Steam Summer Sale Buying Guide

[lamaros]

In the end:

Bastion (a letdown, doubt I'll play much more of it)
Crusader Kings II (already bought SOI and played 33 hours...)
Fallout NV Ultimate (never played this, should I turn off the DLC for my first run through?)
Legend of Grimrock (combat system kinda sucks IMO)

I'd say I already have (or will have) value for money from every title, so I'm happy with that.

[Llyse]

In true Steam fashion I haven't even installed any of them and continue to just play DotA 2.

This...

End result:

• Crusader Kings II

Stuff I missed:

• Fallout NV
• Saints Row 3
• Mount and Blade
• Shogun 2
• Random Indie packs

But on the other hand I still haven't installed Crusader Kings yet so it's a good thing...

[Evildrider]

Hah, day after the sale and saw Jade empire on sale for $3.75 and bought that.   

[Khaldun]

Whoa, Jade Empire at big discount AFTER the sale ends. Sold!

[Bunk]

Ended up with more than I expected to. I went in to it just looking to get Arkham City.

Jade Empire
LA Noire Complete
DNF (it was under $5...)
Pendulo Adventure Pack (5 games)
Arkham City + Expansion
Alan Wake + Expansion
Legend of Grimrock

$62.46 CDN for 11 games and 2 expansions.

[JWIV]

Not as much as I had hoped to spend really - Really wanted to see Gods & Kings  as well as Sins Rebellion go for at least a little more of a discount, so held off.

SpaceChem
Trine 2 CE
Legend of Grimrock
Railworks 3 - Haulin' USA Pack + Acela Express + N-S SD40-2 HighNose

38.39 all in all

On a side note - looks like Amazon is going to be throwing up some sales here shortly as well. 

http://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/x2bd6/upcoming_amazon_726_730/

[sickrubik]

Ah, good, the Bioshock pack will be on sale again.

[HaemishM]

I think I spent around $30. I went in not really needing to buy much so my "It's only $2.50, why not?" impulse got stopped a few times by my "Goddamn, I will NEVER have time to play that" response. I ended up with:

Arkham City Harley Quinn DLC
The entire Alan Wake library ($10 how could I not?)
Just Cause 2 and all DLC
Saint's Row 3 (but held off on the DLC)
Dear Esther (which I've already finished and glad I did)
LA Noire with the DLC

A lot of the indie stuff ran up against that time-factor argument, and the rest was stuff I already had and hadn't played from Christmas.

[Goumindong]

Whoa, Jade Empire at big discount AFTER the sale ends. Sold!

So is the x series.

[Dren]

I picked up Fallout 3 because I wanted NV, but had not played the series yet.  I thought this would help get me into that series.  Man, this game is buggy as hell.  I keep getting random freezing screen/game.  Only way to get out is control-alt-delete and shut down manually.  Been searching for solutions, but looks like there have been problems like this from game launch.  Six years of the issues and they haven't fixed it?  Only fixes I can find are way too complex for me to care about.  Doesn't look like Bethesda is supporting this game, nor really ever did.  Guess I'll give up on the Fallout sereis.  If anyone has a simple fix, let me know.

[HaemishM]

The Void is on sale for $2.49. Tell me if that's worth it.

[Kail]

The Void is on sale for $2.49. Tell me if that's worth it.

Depends what you're looking for.  It's a very, very weird game, I couldn't get into it, but it's definitely unique enough that I don't regret the money I spent on it.  I think it's like the video game equivalent of a weird art house flick, the kind of thing you pick up if you're interested in the medium, just to see what it is and how it works, but it's not likely to suck up days of your time like Battlefield 3 or something.

[trias_e]

The Void is on sale for $2.49. Tell me if that's worth it.

For me one of the favorite games I've ever played.  Yes, it's weird, but it's artistically ambitious and uses the medium in a really fascinating way to deliver its 'message'.  The main reason against buying it is that the game is quite unforgiving and intentionally so.  You have to be willing to deal with a pretty brutal difficulty curve to get into it.  It's rather satisfying once you do, and the difficulty in my opinion is justified (the game wouldn't be the same without it).   If you do end up picking it up, it'll help to conceive of the game more as a resource collection/strategy game, because it is one, even if it doesn't feel like it at all at first.  Have multiple saves, you will need them.   Keep an open mind, as the game thrives on defying expectations.  There are some useful tips in the void review thread on this forum if you do pick it up.

[bhodi]

Honestly, I had more fun watching the let's play than I ever would have playing the game.

[lamaros]

Fallout 3 and NV both 66% off again for the Quakecon sale, for those that missed them in the summer sale.

I got FO3 as I didn't have it on steam + DLC.

[Llyse]

Fallout 3 and NV both 66% off again for the Quakecon sale, for those that missed them in the summer sale.

I got FO3 as I didn't have it on steam + DLC.

Only seems to be 25% here, did I miss it?

[Kail]

Yeah, it was yesterday's special sale for the QuakeCon event.  Sales cycled about five hours after lamaros' post.  Today it's Quake 4 and Doom 3.

[lamaros]

Fallout 1 2 + Tactics on sale for another 3.5 hours.

I didn't realise at first, so bought them all individually and wasted $3.40!

[Signe]

Dead Space and Dead Space 2 for $9.99.  Two for the price of 1/5 of a couple of whole ones!  Does that make sense?

[Hawkbit]

Didn't want to make a thread for it, but what's up with today's sale, A Valley Without Wind?  Any feedback is appreciated.

[HaemishM]

Anybody want a 75% off Portal 2 coupon?

[Furiously]

Sky,  you totally need to get portal 2. Think of the motion sickness the woman will get!

[Kail]

Didn't want to make a thread for it, but what's up with today's sale, A Valley Without Wind?  Any feedback is appreciated.

Dunno if I'm in time here, but may as well.  Haven't played it extensively, there's a Quick Look up at Giantbomb if you want more detail.

Generally, from what I've seen so far, it's mostly a resource gathering/crafting type where you're wandering around harvesting stuff by blasting trees and mushrooms and things to sell to crafters at your home base.  It's very vaguely like Terraria except that you aren't really building houses or mining, just harvesting stuff to sell back at the camp and upgrade.  Control is mainly like Terraria, too, in that you're moving with WASD and aiming with the mouse.  It's EXTREMELY indie, everything has a slightly janky feel and the graphics are among the worst I've ever seen, but it seems to work.

Also, the game has permadeath.  If your character dies once, he's done.  You can keep going in the same world, and your new guy can salvage your old guy's gear if you get to it, but your skills are gone.

Personally, I'm not nuts about it, it just doesn't click for me.  It's really, really weird, there's not much explanation of what's going on, and the whole "permadeath" thing makes me nervous to learn too much on my own.  I don't hate it or anything, it's just that if there's anything tremendously interesting or engaging about it I haven't found it yet in the ~45 minutes I've given it, it's just been mediocre platforming with shit graphics and an awkward UI.  I keep feeling like there's something there, so if someone else jumps in and says "you're doing it wrong" they're probably right, but I'm not feeling it so far.

[Sky]

Sky,  you totally need to get portal 2. Think of the motion sickness the woman will get!

Yeah, I do at some point. I has no monies, even for a 75% off cheapo. I'm for reals broke thanks to getting back into painting minis.

So also little time for gaming, I'll be in the den painting a lot this winter.

[Sky]

My fiancee dreams of a valley without wind IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

[Azazel]

 

[lamaros]

Deux Ex: HR 75% off through to the 18th

[pxib]

Gateways is a little indie platformer I picked up on a whim because it was $3.99 (until September 20th) and looked fun. Basically Metroid meets Portal with all sorts of stupid twists only comprehensible in 2D. Solving the time travel puzzles, for example, is an excellent combination of brain-bending planning and nail-biting execution. The only challenge I found frustrating rather than invigorating was navigating around the complex... and that was because I hadn't looked at the instructions and learned there was a map available by pressing 'M'.

About as long as Braid, a third the cost and less than a hundredth the pretense. I recommend.