...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 9

Day-[9] hype!

Transistor - £11.24

 

"Discover the world of Transistor, a sci-fi-themed action RPG from the creators of Bastion."

Oh god I love this game so much that I want to marry the soundtrack! If you want a full breakdown of this then you can check out a review I wrote for it right HERE. To summarize however Transistor is a Sci-fi themed RPG from Supergiant games who also brought you Bastion, you play as Red and you awake in the streets to find the Transistor (your sword) and the two of you head off on an amazing adventure figuring out what's happened, listening to the beautiful soundtrack courtesy of Darren Korb, and stopping every once in a while to take in the stunning environment. Despite the game not having much in terms of replayability I really think that it's still worth it for this price 100%.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/237930/

PAYDAY 2 - £4.59

"PAYDAY 2 is an action-packed, four-player co-op shooter that once again lets gamers don the masks of the original PAYDAY crew - Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and Chains - as they descend on Washinton DC for an epic crime spree."

This game can be incredibly fun and violently frustrating and unfair all at the same time. You and your crew of either friends, strangers or AI will attempt to steal various quantities of money, cocaine, servers and such without getting killed brutally. The problem is that for somebody brand new to the game the only choice is to go in guns blazing and try to survive because you effectively stealth the heists in this game you need certain perks from the talent tree which are pretty high up. That having been said however, it's a lot of fun especially with your friends on teamspeak, it will all be going well and no-one will know you're drilling a vault open then BAM a civilian sees one of your friends, gets shot and then the police turn up to ruin your day even more. Very much fun. There's beginning to be a mountain of DLC for this game all of which you can get for an extra £10.08 and that includes The Big Bank Heist which came out a week or two ago and as far as value for money goes the £15ish it will cost for everything gets you a hell of a lot.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/218620/

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Directors Cut - £3.24

"You play Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist who's been handpicked to oversee the defensive needs of one of America's most experimental biotechnology firms. Your job is to safeguard company secrets, but when a blackops team breaks in and kills the very scientists you were hired to protect, everything you thought you knew about your job changes."

Deus Ex is one of those go to franchises for PC gamers, many are the nerds that will regale you with stories of how amazing the original game was, how it changed the future of gaming and in turn, the world. Some of them will also tell you how this recent one ruins everything they ever loved and practically murdered their families. I however, never played the first Deus Ex but I did play this so I'll tell you that it's a great game, it's a lot of fun planning out your access into the building through the vent on the roof then sneaking past the guard then thinking "Ah bugger it" and ditching all of that to run in guns out and super-punch people to death. The cyber-punk future setting is really well done and as you'd expect the world is very neon green. Personally I think Adam Jensen is a twat but that's just me and probably attributed to how I played him in the game (as a twat), it's a very good mix of action and RPG.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/238010/

Deal of the Day

 It's so damn lovely! I can't not recommend this, it may not be the longest game (clocking in at about 4 hours) but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't one of the best games I've played recently. The combat system is intuitive and new, the enemy and world design is fantastic and the soundtrack is musical sex. Supergiant games have already got such a good track record now between this and Bastion that I can't wait to see what they do next.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/237930/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 8

AWOLGaben

Civilization V - £4.99/£11.54

"Create, discover, and download new player-created maps, scenarios, interfaces, and more!"

First things first, this game is fan-god-damn-tastic. If you've been living under a bridge for the past few years then here's what you've missed - Civilization is the classic turn-based, 4X strategy with all your favourite political leaders through time: George Washington, Genghis Khan, Mahatma Gandhi etc. In Civ V you will wage war over giant maps against multiple enemies and wipe then all out so that you rule the world, or you can let them wipe each other out and sneak the victory away by getting into space first. It's an absolute class franchise and with Steam Workshop support the experience is constantly changing and evolving. I would advise that you spend a few more pennies and pick up all the DLC packs including Brave New World which adds a whole set of new systems and changes a lot of the meta, the majority of Civ fans can attest to how good that expansion is.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/8930/   

Dishonored - £2.49

"Dishonored is an immersive first-person action game that casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge, With Dishonored's flexible ombat system, creatively eliminate your targets as you combine the supernatural abilities, weapons and unusual gadgets at your disposal."

Ahhh Dishonored, this game is really good and one of those games which serves as a reminder that there's more to gaming than shooty shooty bang bang, there's also stabby stabby sneak bang. You are Corvo, victim of the most obvious set-up in history and you must work to clear your name and avenge your ladies killer. Depending on how you choose to play, either stealthy or loud and proud, your world may slowly begin to fill with what are basically zombies for a reason I don't entirely remember. Either way this game is great and I had a blast with it because teleporting around and stabbing people is always fun, it's also worth picking up the Knife of Dunwall DLC as I hear very good things about it and it sounds like The Brigmore Witches is more of the same which is probably good.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/205100/

Left 4 Dead 2 - £3.74

"Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) is the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning Left 4 Dead, the #1 co-op game of 2008. This co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns."

This game. Easily the best example of zombie murdering in my opinion, following up on the incredibly popular first game L4D2 adds even more to the formula including different ammo types, melee weapons and of course new zombies. I didn't play as much of this as I did the first game but it's definitely one of those things you can keep going back to and have ridiculous fun with and for this low a price you should really own it. Also, fuck clowns. Evil bastards.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/550/

Deal of the Day

It's got so much going for it! So much mod support and campaign and fun with friends and getting your shit ruined by barbarians all day. You'll find the hours just fly by as you enter the 3am stage of "Just one more turn", minutes into hours into days into weeks into years into Civ. I can't recommend it enough, I've put nearly a hundred or so hours into it and I still find myself going back to try doing things differently (trying to get a cultural victory as Genghis Khan, not easy).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/8930/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 7

Cut down to what I know...

So I cut out all the games I know nothing/very little about/haven't played because what's the point? Here's what I do know though...

The Banner Saga - £9.49

"Live through an epic role-playing Viking saga where your strategic choices directly affect your personal journey. Make allies as you travel with your caravan across this stunning yet harsh landscape. Carefully choose those who will help fight a new threat that jeopardizes an entire civilization."

The Banner Saga is an incredibly striking game visually, the art style is fantastic. Every choice you make has some effect on the outcome of your story as time goes on which is a great mechanic which I love, feeling like what you're doing actually matters is something games need to do more. It's worth picking this up just for the soundtrack because Austin Wintory, who wrote the frankly gorgeous music for Journey, absolutely nailed it with this one which should surprise no-one.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/237990/
 
Counter-Striker: Global Offensive - £5.99

"Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched 12 years ago. CS:GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.)."

Come on, this series is synonymous with PC gaming now so you should know what it is. It's a classic piece of team-based FPS where depending on the map you're either rescuing hostages, killing the rescuers, planting a bomb or defusing said bomb. That's just scratching the surface though because in CS:GO they've built in a few more interesting game modes that were popular in CS:Source such as Gun Game (now called Arms Race), not to mention the fact that there's all the community made maps and game modes like Surf and zombie. There's so much going on for this game and it's hard to see this franchise going away since it's been here for 15 years, if you want a different experience to CoD or Battlefield this is it for you.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/730/


Bioshock Infinite - £4.99

"Indebted to the wrong people, with his life on the line, veteran of the U.S. Cavalry and now hired gun, Booker DeWitt has only one opportunity to wipe his slate clean. He must rescue Elizabeth, a mysterious girl imprisoned since childhood and locked up in the flying city of Columbia."

What a game, a great example of top notch story telling. Not however a great example of gunplay and waves of enemies..I liked Bioshock Infinite a lot and I didn't like or finish Bioshock 1 or 2. Elizabeth is one of the best characters I've seen in a AAA title and the way she interacts with the world and the fact that she doesn't get in the way during combat is great, not only that but the way the story is delivered through narrative and the few dozen audio-logs means that you have to put the time in to find these to start to understand the depth of the story. It's definitely worth picking up the season pass with this game because the Burial at Sea DLC is game changing. I actually reviewed this on my YouTube channel so if you want a more in-depth look at it then click HERE

http://store.steampowered.com/app/8870/


Final Fantasy XIV- £3.39

"FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Windows PC and PlayStation3 that invites you to explore the realm of Eorzea with friends from around the world. Form a party and adventure with a multitude of players from across the globe."

Well god damn this is a fine looking game! I will keep this one short though because it's hard to sell an MMO in a couple of paragraphs. It's an MMO set in the world of Final Fantasy where you choose one of several classes, and start your adventure in probably the prettiest world I've seen in an MMO. One of the unique aspects of this game is the job system which if you're familiar with the franchise isn't new to you but if you're not basically think of it like evolving your class, so a Lancer becomes a Dragoon, a conjurer becomes a White Mage etc. It's a great mechanic that changes how your class plays and the role it plays in groups, the other great thing is that you can be everything on one character. What that means is that my one manface can be every class and every profession in the game and yes that would take you quite a long time BUT being able to do everything on one character is fantastic. Before you decide on this one you should look for a proper in-depth review of some form because sadly I don't think there's a free trial and I can't cover everything here..maybe I should review it...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262342/

Deal of the Day

The story and characters alone are enough for me to recommend this game especially at this price. Despite the less than spectacular gunplay it's truly a good game and you've got to get the Season Pass so you can play the DLC and expand the story and the universe even more.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/8870/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 6

Sorry I was raiding....

Good thing these deals last for 48 hours eh. Either way there's no one game you should buy so here's all the ones you should consider/spend all your money on...

Torchlight II - £3.74

"The award-winning action RPG is back, bigger and better than ever! Torchlight II takes you back into the quirky, fast-paced world of bloodthirsty monsters, bountiful treasures, and sinister secrets - and, once again, the fate of the world is in your hands!"

For those not in the know Torchlight II is a Diablo style point, click and die game but unlike Diablo which is all grim and dark and about evily evil, Torchlight is a bit brighter in terms of world design. Yes the story is still about stopping evil in one way or another but doing so in a much more colourful world makes a difference. On it's own Torchlight II is a fairly standard experience but it also happens to be incredibly moddable with a huge modding scene where you can get new classes, dungeons and even an entire overhaul/expansion mod that changes just about everything in the game and adds raids, armor sets and more. If you're looking for an action experience but don't want to shell out for Diablo III then this is definitely for you. 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/200710/

Fallout New Vegas: Ultimate Edition - £5.09

"Welcome Back to New Vegas! Jump in with this complete set that includes all of the acclaimed add-on content."
 

Fallout 3 was great I think we can all agree but it had some shortcomings, like the story. New Vegas
on the other hand has a pretty good story that will take you all over this big ass wasteland killing everyone you meet (or not). You know what this game is and for £5.09 you get all the DLC so there's no complaining. Hey if you get bored you can do what I always do and open the console and dick around with point values and turn yourself into a god who explodes people when he punches them...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/2028016/

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons - £2.19

"Guide two brothers on an epic fairy tale journey from visionary Swedish film director, Josef Fares and top-tier developer Starbreeze Studios. Control both brothers at once as you experience co-op play in single player mode, like never before."

Buy it. Buy it now. This game for this price, or any price for that matter, is fantastic. Not only is it one of the most visually beautiful games I've played but it also delivers its story like no other game, controlling both brothers helps to pull you into the narrative and you very quickly become engrossed in the setting and story. It's a game that can say a thousand words without any dialogue. I know you've spent more money on far worse things than this so finish reading and go buy this game and if you don't own a controller to play it with, get one.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/225080/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 5

Change Places!

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition - £4.99

"Dark Souls will be the most deeply challenging game you play this year. Can you live through a million deaths and earn your legacy?"

Well I'd stand a better chance of attaining my legacy if this game wasn't such a terrible port. Praise the people who made DSFix which you will absolutely need if you plan on picking up this incredibly challenging running-into-a-brick-wall simulator. Honestly though you're better off waiting for Dark Souls II to drop in price during this sale which I'd wager it will.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/211420/

FTL: Advanced Edition - £2.79

"This spaceship simulation rogue-like allows you to take your ship and crew on an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy filled with glory and bitter defeat"

FTL is a top down tactical roguelike where you jump from planet to planet engaging pirates and either defeating them so you can live to fight another day or getting blown to shit and having to start all over again, should you manage to make it all the way to the end you'll be faced with the mother of all pirate ships and if you're not sufficiently prepared then you may as well just exit the game then and there. Given that recently a free expansion was released which included new races, events, weapons, ships and loads more you definitely can't complain about paying £2.79 for this and you can even mod it if you're really crazy and want more of a challenge.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/

Nether - £2.19

"Nether is a first-person urban survival experience unlike any other. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Nether forces players to make life-saving decisions in a fast-paced struggle against players and the environment. Join tribes to battle for territory. Scavenge, craft, trade and loot your way to stay alive another day."

This is what I imagine the result would look like if S.T.A.L.K.E.R and DayZ had a bastard child. The reviews on the Steam page are relatively high, though they are from people I've never heard of like Cramgaming or GodisaGeek...The idea of the game is great as it is with all these games but the market is already so flooded with DayZ clones that you're better off just not bothering. Probably give this one a miss, I couldn't say for sure but I bet you could put the £2.19 to better use

http://store.steampowered.com/app/247730/

Rogue Legacy - £2.74

"Rogue Legacy is a genealogical rogue-"LITE" where anyone can be a hero. Each time you die, your child will succeed you. Every child is unique. One child might be colourblind, another might have vertigo-- they could even be a dwarf. That's OK, because no one is perfect, and you don't have to be perfect to win this game."

A rogue-like with a twist, the genealogical aspect definitely makes things a lot more interesting since two characters are rarely alike which alters how you have to play to survive. This game got a lot of love from reviewers and the community and the fact that it's only £2.74 means you can't argue because there are few better ways to spend that amount of money.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/241600/

Saints Row IV - £7.49

"The US President must save the Earth from alien overlord Zinyak using an arsenal of superpowers and strange weapons in the wildest open world game ever. The epic conclusion to the game that changed all the rules!"

Changed all the rules and implemented flying and lightning speed mechanics thus eliminating the need to ever buy, drive or customize a car ever again. Until your NPC partners need to drive somewhere and you end up being the chauffeur. I love Saints Row, I'll say that now, but this game was probably the weakest I've played. I love how batshit stupid it is and admire them for going as far as they have with it but somewhere in this game it lost its charm to me. That being said, flying around the city and forcing people to twerk with the dub-step gun is great fun, it just grows old a bit too fast. 

http://store.steampowered.com/app/206420/

ARMA III - £17.99

"Experience true combat gameplay in a massive military sandbox. Deploying a wide variety of single and multiplayer content, over 20 vehicles and 40 weapons, and limitless opportunities for content creation, the PC's premier military game series is back. Authentic, diverse, open - Arma 3 sends you to war."

They're not wrong, this game is in a league of it's own when it comes to military simulation. Possibly one of the most gorgeous looking games that has the pleasure of melting my PC every time I play it with one of the most open and powerful content creation tools I've ever seen, the mods people make for this game are insanely detailed and the recent Zeus game mode just proves how powerful the game can be as you assume a god role and set objectives for players whilst trying to stop them with all the spawning power at your fingertips. This is not a game you can just jump into, getting acquainted with the controls is the first impossible hurdle, prepare to have a cheat sheet handy so you can check how to sit on the floor whilst looking down the barrel of your gun, not down the sight, and shuffle forwards on your arse...Did I mention they recently put up a kart-dlc? I just did.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/107410/

Surgeon Simulator 2013 - £1.74

"Surgeon Simulator 2013 is a darkly humorous over-the-top operation sim game where players become Nigel Burke, a would-be surgeon taking life into his own shaky hands, performing life-saving surgical maneuvers on passive patients."

What's that I smell? Is it...I think...Yes, it's the unmistakable smell of YouTube money because that's what this game has become. Using keyboard and mouse you "perform" surgery but because of the nature of the controls it all goes wonky and causes YouTubers to scream on camera and make millions of dollars for no reason. Once you sufficiently ballsed things up make sure you take a screenshot and post it to reddit so everyone can see how much fun you're having...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/233720/

The Lego Movie Videogame - £5.74

"Join Emmet and an unlikely group of resistance fighters in their heroic quest to thwart Lord Business' evil plans - a mission that Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously unprepared for. It's a wild ride with a surprising mix of over 90 playable characters including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Green Ninja, Gandalf, Shakespeare,Cleopatra and more."

That blurb was so disgustingly sweet it gave me diabetes. It's a Lego game which means it's a fairly standard affair by now, also who needs 90 bloody characters besides fighting games. Apparently they're good, people like them, they keep making them and will probably never stop. All glory to Lego!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/267530/   


Insurgency - £4.94

"Take to the streets for intense close quarters combat, where a team's survival depends upon securing crucial strongholds and destroying enemy supply in this multiplayer and cooperative Source Engine based experience."

Will my friends play this with me on a serious level instead of just dicking around? A question I always ask myself with these games because when it comes to tactical FPS gameplay it's hard to rely on random people to have a good time. That having been said for the low price you are getting a hell of a lot out of this game, 17 maps, 9 game modes, 32 player support, bot mode practice, PC and OSX compatible. You don't get half that much stuff in Call of Duty games! I haven't played it but for less than £5 I definitely will and with the 4-pack purchase option all I need to do is find 3 friends to play with..

http://store.steampowered.com/app/222880/

Deal of the Day

 Given the amount you can get out of it if you can put the time in, ARMA III is today's winner. It is an insanely in-depth and complex game with a community that absolutely loves the game more than their own children. If the multiplayer scares you then jump into the bootcamps and various other training scenarios to get better acclimated with the various features of the game, or take it easy and join an RPG server where you can be a civilian, drive around, eat and drink, buy a driving license, get shot from somewhere and not understand why or how.. Or as I mentioned earlier join a Zeus server and play with people trying not to invoke the wrath of god. The potential of this game is incredible and the devs are showing no signs of letting up when it comes to updates and content, ARMA II had tonnes of expansions so the future is very bright for ARMA III.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/107410/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 4

MY PC CRASHED BEFORE I COULD SAVE...

So because I lost a large chunk of my work and I need to address some issues with my PC today, I'll just leave you with the deal of the day..

Deal of the Day

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - £9.99

"Developed by Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames, METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE takes the renowned METAL GEAR franchise into exciting new territory with an all-new action experience. The game seamlessly melds pure action and epic story-telling that surrounds Raiden - a child soldier transformed into a half-human, half-cyborg ninja who uses his High Frequency katana blade to cut through any thing that stands in his vengeful path!"

If that doesn't sell you I don't know what else can really, it's from Kojima (who is batshit crazy) and Platinum (who are also batshit crazy) and it's a game where you can quite literally chop an enemy into a thousand tiny pieces or rip out his spine and drink the fluid...Given the lack of variety on PC when it comes to hack and slash madness games having this around definitely spices things up whilst staying true to form.

If you're umming and ahhing over it I'll give you a few reasons to buy it right now..

1. The soundtrack is an absolute ear-gasm, probably one the most over the top metal soundtracks for a game of this genre with amazing vocals and guitars.

2. There's DLC where you can play as a god damn mech wolf!

3. You throw a Ray over your shoulder like it's not a thousand tonne mech with rail-guns!

4. Nano-machines

It's pretty impossible not to have fun with this game, if you ever get bored at any point you can just find the nearest object and start cutting it up and did I mention you can be a mech wolf!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/235460/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 3

WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Project Zomboid - £6.69

"Project Zomboid is an open-ended zombie-infested sandbox that asks one simple question - how will you die?"

I hope you weren't sick of early access zombie survival games because here's one more for you. You've got to loot houses, build defenses and do whatever you can to delay your death. Despite being in early access the game has a lot going for it already, the Steam page has what I can only assume is a full list of current features including things like having to deal with various emotions such as depression and boredom, full mod support and online mulitplayer survival with persistent player run servers. Small studios with big ideas are always something to get excited about but this is early access, if you're hesitant to throw money at a game without the comfort of knowing it will be finished then you can actually download a demo of the game, what a novel retro idea (that more devs should think of using). My advice is check out the demo, if you like it then great you can probably wait till it's finished, if you love it then buy it and help them make it better. If you hate it nothing is lost.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/108600/

Age of Empires II HD - £3.74

"Age of Empires II has been re-imagined in high definition with new features, trading cards, improved AI, workshop support, multiplayer, Steamworks integration and more!"

I'm sure plenty of you remember this game and already either own it or have written it off as shyte. If that's not the case and you know nothing about this game then let me fill you in, Age of Empires 2 HD is the re-skinned and freshly polished version of Age of Empires 2 which came out in 1999. It's an RTS where you advance your chosen civilization through four Ages and attempt to murder, backstab, trade and barter your way to surviving, though it mostly comes down to wiping people out as most RTS's do. In multiplayer the game is apparently still suffering lag issues though that information could be wrong or the people just had terrible connections. If you know the franchise and you have any kind of love for it then you probably already know if you want this or not, nostalgia is a powerful tool. Also should you wish to inflict your love onto other people you can get the 4-pack for a very reasonable £11.24 which is quite the price drop.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/221380/

Skyrim- £2.49

"EPIC FANTASY REBORN The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose."

Do I need to talk about this? You know what it is, you're probably already singing the theme tune in your head and thinking "man I should reinstall that game". IF you don't own it then you really should because there aren't many games that let you walk around the world yelling at people like some entitled git...okay there are actually lots of games but this one has dragons in it...Again it's worth noting that you can grab the Legendary Edition which includes all the DLC for the game for £6.79. Fus-Ro-NEXT!


http://store.steampowered.com/app/72850/


Terraria - £1.39

"Dig, fight, explore, build! Nothing is impossible in this action-packed adventure game. Four Pack also available!"

Easily the most successful in the long list of "Minecraft clones" though I always feel that Terraria is in a category of it's own because it does a tonne of things Minecraft doesn't. For one it actually has a progression in terms of a loosely woven narrative..and by that I mean it's got loads of bosses to kill and once you kill the big one you enter hard-mode and there's even more bosses to kill etc. I love this game, I've put more hours than I should into it. After a huge stale period where the game was half abandoned by the developers it came back with a colossal update that changed the entire game and revitalised it, now updates are more frequent and the community is just as strong. The biggest problem is that the game doesn't really tell you what to do or how to do it so you should really have that Wiki page open to the side. The biggest failing of Terraria is how hard it can be to get a multiplayer server working from your home but there are numerous articles to help with that.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/105600/


Wasteland 2 - £26.79

"Welcome back to the Citadel, Rangers! Join the over 70,000 Kickstarter backers and interact with the development team to help shape the ending of an already historic post-apocalyptic story. The Wastelands's hellish landscape has been waiting for you to make your mark...or die trying."

Not a huge stretch to say this was one of the biggest Kickstarter campaigns in terms of popularity, 61,290 people pledged $2,933,252 to see the "Godfather of Post-apocalyptic RGPS" come back to life. A turn-based, isometric, story-intensive exploration of the radioactive wastes of the America  Southwest, heavy on choice and consequence. This game is hella unfinished and I do mean hella, the devs are estimating a release by the end of August this year but since it was originally targeted for launch last October we'll have to wait and find out if that holds true. If you are really, and I do mean really, itching for a classic RPG experience then you're better off spending far less on a copy of Fallout 1 or better yet Shadowrun Returns. Sit back and wait for this one because it's not worth buying into right now.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/



The Stanley Parable - £3.99

"The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end."

The most meta of all games, Stanley Parable started life as a Source mod back in 2011 and now it's back again with new content, new ideas and a fantastic demonstration of voice acting from Kevan Brighting. It's pretty damn hard to explain what this game is, or isn't, so I urge you to try out the demo which is available on the Steam page.


http://store.steampowered.com/app/221910/


7 Days to Die: The Survival Horde Crafting Game - £10.44

"Building on survivalist and horror themes, players in 7 Days to Die can scavenge the abandoned cities of the buildable and destructible voxel world for supplies or explore the wilderness to gather raw materials to build their own tools, weapons, traps, fortifications and shelters."

Well if you've seen one you've seen them all. Another zombie survival game in the vein of Rust and DayZ that is as always in Alpha. The idea of a voxel world is interesting as that could allow for some very interesting building when it comes to fortifications and what not but alpha is alpha. Unless you really want to help out with development and by that I mean submit bug reports, find broken things, report all the time then probably pass this one up.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/251570/



Contagion - £3.74

"Contagion isn't your average Zombie Shooter but instead takes a more realistic and different approach to the popular genre with unique characters, environments, weapons, items, and a built in system that makes every round completely unpredictable with resources, objectives, and paths ever changing."

Contagion appears to take the best elements of Left for Dead and add more to them in both co-op and competitive multiplayer, humans can team up or go rogue and kill each other all the while zombies hunt anything with a higher pulse than their own. The game utilizes sound as a survival mechanic and features an Advanced gibbing system which will allow you to blow limbs off and organs outwards, when you're not hiding in the shadows like a scared child that is. There's also a range of game modes and better yet not one but two free DLC bundles coming in 2014, it's nice to see a zombie game that goes back to the fun of killing them, rather than the nightmare of surviving them.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/238430/
 

Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition - £4.99

"Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition includes Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening and all nine content packs."

An oldie and a goodie, Dragon Age is probably one of THE PC games that you should own, it's a fantasy RPG with enough story to cover a few novels and the Awakening DLC adds almost as much content as the original game. You make your own adventure as you follow the story of a world going to shit like most fantasy games and meet dozens of interesting and fleshed out characters along the way. Featuring the classic trifecta of RPGs (Warrior, Mage, Rogue/Archer) each playthrough will be different and the insane amount of conversation options will also have an impact on your characters relationships with NPCs and your party members. Bioware did this game so very right and if you let it take you then you'll be busy for the next few hundred hours and if you get bored of that then you can mod the balls off it and make everyone look like Hatsune Miku if you want...Some people probably want to.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/47810/

Deal of the Day

 

I really like Terraria so I can't not recommend it, more people should play it considering the immeasurable amount of people who play Minecraft. This game has so much depth (HAH) and character and once you get your head around how the world and crafting works you'll find the hours just flying by. It's stupidly cheap as well and costs less than a bottle of Coke on a Virgin train (other brands of caffeinated beverage and rail based transport are available). Go buy it, get a multiplayer game going, play some of the crazy multiplayer modes for it. GO!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/105600/

...SALE - Steam Summer Sale - Day 2

DAY 2 - IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!

Bound by Flame - £17.99

"You are a mercenary possessed by a flame demon in a desperate world ravaged by seven Ice Lords. In this RPG where every choice counts, you will have to choose between unleashing the powers of the beast within and rejecting its demonic influence"

Well if it isn't our old friend the Witcher, well not really but pretty damn close. Another gritty grim-dark RPG world filled with moral choices and magic, there's a big emphasis on customisation and how important it is to craft the right weapon for the right enemy etc. What you get here is the trifecta of RPG classes: Warriors with big swords and hammers and testosterone and beards, Rogues with sneaking and daggers and poisons and crouching and then the Pyromancer with the fire and the melting and the drawing on the demon insides power and such. A fairly standard state of affairs with a nice art style but there are games that do the same job better and for less money on sale.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/243930/

Game Dev Tycoon - £2.79

"In Game Dev Tycoon you replay the history of the gaming industry by starting your own video game development company in the 90s. Create best selling games. Research new technologies and invent new game types. Become the leader of the market and gain worldwide fans."

Fun fact - If you pirated this game it would make it impossible (or near enough) to succeed as pirates would steal your games and you'd make no money. Social commentary 101 right there.

What a fantastic game this is, finally you have the power to create what you always wanted...a Sci-fi sports RPG dating sim! A great example of the good things that can come out of Steam Greenlight and just a great albeit stressful experience. It's one of those games that you can keep installed and just go back to over and over again.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/239820/

State of Decay - £3.74

"The end is here. Life as you knew it has gone to hell after the mother of all zombie outbreaks. Now you and the few scattered survivors must band together to survive and rebuild in a 3rd-person action game set in a dynamic open world"

If you stuck some Walking Dead branding on this game it would have been huge. Started life as an Xbox-360 game much to my disappointment as when I saw it for the first time I wanted it more than coffee, then they slowly but surely brought it to the PC in all it's glory. Zombie survival games are getting a bit stale I grant you what with DayZ and the like but at least this one is finished and has those features you always wanted like base building and other people who won't shoot you immediately. The biggest downfall of this game is that there's no co-op play, it would have absolutely been the icing on the cake for this title but sadly it's a no-go on that front. Still, it's a great single player experience with plenty of zombies to mutilate.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/241540/

Prison Architect - £6.79

"Build and manage a maximum security prison."

Short and sweet description there. Another early access game has made it's way onto the daily deals it seems, despite still being in Alpha this game is already pretty fleshed out with a lot of community love behind it. The basic principle is simple, you get a plot of land on which you must build a holding cell with water and electricity to house your first inmates, you make some money, you hire more guards and build more cells and a kitchen and showers and before you know it you've got your very own San Quintin. If you were a fan of old Bullfrog games like Theme Hospital then you'll be right at home with this

http://store.steampowered.com/app/233450/


Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs - £3.37

"This world is a Machine. A Machine for Pigs. Fit only ffor the slaughtering of Pigs. From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Dear Esther comes a new first-person horror game that will drag you to the depths of greed, power and madness. It will bury its snout into your ribs and it will eat your heart."

Oh how bloody lovely! I think by now everyone knows what Amnesia is, it has made several YouTubers millions of dollers and started a trend for face-cams and horror games. That was the first one though, the sequel however was not that mainly due to the fact that this game was mainly developed by The Chinese Room who brought you Dear Esther, the critically acclaimed Walking Simulator. Fans of the first already know to stay away and newcomers to the series should probably just go play the original and change their pants.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/239200/

Plague Inc: Evolved - £8.03

"Plague Inc: Evolved is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation. Your pathogen has just infected 'Patient Zero' - now you must bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global Plague whilst adapting it against everything humanity can do to defend itself"

Well, any game where you get to wipe out the entire human race is generally a winner to socially-repressed nerds like myself. Starting life as a mobile game and now ending up in early access on Steam isn't always the best thing for a lot of games but this is definitely not something that has been phoned in by the developers, a lot of work has gone into this version. As I said the idea is to wipe humanity from the face of the earth by constantly evolving and mutating your pathogen and the ways in which you can do so are quite in-depth. If you're familiar with the board game Pandemic, this is basically the opposite of that, though I imagine it's still just as hard to win.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/246620/


Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends - £19.99

"Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends introduces entirely new levels of fun to the refreshing gameplay vanquishing swarms of enemies with mighty warriors found in Dynasty Warriors 8"

I don't think this one needs much explaining really, it's THE Chinese genocide simulator where you can hack and slash your way through an entire army with relative ease. A lot of people were irked by the lack of online multiplayer and the game frequently crashed for a lot of people however I think the crashing has been fixed. Other than that I don't really know anything about this game other than the fact that it's probably better on console which slightly hurts to say.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/278080/


The Walking Dead: Season 2 - £9.49

"The Walking Dead: Season 2 continues the story of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the undead apocalypse. Left to fend for herself, she has been forced to learn how to survive in a world gone mad. Many months have passed since the events seen in Season One of The Walking Dead, and Clementine is searching for safety."

An emotional roller-coaster of a franchise from Telltale. Please be aware that the £9.49 listed above will get you access to all 5 episodes of the game however only episodes 1-3 are currently out.

Season two is somewhat obviously the follow up to Season One which was a colossal success amongst fans and non-fans causing many of them to break down into tears about the horrendous decisions they had to make in order to survive. Very much a point and click adventure with a story that you need to be invested in where every choice you make can have an effect on the world and characters around you. Worth noting that for £4.74 you can pick up the Season One in its entirety which is definitely worth the money.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/261030/

RPG Maker VX Ace - £12.49

"RPG Maker VX Ace improves every aspect of RPG creation, making it not only the latest, but also the greatest engine in the RPG Maker Series."

It goes without saying that this is not actually a game...I said it anyway.

If you've ever thought back nostalgically to your youth playing old Final Fantasy games and such and thought "I would love to create a world like this" then now's your chance. £12.49 gets you access to a very in-depth game engine where you can create characters, worlds, events, story, everything you'd ever want in an RPG. What it doesn't come with is a great tutorial to get you acquainted with the features but that's where Google comes in to save the day as usual. This could be how you take your first steps into game design and maybe even end up with your RPG on Steam. Or you can use it to create fanfic style scenarios with your favourite characters from your favourite universe...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/220700/

Deal of the Day

It's hard not to recommend The Walking Dead games since they're so well done. If you played Season One you most likely already own Season Two and if you haven't played Season One then go get it because like I said a few paragraphs ago, it's £4.74 which is cheaper than a Subway sandwich so don't argue.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/261030/