The STEAM Sales and Releases Thread

[Metro]

Told you Alan Wake sucked. It's Dear Esther with guns. It's all atmosphere -- the game play is shit.

 

[sser]

Atmosphere ain't even right. Game jumps right into the action -- and action is all there is. Much like the cover-shooting games, gameplay-segments can be seen miles away. Nothing unpredictable has happened thus far. Is there fog, a good chunk of land between you and the next checkpoint? Boy, I wonder if shadow-monsters will reanimate themselves right in front -- oh, there they are. Whee. It's a shame, too, because the environmental effects are quite nice. It's also strange to see the game in its final state, being that I watched its development for quite a long time. You see a lot of what was shown in the tech demos, but the gameplay is a modern-Resident Evil done poorly and with gimmick gameplay. The game is action-horror, but it can't get a grip on either genre. Action? Banal, trite, shoot 'em up with one basic gimmick filtered down corridors. Horror? Uh, doesn't even exist because you have a fucking gun and are shooting things the whole time. What happened to subtlety and build up? There is nothing spooky about running and gunning the whole time, who were the developers that thought they were? Yeesh.

Dark Corners of the Earth nailed action-horror right, but I guess it wasn't enough so I have to deal with this crap.

 

[sea]

I have changed my mind about Two Worlds II a little bit. The intro really sucks - however, with tweaks and some leveling, once the game world opens, things change dramatically. There is some genuinely good quest design - for instance, in getting past a guard checkpoint, you have several options, from buying forgeries of official documents, to helping various people on side-quests around the village. The way that side-quests intertwine with one another and open new options is genuinely well done.

It's nothing revolutionary, but a lot better than I expected considering some of the early stuff. And some of the writing actually gets pretty good - some solid dialogue and voice acting, and *gasp* humour that was actually funny. I don't know exactly what happened by something about the game "clicked" for me past the starting area and now I'm enjoying it. It feels like it has a lot more heart to it than something like Skyrim, and just like the Gothic games, even with all the issues, that sense of personality gives the game a certain charm that keeps me interested.

Actually playing the game is still a bit awkward (like I said, combat and controls sort of suck, AI is near broken) but if you can stomach that, there are definitely things to like about the game - it's nowhere near as bad as I'd heard from others back when it came out. And of course, you could always just, you know, play Gothic II or Risen again, and have more fun. But whatever, for $10 I can't complain much.

As for Alan Wake - it's not terrible but it's one of those games where the ideas are much better than the execution. The first 2ish chapters are great - but after a while the plot falls apart and stops trying to make even a lick of sense, Alan isn't a very likeable protagonist, and the lack of variety in gameplay really starts to hurt. I finished it recently after a big break and it was just a chore for me to reach the end (which was supremely disappointing in the most impotent, stereotypical "cliffhanger, lol nothings resolved" kind of way). As much as I want to support Remedy, I really do wish I had waited until it was on sale.

 

[Metro]

 

[OSK]

Picked up the Monkey Island Special Edition bundle and Blood Money.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

My brain says no, but my heart says yes.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/38070/

In Coconut Queen, the island of Lui Lui beckons you to bask amid miles of sun-drenched coastline. Disembark into its floral air, and discover that you are the island's much-awaited Coconut Queen. Your own private getaway is devoid of females, so find company among the brawny native gents who welcome you with succulent fruits.

 

[Metro]

Anyway, new flash deals are SotS franchise and X series. The X Superbox (whole franchise) is only $10.

 

[RK47]

X Superbox. Looks good,. I never played the franchise.

 

[Metro]

They're apparently working on 'X Rebirth' a retooling of the franchise.

 

[Sceptic]

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw everyone rave about Two Worlds II last year on the Codex.

If by "raving" you mean "using the emote in every single post", then sure. Even those of us who ultimately liked the game (well, mainly commie and I) raged endlessly about it. You're becoming even worse than skyway...

I have changed my mind about Two Worlds II a little bit.

Not sure how much I agree with you. Quest design really is good, probably the best thing about the game, and you're in for a treat all the way to the end of the game if you thought the Savannah was good (it's probably the weakest part of the game quest-wise, though there's some long-term C&C there). The writing's abysmal though, as is the VA; 2W1 did a much better job with the cheesy writing hiding some pretty clever bits and pieces, and some genuinely funny moments. 2W2 for the most part takes its story and writing far too seriously, and they're both sub-par. It's uncomparably better than Oblivion/Skyrim, that's for sure. But then what isn't.

 

[Metro]

New Flash deal is Derp Vegas 75% off -- gotta be patient with Steam!

 

[Don Peste]

Mmm tell me more about this Vegas thing...

 

[Metro]

I thought it was merely okay. Matt will tell you it's the best game ever and better than the act of sex. Obsidian does the best job they can do with the shitty assets Bethesderp gave them. Gamebryo engine still a fucking awful choice for shooters/ARPGs. $10 for all the stuff is worth it. I paid $10 for the base game before they started doing super crazy discounts. Played it through once, tried to do another but didn't have the interest of slogging through again. No interest in any of the DLC either so someone else will have to tell you about those.

 

[Don Peste]

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition is 75% off too...

 

[sser]

I got the New Vegas: Ultimate edition when the sales started. The game has been ace so far. Great quests, atmosphere, and story. Has a nice American West-vibe to it -- and that's one of my favorite genres so I might be a bit biased here. Where Fallout 3 was more just a blown out wasteland of gray, NV is more like a desert full of competing factions and other tom foolery. It does feel more like Fallout 2 with humanity establishing society once more. I also like that Hardore/Very Hard is more balanced than it was in FO3. In FO3, "very hard" just meant every enemy was an HP-blob -- in NV this does not appear to happen at all; maybe a minor HP-boost, but what's really happened is that it makes enemies do way more damage. My only problem is that I can never just load up my damn game when I start; I have to start a new game, and then load my original game when the new game begins.

I'd give the game a 24/10. Would have been 87/10 if it weren't for that bug, though.

 

[Kitako]

On a side note, I'm giving away a free Steam activation key for Defense Grid (got it from pledging DG2 kickstarter).
Will PM it to the first bro asking for it, fuck the lurkers.

 

[Metro]

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition is 75% off too...

Eh, it's not bad but you'll get stupidly overpowered in no time. The writing/quests are inferior to New Vegas. It's basically the same game, just worse, and in a different setting.

If you think you're interested in both and/or more Bethesderp/ID games since Quake Con is coming up in August there's a chance they might have another pack for like $50 that contains everything.

 

[Gord]

New Vegas is alright, as long as you are willing to play a real-time 1st person Fallout game.
Writing is ok for the most part, as are the quests and they did a reasonably good job with the world, imho.
Not the second coming, but a nice enough game.

The DLCs (sans Gun Runners Arsenal and Couriers Stash, which mostly add some equipment) are definitely giving you your money's worth in content, as they are pretty large as far as DLC goes. I enjoyed Dead Money and Old World Blues the most, found Honest Hearts ok and was a bit let down by Lonesome Road, but ultimately could find something likeable about all of them. YMMV.

 

[Ulminati]

Don Peste -- Best way to describe New Vegas is "Probably the best thing that could be made on a Bethesda base game". Used to be buggy as hell, but the worst of them have been fixed. The atmosphere is way better than base FO3 (avoid that turd, trust me) but the engine and combat mechanics are mediocre at best. At 5 Eurobucks you're definately going to get your moneys worth of entertainment. The DLC is okish, but basically just adds new sidequests and items, The base game works fine without them.

 

[Metro]

Another thing to note about the DLC -- they all have to occur before you start the game's main quest. Oh, also you have to go to separate areas/maps not attached to the Mojave waste so it's a bit jarring. They aren't seamlessly woven into the main game world.

 

[Gord]

Another thing to note about the DLC -- they all have to occur before you start the game's main quest. Oh, also you have to go to separate areas/maps not attached to the Mojave waste so it's a bit jarring. They aren't seamlessly woven into the main game world.

You start the main quest the minute you step out of the doctors house, so that's not really the case.
Up until the point where you get the pop-up warning you about the final battle (i.e. when you finish the game) you should be fine to do the DLC.

You are right about the seamless part, but there are references to the DLC scattered around, and some notes from certain NPCs are appearing in the different DLCs, so there is some kind of bigger plot going on in the background (although the execution is a bit shoddy).

 

[sea]

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition is 75% off too...

Thing about Fallout 3 is that New Vegas is basically the same game, just 10x better. There's literally almost no reason to play Fallout 3 except to see the destruction of the franchise (although I admit some of the environments are cool, like downtown DC).

 

[Kitako]

Dead Money was fucking great, really above the whole F3 and NV.
Honest Hearts was meh, interesting only when searching for the diaries, but I found myself basically not giving a fuck about the story (waste of a potential great character, imo).

Didn't play the other DLCs.

 

[Metro]

Another thing to note about the DLC -- they all have to occur before you start the game's main quest. Oh, also you have to go to separate areas/maps not attached to the Mojave waste so it's a bit jarring. They aren't seamlessly woven into the main game world.

You start the main quest the minute you step out of the doctors house, so that's not really the case.
Up until the point where you get the pop-up warning you about the final battle (i.e. when you finish the game) you should be fine to do the DLC.

Yeah, sorry, that was a typo -- meant starting the final main quest/sequence.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Got through the base campaign in Alan Wake, moving on to DLC. Still enjoying it.