle VIII (Demolition Inc., HOARD, SOL: Exodus, Swords and Soldiers HD, Wings of Prey) - At least I've tried three games today. Demolition Inc. is okay, something that lost my interest after about 2 hours, which is when some of the courses get a little tougher. HOARD has some potential, but was also something I didn't spend too much time on. I've actually completed Swords and Soldiers, which is a fun little strategy game. It feels more like something I should have on a tablet or phone, but nonetheless, I put 6 hours in it. The rest I've got no idea about.
Limited Sales:
Dead Island - A daily sale a few days back, now you get another shot. $16.98 for the collection.
Tribes Ascend - This starter pack makes a return today at $4.99.
Nexuiz - I'll admit, this looks kind of cool. However, I'm not a big one for arena shooters, mostly because they require you to play with others. Still, it's only $2.49. You just may want to drop into the forums for it and find out how alive the online community is if you're serious abou it.
Galactic Civilizations II - I'm a little burned out on anything with civilization in it after putting so much time into Civ 5 lately, but this does have potential. Would be another reason to get the Stardock Collection. $4.99.
Beyond Good and Evil - Classic game. An adventure game in the vien of Zelda. Got about 12 hours out of it. I just really wish they would have come out with a sequel. It never gets lower than the $2.49 it's at today.
You know, I never played anything prior to Fallout 3, so without an basis for what the series has been like, it seemed like a good game to me.
ReplyDeleteHopefully there is some light with Krater. I debated holding off on a couple of games just because I could, but then I went for it anyways. Honestly, one of the things that sold me about it was when they mentioned the tactical aspect in the trailer, saying "like XCOM." Curse you Frozen Synapse.
You know, I only tried S&S online once. The game looks very simple, but is extremely complex in its execution. I think it would be a good game for a quick match, but I'm generally anti multiplayer. Worth noting, if you wanted just that one game, it's $5, but the complete addition, which includes the DLC, is only $2.74. Go figure.
Beyond is really good, and the best thing to liken it to is Zelda OoT. It even has the lock on targeting feature, if memory serves. If you're into those kinds of adventure games, I would go for it. It is really a shame that they didn't ever follow up with the series, because there are a lot of elements there at the end that never get explained.
I'll occasionally do a multiplayer game if I have time. Most recently that would be the beta for Shootmania Storm, which I found to be pretty fun. Before that, I played some Nuclear Dawn, which I would recommend if you like the RTS/FPS hybrid games, such as Natural Selection
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've found that as I've aged, I just don't have the time or desire to invest in multiplayer games, or trying to set things up with friends. If I only have 30 minutes to an hour of time for myself a night, it is just so much easier to do things on my own schedule, trying to get a little further in a single player game, that spend time on a multiplayer match.
I know what you mean about how multiplayer is becoming the focus of so many developers. One game I've become interested in is Fortnight, from Epic games. It just game out earlier this week that they were considering an always on connection requirement (basically Ubisoft's DRM under a different name) because the game is built around co-op, and that's the best experience, etc. Blizzard recently said the same about their requirement for D3. And after I heard that, suddenly my interested disappeared.
Yeah, DRM is a big turn off for me. I hate feeling like I'm being treated like a criminal, even though I'm playing by the rules. What really sent me against it was Spore, because that DRM screwed with my computer so bad I couldn't play any movies anymore, and had to format my PC.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, recognize that Steam is itself a form of DRM, but that is pretty much the level I'm willing to tolerate. Anything beyond that, the chance that you'll lose my business goes up very quickly.
Bringing back D3, I've never been a big fan of the series, though I have played both D1 and 2 to a certain extent, and could see myself playing D3, all offline and solo of course, just to see what goes on in the game. However, my options for that are what, pirate it and get a cracked copy so I don't have to deal with that stuff? Nothing like being forced into a poor position to stand on other moral grounds.
Ubisoft is kind of the most notorious example when it comes to anti-piracy measures being so strong that piracy looks like the better option, since they were one of the first that I can recall to start adopting the always on connection requirement, specifically with Splinter Cell Conviction. The really funny thing is there was a report/article earlier this year that claimed Ubisoft's PC sales were down 90%, but then they said their anti-piracy measures were work.
ReplyDeleteThere are two aspects to Steam, it as a sales platform and as a method of DRM, though they are even more intertwined now than before.
I don't know if I would say it is one of the most blatantly intrusive forms of DRM, thinking here of similar methods for things like Origin that attach things I would say are very intrusive, but I do get your point. I've heard the question posed before, and will bring it up here, what if steam went away? What would happen to all those games that you purchased over the years, that now, due to the inability to log into their service, you are locked out from ever playing? Could you get banned from steam, thus cutting off access to those games?
The lack of being able to trade games, transfer licenses, etc, is another issue, though that is increasingly an issue with PC gaming in general, rather than just steam (machine activation limits, etc). One of the advantages with consoles is that you can always sell your disc to someone else, or lend the game out. Unfortunately, that isn't reflected in a lower price for consumers, and is part of my motivation in holding off until games go on sale, which I shouldn't have to because publishers/devs should recognize the loss in value and adjust the price accordingly.
Now the sales aspect comes in. Each game you get on steam strengthens the likelihood that you'll stick with it. If the majority of your gaming collection is there, you'll probably be less likely to use other services. I am guilty of this myself. I've had steam for over 8 years, according to my community badge, but when I look at my transaction history, I didn't buy my first game until four years ago, when sales started happening more and more. As things progressed, I became less likely to do direct downloads or hard copy purchases, and would focus on games I could get on steam, which really took off when they started doing these huge seasonal sales in November 2009. Then friends started joining steam as well, and it became this all encompassing platform where, if I wanted to do anything gaming related, I went to steam. While I will occasionally purchase games from a non-steam source, I do always look to see if I can activate in on steam, because I like that all my games are in 1 place. And that is their marketing power, which does, at least potentially, pave the way for abuse should they folks behind steam ever be so inclined.
And, since there is a character limit, and I went over it by 400 or so in a full post, I continue below.
ReplyDeleteValve is one of my favorite companies, and they do seem more in tune with their customers than so many others, which is part of the reason I like them. However, I have seen other "good" companies go bad, specifically, Blizzard. I used to love Blizzard, and the original starcraft was what brought me into PC gaming, but have felt that the quality of the company, and the actions they have taken, have changed pretty drastically over the last several years, possibly stemming from their current position with Activision. One example would be the rising cost of their games. Another would be changes in what they include in their games, specifically thinking of the second expansion for WoW, which was $10 less than the previous two games, but did not include the one month of subscription time they did, a cost of $15, effectively making you pay $5 more for the same thing. Then there are all kinds of issues with their customer service if you've ever played WoW. The real nail in the coffin for me though was what they have decided to do with the starcraft series. Instead of releasing the campaign for all three races in a single game for, say, $50 like they would have in the past, they have instead split it up into three different games, and each one is going to cost $60. Now I know there are issues with the amount of content, etc, that they use to justify splitting the game into thirds, but I think the overwhelming reason is when you look at the books and see you can make $180 for a little more work or $50 and have good standing, they went with the profit. Hopefully, Valve never gets to that point.