Running digital distribution game sale/special thread

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Is the XCOM pack worth it? I'm leaning toward it, never having played any of them, but am not sure if they're just too dated.

[Dave Hartwick]

Is the XCOM pack worth it? I'm leaning toward it, never having played any of them, but am not sure if they're just too dated.

The original XCOM was great. You'd have to like the sound of the following, though. "It's a turn-based squad combat game." That means that you have several soldiers to boss around. When it's your turn you move them, and if one finds an enemy, maybe you give the order to shoot. When your turn is over, the AI moves its squad. This is the core of the game and actually pretty fun. You can set ambushes, for instance, by leaving crouching soldiers hiding behind a fence with enough action points left over to take a shot at any aliens that wander nearby. Missions ramp up nicely in difficulty and are varied. There's a research aspect of the game that wasn't too shabby.

If that sounds like fun then it probably won't seem all that dated, because, so far as I know, nobody has really improved on the turn-based squad combat game. I can't even think of any major entries in the genre other than XCOM sequels. The interface of the PC version might be clunky by today's standards, though, I wouldn't know-- I played it on a console.

I never followed up the sequels because they got disappointing reviews. I have fond memories of the original, though and I'd recommend it to strategy fans. Not just because its fun but because its a classic that hasn't been surpassed (IMO) in its niche, like Panzer General I, Heroes of Might and Magic III, and Pharaoh.

If you mean "worth it" as in dollars, I don't know how much they're asking. I'd pay US$5 for XCOM and an extra dollar per sequel, maybe a bit more. But then, I've played it before.

[SenorBeef]

It was $2, but the sale is over now. The only game of those worth playing was the original X-Com, and it was a great game, possibly still worth playing, but with a 16 year old game some of the interface issues made it a bit tedious. For a more modern take/spiritual sequels, there are the UFO: Aftermath, UFO:Aftershock, and UFO:Afterlight games.

This week's mid-week sale is the Titan Quest Gold Pack (which includes the original game and the immortal thrones expansion) for $5. Easily worth it if you like roguelike/diablo 2 style games, lots of content there.

[Captain_C]

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

This week's mid-week sale is the Titan Quest Gold Pack (which includes the original game and the immortal thrones expansion) for $5. Easily worth it if you like roguelike/diablo 2 style games, lots of content there.

Fair warning to those contemplating the Titan Quest Gold Pack: the game never ends. It is literally the best hour/dollar value I have ever bought, short of games with crazy re-playability like Civ4. Myself and Alistair McCello have been playing through the co-op campaign mode, and we are easily over the 30 hour mark with no end in sight. We assumed that Act 1 was the base game and Act 2 was the expansion. It was pretty late at night, but since we were at the last spot on the map in Act 2 we assumed we were almost done with the game, so we powered through it. Then we hit Act 3... ten hours of playtime later we hit Act 4... It never ends!! We still aren't even out of the first difficulty level.

[tr0psn4j]

Originally Posted by Captain_C

Fair warning to those contemplating the Titan Quest Gold Pack: the game never ends. It is literally the best hour/dollar value I have ever bought, short of games with crazy re-playability like Civ4. Myself and Alistair McCello have been playing through the co-op campaign mode, and we are easily over the 30 hour mark with no end in sight. We assumed that Act 1 was the base game and Act 2 was the expansion. It was pretty late at night, but since we were at the last spot on the map in Act 2 we assumed we were almost done with the game, so we powered through it. Then we hit Act 3... ten hours of playtime later we hit Act 4... It never ends!! We still aren't even out of the first difficulty level.

Yep. My first character never made it out of Act 1. I trashed him and started a new one. I always figured there was one boss fight after Act 1, then the expansion. I'm working on a few different characters at once now and I don't see myself completing those characters for a very very long time.

[SenorBeef]

It's not officially announced on the news page yet, but it looks like the weekend deals are going to be Far Cry for $5, and Far Cry 2 Fortune's Edition for $10.

[KidScruffy]

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

It's not officially announced on the news page yet, but it looks like the weekend deals are going to be Far Cry for $5, and Far Cry 2 Fortune's Edition for $10.

SenorBeef, you are a king amongst men for keeping us informed about new deals. I never played the original Far Cry when it came out -- the only reason being, I already had a bunch of other games I was playing. $5 seems like a good price....

[BunnyTVS]

Handy tie in with this thread Steams weekend special in the UK has knocked £10 off the price of Star Trek Online.

[SenorBeef]

There's a sale of 66% off the entire Total War series contents on steam, including a package deal with an even bigger discount.

Empire for $13.59, Medieval 2 for $6.79, M2 Kingdoms expansion for $5.09, Rome for $3.39, and Rome: Alexander for $3.39. Or the whole package for $20.39. I'm thinking of getting the whole package even though I own Rome and M2... the 2 expansions and Empire for $20 has to be worth it. If you don't own any of those games.... no brainer, get the whole package now.

[SenorBeef]

Looks like Trine is also 75% off ($5) until Thursday. I think I sang its praises earlier in the thread, highly recommended.

[Captain_C]

Speaking of Trine, I'm amazed at how a side-scrolling puzzle game can make my video card overheat. Something about the excessive use of bloom lighting on the higher settings makes my 9800 weep.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

I played Trine through, and honestly I'm not sure I think it's worth the $5. It's an interesting concept, but after the first hour of play, there weren't that many innovations. Plus the storyline is even more cliched than normal.

I dunno. As a puzzle game it's all right, but it didn't really grab me.

[Dave Hartwick]

I was looking for Crusader Kings at Gamer's Gate and noticed they have Civ III complete for $5. Then I browsed horror survival and something called Fort Zombie was $3-- looked a little lame, and one called Penumbra: Overture for $10 that looked more interesting.

[SenorBeef]

The steam weekend deal is Mount & Blade for $5.

[Dave Hartwick]

Left Hand of Dorkness, here's an open source homage to XCOM. I haven't played it but I think it's worth a look.

http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/

[MJinks]

Mount and Blade is one of my favourite games of last year.

[SenorBeef]

So I guess this whole deeply discounted digital distribution thing is a big hit, because they're really pumping out the deals. It makes sense.. I probably would've only spent maybe $100 on games over the holiday season if I was paying full price, but throw a bunch of irresistable deals and I spent considerably more. Since the cost of selling these games is only some bandwidth, it's not like they run the risk of losing their profit margin if they sell them cheap. And with physical/logistical costs aside, you're better off if everyone buys 10 games from you at $10 each than if they buy 2 at $40.

So anyway, in addition to the deals I mentioned in the previous post, the THQ complete pack is half off for $50 again. I bought it back when they did this during the black friday sale and the Company of Heroes games alone have already made it worthwhile for me, and there are a bunch of games in addition to that. There are also a few packs of budget games available for half off. I'm not familiar with any of them.

Edit: Quantz is also on sale for $3. I bought it a while back but haven't gotten around to playing it.

[Captain_C]

The midweek madness on Steam is a pretty good deal. Shadowgrounds (which I had never heard of until today) is 75% off, making the base game and the expansion only $5.

I've just got through the free demo and am definitely buying it. It's like the classic games Crimsonland and SmashTV, only a survival horror game instead of a 100% top-down shooter.

[SenorBeef]

Yeah, I went ahead and grabbed it. I don't need much convincing to spend $5 on a game. I played the demo for 10 minutes and it seemed like it might be fun - especially since it has a coop mode.

Edit: Oh, I guess coop is local/same machine only, not internet. Boo.

[E-Sabbath]

Gog.com has one of the best drivin' and shootin' games ever coming out Thursday. No DRM. Works beautifully with XP or 7.
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/interstate_’76_arsenal
Mmmm. "Never get out of the car."

[SenorBeef]

The mid-week deal on steam is Wings of Prey for 50% off ($25). It's a ww2 flight sim, no idea how good it is. Serious Sam HD is also on sale for 50% off ($7.50), and Hammerfight is 50% off ($5). It looks like one of those quirky indie games that might be interesting.

There's also a new steam client beta that you can opt into, details here.

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

The mid-week deal on steam is Wings of Prey for 50% off ($25). It's a ww2 flight sim, no idea how good it is. Serious Sam HD is also on sale for 50% off ($7.50), and Hammerfight is 50% off ($5). It looks like one of those quirky indie games that might be interesting.

There's also a new steam client beta that you can opt into, details here.

Apparently, I should have bought Wings of Prey from my iPhone on the road, because it damned sure isn't 50% off any more.

-Joe

[SenorBeef]

That's weird, usually the mid-weeks deals last through midnight thursday night.

[pilot141]

Yeah, saw a friend of mine playing the Wings of Prey demo tonight and asked him how it was. At the same time I checked the sales and poof! It was gone. I could have sworn it said on sale until midnight tonight (Valve time, which is West Coast I believe).

In any case, Wings of Prey has some draconian DRM (three-machine install) that I only found out about after looking at the info page so I would have passed on it anyway. I was still surprised to see the sale over though.

[SenorBeef]

Direct2Drive is having a sale on some strategy games through the march 4th. And this week Bionic Commando Rearmed (side scroller) for $7.50.

How is the D2D software, by the way? I'm trying to keep all my games in one place on steam, but D2D has some good deals sometimes.

On Steam, the King Arthur the Role Playing Game pack (game plus dlc) is $28.80 and the Spellforce franchise is 75% off.

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by pilot141

Yeah, saw a friend of mine playing the Wings of Prey demo tonight and asked him how it was. At the same time I checked the sales and poof! It was gone. I could have sworn it said on sale until midnight tonight (Valve time, which is West Coast I believe).

I've got an old joystick that I haven't used for a while. Still, while it's old, it still works fine.

I found the WoP (heh) controls to be a bitch. The controls weren't sensitive enough...until I moved the joystick far enough, at which point what should have been a gentle bank turned into a full-fledged roll.

No thanks.

-Joe

[SenorBeef]

Various mid-week sales on steam. There's an Indie Games Pack with 7 indie games for $10 (or any individually for $2). I don't know if any of them are any good, but at less than $2 a piece I'll probably grab it and if any of them are good it's worth it. Virtua Tennis 2009 is $7.50, Football Manager 2010 is $20.

[SenorBeef]

The Hitman and Deus Ex games are on sale this week for $5 each, or all of them for $17. There's a hitman pack for $8 and a Deus Ex pack for $11, but the Deus Ex pack at $12 is actually $2 more than just buying both games.

If you've never played Deus Ex, it's worth a try (not so much the sequel) as one of the all time greats. I've never played the Hitman games, but the premise is interesting and for $8 I'll probably grab the series.

[SenorBeef]

Today only on steam you can get Batman: Arkham Asylum and Just Cause bundled for $22.

[CapnPitt]

SenorBeef, I just wanted to say thanks for keeping this running. Even if I'm not buying, it's interesting to see what's out there and what games they're trying to move. Curses to you for making me spend money though.

[Captain_C]

I chuckled when I saw this, but you can get the original Everquest and all 15 expansions plus 30 days of game time for $2.50. I can't believe that game is still going, let alone releasing expansions.

[SenorBeef]

On steam (till Thursday at 4pm PST) is Dragon Age is for 33% off. Which means $33.50 for the regular version and $43.50 for the deluxe edition.

All week sniper elite is $2 too.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

I seriously considered getting Arkham Asylum, but it's been on special twice in three months, I think; I'll wait a year or so until it's much cheaper. That's the danger of these sales for them, I guess: the "wait a bit" factor. But I guess it's overall working gangbusters for them, so excellent.

Awhile ago I bought Psychonauts for 2 bucks, solely because it was two bucks and looked like it might remotely be fun. Oh my lord--I freakin' LOVE this game! It's currently ten bucks and well worth it, IMO: by the designers of Grim Fandango, with a very similar sense of humor, it makes me giggle more than anything I've played since Portal. And that's high praise. Best thing I've gotten off steam yet, I think.

[SenorBeef]

Aliens vs Predator is 33% off ($33.50) this weekend. The game only came out a bit more than a month ago - I wonder how soon after release they can do sales without cannibalizing people who buy it at release. I'm tempted to wait a month on games I want to save a bit - but then you feel dumb if it doesn't go on sale and you went without it for 2 months for no reason.

[Mekhazzio]

AvP has kind of bombed in reviews, which may be why it's getting an early sale. I'm not sure why it bombed, I think it's the best game to have carried that franchise's name. Admittedly, that's not saying a lot, but it's a decent FPS and unlike most halfbaked console ports, they actually -did- release the PC dedicated servers they had promised instead of forcing everyone into the gawdawful p2p matchmaking system.

[SenorBeef]

Maybe. Dirt 2 had a sale within 6 weeks (half off, even), and it had pretty good reviews (89 meta rating).

[tr0psn4j]

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

Aliens vs Predator is 33% off ($33.50) this weekend. The game only came out a bit more than a month ago - I wonder how soon after release they can do sales without cannibalizing people who buy it at release. I'm tempted to wait a month on games I want to save a bit - but then you feel dumb if it doesn't go on sale and you went without it for 2 months for no reason.

If you want a game, and you have the money, just buy it immediately. The first few weeks of gaming are always the best. I think the fun you have in that month before the sale is definitely worth the extra you pay.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by tr0psn4j

If you want a game, and you have the money, just buy it immediately. The first few weeks of gaming are always the best. I think the fun you have in that month before the sale is definitely worth the extra you pay.

I can't tell if you're joking here .

[Mekhazzio]

If you're into multiplayer, then there's definitely a point to be made about how getting in on the ground floor is usually the most fun. Especially for 'flavor of the month' titles like generic FPS and RTS games, where the player base plummets once the next one comes out.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by Mekhazzio

If you're into multiplayer, then there's definitely a point to be made about how getting in on the ground floor is usually the most fun. Especially for 'flavor of the month' titles like generic FPS and RTS games, where the player base plummets once the next one comes out.

Ah, I see. Sorry--I was imagining this in my context of single-player games, where it'd be impossible for me to miss the first month of playing the game, except by never buying it at all.

[tr0psn4j]

Originally Posted by Left Hand of Dorkness

I can't tell if you're joking here .

I'm being serious! Do you not agree?

[SenorBeef]

No, I'm generally with you - in multiplayer, everyone discovering the game together makes it both more interesting and more fair. So for games you're really confident you'll like, go ahead and buy early. But for the ones you're kinda iffy about, it may be better to wait anyway.

[KidScruffy]

Originally Posted by SenorBeef

No, I'm generally with you - in multiplayer, everyone discovering the game together makes it both more interesting and more fair. So for games you're really confident you'll like, go ahead and buy early. But for the ones you're kinda iffy about, it may be better to wait anyway.

It definitely depends on the type of games you play, and how involved you are in the multiplayer.

As a recent case in point, I waited 4-months to buy Dragon Age at a 33% discount, because I could care less about online gaming communities (well, with the exception of the Dope, of course). Also, with PC games (and consoles more and more, now that they are online) another advantage to waiting is letting the kinks get ironed out with patches. Also also, I always have some game or another to play in the meantime while I'm waiting for a game to go on sale.

So for someone like me, there are a few reasons to wait, and virtually no benefit to playing right at release.

[SenorBeef]

Left 4 Dead 2 is half off this week at $25. Or you can get 3 friends together and get a 4 pack for $75, which is $18.75 each.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Steam sales:

Torchlight is $5 this weekend.

Star Trek Online is 33% off.

The expansion for Mount & Blade is $3 off during pre-order.

[Palooka]

You can get Bad Company 2 for $20 from the EA store after stacking the discount code PAXEAST842 on top of the $10 off deal.

The EA Store sucks, so it's best to think of this as just buying a CD-key. You'll either need to backup the media to DVD or be willing to apply your legit key to a illicit download. Either way, a small inconvenience for a good deal.

[SenorBeef]

Figures, a few days after I buy bc2.
I read you can use that code on any game that costs $39.95 or more. Maybe I'll use it to buy the dragon age expansion. Anyone know if the d2d version of dragon age + the EA store version of the expansion would play nice?

When you say the EA store sucks, what do you mean? Do the downloads not work right?

[Palooka]

You can only download for one year and you can only download five times (or so), so you're pretty much required to keep your own backup. I don't how everyone has embraced digital distribution, but I don't even know where my CD binder is, so keeping a backup is a bit annoying.

And yeah, it's $20 off of anything over $40 with that code.

[SenorBeef]

The one year limitation is pretty obnoxious, but in the past I've pirated some EA games I already owned (and damaged the media for) and then used my legit CD key and it worked fine.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by Lute Skywatcher

The expansion for Mount & Blade is $3 off during pre-order.

Those who purchase early can play the beta, which still has a major bug in single-player. Tell a Farmer you'll save his village from bandits and, after clearing out the bandits, some NPCs won't give you anything except the Farmer's "thanks" speech. This makes it impossible to complete quests in which you need to talk to a commoner.