**OFFICIAL** Steam Xmas sale is LIVE thread (and in progress)

[pontifex]

nothing against ponti, but people have been hating on that game from launch (and its like a hivemind). honestly, it is a very good game if you like to blast the hell out of people, and you are good at shooting the hell out of people.

my review has nothing to do with "hive mind." if it was, my reviews of games would be completely different - I've not liked games that everyone else seems to love (HL2, Crysis) and I've liked games that others seem to hate (MW2).

As soon as the game started I had to double check that the graphics settings I set saved because everything was "jaggy" and the textures are bad.

Had to set audio to stereo because I couldn't hear the voices at 5.1 (and I have 5.1 onboard audio and speakers).

Gameplay is extremely linear, leaving very little or usually no variation in how to get to your objective.

You fight a couple enemies and move to the next spot and then fight a few more, rinse, repeat.

AI is pretty bad and generally just hides behind one spot and peaks around or shoots over the top of the cover. Shooting the enemies doesn't even feel very satisfying and of course they've stolen ideas from the CoD games.

It just doesn't feel like a big budget game.

 

[Specop 007]

If you're interested there's a mod out for Railroads! called intercontinental: http://www.moddb.com/mods/sid-meiers-railroads-intercontinental which adds 200MPH trains, new maps which are larger, new cargo and a few other items.

Awesome!! Good lookin out! Thanks!

 

[Barfo]

I got the Indie Flight Pack because Dog Fighter looks a lot like Crimson Skies (which refuses to run on modern hardware). Now I have to either get a xbox pad or stick with crappy kb/m, I'm disappointed so far.

Anyone got the Fright Pack? I was thinking of getting that too, but I'm not sure now.

 

[Barfo]

Last week's top sellers today as expected.

I guess I'll grab that indie pack and call it a day :|

I regret not getting meatboy and the Stalker pack. Oh well, it's not like I don't have a big pile of games waiting to be played.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

my review has nothing to do with "hive mind." if it was, my reviews of games would be completely different - I've not liked games that everyone else seems to love (HL2, Crysis) and I've liked games that others seem to hate (MW2).

As soon as the game started I had to double check that the graphics settings I set saved because everything was "jaggy" and the textures are bad.

Had to set audio to stereo because I couldn't hear the voices at 5.1 (and I have 5.1 onboard audio and speakers).

Gameplay is extremely linear, leaving very little or usually no variation in how to get to your objective.

You fight a couple enemies and move to the next spot and then fight a few more, rinse, repeat.

AI is pretty bad and generally just hides behind one spot and peaks around or shoots over the top of the cover. Shooting the enemies doesn't even feel very satisfying and of course they've stolen ideas from the CoD games.

It just doesn't feel like a big budget game.

that is exactly the same thing every other review says about the game....and how can shooting someone not be satisfying? their heads explode into a thousand pieces and splatter blood everywhere...

 

[pontifex]

that is exactly the same thing every other review says about the game....and how can shooting someone not be satisfying? their heads explode into a thousand pieces and splatter blood everywhere...

ok, whatever...

considering i haven't read any reviews on the game, this must mean that it's true.

 

[Texashiker]

I dont know about yall, but I think this years deals were not near as good as last years.

2009 - 2010: I remember valve focusing on a lot of top notch games and their packages. Like the ID package being something like $21, and the epic package having a better pricae last year.

2010 - 2011: It seems that valve was more focused on low rated, or lesser known games. The few exceptions might have been star wars, left 4 dead 2, and the stalker package.

Like Borderlands for example - where are the sales on the expansions?

It just seems to me that the majority of the sales this year were a flopp.

Maybe they will do an encore monday?

 

[Phynaz]

They were all half off last week.

 

[KeithTalent]

I don't know, I fell as if I did pretty well; I almost never purchase games on release, so I needed to catch up:

Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Bioshock 2
Fallout 3
Hitman Package
Mafia II
Borderlands

Now to find the time to play them all!

KT

 

[mingsoup]

I wonder if there will be an encore.......hmmmmm. Wondering if I should pick up the stuff I held out for or missed.
Anybody for last minute suggestions? Games that may never have gone front page such as things like PB Winterbottom or Torchlight

 

[Powermoloch]

blarrgh, i bought 130+ games last year (2010)...finished a few so far

 

[sash1]

well. one last purchase since i had $7 in my paypal account

got the indie fright pack. the games look like they could be pretty fun

 

[GullyFoyle]

Jan 02 Deals: Last Chance on Top Deals!

Neverwinter Nights Premium (-50%) $9.99
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. bundle (-88%) $4.99
The Hitman Collection (-75%) $7.49
Empire & Napolean Total War GOTY (-50%) $24.99
Left 4 Dead 2 (-66%) $6.80
Plants Vs. Zombies GOTY (-60%) $3.99
Killing FLoor (-75%) $4.99
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (-66%) $6.80
Gand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition (-75%) $9.99
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (-40%)
Dead Space (-66%) $6.80
Mafia II (-75%) $12.49

 

[JTsyo]

Well that's all for me. Just ~$24 for 3 games

-BF:BC2
-Might and Magic 5
-Mass Effect 2

that's probably over 300 hours of gaming there.

 

[lupi]

yeah nothing for me in these recaps. will now have to go looking through at the non-daily stuff that's like 50% off and see if there is anything cheap and good.

 

[KeithTalent]

Still considering getting Dead Space. I think I'll play some L4D2 while I ponder the purchase. :hmm:

KT

 

[CPA]

Some repeat deals are not listed. Sim City IV Deluxe is $10 again.

nm, looks like SC Deluxe was $5 earlier in the week.

 

[KaOTiK]

Steam molested me and I didn't object to it.

My haul:

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Shattered Union
Disciples 3
The Polynomial
Clones
Mass Effect 2
Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition
Alpha Protocol
Overlord Complete Pack
Monkey Island Bundle
Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition
Batman AA
FlatOut Ultimate Carnage
Blue Toad Murder Files
Neverwinter Nights 2 Platnium
Serious Sam HD Double Pack
Mirror's Edge
Rush
Simcity 4 Deluxe
Crysis Complete
Amnesa
Greed Corp
The Ball
Lara Croft Guardian of Light
Stalker Bundle
Dawn of Discovery Gold
Flight Control HD
Guardians of Graxia
Command & Conquer Tiberium Wars
Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath
Command & Conquer Red Alert 3
Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Uprising
Hitman Blood Money
Everyday Genius SquareLogic
Need for Speed Undercover
Evil Genius
Zeno Clash
Swarm Arena
Indie Kids Pack
Indie Fright Pack
Future Wars
Penumbra Black Plague Gold Edition
Disciples 2 Gold
Ghost Master
Divinty 2 Dragon Knight Saga
Patricians and Merchants Bundle
Grotesque Tactics

I'm probably going to pick up the Stronghold Complete as well

/cry

 

[mingsoup]

Something that never came up!

World in Conflict Complete Edition 14.99$.

I've also been picking up some strategic purchases that I will play but will also serve well when new games arrive, such as owning Episode 1/2 and Torchlight for Torchlight 2.

HOly poo Dude. Nice haul.

 

[Barfo]

Need for Speed Undercover

If you got it for more than 1 cent you were ripped off.

 

[KaOTiK]

If you got it for more than 1 cent you were ripped off.

I've wanted to play it for quite sometime. So I'm more then happy with the price I picked it up at. If it sucks, I'm not out much and I'll probably get some time out of it regardless.

 

[Barfo]

True.

As for myself, I've got $7 left in my steam wallet...I guess the right thing to do is wait for the next deal but I kind of want to spend them ^^.

 

[minmaster]

i bought 0 games this steam holiday sale!
the only game i bought during that time was the arma 2 pack from amazon.
i'm getting really good at not being tempted now!

 

[KaOTiK]

i bought 0 games this steam holiday sale!
the only game i bought during that time was the arma 2 pack from amazon.
i'm getting really good at not being tempted now!

That's ok, I bought enough for the both of us and then some lol.

 

[Texashiker]

i bought 0 games this steam holiday sale!

I bougth more games for other people then I did for myself.

One of the issues might be - I watch the sales that steam has every week all though the year. This holiday sale seemed more like a wrap-up for the sales that go on during the year, then a true sale by itself.

Torchlight goes on sale all the time, so that is not a big deal. That is probably the one game that goes on sale every other month all trough the year.

Neverwintr nights 2 - I bought neverwinter nights 1, and was not impressed. NWN has been ranked one of biggest let-downs and one of the most over hyped games of all time over and over again. Maybe because of how poor NWN1 was, maybe I'am holding that against NWN2.

Borderlands expansions - I guess I missed them, or were they part of a package deal? I was thinking of buying my daughter borderlands, but probably passed it over due to the price.

Another issue I have, and lets take NWN2 again. I dont call 50% off a game with a metracritic rating of 82 a "real" sale. If you look at the user rating on metacritic is gets even worse with a 5.4. If a game has a 5.4 user rating on metacritic, it should be on sale for a lot more then 50% off. I'am thinking more in the 85% - 90% off is more like it.

They had some good deals during the holiday sale, but I dont think they were as good as last year. And I think some of the game developers are a little too proud of the junk they are trying to push.

Left 4 Dead 2 - on sale for 60% off at $6.80
NWN2 - on sale for 50% off at $9.99

L4D2 has a metacritic user rating of 8.6
NWN2 has a metacritic user rating of 5.4

Then if you compare NWN2 to something like Painkiller Overdose, which has a metacritic user rating of 7.0, but is on sale for $2.49 - which is still 1/2 price. But at 2.49, I'am not going to complain.

One of the best pacakges of todays sale is the STALKER bundle for $4.99. But I already have STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl. If I bought the package for the expansion, I dont know if I could gift my second copy to someone. Why I'am not going to bother with it.

To me, a lot of the games in the steam "sale" are still too expensive - as compared to the qiality of the gameplay that you may get in return.

For the past couple of years the entire ID package was marked down to something like $21. This year its still $69 - and the games are a year older.