PC Bargains

[trjp]

Cod Free weekends are MONTHS after release

Batman AC had a demo on PC? I played the 360 one, never noticed a PC one??

Sleeping Dogs has a demo! I might have to try that

Ace Combat is a 'big studio' game - I think that and AAA are interchangeable these days...

[Heliocentric]

TDU2 is a fiver on steam. Any good? Is it a nice open world racer that I can play in the upcoming holidays while rewatching two seasons of Game of Thrones?

Burnout: Paradise
Driver: San Francisco
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

All drastically better open world racing games than TDU2.

[vinraith]

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

That one's not open world.

[Rauten]

Burnout: Paradise
Driver: San Francisco
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

All drastically better open world racing games than TDU2.

I'll accept Driver:SF, but Paradise and Hot Pursuit? Bloody hell no.

Paradise's map is rather tiny and being open world actually feels like it works to it's detriment.

Hot Pursuit has an even smaller map (I'm ashamed I paid 5€ for it), isn't really open world, and has way too many events that have nothing to do with Hot or Pursuit or anything in between.

TDU2 may not be a stellar game, but at least provides you with a ginormous map (Ibiza and Oahu) and if you're online, some semblance of activity in the open world. Plus being able to warp to absolutely anywhere you've visited previously means the open world element never gets between you and the events, and it motivates exploration.

It does come with DRM, though.

[Heliocentric]

That one's not open world.

Apologies, I assumed it was with criterion behind it. I would never have described paradise as 'small' though.

[trjp]

TDU2 = securom and limited activations

Handling was SHIT on release, no idea if they fixed that.

Still keen?

[Rauten]

Apologies, I assumed it was with criterion behind it. I would never have described paradise as 'small' though.

I'll admit I've never played with the island expansion, but the basic map was rather tiny and quickly felt repetitive, and the open worldness, unnecessary.
But even with the extra Island map I cannot imagine it being even close to TDU2's islands. Bloody game is gigantic.

[Bobtree]

FUEL is an open-world (and enormous) racer, and the REFUELED mod has just finished its second release version. The mod is small, but it's a big overhaul and the main reason I bought the game (which admittedly I still haven't played since the demo). REFUELED is supposed to work on the demo too. FUEL is $10 on Steam and is frequently in the big sales.

[Pertusaria]

Startopia is in the GoG sale this weekend for 3 dollars, and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't got it yet. Basically a city builder / management game in a space station, with really good (Bullfrog-style) humour. It also has a really cool intro sequence, which I know shouldn't be a sale point for a game, but it's just that good - go find a Youtube video if you aren't interested in the game. Downsides - combat is a weak point; changing the angle of view can be a bit fiddly; multiplayer is basically dead as far as I know.

Edit - apologies, I see that several people got in before me. It still stands.

[Caddybear]

I've only played once at a friend's house and really liked it. I don't know why I didn't buy it before, thanks for reminding me.

[vinraith]

FUEL is an open-world (and enormous) racer, and the REFUELED mod has just finished its second release version. The mod is small, but it's a big overhaul and the main reason I bought the game (which admittedly I still haven't played since the demo). REFUELED is supposed to work on the demo too. FUEL is $10 on Steam and is frequently in the big sales.

Oh good, maybe the new version of REFUELED won't just crash at the first menu. I always thought it had enormous potential, but could never get it to work...

[The JG Man]

Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed is 25% off at GMG this weekend.

It's just come out and was already released at budget price (£20). The port is great and the game is really good - positive reception across the board (some include saying it's the best arcade racer out there). If you're heavy into Sega nostalgia or just want a really fun arcade racer, with 4-player split-screen and online play (for 10 people), this is for you.

[AlexClockwork]

FUEL is an open-world (and enormous) racer, and the REFUELED mod has just finished its second release version. The mod is small, but it's a big overhaul and the main reason I bought the game (which admittedly I still haven't played since the demo). REFUELED is supposed to work on the demo too. FUEL is $10 on Steam and is frequently in the big sales.

Inmediately added it to wishlist, thanks! ^^

EDIT: The last Sonic Racing game sounds great too, but... I should save as much as possible. :-/

[trjp]

Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed is 25% off at GMG this weekend.

It's just come out and was already released at budget price (£20). The port is great and the game is really good - positive reception across the board (some include saying it's the best arcade racer out there). If you're heavy into Sega nostalgia or just want a really fun arcade racer, with 4-player split-screen and online play (for 10 people), this is for you.

I'm so tempted but I keep playing the last one and don't want to get bitten again with

1 - technical problems which cause huge slowdowns when 'All Star' moves are used etc. etc.
2 - 3 difficulty levels of 'piss easy', 'still piss easy' and 'ridiculous mostly thanks to the performance issues'

I might wait until it's really cheap - less risk...

[Rauten]

I'm so tempted but I keep playing the last one and don't want to get bitten again with

1 - technical problems which cause huge slowdowns when 'All Star' moves are used etc. etc.
2 - 3 difficulty levels of 'piss easy', 'still piss easy' and 'ridiculous mostly thanks to the performance issues'

I might wait until it's really cheap - less risk...

The only big technical problem is eventual crashes which don't bother much, as they always happen after an event, and after the game records the result, so nothing lost, artefacts on older AMD graphics cards (near support threshold) and lack GPU INTz on older cards that do have the required RAM and SM3.0, and they're working to solve it all.
They already have a patch on QA testing that solves crashes and artefacts. They're working on the GPU INTz dependance, but as it's something closely tied to the rendering engine, they say it's gonna take some time.
(All this taken from a dev post on the Steam forums that they update every now and then with the status of the patches and some Q&A)

And the game is challenging. Oh dear, is it challenging.

[The JG Man]

1 - technical problems which cause huge slowdowns when 'All Star' moves are used etc. etc.
2 - 3 difficulty levels of 'piss easy', 'still piss easy' and 'ridiculous mostly thanks to the performance issues'

1. Other than the random CTDs that Rauten mentioned, the only notable frame rate dip is specific to one spot on one track, which hopefully will be remedied in the incoming patch. If it isn't, it can be brute forced on powerful enough machines and otherwise doesn't dip into unplayable levels (but it is noticeable).
2. When you start, you have 3 ranks available to you (C, B then naturally A). You eventually unlock the fourth. I started on A and after being trounced, I went back to B. I felt this was about right and eventually matured to A. By the time I had mastered that, I had unlocked S. The progression curve is pretty comfortable and allows for some changing if/when needed. Not to mention there's now online so you can race against other people, which should keep the challenge going.

Disclaimer: I haven't played the first game, but based on what you've said, I find this easy to recommend to you.

[Rauten]

Disclaimer: I did play the first one, so I know the technical problems you describe very well.

BUY RACING TRANSFORMED.

[Bobtree]

Fair warning for FUEL: I didn't know it had SecuROM online activation and GFWL (the game key from Steam works for both).

Oh good, maybe the new version of REFUELED won't just crash at the first menu. I always thought it had enormous potential, but could never get it to work...

There's a setup tutorial video (it's simple, but this is the only documentation I found). I had no trouble running REFUELED, and the improved vehicle handling makes a world of difference. My gamepad works via x360ce, and the mods I enabled with JSGME are Patch #5, Refueled 2013.1, disable shader compile (faster loading, but you must have run the game once previously), and REFUELED Menu.

[Fanbuoy]

Omerta is available for R$29.99 (=€11.38/£9.63/$15.20) on Nuuvem. Steam activation. Adam didn't think it was stellar, but that's a good price nonetheless (€44.99 on Steam). I've used Nuuvem before and it's an okay site, though in Portuguese.

http://www.nuuvem.com.br/produto/106...y-of-gangsters

[Ravelle]

Startopia is in the GoG sale this weekend for 3 dollars, and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't got it yet. Basically a city builder / management game in a space station, with really good (Bullfrog-style) humour. It also has a really cool intro sequence, which I know shouldn't be a sale point for a game, but it's just that good - go find a Youtube video if you aren't interested in the game. Downsides - combat is a weak point; changing the angle of view can be a bit fiddly; multiplayer is basically dead as far as I know.

Edit - apologies, I see that several people got in before me. It still stands.

I would like to add that Startopia aged brilliantly.

@trjp. Listen to Rauten en JG, Transformed is an amazing racing game, I like it much more than the Mario cart series.