By Lewie Procter on July 10th, 2010 at 12:24 pm.
In the wake of the massive Steam sale that was, things may be bit quieter this week, but I’ve still managed to find several interesting discounts on worthwhile games. Strike that, reverse it. For a constantly updated guide to all that is cheap in the world of gaming, hit up SavyGamer.co.uk. Read on to delve head first into this week’s Bargain Bucket.
Rebellion super duper pack – £27.13/€32.34/$40.89
OK, I added the “super duper” to the title, it seemed fitting. This bundle comes with:
Empire Earth: Gold Edition
Empire Earth 2: Gold Edition
Empire Earth 3
Evil Genius
Ground Control + Expansion
Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus [Special Edition]
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death
Lords of Magic [Special Edition]
Lords of the Realm: Royal Edition
Lords of the Realm 3
Republic: The Revolution
This offer is a saving of 50%, and if you already own some games from this bundle, you can still get 50% off the rest of the bundle. You can also buy each game individually at 30% off.
Plain Sight – £3.95/€4.50/$4.95
Sadly there’s still no demo available for this. The game’s official web site says “A demo of Plain Sight will be available sometime after the launch”, but I guess it is not sometime after launch enough just yet. The game itself is great fun. It’s a fast paced multiplayer death match that is one part Unreal Tournament, one part Mario Galaxy and one part original ideas. The biggest let down about it for me was the lack of any worthwhile single player. With that fantastic control scheme, animation and physics, Plain Sight has most of the right ingredients of an excellent platformer, maybe along the lines of N 3D. Wot Kieron thinks is contained on this internet web page.
Footballing Manager 2010 – £9.99/€9.99/$14.99
This is an RTS with heavy RPG elements, where you have to tell your little dots to score the most goals, so that they can become the goal king. There are hundreds of thousands of different units, each with very slightly different stats, which effect their performance in combat. There is a little bit of resource management, you have to pay salaries for all your troops. The base building has a bit of a unique design to it. You battle in a big arena, where members of the public pay to watch, so to earn the most money you have to increase you arena’s capacity by hiring construction staff. Everything is hidden under layers and layers of spreadsheets, which does make you feel a little disconnect from the action, but there is a solid strategy game to be found here.
Deal of the week
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter – £8.99/€9.99/$9.99
This is also available as a 4 pack, which brings the cost down to £6.75/€7.48/$7.48 each. There was a bit of a screw up here. To coincide with this discount, there is also a free weekend going on. At first it was just restricted multiplayer, not even the mental 16 player coop. Apparently there was a miscommunication between Croteam and their marketing team. To rectify, the entire game is free to play this weekend. The multiplayer, the coop, and the single player in their entirety are free to play, from beginning to end, until Sunday night (Valve time). If you’re not busy, you could feasibly play the game to completion in that time. RPS coverage here.
Also of note:
Grappling Hook – £5.96/€7.09/$8.97
GEOM – £6.63/€7.89/$9.98
Dawn of Discovery/Anno 1404: Venice – £7.48/€14.98/$9.98
Remember to direct your web browser to SavyGamer.co.uk to find all the cheap games in the world.
10/07/2010 at 12:32 BooleanBob says:
Footballing Manager sounds like a bit of a Blood Bowl rip-off to be honest. Doubt it’ll catch on.
10/07/2010 at 12:34 LewieP says:
Beleive it or not, but it’s actually a spin off from a series of pong clones.
10/07/2010 at 12:34 Brulleks says:
From what I hear you don’t even get to control the players though. Completely dumbed-down.
10/07/2010 at 12:53 Drexer says:
It’s insistence in such a small number of units though, really retracts from tis strategy potential. I always feel like I’m playing a diluted version of a game for dumbed down audiences.
11/07/2010 at 02:28 Jockie says:
Despite the dripping sarcasm here and the irony of Lewis’ original post, Football manager is basically a football enthusiasts dream RPG. It’s perfection in the form of a barely comprehensible spreadsheet and no other game series other than Civ has ever held a candle to it for me.
10/07/2010 at 12:43 radomaj says:
A sale of 1C Games on GamersGate.com. Finally, a discount on Men of War.
10/07/2010 at 12:47 LewieP says:
You’re joking right? Men of War has been discount so many times.
10/07/2010 at 13:01 Sam says:
Did you miss the Steam Summer Sale?
Maybe you don’t have Steam, you can get it here: http://store.steampowered.com/
10/07/2010 at 13:51 Javier-de-Ass says:
steam version of men of war.. come on.
the 1C discounts on gamersgate now are fucking awesome. probably half of those 1C games aren’t even on steam.
10/07/2010 at 14:34 Mac says:
It was around £3 on Steam …
10/07/2010 at 16:46 malkav11 says:
The vast majority of the 1C games that anyone has ever heard of are on Steam and were just as cheap or cheaper. Still, if you missed the Steam sale, here’s your chance.
10/07/2010 at 16:55 DrGonzo says:
Everyone has to get Faces of War for 98p. If you can get someone to play co op with its amazing fun. For some reason I much preferred it to Men of War even though I know it isn’t technically the best game.
10/07/2010 at 18:21 Matzerath says:
Fantasy Wars on the very cheap in this sale. Also, Delve Deeper is available on GG, and I declare it: FUN.
10/07/2010 at 13:00 Sam says:
SSHD:2 was on offer on the summer sale for £5.50 and it was a bundle that also included the first one.
A Rebellion pack without AvP is fail.
10/07/2010 at 13:12 apsa says:
Who want’s the latest AvP? It’s fail. Fail fail fail.
10/07/2010 at 13:27 Heliocentric says:
Not AvP 2010, AvP 2000.
10/07/2010 at 16:56 DrGonzo says:
I really quite enjoyed it. The multiplayer was excellent.
10/07/2010 at 13:25 Jimbo says:
Are the Star Wolves games any good?
10/07/2010 at 13:53 Javier-de-Ass says:
Yes!
10/07/2010 at 18:40 Vinraith says:
I’ve been curious about these as well. To those in the know: are they one of those series’ where you’re better off playing the most recent one, or should one start at the beginning?
11/07/2010 at 04:05 Qeyleb says:
Star Wolves … I haven’t played 3 yet, but the story in the first two wasn’t very important. There’s pirates, and aliens, and governments/megacorps doing shady things.
The voice acting is cringe worthy and not the same actors in each game, but the gameplay is fun (as long as you’re not a perfectionist). There are a few bits which take a few retries and can be frustrating.
I think my favorite feature is the camera controls… just like Homeworld. Felt like putting on an old familiar glove, if that’s the right saying.
10/07/2010 at 13:33 Heliocentric says:
Bit of a crap week. Faces of war 98p on http://www.gamersgate.co.uk its like men of war:the early years, i love those guys.
10/07/2010 at 13:49 Tobias says:
Valve time?
11/07/2010 at 03:05 Zerotime says:
18 months from now, WST.
10/07/2010 at 14:14 kenoxite says:
The THQ games have a 75% discount in Direct 2 Drive, at least here in Europe. Check: http://www.direct2drive.eu/Search.aspx?SearchTerm=thq
Among other gems, there’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for only 2,50€
10/07/2010 at 17:21 The Innocent says:
Are D2D games moddable? I’m sure I should know this, but can somebody tell me?
10/07/2010 at 18:06 kenoxite says:
Yep, unless a mod requires some change to the exe, like Oblivion. But for all the rest mods should work without problems AFAIK.
10/07/2010 at 20:13 The Innocent says:
Sweet, thanks. I have the original Stalker retail, but I’ve been waiting for a cheap digital version, so long as it can be modded.
10/07/2010 at 14:44 Veracity says:
Outrun 2006 is £2.47 on gamersgate (UK, possibly also discounted elsewhere). Granted, I don’t think it’s more than a fiver anywhere by now, but that’s still extra cheap, probably beating even online retail. If you don’t love it, you hate fun. Online is long since dead, mind (as in switched off, not just in the sense no one’s playing it). It did have LAN, so it might work over hamachi.
10/07/2010 at 14:46 Nikolaj says:
Does anybody know if Football Manager uses real teams and players, or if they didn’t bother to acquire the rights? It’s kind of a deal-breaker for me if they didn’t.
10/07/2010 at 14:49 LewieP says:
I’m fairly certain that they use almost 100% real names, but I am far from certain.
If it’s not real names, it’s probably “Brian Griggs” and “Derek Kentonar”
10/07/2010 at 14:52 LewieP says:
That is a horrible sentence.
Imagine I said “not entirely sure.”
Football breaks my words.
10/07/2010 at 15:07 Duffin says:
It has all real players, there are generated players however that come through the youth teams so you can continue your game for several seasons. The English premiership has no player photo’s though, some of the other leagues do like La Liga and Serie A. You can download a facepack to change this though its fairly straightfoward.
10/07/2010 at 15:28 Nikolaj says:
Thanks a lot guys. That’s what I wanted to hear.
10/07/2010 at 15:08 Duffin says:
Sorry that was really poor English ^
10/07/2010 at 16:33 Pijama says:
But surely, footballing manager 2010 is a rather famous series, isn’t it? I hear that it is the most played game in Europe and South America… =D
10/07/2010 at 17:00 DrGonzo says:
What do people think to the new UFO series? I really crave a top down turn based shooter, but I’m not sure it’s for me.
What I really, really want is Space Hulk on PC. With shiny graphics and online play.
10/07/2010 at 17:09 jalf says:
You mean Aftermath/-shock/light?
It’s good fun. Aftermath wasn’t very good if you ask me, and I haven’t played Aftershock, but I’ve heard it’s good.
I loved Afterlight though. I love that it’s *not* just an X-COM clone. It’s obviously inspired by X-COM, but it dares make its own decisions and be its own game as well. Cool setting, nice stylish graphics, much more complex campaign metagame, with diplomacy, trading and territory control.
But please, don’t call it a “shooter”. Yes, you have little guys walking around shooting guns, but that’s true for 95% of all games. It’s a strategy game, not a shooter.
I never played Space Hulk, so can’t really compare.
10/07/2010 at 17:15 DrGonzo says:
Genre Nazi! But seriously yeah I don’t know why I described it like that. I blame the weather being far too hot!
Anyway, thanks for the info, it definitely sounds like its worth a try for 3 quid then.
11/07/2010 at 00:26 jalf says:
Maybe I’m missing something terribly obvious, but where are they on sale?
11/07/2010 at 00:53 Vinraith says:
@jalf
Gamersgate.
11/07/2010 at 01:11 jalf says:
Ah, thanks. Just ordered Aftershock. :)
10/07/2010 at 17:34 geldonyetich says:
I’m waiting for somebody to drop the price of Alpha Protocol into “fun lark” territory. I see savygamer.co.uk has a number of offers for about 13-15 pounds, but it seems I can’t get it for less than $37.90 U.S.
10/07/2010 at 17:40 jalf says:
I believe Zavvi.co.uk ships to the US, and they’re in the 13-15 pound range.
10/07/2010 at 18:10 geldonyetich says:
Good call, but it looks like they’re out of stock at the moment.
10/07/2010 at 17:55 Lucas says:
I also have a friend who preferred Faces of War to its sequel. He seemed to have trouble with the MoW interface and controls. We had tons of fun with Faces though.
10/07/2010 at 19:16 LewieP says:
Saint’s Row 2 is £2.50:
http://www.direct2drive.co.uk/7557/product/Buy-Saints-Row-2-Download
Registers on Steam.
10/07/2010 at 19:50 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
sold! Thanks, m8
10/07/2010 at 19:53 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
UK only…fokkin’ hell… :(
10/07/2010 at 19:56 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
Cryostasis for 3 euros..is it worthy this price? I kind of liked the gameplay videos (i lol’d hard when I saw the reminescence scene of a cow..) and heard it’s not that hard (which is a plus…). My only concern is if a Intel 2.0GHz dual-core, 2GB RAM and a 9600GT 512 will be enough for it…
11/07/2010 at 01:46 malkav11 says:
It’s worth a lot more than that, but you may as well get it at that price.
11/07/2010 at 01:00 Whiskey Jak says:
Maybe it’s just me but King’s Bounty The Legend at $2.48 isn’t a bad deal at all on gamersgate.com
11/07/2010 at 05:25 DrGonzo says:
I bought it for a bit more than that on Steam. Really enjoying it so far. But I get frustrated having to walk all the way to refill my troops.
12/07/2010 at 08:54 Kommissar Nicko says:
If you bought Anno 1404 on Impulse, can you somehow apply the GamersGate key for Venice on top of it? Not exactly keen on trying after buying, especially since Anno 1404 is not my favorite game in the world.
12/07/2010 at 09:21 NPC says:
Does anyone know if D2D’s “Plain Sight” is compatible with Steam’s and general? Or it is limited to servers of that specific version? Not sure how many people will be playing it some time down the road, so best to buy it on the most popular platform…
12/07/2010 at 13:21 NPC says:
Ah, on Plain Site forums somebody says that the servers are the same for all sellers. Which is a good thing. Though some people there also complain that the servers are always empty. Which is a bad thing :(