Steam Summer Sale Aftermath: Part 1
I love and hate the Steam sale in equal measure. I love the great games for cheap prices, but loathe the fact I know that half the games I buy I will never get around to playing properly. I still have games from the Christmas sale that I barely touched, and now the Summer Camp Sale has just added an ever growing number to my back catalogue of games that will linger until a long, rainy day. I live in Britain, so luckily that occurs pretty often.
So what was the damage this Summer? Around 40 to 50 pounds. Buying a major new release at RRP would cost me that amount, so how many games did I get in the Steam sale for that? Five maybe? Possibly ten? Seventeen games. I purchased seventeen games in a ten day period and I have no idea why. I couldn’t stop myself – I managed to resist a purchase, and then two hours later I would see it in my Library and not recall at which point I actually clicked purchase and install.
Fully reviewing every game would be ridiculous and take me till next July, where I would then have to do it all again and my entire life would be spent in the same Steam sale review loop. No, instead I am simply going to offer you my impressions of the games from what I’ve played so far. Some of the games I had never heard of, some I had always wanted and never bought, and some were old favourites that I lost along the years. For all of them I will be telling you how much it cost me, how much it costs normally, and whether or not it is worth buying for full price now that the sale has ended.
Consider this my polite and informative way of telling you that you are a complete and utter idiot for missing out on all those great bargains.This article was originally going to be a one off thing, seventeen games is a lot to fit into one feature, and would be a squeeze at two. Therefore, I bring you the first part of three.
Torchlight
- Normal Price: £12.99
- Sale Price: £2.59
Torchlight was one of my standout buys from this Steam sale, and one of the games that I will go back to the most. £2.59 for a relatively new game is great value, especially when you consider this is pretty much a watered down version of Diablo. It gets the action-RPG formula spot on, and is delivered in a polished way while not taking itself too seriously.
Would I Buy Full Price?
Yes. It’s still only 12.99, and is a great game to pass the time until Diablo III arrives.
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Tropico 3
- Normal Price: £14.99
- Sale Price: £3.49
Tropico 3 is an old favourite of mine, and so when I saw it for such a cheap price I just couldn’t say no. It follows a traditional city building sim template, but with a heavier emphasis on the political side of things. Turning your small, almost uninhabited island into a thriving tourist hotspot is as satisfying and rewarding as ever. Unfortunately, the game does tend to get repetitive and by the end of the campaign mode you will just be rinsing and repeating the same old tactics.
Would I buy full price?
No. As much as I enjoy the game, I’m not sure I could warrant spending 15 quid on it, especially with Tropico 4 coming out later this year.
Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword
- Normal Price: £9.99
- Sale Price: £2.49
Mount & Blade is a game which requires immense dedication to master, and you will need to have patience to learn the combat mechanisms and the surrounding world. Had I not been playing with my mates, I probably would have given up within 10 minutes. It was my mates that made this enjoyable, and despite a horrible and clunky online interface, charging into battle with my comrades at my side made it a worthwhile purchase.
Would I buy full price?
Yes. Even at full price it comes in at under a tenner, and the potential amount of gameplay you can get from it is huge once you get past the dated interface and visuals.
Beat Hazard
- Normal Price: £6.99
- Sale Price: £1.44
Beat Hazard is basically a reimagining of arcade classic Asteroids with added LSD-fuelled, epilepsy-inducing displays of eye-straining colour and light. To top it all off, the whole thing is set to music and you can even import your own tracks for maximum enjoyment. I did get the most fun when using my own tracks, but I didn’t really see how the music related to the gameplay. The rhythm of the action didn’t match the rhythm of the music, and that ruined what the whole experience was supposed to be about.
Would I buy it full price?
No. – Despite the fact it is still a relatively cheap game, I felt my value for money was stretched even in the sale, and for a couple of quid I still felt disappointed.
Braid
- Normal Price: £1.74
- Sale Price: £6.99
If you can look past the incredibly tedious and pretentious dialogue (it reads like it has been written purely for the purpose of being deconstructed in an A-level English exam), then Braid is a solid platformer with a unique and interesting gameplay twist taking place in a beautiful looking environment. The time mechanic wasn’t used to great effect in the first part of the game, but I imagine it will have more use in puzzle solving as the game goes on.
Would I buy full price?
Maybe. I’m copping out, because my heart says no, but saying no seems far too harsh on such a quaint little title. And it’s my article, so I’ll say what I like.
There’s the first five games, stay tuned later in the week to find out what I think of Terraria, Napoleon: Total War, The Longest Journey and more! If you’ve anything to add to this or drop a comment of your own, feel free to do so below.
