Another day, another set of deals. Today’s group is better than I’ve seen thus far, with some must have games, some probably pretty good games, and only a few totally unknowns.
Main Sale
Trine – Absolutely a must buy, also, reviewed! You can either get
the amazing 2.5 D platformer for $1.99, the most recent release and $0.99 for
the original game, or save a bit and get both in a bundle for $2.49. While for
more detail you could (and should) read my review for the second title, just
know that the games are an extremely fun physics based platformer with plenty
of puzzles that involve the creative usage of three distinct characters – a
wizard, knight and thief – each with special abilities that allow you to solve
puzzles in different ways. There tends to be more than one way to solve things,
once you figure it out, and some of the more game breaking solutions involve
creative ways to combine things. One of my favorites involves using the thief’s
ability to create a low gravity bubble, the wizard’s ability to summon boxes
you can jump on within said bubble, and the knight’s ability to uses his shield
to glide around, which makes for a creative way to access new places.
Amnesia – Another must buy, though my experience here is limited to
the first title, which has been reviewed in both written and video form. It’s a
first person survival horror game where you have no weapons, and your greatest
enemy isn’t necessarily the creepy mutilated bodies wandering the dark halls
with you. I absolutely loved the first game, which is $3.99, and am certain
that the second game will be spectacular as well. While that one is $9.99, I
think I’ll pick it up right now just to show my appreciation to the devs, even
if I probably won’t get to it for a while.
Splinter Cell – Despite the main picture linking you
to the latest game, Blacklist, you’ll find that the entire franchise is 50%
off. This means you can get a variety of games from $4.99 on up. There is also
a pack that includes 4 of the first 5 Splinter Cell games for $19.99. Blacklist
is $29.99. Oddly enough there is actually a better deal on a more complete pack
over at Gamers Gate, where you can pay $44.20 for the same games and a couple
of DLCs. As far as the games themselves, well, I’ve only complete the original
and the follow up “Pandora Tomorrow,” which were released back in the
Xbox/GameCube/PS2 days, as well as a level or two from some of the more recent,
although still years old titles. The earlier games, those before Conviction,
were stealth focused, equipping you with only a few rounds and a handful of
nonlethal tools to complete a level. Sticking cameras under doors, staying in
the dark, and picking locks were all needed to succeed. More recently the
series seems to have taken a turn towards action centric gaming. Fun, though
sometimes tedious, games to play, but worth it at the $5 for the earlier
titles. Paying the $20 for four games in a single pack wouldn’t be a bad idea
either.
Borderlands – The original game, which I sunk over
100 hours into, can be had in GOTY form for $7.49. It’s a solid, fun game which
melds FPS gameplay with an RPG system that reminds me of ARPGs like Diablo or
Torchlight. At one point I had heard that there were over 16 million guns in
the game, created by a system that established random stats for different parts
of a gun, and then put them together to make something. There’s nothing quite
like a highly accurate sniper rifle with explosive damage, after all. The GOTY
is certainly the way to go, because 3/4 DLCs added some nice content to the
game. As for the more recent Borderlands 2, well, you can get that in regular
or GOTY for $7.49 or $14.99, respectively. I haven’t tried this one out yet,
mostly as I’ve been waiting for a GOTY or something similar, but it turns out
that the GOTY doesn’t include very much, which you’ll notice when you see the
GOTY contains 10 items, while there are 44 pieces of DLC alone for this game.
Most of those do seem to be just reskinnings and other junk though.
Reus – A god game where you have to balance
helping your people out enough so that they don’t die with helping them out so
much they challenge you. I’ll admit it’s an interesting looking indie game, one
that I’ve been thinking of picking up for a while. At $2.49, I think it’s a
good time to do just that.
ARMA III – The latest incarnation of the hyper
realistic military sim. In the past ARMA II has been on sale quite often, but
only because it was required to play Day Z, so I’m not exactly sure who this
game will appeal to. It’s $35.99 today.
Castle Crashers – This game has been featured in quite a
few sales. Though the 2D action adventure game looks mildly intriguing (and
pretty in a special way), the four player coop part detracts for me. It’s $3.74
today.
Shadowrun Returns – While I’m not actually old enough to
have played the original, I’ll admit to being greatly interested in this
RPG/strategy game. It looks like it would be just up my alley, though I’ll wait
a bit longer, until the $8.99 price drops a bit lower.
Contagion – A zombie survival game with a few
interesting modes, but nothing that really makes me think that this is the
zombie survival game that I really must try. While an early access title, the
price is knocked down quite a bit, to $3.74 today.
Flash Sales
Dead Space – I’ve reviewed the second game, and
played the first. The original title was a solid survival horror game, akin to
an Resident Evil title, though without all the puzzles and keys. It does have
some serious problems with the controls though, and I could only ever play it
well with a 360 controller plugged in. That game is $4.99. For the same price
you can pick up the second game, which, as I stated, is something I reviewed.
It’s less horror and more action, which just seemed to be a trend the franchise
completed with 3. Also a pretty good game, and certainly one in which you can
use a mouse and keyboard no problem. Just avoid the Dead Space pack, because
it’s actually $0.01 more expensive than buying both games separately, though
that is potentially made up for in the time you would spend clicking “add to
cart” twice I guess.
Brutal Legend – I’ve not played it, but I did watch a
bit on it and the game did seem quite funny. At $1.99, that’s not a bad deal. I
think I’ll pick this one up today, and (hopefully) play it in time for the
Summer sale.
Castlevania Lords of Shadows – It’s been years since I played a
Castlevania game (maybe on the N64?), but you can have this one for $10.19. You
might consider going to Green Man Gaming though, as you can get the game for
the same price, but use a 20% off discount coupon.
Cities XL Platinum – While Steam has it for $5.99, that’s a
lot better than the nearest competitor (Gamers Gate at $10.18).
Community’s Choice
Solar 2 – It wasn’t a particularly good lot of sales to choose from
during this period, so we got Solar 2. It’s a strange game, one that I only
played because it was part of the Winter sale contest from 2 years ago, that
involves being sun/planet, stealing other planets to grow larger, which allows
some to develop like, and so on. Like I said, a strange game, but at $1.99 not
too bad of a deal. Just watch the trailer first, because at least that gives a
hint as to what you do in this game.
***
Okay, so that's it for today. I hear the good sales for Amazon are supposed to start tomorrow. As for today, I would highly recommend Trine and Amnesia. After that, I'll gamble on Reus and Shadowrun, but also suggest Borderlands and the cheaper Splinter Cell pack for a bit of variety. Follow that up with Dead Space and Brutal Legend, and you get a decent sale today.
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