Games! They’re everywhere, and they want to steal your soul. Fortunately you can have power over them via the ritual of the EULA ritual. For a small glint of silver across the palms of invisible internet witchmen, you can control your destiny. Which games are most dangerous? You can find out, thanks to SavyGamer’s voodoo priest of purchases, LewieP. Clickwards for sanctity, and probably the best bundles of indie-gaming awesomeness you will ever see. Behold, a flock of angels!
The Witcher – €20.99/$27.99
Atari have something against the great nation of the Europe. The Steam page for the game simply states “This item is currently unavailable in your region” in it’s mocking red font, which roughly translates to “The currency with which you are trying to purchase is too European”. Some countries in Europe are allowed to buy The Witcher (Poland for one – Where the game is from), but the UK, France and Germany are not allowed to buy it. The game itself is a a rather ridiculous (and pretty misogynistic) RPG. It got an uber-patch last September, and got T+A added for USA gamers recently too. RPS coverage here, and demo here.
Trackmania United Forever – £9.99/€14.99/$19.99
Trackmania has a place on the very short “Games about driving cars that I like” list. If you don’t normally like racing games, certainly give Trackmania a go. If you do normally like racing games, this one is better than all those boring realistic ones. The meat of the game is a series of time trial challenges, with elaborate Hot Wheels-esque tracks. You’ll be doing jumps, barrel rolls, half pipes and more. The multiplayer is kind of unique too, since the cars clip through each other, the other cars are just there to spur you on. It’s also a gorgeous looking game, it’s clean visuals really make it stand out. Give the free version, Trackmania Nations Forever, a go. Also – this video is badass. RPS coverage here.
Spectromancer – £5.95/€6.93/$9.95
A turn based card game for your computer, co-designed by Richard “Magic: The Gathering” Garfield. Lots of numbers in this one, so the maths-phobic among you best look away now. Kieron had this to say about it: “What’s fun about the campaign is that each challenge is exactly that – the wizard you’re facing clearly has certain strengths and weaknesses, and you have to work out how to get around that. Most of the time, there’s cards on the board already which have to be considered carefully. How you go up against the wizard with almost four times as many hit-points is very different from how you’ll approach someone with half the usual one, but with a series of weird healing stones on the map. So, yes, fun.” RPS coverage here, and demo here.
Enlight Software catalogue – £14.95/€17.41/$25
Good old Games are offering a 30% saving when you buy all the games by Enlight Software that they have available. Seems like a good deal to me if you are interested in all the games. I’ve not played any of them, so they could be terrible for all I know (they really are stretching the “Good” in GOG these days). Should we care about these games?
Two stupidly named indie bundles from Steam
5 pack – £16.99/€19.99/$19.99
includes:
Blueberry Garden
Braid
Everyday Shooter
The Path
World of Goo
10 pack – £23.99/€29.99/$29.99
includes:
The Above 5 +
AudioSurf
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Darwinia
Gish
Mr. Robot
I’ve played seven out of the ten games on offer here, and have exclusively good things to say about them (except for AudioSurf, which never really grabbed me, but a lot of people like it). Gish is a wonderful 2D blob based platformer by indie extraordinaire Edmund McMillen. Everyday shooter is a charming shmup that is as arty as it is intelligent. Blueberry Garden is a odd micro-metroidvania with a kind of open design. The one thing all these games have in common is that they are creative, and entirely deserving of you interest, time and money.
Deal of the week
Best of Indie Bundle – £11.50/$17.75
As posted earlier in the week, Direct2drive have got a slightly better value, also very kickass bundle of 5 indie games at a ridiculous discount. Includes Defense Grid: The Awakening, Zeno Clash (both of which can be added to your Steam account), Democracy 2, The Path and Cogs. Similarly to the steam bundles, the only real criticism I can come up with this offer is that a lot of you will already own at least one of the games already, but with this one you can just give away the serials for the two Steam games if you do already own them, or even split the package with a friend. You’ll honestly not regret getting this. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is probably the best deal we’ve had so far out of all the bargain buckets.
Also of note:
Prototype – £14.95/$39.95
Imperium Romanum – £9.95/€12.49/$9.95
Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood – £5.24/€5.24/$5.24
If that lot’s not enough for you, do check out SavyGamer.co.uk for constantly-updated bargains across all formats.
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The Witcher is a really good RPG. RPG has in Role Play, game. There are some fun hack & slash, but is more about what you do. IMHO, is on the level of coolness of Baldurs Gate 2. It success where games like Drakensang fail.
Aww, I already have two games in each 5-bundle. That makes it harder to justify the price… :(
As mentioned before, the problem with these indie bundles is, that if they appeal to you, chances are you’ve already bought one or two of them, because they are all good games.
I didn’t realise this until after I wrote that post, but the reason that so many good indie games have been picked for the Steam bundle is that Ron Carmel and Jonathan Blow were responsible for selecting the games.
The Spectromancer sale is only of use if you don’t like using Steam — as the Impulse sale price is Steam’s normal price (give or take 4 small shiny bits of metal).
Those who still haven’t picked up the Penumbra games can still get them on sale at GamersGate. 25% off for the US (and possibly the EU) and 44% off in the UK for Black Plague Gold and 50% off for Overture.
The indie packs on Steam are also rather disappointing for anyone who has already bought some of the games (you won’t get a second license/ability to gift them) and there is no individual discount applied to the games either. Wasted opportunity by Valve really.
The Witcher is pretty much the only worthy successor to BGII as far as I’m concerned. Don’t knock it because the main character has sex with every woman he meets; knock it because of the repetitive combat gameplay and the incredibly obtuse alchemy system.
It’s still one of the only decent RPGs in the last decade.
You don’t get extra gift copies of these games if you already own some of them, right?
I can’t believe you didn’t like audiosurf, its brilliant…
Good deal’s on Steam, especially when you save £60 on the 10 pack
althought £40 of that is world of goo and crayon physics
Mr Robot is great. Action puzzler meets JRPG. It’s worth half the price of that 10 pack on its own.
I got the Witcher by getting a friend to gift it to me through the geofiltering wall. Second time I’ve bought the game, I just love it that much!
@QS2T: That’s what everyone’s saying — Steam will eat the extra copies, and still charge you the same price.
I have 7 of those 10 games, I almost wish I didn’t now. Almost.
@sbs
That’ll teach you for buying games.
@QS2T: I don’t think gifting is an option with the D2D pack. I already had Defense Grid, but when I bought it again through the bundle they just sent the authorisation key from my first copy.
I’ve queried it with customer services, because if I’ve paid for the game twice then I’d expect to get two unique keys. I suspect I’ll be waiting until next week for an answer, though.
Nope, you don’t get extra copies. I tested it.
Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood might look a good deal but I’d advice against it. It is a well made game and fairly good fun and there may possibly be free DLC on the way but as it stands at £5.24, $5.24, €5.24 it’s a horrible ripoff because the game itself is pretty easy and only 10 minutes long and you can 100% it in half an hour.
jmtb02’s (of achievement unlocked fame) latest game There is Only One Level has more game play and of course it’s free to boot.
My more detailed opinions of Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood are here if anyones interested.
There is Only One Level was quite fun, didn’t realise it was by the same guy as achievement unlocked, but it makes sense now.
That Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood game had me interested there for a bit. I was watching the trailer, waiting for some multiplayer footage and then there was none. Weird. That kind of gameplay would be awesome as a multiplayer game. A little throw away multiplayer deathmatch, capture the flag, game that is done in that art style for a cheap price would be really popular, imho.
@Ansob – Geralt is only a rampant sex-pest if you play him as one. If you end up bedding every woman in the entire game, that’s the players choice, and not nearly how Geralt is in the books.
There’s also a couple of very good rebalance mods that rework the combat system into something more precise and involving.
I dont have any of the games in the d2d bundle, and I have wanted to play 3 of them…
Goddamn you RPS, you made me spend another 20 euros on games I do not need! AAARGH. Well, I will see what this “indie” thing is about..
I forsook the temptations of indie for the high-gloss of Prototype. And I like. I don’t know if i’ll still be playing it in a month, but it is certainly a diverting (and LOUD) way to spend a few afternoons for fifteen of the Queen’s pounds.
Ridiculing Witcher is stupid, that game’s story is the best I’ve ever seen in any RPG. Ever. And I forgive any other mistakes because of that, if I willingly play your game through all the crashes and long loading times, you must be doing something really well.
The only one of the indie bundle I don’t own is Mr Robot. Anyone know if it’s worth getting? I can’t say i was entirely convinced about how long it could keep me interested for.
i always intended picking up prototype one it got cheap. it’s dumb entertainment and I like it – but i definitely would have felt like i’d forked out too much if I’d got it for full price.
With further regard to The Witcher, there’s some genuinely neat dialogue you can get if you DON’T choose to bed every woman you have the opportunity to. The climax of the final act in particular gives you the opportunity, but refusing sets you up for a much cooler denoument.
Final act? I mean first act.. Me am stupid and trying to multitask when I shouldn’t be.
I miss you, edit function!
Not receiving extra copies of games you already own when you pay for them is ridiculous. That sort of thing wouldn’t fly anywhere else.
Absolutely right, Steve. Not making the excess copies giftable is inexcusable and is actually the reason I’ve not bought this indie pack despite being reasonably interested in it.
The Witcher is awesome. Go grab it, all of you.
I can’t totally vouch for the translation, but if anyone is interested in the story of the Witcher, Geralt, a few of Sapkowski’s books about him have been translated into the English tongue. The short story “The Witcher” was included in the EE release of the game. The books are a notch or two above it.
The German translation that I read is superb and I hope Sapkowski is worth reading in English, too.
And to think how long it took them to come up with a translation… how many gems like that do we miss out on, just because of the language barrier?
Oh and of course, the game is fantastic. Flawed Masterpiece? I’d say so.
@Steve: I’m considering gifting the bundle to a new account, so I get second copies of the games I already own, and then downloading cracked/pirated copies of the new ones so I don’t have to bother logging in and out of multiple steam accounts once they’re installed.
Though maybe it’s worth just getting them for my account and hoping steam adds the extra copies back someday when they realize their mistake. This does seem like the sort of thing that you’re always getting notices of settlements in class action lawsuits about.
They are pretty excellent, but I confess to being somewhat disappointed because the first book is just a collection of fairly slight short stories (good, but not earthshattering), and the second book is almost all lead-in to subsequent, not yet translated books.
And those indie bundles are major missed opportunities. I’ve probably got a friend of mine (who had none of the above) to buy into it, but I already own most of them and even though I would save about $5 on the ones that are left (plus get a couple games on Steam in addition to the other way I have them) it’s not exactly tempting. I haven’t bought the games I don’t own because I’m not that interested in them.
I’m still trying to get over someone who’s brilliant enough to post on RPS not liking The Witcher.
I’m still hesitant about the Witcher. Ultimately, story’s not the most important thing in a game to me, gameplay is. I wasn’t wild about the combat system in the demo, so I’m not sure I’d ever actually make it through the full game.
On the other hand I very much approve of the way the developer/publisher has handled themselves with content updates, DRM removal etc. This is the kind of game I very much want to support.
Bah, decisions. I’ll probably skip the Steam sale, simply because a DRM-free game shouldn’t be saddled with the Steam client, but I may break down and pick up a physical copy soon despite my misgivings. This just sounds so much like the chatter around Planescape, which I didn’t enjoy at all (yes, yes, gaming leper etc).
Already bought the path, defense grid, zeno clash & world of goo. If I hadn’t, I’d love to buy the package. But as it is now, it would feel like a ripoff to buy the package. If I got extra copies or a price reduction, then maybe but now, meh.
And please, Enlight have made some brilliant games. I already bought their Seven Kingdoms I & II package. Especially the first Seven Kingdoms is not just a good game, it’s a brilliant game and among my all time favorite games. It’s an RTS which dares to be different then the rest. And succeeds wonderfully!
Some other games on gog.com do make me doubt the “good” in gog but the games from Enlight certainly don’t. Capitalism does look like another great game but I have never played it before.
For UK folk, Zavvi have Stalker Clear Sky for £5, free delivery. (it says ‘deal of the day but I got it a couple ago and it’s still there). http://www.zavvi.co.uk/zavvi/9985335.product
I’d second a purchase for TMU:F. I bought it when it was $20 during the holiday sale. Fantastic.
Also, EA games are going on the cheap on Amazon. I think I may finally pick up Mirror’s Edge at $9, and Mercenaries 2 is $7.50.
Regarding the combat in The Witcher: at its most basic, it’s simply 1) choosing the right weapon style, 2) timing your clicks, 3) bunging out some of your pseudo-magic abilities when appropriate and 4) running away if things are going south. So nothing too frustrating or exciting.
However, it is always impressively visceral (particularly against humans), never feels too clunky, and success is almost entirely determined by prior weapon upgrades or alchemical potions/blade oils you’ve prepared beforehand. If you’re attacking a giant plant with an enhanced silver sword in the correct style, and have smeared it with anti-plant oil, combat (on normal) is a breeze.
I’d never play The Witcher for interesting swordplay – more for the exploration of a fascinating gameworld, conversations where you’re given genuine choices, and the fun of filling out bestiaries and fiddling with potions. I’d consider all of the above to be part of gameplay, but perhaps aren’t what you’re looking for. The game certainly gets far more interesting than the demo, however.
Trackmania is rather lovely, and very pretty despite its age.
Also, it is mental. Especially the “Island” tracks, with the high-powered GT cars.
@Bioptic – “exploration of a fascinating gameworld, conversations where you’re given genuine choices, and the fun of filling out bestiaries and fiddling with potions. I’d consider all of the above to be part of gameplay, but perhaps aren’t what you’re looking for.”
Actually yeah, that IS what I’m looking for. You’re right, as well, that all of that IS part of the game play, along with the combat system, it’s just hard to get a sense of that from the demo. Thanks for your feedback, that’s very encouraging. It sounds like, beyond the confines of the demo, there’s a game I’d really enjoy there.
Just wanted to add that The Witcher can’t be purchased from Spain either (and I guess that includes Portugal, also). Oh, and apart from the sex-card minigames the game isn’t ridiculous in the least. It’s in fact a pretty damn solid RPG.
Trackmania United Forever is SO much better than Trackmania Nations Forever (but is compatible for the intersecting bits).
Personally I don’t find the Stadium environment from Nations nearly as enjoyable as the others.
The game has stupid longevity and replay value, though. Everyone should try (and then buy :) this.
And in case the old rumours still persist for anyone, the ‘Forever’ versions are utterly devoid of any form of Starforce.
Another vote of confidence for The Witcher here, for all the reasons Bioptic gave. Sure, sexist cards blah blah, but seriously, you don’t have to hook up if you don’t want to, and the cards are so ridiculous it’s hard for me to imagine taking them seriously enough to be offended. It’d be a bit like saying TF2 stereotypes people from certain countries.
I am getting slightly aggravated by comments like “The game itself is a a rather ridiculous (and pretty misogynistic) RPG.”
NO, YOU ARE RIDICULOUS.The Witcher is AWESOME.
The Spectromancer deal isn’t quite the same as the Steam price for us Europeans because of the retarded 1 Dollar = 1 Euro currency conversion.
What that means is that we’d have to pay 9.99 Euros for the game on Steam, so the Impulse sale is still ~30% off.
Make sure you play the Witcher in polish, with english subtitles.
This is essential.
“The game itself is a a rather ridiculous (and pretty misogynistic) RPG.”
Come again? Seriously, have you even played it?
@Psychopomp – Totally, the Polish voicework is just much more nuanced and emotive than the English dub. In English, Geralt comes off as more of a medieval Agent 47 than anything, wheras he actually has quite a decent emotional range in the original Polish track.
My only gripe is that often you can hear a sentence going on way longer in the Polish audio than the English subtitles translate. Even with the Enhanced Edition improvements to the english script, they still cut corners.
I’m glad to hear you can GET the original Polish voice acting in the English version. There’s nothing worse than a bad dub. That’s another check in the “buy it” column. I still think I’ll get a boxed EE version, though, rather than have to deal with Steam.
The boxed edition’s latest patch is drm free too.
Is there a “true polish subtitles” mod? That would be great.