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The STEAM Sales and Releases Thread

Mangoose

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Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity
Damn, I got so far:

Left 4 Dead 2
Sword of the Stars - Complete Collection
Commandos 2 - Men of Courage
Introversion Complete Pack - Summer 2010
King's Bounty: The Legend
Space Rangers 2: Reboot
Jagged Alliance 2
Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition
 

Zeus

Cipher
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Apr 25, 2008
Messages
1,523
Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy is amazing. Play it, if only for the opening level, to see the insane degree of interaction allowed to the main character. Fahrenheit lets you do all sorts of things, like clean up a murder scene before the police arrive, hiding the body and the murder weapon, mopping up, making sure you wash your hands. Do I want a wash-my-hands simulator? No, not really. But in the context of the game's storyline, it not only makes sense, I appreciate that I'm responsible for cleaning up each clue. What could have been handle in a cut scene is instead my responsibility, and the punishment for getting it wrong is getting hit with murder charges. It's intense. The split screen as the cop approaches, frantically searching the floor for missed pools of blood. It's memorable, and unlike anything I've played before.

But my favorite thing is that, for a horror game, it gives you the whole spectrum of a horror story.

Take Silent Hill. Yes, it's great on so many levels, but jeez, all you do is run around finding clues, fighting enemies, and talking to the occasional person. The tone is ALWAYS intense. The music is ALWAYS scary. There's no real scenes of levity, not even to introduce the characters before they get there. This goes for just about all horror games, which is why I typically don't play them. Beginning to end, they have the same constant grim oppressive tone as a Saw or Hostel torture porn flick.

Me, I like Evil Dead 2. I like House. I like the scenes where the campers get there, BEFORE Jason starts murdering them one-by-one. It's like that quote from Idiocracy:

"[we need] movies with stories that made you care about whose ass it was and why it was farting..."

Most horror games don't make you care about whose ass it was. They cram a burrito down their throat and let rip a constant stream of gas. Protagonists are IMMEDIATELY thrust into some nightmare scenario where from beginning to end they're faced with constant peril.

And the thing is, horror movies, horror books, they don't usually work that way. You get the first act to show the characters in their daily lives, to make them human before introducing the inhuman threat that will face them.

I suppose a lot of people can't imagine putting up with a horror game that introduces you to the character's daily lives, visits to family, friends, their asshole boss, taking you inside their head to show what makes them tick, before the zombies or monsters or ghosts show up. "Waah, it'd be dull!"

Well, Fahrenheit does this. And, IMO, it's rarely dull, up until the ill-adviced bat-shit insane flashback levels. After the bloody, gripping intro level, there's a ton of scenes of people, especially the detective, just talking, hanging out, relaxing, dealing with their ex girlfriends or practicing their kickboxing, and it's fun. By the time more scary stuff happens, I was a lot more attached to them than the protagonists of Silent Hill or Resident Evil, because they were fleshed out, actual people instead of soulless monster hunters.

Good lord this post is long.

Buy Fahrenheit.
 

CrimHead

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Messages
3,084
I thought that game was one big QTE? Or am I confusing it with something else? Sounds intriguing if I am.
 

Quilty

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CrimHead said:
I thought that game was one big QTE? Or am I confusing it with something else? Sounds intriguing if I am.

It's actually not, and the parts that aren't are often excellent, like the ones mentioned above. However, once the QTEs do kick in, they don't let go, and the game uses them excessively. I mean, come on, did it really need a QTE for playing a guitar? Oh, and the flashback sneaking sequence can go suck a dick, it was abysmal.
 

piydek

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Just bought L4D2 as well. Have been looking to buy this for quite some time when the price is right. Now, 7€ was OK. It's a very fun game on harder difficulties, and playing with mates.
 

Zeus

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Messages
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It's not one big QTE. That only goes for the action scenes. Fahrenheit is a graphic adventure game. The whole clean-up-the-murder-scene scenario? The cop slowly gets there in about 5 or 10 minutes realtime, but it's not like some 10-second-do-or-die cinema where if you don't hit the button right you have to do it again.

Arcade sequences in adventure games have pretty much always sucked, so I didn't mind the QTE content in Fahrenheit. :D

The character actually spends most of his time examining and operating gizmos, picking up items, talking to people for clues, that sort of thing. Commands are context sensitive. When you get close to an interactive item, a number of commands appear above the letterbox: Look, Operate, Pick Up, Mop The Floor, Drag The Corpse, etc.

Unfortunately, Quilty ain't lying when he says the stealth flashback sequences are abysmal. It actually got me to stop playing the game, because I was too damn stubborn to use a walkthrough.
 

Jaesun

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MCA Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
Mangoose said:
Jagged Alliance 2

I've often wondered if the Steam or GOG version of this fixes the JA2 "hanging" when you exit the game. My original CD version still has this problem. :/
 

Quilty

Magister
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The whole introductory sequence was excellent, and well worth paying for. I remember thinking back then how this was the one thing that would save the adventure genre, an actual step towards interactivity.

Instead, we get an endless flood of mediocre WACKEE Sam and Max games.
 

Mangoose

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Jaesun said:
Mangoose said:
Jagged Alliance 2

I've often wondered if the Steam or GOG version of this fixes the JA2 "hanging" when you exit the game. My original CD version still has this problem. :/
No idea, I'm not planning to play it any time soon though. Right now on a shooter and 4x strategy kick.
 

Zed

Codex Staff
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Codex USB, 2014
Zeus said:
I bought fartenheil and it better be as good as you say. :evil:
And also Tropico 3?

Why? I don't know.

and also FUCK IT WASN'T IN DOLLARS, fucking communist Euro expensive as fucking asshtitdfkfk.
 

Gragt

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Jaesun said:
Mangoose said:
Jagged Alliance 2

I've often wondered if the Steam or GOG version of this fixes the JA2 "hanging" when you exit the game. My original CD version still has this problem. :/

My GOG version doesn't hang but displays an error message, which can be safely ignored. It's the same I got with the cd version I pirated before. It is related to mss32.dll, can be ignored as I said, and was introduced with XP SP2 if I'm not mistaken.
 

Annonchinil

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Mar 12, 2007
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So does reboot include the actual Space Rangers game that there is a codex AAR on? I just find it odd that Steam appears to only sell Reboot and the first game.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Yeah, it is basically Space Rangers 2 with some extra quests, items and patched.

Not sure if the translation was also fixed, since I don't see any difference.
 

Jaesun

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Gragt said:
Jaesun said:
Mangoose said:
Jagged Alliance 2

I've often wondered if the Steam or GOG version of this fixes the JA2 "hanging" when you exit the game. My original CD version still has this problem. :/

My GOG version doesn't hang but displays an error message, which can be safely ignored. It's the same I got with the cd version I pirated before. It is related to mss32.dll, can be ignored as I said, and was introduced with XP SP2 if I'm not mistaken.

ok cool thanks. I have a legitimate CD version of JA2, and that damn hanging bug always pissed me off.
 

Multi-headed Cow

Guest
Reboot is/was the expansion for SR2.

Enjoy this meme comic.

qVQnE.jpg
 

Multi-headed Cow

Guest
Wow, didn't notice it had all that empty space. Way to go whoever made that.
 

Gragt

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I eagerly wait for the day Gabe Newel goes for the title of Ultimate Troll of the Multiverse and pulls the plug on Steam without any warning.
 

Multi-headed Cow

Guest
He won't because Gaben loves each and every one of us. Even you Gragt. Even you.
 

Metro

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Messages
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Oh man I would rage so hard if he pulled the plug five years from now and I'd lose that whole six bucks I spent on Witcher...
 

Darth Roxor

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yaster said:
So, you are one of those folks who claims that something is so bad it's good, right?

Guess so.

Well, your choice. Different people, different preferences. But let me ask you for one thing: please, do, kindly, go fuck yourself.

NO WAY. I WILL DEFEND THAT SCENE TO MY DEATH @_@

But in all honesty, just like I said, Fahrenheit (for me) was good for the whole first half. The second one is horrible, HORRIBLE, and pretty much nothing more than QTE after QTE that I played only to see what happens at the end (which was a bad idea because of how disappointing the ending is). The whole mindfuckish aspect of the first half takes a complete nosedive and is replaced by retarded pseudo-shamanism, Illuminati and zombie sex. Derp.
 

Joghurt

Augur
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
980
Oh my, I just did a horrible horrible horrible thing. I'm gonna get fat during this summer. I just bought Valve complete pack for 46 euros. I've never played Blue Shift, Day of Defeat (I haven't played the Source version also), L4D2, HL2 Deathmatch, TF2. Are there any servers and people left for TFC or the original Day of Defeat ?
 

piydek

Cipher
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Feb 13, 2006
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Gragt said:
I eagerly wait for the day Gabe Newel goes for the title of Ultimate Troll of the Multiverse and pulls the plug on Steam without any warning.

Not that i actually read those things prior to installing applications, but isn't a legal contract between Valve and users involved in there somewhere? Users would sue the fuck out of him if he stopped providing what's legally theirs.
 

Tycn

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Sep 11, 2009
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Prosper Land
Zeus said:
Unfortunately, Quilty ain't lying when he says the stealth flashback sequences are abysmal. It actually got me to stop playing the game, because I was too damn stubborn to use a walkthrough.
Then you got spared the horrific direction of the storyline. It's like ITZ plus Jedi.

Though I agree, it certainly warrants a playthrough. Just wish it lasted longer before the facade of maturity shatters.
 

Achilles

Arcane
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Sep 5, 2009
Messages
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Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I haven't decided yet on The Witcher, but I'm leaning towards skipping it. I will buy Sword of the Stars Ultimate and Space Rangers 2 Reboot, the latter because the phrase "fun but flawed/not for everyone" basically describes most of my favorite games. I'll wait a few days to see if they are discounted even further as part of a daily deal.

Meanwhile, anyone who has any recommendation on good and cheap strategy/rpg/turn-based games on offer, please share. Thanks!
 

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