The Bargain Bin Thread (PC Version)

[SnakeCharmer]

Name 3 (litterally) games that can be found for under 20 USD, via digital download or box purchase for the following genres:

1)  FPS

2)  RTS

3)  RPG

4)  Flight sim, other.  It's a potpouri mishmash!

Describe in 3 sentences or less why they are .  Please to be not be reading War and Peace narratives kthx. 
 

Go go go go!!

[Rasix]

1.  Max Payne bundle (1 & 2) - $15 on Steam.

I'm really not a big FPS person. Most of the standard entries in the genre turn me off rather fast (FEAR, HL 1&2, Crysis, etc).  I need something heavily story driven and not too difficult or I get turned off.  Despite a couple levels in the first game, I enjoyed this series a whole bunch.

2.  Rome: Total War Gold - $20 on Steam.

I think this is the best of the series.  The battles can be absolutely amazing.  There's nothing like a few thousand Roman soldiers holding off a horde of Gauls.  It's turn based empire building + RTS battles (with options to pause and give orders).   

3.  Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines $20 on Steam, often on sale for $10. 

The game made a lot of folks top 20 here and was a f13 GOTY when we actually bothered handing out an award.  It's buggy, but there are fan patches readily available. It's a mature game with a variety of ways to complete objectives similar to a title like Deus Ex or Fallout. 

4.  Jagged Alliance 2 Gold - $20 on Steam

If you like turn based combat & squad level tactical RPGs, then you really owe it yourself to play this game.  It's the inspiration for Silent Storm, which was an excellent game until it turned into WW2 Robot Jox at the end. The graphics are heavily dated, but the game is just an overall excellent experience.

[Nerf]

I'm lazy and don't play RTS, so you get 1)

Global Operations - $6.49 on amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/102-9877026-2096122?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=global+operations)

Great maps, class selection, one of the best squad shooters I've played.  The graphics are a bit shitty, but it's an old game.  If there are still any mutliplayer servers hosted, it's always good for hours of fun and can get alot more involving and competetive than TF2 and CS, tactics are actually pretty fucking worthwhile.

[IainC]

1: I don't really play FPS games so you have no reason at all to be listening to anything I have to say on the subject. I think the last FPS game I played was Goldeneye on the N64.
2: RTS. Defcon. A somewhat macabre game that was less that 20USD when it was released. Basically it's chess with nuclear arsenals and a timer.
3: RPG. I recently rebought Baldur's Gate 2 and the expansion in a fit of weakness. At 4am I remembered I needed to go to work the next day. D&D done right.
4: Editor's Choice: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. Can be installed as a stand alone game or as an expansion to DoW: Winter Assault (more playable armies if you have this). Risk + 40k armies = win as far as I'm concerned.

edit - because vbcode is hard

[sidereal]

1) Freedom Fighters
2) Not an RTS fan, but Rise of Legends has a cool steampunk thing going on
3) Freedom Force
4) I was going to say Grim Fandango but evidently it's some kind of collector's item now and is expensive, so Massive Assault

[caladein]

1) Max Payne Bundle - It's not awesome fantastic, but it's one of the few single-player FPSs I enjoyed.

2) Rise of Nations Gold - It's better than Rise of Legends, and the DoW Platinum Edition is $30.

3) Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - Way too good for $20, simple.  The community patches make it even better.  Also, both Baldur's Gates + expansions are $20 so that's a good runner-up.

4) Puzzle Quest - $20.  Addictive.  Match 3 + Ding + Lewtz + Grats.

[Stormwaltz]

Flight sim: Space okay? Try the player-modded source code release FreeSpace 2, which is free. Or grab the the BSG mod, Beyond the Red Line - which is also free.

I've seen 1C's Pacific Fighters for $10 in closeout bins. But that one's seriously hardcore. Adjust your propeller pitch and oil mixture hardcore.

[Sky]

Just bought STALKER for $19. Need to grab a copy of 1701AD at $18 but blew the money on an out-of-print 1973 book of blues transcriptions. STALKER has been talked about here. 1701AD is a series I like out of Europe, city-builder/trade-sim/rts.

BF2142 is $17. Company of Heroes is $20.

I'll second the Freedom Force v 3R, but realize it has AIDS. Great game, though.

[Mrbloodworth]

I am going to break the format here. Sorry.

I recently purchased a copy of freelancer. Started playing, then realized there must be mods for it (As i and all my friends already played the multi player).

Low and behold, there is a quite healthy community. And one impressive MOD that adds a metric fuckton of content and new abilities (like capital ships).

Freelancer can be bought for about $9, and the mods is free (Complete with server stuff, we have one up).



Edit: Spelling and grammar.

[Azazel]

ok, I'll buy it.

I played an "Aharr, matey" version when I was younger and it was an okay game. I've been eyeing the legit versions for awhile now since they're so cheap.

[Mortriden]

Oh god.  I played Freelancer for a long time.  Built my own mods, that game owned my life. 

The single player campaign is great for just getting yourself into the game and learning the differences between the guns; but it's totally the player created mods that make that game so amazing. 

Must resist...

[MrHat]

CheapAssGamer, via neogaf:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238882

Circuit City Blowout on PC Games!! #1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First of all, this is shamelessly stolen from CAG. But I missed this sale the first time and they're running the 50 percent off all PC games under 19.99 again this week. So I figured I'd repost it for those who don't frequent CAG.

Note that almost none of the games have the correct stickers in the store. I picked up Dark Messiah Special Edition, Sid Meier's RailRoads, Doom 3, Doom 3: Resurrection, D.I.R.T., and Company of Heroes for 42.16 after tax (and only Railroads was marked at its pre-50 percent off price.

I'm also thinking Circuit City is discontinuing PC games. A new Circuit City opened a couple miles away last week and the store is radically different than the other Circuit City stores around. It's a very open floorplan where everything kind of flows into one. And though I didn't look that hard, I didn't see a PC game section (Though it's possible I may have missed it.)

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=169458

18 Wheels of Steel: Haulin - $0.42
2006 FIFA World Cup - $4.66
Act of War: High Treason - $2.33
Age of Mythology: Gold Edition - $10.00
Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales - $1.00
Alien Shooter Vengeance - $2.19
Ankh - $2.00
Armed & Dangerous - $2.50
Battlefield 2: Booster Pack Collection - $3.50
Battlefield 2: Deluxe Edition - $4.66
Battlefield 2: Special Forces - $4.66
Battlefield 1942 (Complete Collection) - $3.50
Battlefield 2142 - $10.00
Beowulf - $10.00
Black & White 2 - Battle of the Gods - $3.00
Blazing Angels 2 - $7.50
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood - $8.00
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - $6.48
Call of Duty 2 - Game of the Year - $10.00
Call of Juarez - $5.00
City of Heroes: Combined (This has both Heroes and Villians in one package) - $10.00
City of Villians Time Card - $8.98
Combat Mission Anthology - $7.50
Command & Conquer Collection - $10
Command & Conquer Generals Deluxe - $10
Company of Heroes (Not the Game of the Year Edition) - $10.00
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts - $10.00
Counter-Strike: Source - $10.00
Crashday - $7.50
Culpa Innata - $10.00
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - $5.48
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (Collectors Edition) - $4.12
Darkstar One - $5.00
Darwinia - $1.29 or $1.40
DEFCON - $8.50
Desperate Housewives - $4.00
Deus Ex: Invisible War - $0.25
Diablo II - $10.00
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction - $10.00
DIRT (racing one) - $8.50
DIRT - Origin of the Species - $6.90
DNA - $2.19
Driver: Parallel Lines - $6.98
Dungeon Siege II - $8.98
Dynasty League Baseball - $7.50
EA Strategy Collection - $2.74
Elder Scrolls: Shivering Isles - $7.50
Elf Super Bowling Collection (This was the title I found on Gamespot) - $3.98
Fable: The Lost Chapters - $8.00
Faces of War - $4.66
Fate - $9.98
FEAR - $4.66
FEAR: Extraction Point - $3.29
FEAR: Perseus Mandate $10.00
Flatout 2 - $7.50
Flight Simulator 2004 - $10.00
Freedom Force - $3.01
Freelancer - $4.99
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords - $5.00
Galactic Civilization: Ultimate Edition - $2.49
Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter - $7.50
Gothic 3 - $3.00
GTR: Game of the Year Edition - $2.50
GTR 2 - $2.00
GTR 2: Game of the Year Edition - $7.50 or $10.00
GTR FIA Racing - $2.50
Guild Wars Nightfall (Collector's Edition) - $9.48
Half-Life 2: Episode One - $3.50
Halo - $10.00
Hard Truck: 18 Wheels of Steel - $1.50
Heroes of Might and Magic V - $7.50
Jericho - $8.50
IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 - $10.00
It's the Big Game, Charlie Brown - $6.00
Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green - $5.00
Left Behind: Eternal Forces - $3-4
Legos Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy - $10.00
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth - $5.00
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 - $3.50 or $5.00
Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Rise of the Witch-King - $2.30
Maelstrom - $4.60
Magic Match - $4.66
Medal of Honor Allied Assault - $3.00
Micro Machines V4 - $4.33
Need for Speed Carbon - $1.87
Need for Speed Most Wanted - $5.00
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer - $10.00
Oasis - $2.50
Overlord - $8.50
Paradise - $8.00
Perimeter - $2.33
Perimeter:Emperer's Testament - $4.66
Police Quest - $4.xx (Is this the collection one as well?)
Police Quest Collection - $7.50 (YMMV)
Prey - $5.50 or $6.50
Prey Limited Edition (The big metal tin) - $8.00
Puzzle Quest - $10
Rag Doll Kung Fu - $5
Rainbow Six Vegas - $10.00
Rayman 10th Anniversary Collection - $8.99
Rayman 3 Pack - $4.50
Rayman Raving Rabbids - $8.00
Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 - $8.00
Resident Evil 4 - $10.00
Rise of Nations - $2.50
Rise of Nations: Gold Edition - $10.00
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends $9.00
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack - $10.00
Shadowgrounds - $3.58
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - $9.98
Sid Meier's Railroads! - $4.12
Silent Hunter - $8.00
Sim City 4: Deluxe Edition - $9.98
Silverfall - $8.98 or $10.00
SiN Episodes - $5.00
Soliders: Heroes of World War II - $1.00
Space Quest - $4.xx (which version is this?)
SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars - $4.66 Starforce on Europe version
Splinter Cell Double Agent - $3.75
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - $10.00
StarCraft Battle Chest - $10.00
Star Trek: Legacy - $4.60
Star Wars Empire at War (Not Collection one) - $8.00
Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventure - $2.59
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse - $4.98
Sweet Tooth (Bejewelled clone) - $3.50
Sword of the Stars - $8.50
Syberia Saga Limited Edition - $2.35
The Chosen: Well of Souls - $8.50
The Movies - $4.66
The Movies: Stunts & Effects Expansion - $9.98
The Punisher - $1.90
The Ship - $2.35
Titan Quest - $5.00 (YMMV) - $7.50
Titan Quest: Immortal Throne - $10.00
Tomb Raider Legend - $8.00
Trainz Railwayz - $10.00
Wizard's War Chest [Contains Evil Islands, Etherlords, & Etherlords II] $5.00
World of Warcraft - $10.00
X-COM: UFO Game Double Pack - $8.98

I'm lazy but theres goodies in there.

[Mrbloodworth]

Re:Freelancer

Apparently the global server was shut down by microsoft a while back. I can however post what you need to mod, and connect to our server if anyone is interested.

Freelancer - $4.99

[rk47]

Stalker is  , preview Fallout 3 in Russia with no plot, yet full of gritty gunfights and mini loot elements! Turn off music. Crank up the volume and soak in the atmosphere. Listen to the Geiger or die.

[Sky]

I actually went and read the book it was based on, though I haven't seen the movie yet. Too bad they didn't stick with the alien theme, though.

[rk47]

for RPG..i recommend Jagged Alliance 2. I know people call it squad tactic game, but there's plenty of stat level ups and epic loot (sniper rifles & cash) to make it felt like a modern setting rpg. If you can find it somewhere, definitely get the v1.13 mod for a much better weapons and experience.

[Engels]

I'll pick up the slack in the Flight Sim dept and recommend IL-2 Stumovik 1946. To date, its the best WW2 flight combat sim out there in terms of replayability. The number of planes you can fly rivals anything MS has put out. It has 2 main theatres, the Pacific and Russia/Eastern Europe. The graphics in terms of terrain are good, but not quite as good as MS's, but the plane graphics and art are superior, as is their rendering of explosions and kinetic impact.

Here's a sample video of gameplay footage

Here's a few other details to recommend it;

Progressive 'quests' with upgrades. As you complete missions you seamlessly get to fly more powerful planes with different loadouts and growing levels of responsibility. At first you're a simple wingman to stave off an arial assault, 3 ranks later you're orchestrating the tactics of 4 squadrons.

The interface for squadron command is a fairly easy to use toggled menu with numbered hotkeys 1-9 for menus, submenus and the specific command. For example: <Squadron Menu> slect <formation> select <tighten formation>

The physics are scalable from hair trigger realism to fun sloppy shoot-em-up no-cares zoom fest. The enemy AI is also scalable, from novice to ace. The AI is also beholden to the laws of physics, to such a degree that you can decide that the Ace setting is too hard against a Spitfire, so you can put the enemy Ace into a BF109 to see if you have better luck. As you can imagine, with dozens of planes to chose from, the replayabilty is enormous.

Truely dramatic action. Shoot up a Henkel bomber, then fly by close as it arcs towards the ground engulfed in flame. Slow down the time factor by 4 and watch the enemy bomber pilots open their hatches and bail out of their burning plane in slow motion.

God, I sound like I work for the damned company, but I don't. I've just been playing this flight sim for the last 3 years and I overflow with love for Maddox games for it.

So, if you've ever enjoyed a combat flight sim before, this will be the easiest $10 choice you can make.

[Azazel]

How arcadeish-friendly is Stumovik?

Taking off and landing? etc.

[Engels]

How arcadeish-friendly is Stumovik?

Taking off and landing? etc.

Quite friendly. In any section of the game, be it custom made battles where you pick your squadrons and the enemy squadrons, you can toggle off take off and landing. You start the event in the air and can end it in the air. Same thing goes for missions and campaigns. Its sort of necessary unless you really know what you're doing because although take off is pretty straight forward, landing most of WW2 planes is pretty difficult.

Landing is still a fun mini-game. Pick a Royal Australian Airforce Hurricane and try to land it on one of their sea carriers, having to aim just right and hitting the tail hook at just the right moment is quite a cool accomplishment in this game.

But all of that is optional.

[Lucas]

What about Ion Storm's Anachronox ?

[Yegolev]

Baldur's Gate I and II, Jagged Alliance 2 Gold and IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles (sequel) are on GameTap.

I swear I don't work for them.

[Engels]

Just a quick note: IL2-Sturmovik 1946 includes all prior version of IL2. The original, Forgotten Battles, the Pacific Theatre, the P2 expansion and then the alternate future planes.

[Azazel]

I am going to break the format here. Sorry.

I recently purchased a copy of freelancer. Started playing, then realized there must be mods for it (As i and all my friends already played the multi player).

Low and behold, there is a quite healthy community. And one impressive MOD that adds a metric fuckton of content and new abilities (like capital ships).

Freelancer can be bought for about $9, and the mods is free (Complete with server stuff, we have one up).

My legit copy of Freelancer arrived like 2 days ago. What do I need to download besides the Discovery mod (patches, etc), then what else do I need to do?

ta.

[Hoax]

You get a blue name at what, 100 biifs Az?   

Looking forward to more reviews for the stuff that isn't BG/Masquerade that I've never heard of.

[Azazel]

Heh, maybe.

I started writing a BiiF of Burnout Paradise, but I'm at almost 1000 words so far, with more to go. Simply because the game has a fuckload of stuff in it to talk about, good and bad. I guess I'll submit it as a "real" review, when it's done later this weekend.