Today:
Wings of Prey $6 (80%)
Deathspank $7.50 (50%)
Silent Hunter Series (66%) - SH3 $3.39, SH4 $6.79, SH4 u-boat missions pack $3.39, SH5 $10.19
Patrician 4 $7.50 (75%)
Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition $20 (50%)
Dead Rising $20 (50%)
Blur $15 (50%)
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising $3 (85%)
Darksiders $10 (75%)
Risen $15 (50%)
Mass Effect 1&2 $10 each (50%)
Alpha Protocol $7.50 (75%)
And the indie daily: Doc Clock and the Toasted Sandwich of Time $2.50 (75%)
Wings of Prey is a dumbed down consolized version of the excellent IL-2. That may be worth $6 to you if you want a not too serious sim.
Silent Hunter 3 is one of the best sim games ever and easily worth the $3.39. SH4 is almost as good. I haven’t heard anything good about SH5
Blur… I was hoping to get at $10 or under. Not sure I can justify getting yet another racing game for not that cheap.
Operation Flashpoint DR is a gigantic dissapointment because it carries the Flashpoint name (the original was one of the best games ever) and is extremely limited compared to what it should be. Basically ruined by consolization. But even so, the very limited content it gives is mostly fun while it lasts, you can do it coop, and it’s worth $3.
I’m sure everyone knows about Mass Effect 1 and 2 - this is a good price to pick them up at.
Mass effect 1 and 2 are actually on gamersgate.com for $8 if you want to save a few bucks and don’t care where you get it from.
Say I only feel like spending money on one of them. Which should I get?
I think almost everyone regards ME2 as better, but it’s a very story-intensive universe, so I guess I’d say pick up ME1 and at some point down the road get ME2.
But… I’m only part way through ME1 now so someone who’s played both can better field that question.
Aaaaand…there’s my Mass Effect 2 for less than $10. When Arkham Asylum comes up, I’ll get my third game for this cycle.
gamersgate is an interesting option, but I’ll pay an extra $2 to keep my games organized in one system.
That about sums it up. Keep in mind you can import your ME1 toon into ME2 and have it remember all the different choices you made and shape bits of the ME2 story accordingly. You don’t need to play ME1 to enjoy ME2, but it really does up the enjoyment if you do.
Another vote for “get ME1 first”. There’s a lot of story continuity between the games; you’ll miss a lot if you don’t know who these people are or never had that original meeting with various minor characters in the previous game. And regardless of whether or not ME2 is better - I’ve heard quite a bit of argument over that - ME1 is most certainly a good game, so it isn’t like you’ll be slogging through some awful game just to play the second.
Yup - ME2 is better, but ME1 is also very good (and actually might have a better story, IMO - not to mention one of the best usage of ending credit music ever), and you’ll definitely want to have a character to import into the second.
I’ve been picking up a game or two a day. I’m considering Blood Bowl today; that still seems a bit high to me, but I know that this version is a relatively recent re-release. Is it worth 5-10 times what I spend on the average Steam Holiday Sale game?
If you don’t get ME1 you don’t get some of the best moments of ME2
Shepard! My friend! 
Also it’s a good game that isn’t as refined so if you spoil yourself with ME2 you’ll most likely enjoy ME1 less.
So I was just looking over super cheap games that you might as well tack onto your order.
Misadventures of PB Winterbottom. $.50. Quirky arty indie puzzle game. Haven’t played it, but heard good stuff so no one should pass up tacking this onto their next order for half a buck.
Magnetis - another puzzle game for $.50
Ghost Master - you command ghosts and other supernatural creatures to scare off people. 81 meta rating for just a buck.
Vegas: Make it big. A pretty decent tycoon style game where you run a casino. $1.
Evil Genius: Like dungeon keeper 2, except you’re a bond villain. Build your evil lair and conduct evil throughout the world. $1.50.
Flatout. Arcadey destruction racing game. Flatout 2 is better across the board for $3.30, and flatout UC is $7 and we (sdmb group) play it sometime, but if you aren’t going to get the other ones it’s definitely worth its $1.50
Sniper Elite. WW2 sniping game. Nothing great, but worth $1.50.
Freedom Force & Freedom Force vs Third Reich. Top down superhero real time tactics type game. Meta ratings in the 90s. Each game is $1.69
Everyday Genius: Squarelogic. Logic/puzzle game with 80 billion puzzles for $1.50
Bad Rats: The Rats Revenge. Sort of like the incredible machine. $2.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! Not a lot of depth, but it’s fun for a while and it’s only $2.50
Shadowgrounds: Fun old school top down shooter, $2.50
Anyone have any opinions on Blur? The reviews say it’s sort of like mario kart except with a real world aesthetic with real cars. Weapons, over the top arcadey violence… sounds fun, and I’d snatch it up at $7.50 instantly, but for $15 I’m being a little more cautious. Not a very active online community, which means I’d want all my friends to get it to play, but unlikely at that price point unless it’s really good.
Today might do some damage to my wallet. I’m considering:
Wings of Prey: Really pretty. I grew up on the old LucasArts flight sims, so the lack of realism doesn’t bother me all that much; the PC version can supposedly be made more realistic than the console versions as well. But it doesn’t seem to have a real career mode, which means I’ll probably give it a pass.
Alpha Protocol: I really liked this game, and it would be nice to have on Steam.
Silent Hunter: III, IV, or both? I played III with the various super mods a few years ago.
Dead Rising 2: Tempting, but $20 may be stretching it for me during this sale.
Mass Effect 1, 2: The only reason I may hold off on buying 2 is that the DLC isn’t included and Bioware might release an “Ultimate Edition” like they did with Dragon Age. Is the Kasumi DLC worth it?
What dies everyone think of Alpha Protocol?
Dammit, had a nice long reply ready and the hotel internet decided to renew my lease. Crud.
Anyway, I recommend:
Ghost Master $1
Evil Genius $1.50
Sid Meier’s Pirates! $2.50
That’s probably 40 hours worth of great gaming for $5.
It’s a flawed, yet enjoyable game.
The action parts are pretty mediocre (but can still be enjoyable) and there are serious balancing issues on the skills, with some being useless and some being overpowered. If you choose the wrong ones, you can have a very hard time on some of the bosses.
It has the best cause-and-effect storytelling of any RPG I can remember seeing. You can do the missions in more or less any order you want to and the order actually affects things. Sometimes its just minor dialog differences, but its really cool to have the NPCs actually acknowledge and comment on the choices you’ve made.
For $7.50, it’s worth picking up for anyone who liked Mass Effect or KOTOR.
Another vote for flawed but good game. It really needed a sequel to iron out the bugs but they’ve already stated they won’t be doing one.
The balancing issues are the greatest problem. No matter what tree you follow you’ll find an area that’s just a pain. I found it better (on my second and third playthrough) to skip between the major areas and level my character as opposed to sticking with one area and finishing the story for each zone. I honestly think now that it how it was supposed to be played but there’s nothing in-game to help you figure that out.
Sorry for the extra post, but what about Patrician? I looks like it could be fun, but also looks tedious.
Battlefield 2: Complete $5
Arma 2: $10
King Arthur Complete Pack: $5.39
Torchlight: $5
75% off all Ghost Recon games
75% off all Overlord games
Saints Row 2 $7.50
Borderlands and all DLC 50% off
40% off Fallout New Vegas
Counter-Strike: Source $5
Devil May Cry 4 $5
Sam & Max: Devil’s Playhouse $10
Woohoo! My wallet gets a break today.
50% off Fallout: New Vegas if you already own Fallout 3 through Steam. I knew I’d catch a break on it if I waited. Now I’ve got something to play over the next week.