Category: PC

Humble Bundle Sale: The Day I Lost Count

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Since I’m now back at the office (aka. my PC), it’s time to return to our Humble Sale coverage.

Today marks day 12 (just checked) of the sale and there are still some heavy hitters in the lineup. Like Alien Isolation for 75% and Total War: Attila for 25% off. Full list of Dr. S’ recommendations after the break.
Octodad -74%
It does outstay its welcome, but for that price, you will find a fairly entertaining box of chaos for you to play in. The humor is nice and silly, the update removed the annoying bits and despite the main mechanic revolving around wonky controls, it’s still very polished for an indie.

Papers, Please -67%
On paper (kekeke), this sounds like the worst idea ever: Immigration inspector simulator. But there is more to it than your first days at work might lead you to believe. Sure, most of the time is spent with checking documents for validity, but the storytelling is superb and makes this an experience that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Saints Row IV -75%
While Saints Row 1 was very much the suburban white trash version of GTA, the series slowly took a turn for the silly with 2. Part 4 completely embraces it and puts you in the shoes of the president during an alien invasion. Not silly enough for you? How about superpowers, mechs, the Matrix, and weaponized Dubstep? It might not offer the best story in video games, but the funniest Biz Markie cover ever.

Sang-Froid -78%
Nice mix of 3rd person shooter and trap defense, with fantastic music, captivating story full of mystery and deep game mechanics. It does lack polish, but makes up for it with charm and a really low price. Worth taking a look at.

Ryse: Son of Rome -66%
Ok, this one is a bit controversial. Is it a great game? No. Does it have a deep combat system? No. Does it deliver an interesting story? No. Is it nice to look at? Yes, but that’s not all. Sure, it’s a mindless brawler, but turn up the difficulty and you will find a challenging, yet accessible game that offers some spectacular set pieces. It also helps that it’s not exactly long. 5-6 hours and you are done with the main story. Not worth full price, but well spent $15.

Max Payne 3 -75%
That one really surprised me. Not only is it still beautiful to look at, but also a blast to play. Rockstar took the MP franchise and not only gave it a fresh coat of paint, but also improved on many aspects of the previous games. The constant cutscenes might be an issue if you have ADD, but the shooting is great, the setting interesting, and the story decent enough to keep you interested. Knowledge of previous games is not needed. Must have.

140 -80%
A platformer in which the level reacts to the music. It’s short, it’s cheap, it’s pretty cool. The visual style is very minimal, just like the soundtrack, which actually works in its favor. The level design is amazing in parts and the challenge is high enough to be rewarding.

 

Those are my absolute favourites, but today has even more good deals and you might also want to check out BardBarian, Deponia, Metro Redux, The Last Tinker, Risk of Rain, SteamWorld Dig, Crimsonland, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Teslagrad, Dustforce and Crypt of the NecroDancer

New Steam Store Releases: Axiom, Inc

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Confession time. I used to not care much for Steam. Although I would consider myself to primarily be a console gamer, GOG has consistently been my go-to site when it comes to downloadable PC titles. And why not? There's no DRM, they offer exclusive goodies and extras like free soundtracks, artwork, and guides, also there's no DRM (that's kind of an important one). That's not to say I never used Steam. It's hard to say no to a game on any service when you can find it on sale for just 99¢ or a couple of bucks. Even more so when they happen to be really good games. Well, it just so happened that I had taken advantage of one such sale recently over at the Humble Store. I had acquired an inordinate amount of ridiculously priced (in a good way) Steam games, and as I was engaged in the lengthy process of installing all of them, I began to take notice of everything that Steam had to offer, and suddenly the service started to click for me.

I realized that I really appreciate having the ability to organize a large portion of my games all together in one place, as well as being able to categorize them as I see fit. Furthermore, I appreciate the fact that many of the games available on Steam, both offer, and clearly display important features like achievements (something that I fell in love with on the Xbox 360), and controller support (for my 360 controller). With Steam, I've found that not only can I catch up on oftentimes better looking versions of the same excellent games I never finished on the 360, but also great games that appeared on other platforms such as PSP, and PS3 (and PC of course), all brought to one easily accessible location.

I still appreciate everything that GOG brings to the table, and I will definitely continue to purchase games there as well, but I think it's safe to say that for the reasons I've listed above (as well as others), Steam has finally made a convert out of me. Since I now have a new-found appreciation for their service, I've decided I should start keeping track of the weekly Steam releases, as I currently do for the PlayStation Store and Nintendo eShop. So, without further ado, I present the new Steam Store releases from this past week (after the break). (FYI, the highlights are the quite excellent, and previously-PlayStation 4-only, Axiom Verge, the stealth/strategy mash-up, Invisible, Inc, and the Final Fantasy IV follow-up, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.)

  • Axiom Verge (Thomas Happ Games, Single-player, $19.99) (Controller Support, Steam Achievements)
  • Invisible, Inc (Klei Entertainment, Single-player, $19.99) (Steam Achievements)
  • Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (Square Enix, Single-player, $15.99) (Controller Support, Steam Achievements)
  • Virtual Pool 4 (Celeris, Single & Multi-player, $24.99) (Steam Achievements)
  • Action Henk (RageSquid, Single & Multi-player, $14.99) (Controller Support, Steam Achievements)
  • Windward (Tasharen Entertainment, Single & Multi-player, $14.99) (Controller Support, Steam Achievements)
  • Interplanetary (Team Jolly Roger, Single & Multi-player, $14.99) (Steam Achievements)
  • NOT A HERO (Devolver Digital, Single-player, $12.99) (Controller Support)
  • Galactic Civilizations II (Stardock Entertainment, Single & Multi-player, $49.99) (Steam Achievements)
[Image: Thomas Happ Games]

Andrew J Amideo

Day 5 of the Humble Sale

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You know the deal, so let’s just mention the games I think are worth buying and insert a link to the Humble Store. No, we aren’t sponsored by them, but I wouldn’t say no if they made us an offer *hinthint* ;)
To the store!

  • Invisible Inc., 10% off - Not a great deal, but the game just got released. I didn’t play it, but Cody really liked it in his review.
  • Universe Sandbox, 80% - Not really a game, but an interesting planetary physics simulator. If you like to play around with orbits or learn a bit more about our universe, this is a nice Sandbox to play around with. Don’t expect too much though.
  • Mark of the Ninja Special Edition, 67% - Very good 2D stealth platformer. Liked the Assassins Creed China game? Then you will love this!
  • Hotline Miami, 75% - It’s brutal, it’s frantic, it’s confusing. A top-down shooter were you have one life and limited ammo, but unlimited respawns. A must have if you haven’t played it yet.
  • Thief (The new one), 75% - Granted, it’s a bad Thief game, it’s not even as good as Dishonored, but for 8 bucks or whatever it is in $, it’s still a worthwhile investment.
  • Just Cause 2, 75% - Great open world sandbox action and easily worth the money.
  • Sleeping Dogs, 75% - Interesting spin on the GTA formula. While the driving doesn’t feel great and the overall presentation is not on the same level as GTA, the melee mechanics are fun, the story entertaining enough and the world interesting. Ever wanted to bet on cockfighting in a video game? Here you can.
  • Sanctum 2, 85% - Tower-defense mixed with FPS. I didn’t actually play this entry, but enjoyed the first one and heard that the 2nd one is even better.
  • Tiny&Big: Grandpa’s leftovers, 90% - Great game for the price. It’s a bit rough, but offers some really cool mechanics and soundtrack. It’s a buck well spent!
  • Völgarr The Viking, 80% - The Bloodborne of retro 2D action games.
  • The Last Federation, 75% - Interesting spin on the space 4x genre, where you are the last survivor of your race, trying to establish a federation of planets and unite the galaxy under your banner through all sorts of means.
  • Auditorium, 89% - Nice little puzzle game that might get boring after a while though. Still, you should get a $ of entertainment out of it.
  • Strike Suit Zero, 83% - Arcade space shooter, takes 2-3 mission until it gets going but great fun for that price.
  • Brütal Legend, 85% - For less than $3, this isn’t actually as bad as everyone tried to tell you. It’s a nice homage to Metal, offering a fun story. The open world action/real time strategy mix maybe didn’t work out that well, but it’s still a good experience overall.
  • Sword & Sworcery, 76% - I really liked the combination of art style, camera work and soundtrack. The gameplay itself is a very basic adventure and won’t hold your attention, but it’s still a great piece of retro inspired art.
  • Joe Danger, 74% - Played that one on the PS3 and loved it. Great motorcycle platformer from the guys working on No Man’s Sky
  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution, 75% - Just get it if you haven’t played it already. One of the best games of the last console generation.
  • Tomb Raider, 75% - Great reboot that’s closer to Uncharted than classic Lara Croft.


 

Puh, what a list.

Want any of those games streamed? Tell me in the comments. Yesterdays stream didn’t happen, but I should find some time today.

Good Modern Games Are Now DRM-Free!

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There are plenty of high-caliber games on GOG – many of which you might already have seen floating around on Steam.  One thing that GOG does lack though, are truly modern, truly open-world games. [Dr. S would like to add: The Witcher?]
Well, this afternoon all that changed.

GOG are now selling the Saints Row series of games.
You read me correctly.  GOG has somehow wrangled the Saints Row series onto its service.  Admittedly, they don’t have access to all the games, [one was an Xbox exclusive and four will probably remain under Steam with the Steam DRM for as long as they can sell it that way, but that’s SPECULATION on my part, please don’t read anything else into it.] but two and three are most definitely up for the having.

Along with this, the Darksiders games are also coming to GOG. [both I + II plus – weirdly – some DLC for two.]
Lastly, if you’re craving some shooter-based action, Metro, Last Light Redux is on offer as well.

All of the games are currently discounted for this week, so buy them now if you want them cheap, but be aware that in order to get the 75% discount for Darksiders, you will have to fork out for the entire Darksiders bundle.

Steam Prices Could Go Up Down Under

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A so-called "Netflix Tax" is a planned extension to Australia's Goods and Services tax. Originally adding 10% to the cost of most goods purchased since its introduction in July of 2000, the Value Added Tax could soon be applied to digital services such as Steam game purchases.
Netflix and other foreign based services have long skirted these taxes by hosting entirely offshore, causing unbalanced pricing compared to rivals with a local presence such as Quickflix. Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed the plans to rectify this in a recent budget outline.
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Already having a history of price disparity with retail games costing the equivalent of $100 USD, players wishing to save by purchasing through online services such as Steam may no longer find the option as tempting as it previously was. Some Australians are already speaking out on forums, threatening to turn to piracy.
Source: PlayerAttack

Star Trek Boldly Goes to gog Galaxy!

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Three Star Trek games have, for the first time ever, warped onto gog.com! Continue past the break for details on which ones, and what this means for a certain Galaxy.
For the first time ever on digital download, three classic Star Trek games make themselves available on gog. We have Star Trek: Starfleet Academy which has a lot of live action video, if you're into that. We also have Star Trek: Judgement Rites, a sequel to the ever popular and enjoyable Star Trek: 25th Anniversary game, which is also now available from gog.com! Honestly if you're a fan of Star Trek and you've never played the 25th Anniversary you owe it to yourself to correct that mistake. It's a classic, and one I plan on covering in video review form soon. Either with my old floppies or through this gog version, which I plan on purchasing after I post this!

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What do you think of this news? Excited to play these older classics? Don't care about the original series or its games? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Author: Billy C
Link to Announcement: gog.com Star Trek Games!
Price: $5.99 per game or $17.97 for all three.

A Closer Look at Axiom Verge, Coming to Windows May 14

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Tom Happ is no stranger to game development, having worked on commercial projects including the MOBA End of Games, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour golf series, and sports arcade game NFL Street. Among a growing library of modern retro-styled games arises Axiom Verge, a stand out thanks to thoughtful and inspired composition from its sole developer. Like Cave Story and Shovel Knight, Axiom Verge unmistakabely manages to match a discerning level of quality and care.
Clearly Happ's inspiration drawn from Metroid hasn't fizzled, but grown throughout the years. Starting with a very direct homage to Metroid for the GameBoy Advance, the homebrew demo Orn does not stray very far from the source material. A side story involving a smuggler making a delivery to planet Zebeth, it takes us through familiar territory, but displays Happ's desire to put his own unique spin on the classic. Axiom Verge is a much more original project, and is clearly a pet project that is very close to the heart.
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While there are some opaque similarities to Metroid in its presentation, they belie the subverting nature of the underlying design. How you tackle many situations that will appear familiar at first will throw you off if you rely too much on the intuition you have gained through learning Metroid's characteristics. The solutions could be staring at you right in the face, and if you're too caught up in the conventions of Nintendo's classic, you may even overlook them. Puzzling them out is very rewarding and empowering, realizing what you can now accomplish using these skills elsewhere, and the solutions can be quite cool.
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There are many unique tools at your disposal to gain traction in various puzzling circumstances, but when all other methods are exhausted, you can pull out the Glitch Ray. This ingenious tool will alter platforms, blocks, enemies, and more in unpredictable ways that can help you overcome seemingly impossible situations. Turn a pest spawning enemy into a health fountain, turn airborne spores into floating footholds, or clip through normally impenetrable walls.
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Many enjoyable staples from Metroid are still here, hidden rooms and power ups to find, and a sprawling interconnected map to explore, but there is a thick layer of individuality that sets Axiom Verge apart as a fresh experience. Far from a by the numbers remake, you'll be able to rediscover the feeling of playing Super Metroid for the first time.

Available on Windows May 14th, with Linux, Vita, and Mac versions planned, a whole new audience will get to explore the high tech alien world and uncover its secrets. Its price may make you hesitant, but I highly recommend jumping in if you are at all interested.

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Welcome to the Gog Galaxy

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The long-awaited Gog Galaxy client, a client much like the Steam client that Valve produces, is now in Open Beta and anyone can sign up.  This client will allow you to buy, install [or optionally download] your games, apply patches, and use social functions.

Follow along after the break to learn a little bit more about Galaxy and how to grab the client.
Galaxy has been in gestation over at Gog for a while now – rumblings about it started pouring from Gog itself during the first half of 2014 and, for a long while, it looked like it was just an idea they were floating.  Gog itself didn’t really talk too much about it and any request for updates on how the client was working out were basically greeted with “we’ll let you know more when we’re ready to share.”

That wait finally ended last week, when the client suddenly went into closed alpha.

The alpha was fairly short, culminating in a handful of patches and the final announcement that the client was going into Open Beta today.

What do you get if you decide to go into Gog’s Galaxy?

  • It’s DRM-free.  [this is the huge difference between it and Steam]
  • There are a bunch of library features [installing games, backing up your games and auto-updates]
  • In-game features [Crossplay, multiplayer and achievements]
  • Community features [friends and chat]
  • Some other features that are still in development include the ability to rollback patches, a game overlay [much like the steam one] and game inviting and joining.

The best part?  All of this is completely optional.  Plus, the client will be able to work in offline mode as well as online mode.  [Naturally, downloading games or using the chat features, etc, will probably not work in offline mode, but the option is there.]
What do you have to do to get into the open beta?  Simply head on over to the Galaxy Page and sign up.  You will receive an email in due course with details on how to get the client.

For those about to beta, we salute you!

The Next SaGa is a Free to Play Windows Game

Imperial SaGa will be a fairly traditional old school RPG judging by the video. In the world of Dysnomia, Adele and her compatriots will take on the gods. Unfortunately, not many more details are currently known. A SaGa 25th Anniversary Vita game is also in the works.
SaGa creator Akitoshi Kawazu is on as executive producer, Tomomi Kobayashi and Chinatsu Kurahana are character designers, and the legendary Kenji Ito is composing the soundtrack.
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Source: Siliconera