Steam Winter Sale 12-27-13

Here we are entering the final week of the Steam Winter Sale for 2013/14. Hopefully we'll see plenty more games on sale.

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.

Main Sale

Portal - Reviewed! An "always on sale at $4.99 or $6.24 for the bundle" game. I found the first one to be ground breaking and enjoyable, while the second, though with a much higher investment for comedy, time, etc., to miss the mark on the puzzles themselves. Still, at this price, I do recommend you pick up both games and give them a shot. A pretty fun time that's worth the cost.

Orcs Must Die! - Reviewed! Despite having preordered the second game mid-2012, I've yet to give that one a go. However, I did manage to cover the initial game, which also got a rare video review. A fantastic action tower defense game that you should absolutely get. I expect the second one to be much the same, though the coop should be an interesting feature. Price is a bit tricky as for some reason not everything made it on sale (the franchise bundle costs $34.99, while you can buy the games individually for $15.93). For the first game you'll want the base game for $4.99 and the two DLCs for $1.99 and $1.49. While the second game is actually cheaper because it's $3.74 for the base game or $6.24 for the complete pack. Something is screwy with the Steam pricing today because...

Don't Starve - ...this survival sim was actually 92% off shortly after the new prices came out today, meaning I picked it up for $1.20. It's been on my wishlist for a while because a trusted friend told me it was a very fun game, and at that price there was no way I was going to pass it up. Glad I jumped on it then, because now it's back up to $5.09.

Hitman Absolution - This game hits an all time low at $4.99 today (previously $6.24). There are a few other purchasing options, such as the professional edition for $5.99, the franchise pack for $22.49, and several DLCs for a total of $2.09 if you by them separately, versus $6.49 for the DLC collection item. It always pays (or, at least you don't) to check out these things.

Black Ops II - I went on a bit of a CoD rant a few days ago when Ghosts was on sale. Now I have another opportunity to talk about why it's more than a bit screwed up that a game that's 13 months old and the off year rotation of an annualized release that people only end up buying for the zombie mode is still $29.99 when it's 50% off. However, I think I'll play nice and not mention anything like that today. Merry Christmas Activision!

Assassin's Creed - Reviewed! Though I'm way back in the series now, having only gotten through the second game, which  oddly enough puts me 4 games behind, because, you know, people can't count in a straight series anymore. IV comes in a variety of editions, ranging from $44.99 to $59.99. The Season pass isn't on sale either. Of the previous titles, III is $7.49, which is pretty low, Revelations is $7.49/$4.99, Brotherhood is $4.99, II is $4.99, and the original is $4.99. Frankly I thought the first game was pretty bad, but the second was a miraculous improvement. Beyond that I couldn't tell you.

Resident Evil - Multiple games on sale here. 6 is $11.99, with a complete pack that's $14.99, 5 isn't actually on sale, and Revelations is $14.99. The last time I played a game in full was 2, back on the N64, though I did play a bit of the original and 0 on the Gamecube, as well as a few of the railshooters on Wii. But really, all that is is a bit of fill so when you're quickly scanning down the list f games it doesn't like like I had nothing to say about these titles.

Prison Architect - An early access game that's still in alpha. While I'm extremely excited for this game, mainly because I like what else the dev's have done, I'm more than a bit apprehensive about chipping into a still in development game, particularly because I don't see my self playing it over and over again as updates come out, because then I'd probably be pretty bored by the final release. Multiple packages at different price points, ranging from the standard access at $14.99 to getting your name in the game at $33.49.

Lego Lord of the Rings - It's $7.49 today.



Flash Sale

Skullgirls - A very strange looking fighting game. It's $7.49.

Fallen Enchantress - A 4x strategy game that I have yet to try. It's $9.99 today.

Morrowind - This ones quite a bit older than Skyrim now, so it's only $4.99. Note that this is the only title that's on sale. Oblivion and Skyrim are not discounted the same 75%.

Blood Dragon - The stand alone Far Cry 3 futuristic scifi shooter looks like it'd be a great time. Seeing as it's only $5.09, it's tough not to buy it.

Just in cased you missed it, you could also find Call of Juarez Gunslinger for $5.09, Test Drive Unlimited 2 for $4.99, Galactic Civilizations II for $9.99, Star Wars Battle Front for $4.99, Rise of Flight for $12.49, Dawn of War II for $7.49, Sanctum 2 for $3.74, and Insurgency for $4.99.


Community's Choice

Steam Marines - Another early access title, this one's $2.49.

Previous you'd find Spelunky for $3.74 and Dream for $7.49.

***

 That's it for today. The only thing I'd highly recommend is Orcs Must Die!. Portal's not a bad buy either, but I'm not sure it's a great one either. Guess I just have too many issues with the screwy puzzles of the second one. Hopefully you were able to catch Don't Starve on super sale too. Okay, until tomorrow then!