By Lewie Procter on September 5th, 2009 at 1:39 pm.
There’s something in our bucket. What is it? Value, that’s what. Who put it there? The master of all games cheap and bargainful, the SavyGamer himself, LewieP. Read on for this weekend’s best buys in the basement of the internet.
QuantZ – £6.39/€7.19/$7.99
QuantZ is a game where you have to spin a box, then match up pretty coloured balls, then watch them disappear, then realise that your have lost what youthful good looks you might have once had, then pour yourself another glass of supermarket red wine just to numb the pain, then cry yourself to sleep yet again. So it’s a casual game, and a seemingly shallow one. It does have a lot of pretty lights, and I mean a lot. It’s a nice take on the “match up colours” gameplay of something like Bust-a-Bobble, and in the few levels the demo let me play, they do keep adding new ideas (although the degree to which said new ideas effect gameplay is dubious). Hard to be too passionate about, but I guess it is well executed for what it is, and spinning the box really fast and watching the coloured balls go flying is fun. Oh, in 1280 x 1024 (which over 20% of steam users game at) it is letterboxed, poor form indeed. Demo here.
Nation Red – £5.99/€6.74/$
I despise the undead so much, nothing brings me more pleasure than bringing an end to their shambling existence. Nation Red does a pretty decent job of satiating my hideous prejudice against the reanimated corpses of my fellow men. It’s a kind of Geometry Wars of the Dead, with some ace power ups and weapons. My biggest concern would be a lack of variety, and since the demo only lets you beat each level once, I can’t say how long it would keep me entertained. There is a clever experience system, which allows you to pick a new perk every level up, and they really do effect how you play the game. There are dozens of weapons too, including a fairly good flamethrower. I think this is one for Zombie/Alien Shooter fans. The Zombies seem to be a compromise between fast and slow Zombies (along the lines of RE4). Demo here.
Demigod – £12.21/€14.02/$20
Remember when the Demigod demo came out, and lots of people said “I quite like this, but I’ll wait on a price drop”, and I said “I’ll be sure to include any decent discount on Demigod in the bargain bucket.” Well, it’s that time. This is Gas-Powered Games/Stardock’s role time strategy, real playing game or something to that effect. Have all the kinks that plagued the initial release been ironed out yet faithful Demigodders? Demo here.
Sins of a Solar Empire + Entrenchment – £12.21/€14.02/$20
Nice price for Sins plus the expansion. Not played it myself, but Jim had this to say about it:
“Sins is just simplistic enough for me to play it as a bulky strategic shooter – the way I like my RTS games – but also complex enough for you to feel like an entire afternoon plunged into its abyss isn’t wasted. I’m sure that when the Great Computer In The Sky judges me after my death it will criticise millions of the seconds I spent playing lesser games, but I think he’ll be okay with Sins.”
RPS coverage here and here, and demo here.
Deal of the week
Street Fighter IV – £14.99/€18.99/$19.99
The price for SFIV has just been final atomic buster’d in half for this weekend. I imagine you’ll not want to play this with keyboard and mouse (UK folk, if you are after an Xbox three hundred and sixty controller, grab one here for only £11.93). The PC version boast extra pixels over the console flavoured release, and it also has some extra rendering modes if you like fiddling with graphics. Those of you going to the Eurogamer expo in London can beat me at this on the arcade cabinets they are going to have set up if you like.
Also of note:
Civilisation IV Complete – $15.98 (This is the prematurely named complete bundle that doesn’t include Colonization). USA only.
Dawn of Discovery (AKA Anno 1404) – £15.27/€17.52/$24.99
Hearts of Iron Mega Bundle – £39.99/€45.67/$65.13
World of Goo – £6.08/€6.98/$9.95
Sword of the Stars: Complete – £19.99/€22.83/$32.56
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel – £12.21/€14.01/$$19.99
Perimeter 2: New Earth – £9.99/€12.49/$14.99 (how come I never heard anything about this post release? Any good?) [It's terrible - Jim.]
Ghost Master – £1.49/€2.49/$2.49
Jagged Alliance 2 Gold – £6.99/€9.99/$9.99 (part of the Strategy First sale)
GOG Buy one get one free sale. Lots of excellent titles to pick from.
05/09/2009 at 13:54 Heliocentric says:
Perimeter 2 is a poop, the best version for single player is the original game, the best for multiplayer the expansion emperor’s “something i forget” as it offers better zooming that the original, but its campaign is a mess.
Nice to see sales actually competing with retail product for a change on impulse.
05/09/2009 at 13:55 Schaulustiger says:
Strategy First should make the Steam sale prices permanent. I bought JA2 off Steam for about 20€ and considering the age of the game it’s quite outrageous. 10€ is still pretty hefty but a bit more appropriate.
05/09/2009 at 14:04 Mac says:
How does SF4 play with a 360 controller? Is it pap, or playable?
05/09/2009 at 14:04 St4ud3 says:
hmm, nothing for me this time around :/ The only thing remotely interesting is the Gog sale, but I already own all the games I want :D
05/09/2009 at 14:14 Dracko says:
There’s also a 50% sale over at Wadjet Eye Games.
05/09/2009 at 14:31 Jim Rossignol says:
The 360 pad’s d-pad is a bit shonky, which makes SF4 annoying.
05/09/2009 at 14:48 Vinraith says:
Dawn of Discovery and Sacred 2 are both a little bit tempting at those prices, but the DRM still keeps me away. If it wasn’t for the limited installation nonsense, I’m sure I’d already have picked them both up at full price. I’m not all that fond of managing games through Impulse, either, so that’s another reason to pass.
05/09/2009 at 14:50 Jim Rossignol says:
Dawn Of Discovery/Anno 1404 would be my pick from this list.
Perimeter 2 is terrible, do not be tempted.
05/09/2009 at 14:54 pkt-zer0 says:
Keyboard works better than a standard 4-button gamepad for SF4. As long as you’re not playing with Zangief, anyway.
05/09/2009 at 14:54 Vinraith says:
Yeah, Dawn of Discovery/Anno 1404 would have been a day 1 purchase for me if they hadn’t slapped an installation limit on it. It actually pains me NOT to be supporting that series, but they aren’t giving me a lot of choice in the matter.
05/09/2009 at 14:57 M_the_C says:
Just to point out, Dawn of Discovery and Sacred 2 are not available outside USA and Canada.
Street Fighter IV is a good price, but you can get it a little cheaper retail. Since it requires GWfL to run anyway some people might prefer cutting out the extra Steam requirements.
The GOG buy one get one free was the highlight for me this week, didn’t get any since I already own the ones I want but for anyone who missed out there are some great titles. Sacrifice, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Hostile Waters.
05/09/2009 at 14:57 Lighthouse says:
Oh – the GOG buy 1 get 1 free promo site isn’t perfectly designed … I only saw that you can click and get a larger list of Interplay titles on sale. Which that was clearer :)
I had though for the past 2 days that it was only a handful to choose from, but there are quite a few more.
Looks like this weekend a lot of good titles are on sale. What are others thoughts on Demigod and Sins of Solar Empire? I have read the Demigod community is all but gone and probably the reason for the large price drop now – whats the singleplayer like?
05/09/2009 at 15:05 ArtyArt says:
Hmm, got all the good ones already, I fear. But that discount over at Wadjet Eye Games sure is tempting, thanks Dracko.
@Nation Red: I’ve heard that this game is brutally hard, any confirmation?
05/09/2009 at 15:05 Phinor says:
I’d buy Anno 1404 for that price, probably Sacred 2 too. But as usual, they are US only offers. Oh and Civ4 collection, that I’d buy too. But not at 39.95€ :)
05/09/2009 at 15:10 ArtyArt says:
@Lighthouse: not sure about an actual Demigod community, but it’s generally no problem to get into ranked games in the evening, so there should be enough people still playing.
Singleplayer in Demigod is a diversion at best, good for learning the ins and outs and testing builds and stuff. If you’re going to play the single player tournament, do yourself a favor and start with hard difficulty right away – that’s about the challenge you’re going to get from most human opponents.
For 20$ you cannot go wrong, I dare say.
05/09/2009 at 15:14 Vinraith says:
@Lighthouse
Both SoaSE and Demigod are built for multiplayer, SP is very much an afterthought and it shows. I wouldn’t buy either if your primary interest is solo play.
05/09/2009 at 15:16 Dan says:
I might get a 360 pad for Batman. Played the demo with a mouse and a keyboard last night and it was ok, but it felt like it would be more natural with pad. (Plus the buttons have already been mapped. You’d think it was a cross-platform release or something.)
05/09/2009 at 15:17 TotalBiscuit says:
Street Fighter 4 is a bit of an investment. The 360 pad is not suitable for it, so you’re going to need something like a Madcatz Fightpad, an Arcade Stick or a USB Saturn Pad from Ebay. Personally, I picked the Saturn pad. It’s worth it, if you’re willing to throw down for both the game and pad.
Sacred 2 is worth that price, it’s a great co-op title.
05/09/2009 at 15:25 Heliocentric says:
Testament!
The best perimeter for multiplayer is emperors testament.
05/09/2009 at 15:28 Guto says:
Am I the only one who likes playing fighting games with the keyboard? I find it much easier to perform the special moves than with controllers (except the Zangief ones, they’re pretty impossible on the keyboard. But who cares about Zangief?).
05/09/2009 at 15:31 Nak Manakhan says:
Both Fallout games for a little over £3? Result!
05/09/2009 at 15:39 Heliocentric says:
The 3 for £10 in game has the 3 isometric fallout games in one box.
05/09/2009 at 15:55 bookwormat says:
@Phinor: play.com has Civilization IV Complete for EUR 10.49 .
05/09/2009 at 16:16 Vagueism says:
Gamers Gate have Victoria Complete for 50% (€12.49).
I’ve been TRYING to play Europa Universalis III as Sweden in 1453 and getting my ass kicked by the Danes every time. Frustrating as it is, it makes me want more Paradox strategy titles.
(However the Gamersgate sale made me go and buy Victoria cheap on Ebay instead. I want a printed manual.)
05/09/2009 at 16:30 Wooly says:
I found playing SFIV with a keyboard to be surprisingly workable.
Can anyone tell me what the appeal of games like Sacred is?
05/09/2009 at 16:30 Coded One says:
So Perimeter 2 is a bust? I’m always interested in new strategy games, and I’ve actually never heard of the Perimeter series.
What makes the sequel so much worse than Perimeter 1?
05/09/2009 at 16:33 Jorgen says:
Agreed with Wooly. Playing SFIV with the keyboard beats playing it with a gamepad, especially the 360 gamepad.
Also, I’ve been eyeing Demigod and now here it is on sale, but I haven’t seen many comments regarding that here. Any Demigod players here recommend getting this at this point?
05/09/2009 at 16:34 Severian says:
People: buy Demigod PLEASE! The community needs an influx of new players, esp. the well-spoken, high-minded, we’re-all-in-this-together breed that tends to populate RPS. I love the damn game but the community is both shrinking and somewhat toxic (phenomena related).
05/09/2009 at 16:34 Jorgen says:
Agreed with Wooly. Playing SFIV with the keyboard beats playing it with a gamepad, especially the 360 gamepad.
Also, I’ve been eyeing Demigod and now here it is on sale, but I haven’t seen many comments regarding that here. Any Demigod players here recommend getting this at this point?
I’ll add that I’m primarily interested in playing multiplayer with friends. Don’t care too much about ranked matches and competitions and what not.
05/09/2009 at 16:35 Archonsod says:
Is it just me, or are there only about two games in the Stardock sale which aren’t US only?
05/09/2009 at 16:37 Sparvy says:
Playing SF4 with keyboard is indeed better than with most gamepads, its hard to beat an arcade stick though.
05/09/2009 at 16:43 Severian says:
@ Jorgen
Yes, I strongly recommend. It should be noted that there ARE still some bugs in the soup with Demigod but, generally, it’s a wonderfully fun and tactical game. The biggest issues right now are:
1. Immature players who rage-quit, berate your bad play, or outright cheat.
2. A poor matchmaking system that makes PUG (pick-up games) a real roll of the dice. Be prepared to lose a lot if you primarily PUG.
3. Not enough maps, esp. for the most common 3v3 game.
The good news is that GPG/Stardock are releasing a new update soon, with many fixes, improvements, and 2 new demigods (bringing total to 10). There will be mod support, although it is unclear whether that will easily allow for the creation of new demigods and, more importantly, new maps.
If you’re planning on playing with friends and don’t care about the (meaningless and flawed) ranking system, than you really should do yourself and favor and pick this up. Stream-lined gameplay, great visuals, lovely team-based strategy.
05/09/2009 at 16:45 TotalBiscuit says:
@Severian – Maybe if it didn’t suck. A watered down DoTA clone with not a single good map and no possibility of any more due to the ridiculous in-house version of Maya they used to create them, only 8 heroes, none of the extra content promised and STILL the netcode isn’t reliable.
Chalk it up to yet another failure by GPG, I reckon Stardock are really regretting getting into business with them by now.
05/09/2009 at 16:46 CogDissident says:
Perimeter 2 is ABSOLUTELY awful. It has two factions (with one clearly superior in every way to the other) that war for semi-nonsensical reasons. The plot makes no sense, and is entirely skippable. The gameplay is frantic and insanely fast (a generator produces enough energy for a new generator every second, meaning the game is entirely about how fast you can click to place them), and the shield mechanic doesn’t protect you from half the weapons in the game.
One side fills the level with water, one side removes the water. Except the side that removes water and flattens land doesn’t actually flatten the land very well and if even one pixel is out of place, you can’t build there. And the water flows around the map, so if the water-side just spams the level then you quickly flood the other player and they have nothing they can do about it.
As an idea of how bad this game is, there has been ONE forum post from a non-developer in TWO MONTHS. And one post from a developer. Every topic on their forum is about how the game is unbalanced, or asking how to beat a certain level (most of the answers are methods that border on cheating, due to the level being neigh-impossible).
Oh, also, they removed about half of the features from Perimeter 1.
05/09/2009 at 16:56 Coded One says:
@CogDissident:
Oh… Oh sweet Jesus… Is Perimeter 1 any fun?
05/09/2009 at 17:17 Sagan says:
Yeah I also play SF IV on keyboard, because I didn’t like it that much with a gamepad. But I think the combo system in that game is simply a little broken. I have played the game for at least 10 hours, and I still get even basic combos like a fireball right only 9 out of 10 times. Which simply isn’t enough. And some ultra combos, like Guile’s, I get right only half the time, which is really really frustrating. This is my first fighting game, so maybe I just suck, and should get better, but it’s frustrating to learn in Street Figher, because it doesn’t tell you what you did wrong in a combo. Did I not charge long enough? Was my combination wrong? Was I too slow? It doesn’t tell me.
And the first thing that the AI learns (when going from childlike difficulty to very easy) is to punish your mistakes. So yeah I’m kind of burnt out with frustration over Street Figher IV, and would not recommend it.
05/09/2009 at 17:25 Jim Rossignol says:
Perimeter 1 is an errant classic.
05/09/2009 at 17:32 Azhrarn says:
@Coded One: Perimeter 1 is difficult, but judging from Cog’s commentary of Perimeter 2, several thousand times more fun to play. All sides are fairly similar, with many units shared (and a number of unique ones each), so the balance is considerably better.
The campaign, while certainly challenging, isn’t nigh impossible, although the AI has the nasty habit of learning your tricks rather quickly, meaning you’ll need to adapt to them as much as they adapt to you.
The shield the game is named after stops almost anything, but is impossible to sustain for longer periods over larger areas, making it a great trade-off defensive measure.
The story, while certainly odd and somewhat convoluted, is interesting enough, and there’s a good number of missions in the campaign too.
No idea on the multiplayer side of things, never played that, but I liked the single player game.
05/09/2009 at 17:34 TotalBiscuit says:
@Sagan the combo system isn’t broken at all, you’re just not all that good at it. Do the challenge modes or do training with the input readout on.
05/09/2009 at 17:42 Carra says:
I remember Stardock giving us whole rants of “we do not do DRM, DRM is evil”. Yet their impulse system has 3 limit activations (Dawn of Discovery, Sacred 2)? That makes no sense.
05/09/2009 at 17:44 Kieron Gillen says:
I don’t believe either of those games are Stardock’s.
KG
05/09/2009 at 17:51 Azhrarn says:
Neither game is Stardock indeed, and the publisher probably demanded the security system be implemented, and since they wanted the business, they conceded.
You win some, you lose some.
05/09/2009 at 17:51 malkav11 says:
You are correct, Kieron.
And I heartily recommend checking out that 50% off sale on Wadjet Eye Games. That and GoG’s buy one get one free are, imho, the best sales of the weekend. Please note that the Wadjet Eye Games sale includes Downfall, which has been highlighted a couple of times on this site, and does not include Emerald City Confidential, as for some reason Wadjet Eye does not sell that game through their own store.
05/09/2009 at 17:53 GJLARP says:
Highlight of the week should be the GOG promo
05/09/2009 at 17:57 RyePunk says:
@Sagan,
Tragically I agree with you, it is really hard to get good at the combo system. The problem is 10 hours is a drop in the bucket of time needed to get proficient at the move sets.
Personally the game needs to just make 4 more keys that auto launch your specials. The Bleach fighting game’s on DS do this and it makes them so much better (they counter spam by making it drain a dash bar making dodging much harder).
But they don’t so I’ll just keep practicing. And don’t play against the computer, its boring or (possibly and) cheap if you’re new. Even on Easiest. Just go play against real people and watch yourself get smoked horribly against real people. I’ve won I think 5 or 6 matches so far after roughly 20-30 matches. So yea usually I’m getting my ass handed to me, but I go with a title that says I’m new, and it does seem like they take it easy on me. Until I give them their ultra anyways… Then the ow comes.
05/09/2009 at 18:05 user@example.com says:
FFS, Stardock, every time I want to buy something from you I can’t. £27 on Steam as well. I really wanted to give it a go, having seen an off-hand mention of it in a thread somewhere that made it sound pretty cool some ways, despite apparently being a bit flawed.
Oh well, at least I bought Might & Magic 1-6 and a pad of graph paper during the week.
05/09/2009 at 18:07 user@example.com says:
The above refers to Sacred 2, of course. And I love Stardock really, I just don’t love the way I never seem to notice “US/Canada only!” until I’m trying to buy a game from them.
05/09/2009 at 18:31 unclelou says:
an anyone tell me what the appeal of games like Sacred is?
Killing monsters and grabbing fat loot, obviously. Same as Diablo’s appeal. Not that I liked Sacred 2 a lot, but I can’t blame the concept as such.
05/09/2009 at 18:33 Wazzle says:
Yeah, I agree that GoG sale is absolutely spectacular. I mean, sure, a lot of you old, seasoned, high-fallutin’ PC gamers may already own those, but for a newcomer like me, getting 3 fallouts, freespace 2, descent 1+2, and Giants: Citizen Kabuto for under $20 is… I don’t even have words to describe it’s excellence. Almost as good as the time I got Half-Life 1 for $0.99.
05/09/2009 at 18:33 Wazzle says:
Yeah, I agree that GoG sale is absolutely spectacular. I mean, sure, a lot of you old, seasoned, high-fallutin’ PC gamers may already own those, but for a newcomer like me, getting 3 fallouts, freespace 2, descent 1+2, and Giants: Citizen Kabuto for under $20 is… I don’t even have words to describe it’s excellence. Almost as good as the time I got Half-Life 1 for $0.99.
05/09/2009 at 18:33 Günter says:
Must… Resist… Incredible… Deals!
I’ve already spent $75 on games this week, and I’ve got plenty to play. Steam is a vile temptress.
05/09/2009 at 18:34 PC Monster says:
Am very very tempted by Sins but am a touch concerned by the comment above about it being more of a multiplayer game. Anyone care to add to that?
And I’d heard that in the original, by mid-game you’d know who was going to win making the end-game rather pointless. Did Entrenchment sort that out any?
05/09/2009 at 18:35 Fenchurch says:
“…then realise that your have lost what youthful good looks you might have once had, then pour yourself another glass of supermarket red wine just to numb the pain, then cry yourself to sleep yet again.”
Oh God get out of my head! D-:
05/09/2009 at 18:38 abhishek says:
I bought SF4 from Steam. Couldn’t pass up the price, and I am somewhat surprised that a 50% off sale happened 8 weeks after it’s release. Is that brilliant marketing or does it signify poor sales?
I also bought Demigod back when they first announced the 50% off coupons. Back then, it seemed to make sense to buy it since I kind of like the Dota inspired subgenre it belongs to. However, given the same choice today, I would not buy the game. Firstly, there are free and, in my opinion, better alternatives out now, which wasn’t the case back then. Heroes of Newerth is a fairly easy closed beta to get into, and League of Legends will be a free to play game which should also be entering open beta soon. Both these games are in the same vein as Demigod and playing them right now is free. Demigod fumbles some basic things which these games get right…. it also has a lesser number of heroes which is ultimately what decides the longevity and depth of these games. The community is shrinking. Getting into matches can still be a somewhat frustrating experience, especially when compared to HoN for example where it is smooth and flawless. Definitely would not recommend a Demigod purchase now.
05/09/2009 at 18:41 Azhrarn says:
@PC Monster: Entrenchment gives each faction a massive, extremely powerful defensive starbase to build in orbit of worlds, those things can stop entire fleets by themselves, especially when supported by the normal defensive architecture, it makes sneaking round the back of someone’s empire and blowing their colonies up while they’re occupied by another front a lot harder, as blasting your way through a fully upgraded and supported starbase is no mean feat.
As for the multiplayer aspect, no idea, I generally don’t play online because I’m a slow and steady player.
The AI isn’t the greatest, but can certainly pose a challenge in my opinion, so single-player isn’t bad, but the game has no campaign, so it’s essentially all skirmish games (But then again the Master of Orion series and GalCiv did exactly the same thing, this is just in RT4X form, rather than standard 4X).
05/09/2009 at 19:51 Heliocentric says:
On perimeter, its like a versus mode on a tower defense game where you are playing real time rock paper scissors with the units. Multiplayer is much better than single. Go try the demo, or buy it on gog.
05/09/2009 at 20:04 Archonsod says:
I tend to stick to single player with Sins too. Multiplayer tends to be dull unless watching fleets of thirty identical ships shooting at each other is your idea of a good time. It’s a fine game in single player though.
05/09/2009 at 20:20 Dave Gilbert says:
Thanks for the plug, Dracko!
@malkav11 I wish I could sell ECC through my own store, but technically it’s not my game! I made the game for PlayFirst so I have no say in how they sell it, but you can get the game for pretty cheap on Big Fish Games or Steam.
05/09/2009 at 20:30 Oak says:
Any fans of tycoon games would do well to get Vegas: Make it Big off the Strategy First sale.
05/09/2009 at 20:35 fabrulana says:
Thanks – got me Nation Red – didn’t like Left 4 Dead or Killing Floor demos but this one just feels right …
Thanks also to Dracko for the adventure game links picked up Downfall and Shiva that got good reviews – looking forward to some great adventuring …
05/09/2009 at 20:40 Daniel Rivas says:
Huh. This is very odd. Sins of a Solar Empire would appear to be half price on the product page, but full price on the payment page. Oh dear.
Please advise.
05/09/2009 at 20:42 Andrew Dunn says:
Dammit, at that price I’d love to buy Anno 1404 but it’s North America only (hence the ‘Dawn of Discovery’ nonsense). Even though it kindly gives prices in pounds, it doesn’t let us Brits buy it.
05/09/2009 at 20:43 Heliocentric says:
Your area is not on sale?
05/09/2009 at 20:44 Daniel Rivas says:
But it gives a half-price value in pounds sterling! This is all very confusing.
05/09/2009 at 20:58 LewieP says:
@Dave Gilbert
Is there a newsletter or something I can sign up to so I don’t miss any wadjeteye sales in future?
05/09/2009 at 21:03 Kua says:
I think its quite alright to call Civ 4 Complete erm Civ 4 Complete. Colonization is a game in itself, just using the Civ 4 engine. There’s so much goodness packed into that favourably priced box that, in fact, “Complete” doesn’t do it justice. Fab feature this btw.
05/09/2009 at 21:03 lePooch says:
At anyone who is considering Demigod vs other titles(Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends) in the same vein, keep in mind that a caustic, childish playerbase is endemic to any DOTA-like game. Its the nature of the beast that most of those who play get annoyed at the smallest mistakes you make.
Severian has it right; it is better to play with people you know than to even try a PUG. Speaking as a person who enjoys this genre of games I would say that League of Legends piques my interest the most, while Heroes of Newerth stays closest to the original formula.
Demigod is a distant turd/third.
05/09/2009 at 21:24 LewieP says:
@Kua
The reason I make the distinction is that there has also been a retail release called “Civilisation IV Complete” that did include Colonization.
05/09/2009 at 21:32 Dave Gilbert says:
@louieP
Yep! Right here: http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mailinglist.html
05/09/2009 at 21:35 LewieP says:
Cheers
05/09/2009 at 22:32 Kua says:
Aha. Apologies for my ignorance :) They should have called that Civ IV Ultimate Awesome Complete: Now with more Completeness.
05/09/2009 at 23:22 Innokenti says:
I believe that you can pop your Sacred 2 key into Steam… which should mean that you can install it all over the place over Steam… I think…
05/09/2009 at 23:50 LewieP says:
Oooh, hello.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/32370/
KOTOR now on Steam.
06/09/2009 at 00:06 invisiblejesus says:
I picked up Nation Red last night; it’s a pretty small, simple game but a great buy if it’s the kind of thing you want; a top-down Smash TV-esque shooter with nice graphics and fun arcadey gameplay but no story to speak of. I’d try the demo and resist comparing it to Left 4 Dead or Killing Floor, as the gameplay bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to either of those games. It’s a really fun game, not a ton to it but for that price I think that’s more than forgivable.
06/09/2009 at 01:11 Curiousity says:
Except for The Shivah (which I have) and Emerald City Confidential (which doesn’t count in the sale), can anyone make recommendations on the other Wadjet Eye games?
Downfall looks similar to Yahtzee’s Trilby games (the one that took place in a hotel … x days a something or wotsit)
06/09/2009 at 01:28 SmokinDan says:
QuantZ is actually pretty good. Sure, simplistic, but a lot of content for that price.
06/09/2009 at 02:51 Vinraith says:
“this is just in RT4X form”
That’s a vicious little lie and I wish people would stop repeating it, it’s all RT and no 4X. SoaSE is a galaxy wide but an inch deep, and the diplomacy system (which would be one of those “x’s” it wants to claim) is so badly broken they’re planning to release an expansion to replace it (nice of them to charge, no?). No one that’s actually looking for a 4X game need apply, there’s a world of better space 4X titles out there (for god’s sake, play Sword of the Stars or Gal Civ 2 or even Space Empires). If you’re looking for something akin to Supreme Commander in space, on the other hand, then you could do worse.
06/09/2009 at 02:59 Dracko says:
Curiousity: Just go for the Blackwell series. They’re finely designed episodic adventures.
06/09/2009 at 03:41 malkav11 says:
Er, if one leaves out The Shivah, and Emerald City Confidential, doesn’t that pretty much only leave the Blackwell games? (I mean, they sell Downfall and The Adventures of Fatman in their store, but those aren’t Wadjet Eye games.)
06/09/2009 at 05:38 Anonymous says:
@Nation Red:
Experience level and perks. So how is this different from crimsonland? I mean, even the names are complete ripoffs of each other (Nation Red – Crimson Land).
06/09/2009 at 07:21 malkav11 says:
Nation Red has snazzier graphics. Beyond that, I haven’t actually played it so I couldn’t tell you.
06/09/2009 at 08:32 user@example.com says:
Innokenti: From what I’ve found, you can’t use a retail Sacred 2 key on Steam.
06/09/2009 at 08:40 JB says:
“since the demo only lets you beat each level once, I can’t say how long it would keep me entertained.”
Just FYI, if you create a new profile in the demo then you can play the 3 levels again. Repeat as necessary.
It’s a pretty good little game, but I don’t think it would hold my attention for too long to be honest.
06/09/2009 at 11:01 We Fly Spitfires says:
I’d urge *everyone* to buy Sins of a Solar Empire + Entrenchment for £12. That’s excellent value for money! It’s such an awesome game. Truly it is. Go my pretties, buy it, buy!
06/09/2009 at 11:09 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
2Curiousity:
Blackwell series and get the soundtracks… :) Just grabbed The Shivah OST, splendid!
06/09/2009 at 11:09 Heliocentric says:
I got it really early, why don’t they have a sale on the expansion? They have already gotten $40 out of me.
06/09/2009 at 11:10 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
2Lewie:
Good to see KOTOR over at Steam… I might pick it up later and finally finish it*
—-
after I finish Mass Effect, Oblivion, and well…maybe Dragon Age? Darn…
06/09/2009 at 16:03 Blather Bob says:
@Kua: It’s also worth pointing out because even GamersGate themselves got the “Complete Edition” including Colonization thing confused. They mention in the first paragraph of the description that it does include Colonization, but that’s pretty obviously the result of someone copying/pasting the description of the newer Complete edition, rather than this older, discontinued one. Colonization isn’t mentioned in the detailed description, and the boxshot shows the older box, with only 3 games/expansions included, so it’s obviously meant to be the older release. Which makes it about the same price in this sale as the regular price from various Amazon sellers here in the US, and Civ4 is something I’d probably rather have a physical copy of, assuming the complete edition still includes a real manual and tech tree charts.
06/09/2009 at 16:22 born2expire says:
Thinking I’m gonna buy Scared 2, but i’m considering holding out for Steam to have it on sale.
06/09/2009 at 16:30 Spoon says:
Nation Red is an uninspired Crimsonland clone, with better graphics and less interesting gameplay. Less weapons, less enemy types, less missions/challenges, less perks. Unless you are a graphics whore or a zombie whore, stick to Crimsonland imo.
The survival mode is particularly bad, as once you get to a certain strength level, you cannot die. I got to around 32 minutes into a survival game before i got so bored that I had to ask myself “why am I still doing this?!” and let myself die. When I saw the time I played, I facepalmed hard and uninstalled.
06/09/2009 at 17:50 Vinraith says:
I humbly submit that the best place to get Sacred 2, or any game with an unreasonable install limit, is Gamersgate. Of the digital distributors, they’re the only one I’m aware of that guarantees you’ll always be able to download and play the game, regardless of any nonsense DRM attached to it.
06/09/2009 at 20:17 LewieP says:
I must admit Crimsonland did come to mind, but it is years since I have played Crimsonland, and even then it was only the demo.
06/09/2009 at 22:00 Joe says:
SFIV controls well with a keyboard. Personally, I prefer keyboard over anything else after playing a lot of emulated Neo Geo fighters. Timing is very forgiving, and I can consistently pull off the shoryuken motion for the first time ever. Woo.
Unfortunately, I caused some, er, structural damage fistmashing the Esc key while trying to ragequit. New rule: Esc should always bring up a menu, especially when that blubbery yellow git is doing his stupid victory dance.
By the way, when a fighter game makes me actually violently angry, I take that as a good sign. This is probably the best one I’ve played on PC, perhaps excepting The Last Blade 2, and it’s reasonably kind to non-experts like myself.
07/09/2009 at 10:28 Dominic White says:
@Joe – Yeah, N’thing that with a bit of practice, the keyboard works remarkably well for SFIV. My only complaint is that it’s just not QUITE fast enough to do Zangiefs Final Atomic Buster. Every other move in the game I can do, but not that one.
His single-360-motion throws? Easy. Just not the double. Ah well, if I need that move, it’s probably a bad sign anyway. It is an exceedingly good fighting game, although if people think SFIV (which is about as pared down as a modern-day fighter can get) is complex and inaccessible, their heads would explode if they ever played five minutes of BlazBlue.
This Penny Arcade strip just about sums it up:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/7/27/
Good thing the game itself doesn’t take itself the slightest bit seriously.
07/09/2009 at 10:53 MD says:
KOTOR worth $10 for someone who isn’t into Star Wars, but feels like something with a tasty story and tolerable mechanics?
07/09/2009 at 11:01 Psychopomp says:
*YES*
II is even better with the story, albeit unfinished.
07/09/2009 at 11:23 MD says:
Excellent, and yeah I am tempted by KOTOR II but I’ve heard that it is indeed unfinished. I figure I might as well play the first one first, then hopefully by the time I am up for the sequel (if ever), the big fan-made patch will have been released. (Also the first one is available online for $10, while it looks like I’d have to hunt around for the second and perhaps pay more also.)
07/09/2009 at 11:30 Dominic White says:
I recall that the story was KOTOR 2 was that about 3/4 of the way through development, Lucasarts had a change of heart, and cut their deadline by six months – six months which had been budgeted on.. y’know.. finishing the game. An enormous dick move, as far as publishing goes.
In the end, they spent that last six months having to hack together something approaching and ending, and surgically removing whole PLANETS worth of a content which they just didn’t have the time to finish anymore. The (absurdly overdue) fan-patch is apparently going to bring back a lot of the content that had to be cut, but which Obsidian kindly left in the data files in unfinished form.
08/09/2009 at 11:18 LewieP says:
A fantastic bonus offer now:
http://savygamer.co.uk/2009/09/sins-of-solar-empire-free.html
Sins of a Solar Empire for completely free!