PSA: Game Discounts

[derspiess]

Also something called Homefront, where you apparently get to kill Koreans who have invaded the US, comes out tomorrow.

I almost pre-ordered this since just about anything touched by John Milius kicks serious ass.  Was also intrigued by the deal Playon had where you got their console-thingie for for free-- though their legal disclaimers scared me off.  But I held off since my game backlog is still pretty ridiculous.  I rented the 360 version from Blockbuster yesterday using a free game rental coupon & found some parts of it to be good & others to be quite lame.

The intro starts with Hillary's actual press conference from last year regarding the North Korean sinking of the South Korean ship, ties that in with Kim Jong Il dying in 2013 & his son somehow taking over all of Korea, the collapse of the US dollar & economy (which was probably the creepiest part), and United Korea developing their own version of the East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, eventually even incorporating Japan (which according to a newspaper you find in the game, has been crippled by their largest nuclear plant failing).  Several other doomsday-type events happen which reduce the US's power & aid Korea's rise.  Eventually Korea blasts the US with an EMP & invades the western portion, irradiating the Mississippi as a barrier so they can consolidate their gains in the west.  And then a lot of historical  invasion/occupation/oppression cliches ensue.

You have to turn a blind eye to some holes in that plot (where is China in all this, how does North Korea successfully take the South in the first place & then keep its other extraterritorial gains in order) and you have to buy into several worst case scenarios, but in an odd way, the story works.  And IMO the story is the strongest part of the game.  Milius weaves actual events, commonly held (or at least frequently-voiced) speculations, and historical examples into the storyline to give it a certain feeling of reality.

Gameplay is pretty vanilla FPS, which would be okay were it not so glitchy, if friendly AI's weren't so retarded, and if they made it less of a controlled experience.  And the single player campaign is short.  I finished 6 of the 7 chapters yesterday evening, only expecting to get through a couple.  I haven't played online multiplayer yet.

Anyway, unless multiplayer ends up being really good, I say this is a rental or bargain bin purchase.  It really feels like a game adaptation that was rushed out to capitalize on a decent movie.  I guess if there were a movie to begin with, I wouldn't recommend it at all.

[sbr]

Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition is 50% off ($24.95US) on Impulse.

I haven't played it yet so I got it though that is more than I like to spend on games.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Something called "The Entente - World War One Battlefields" is on sale on Impulse for 5 bucks.  It is an older (2005 or so I think) WW1 RTS.     



It says it may not work on Vista though, dunno if that applies to 7 as well.

<Homefront Review>

It's too bad, really, about the single player campaign, AI, etc.  While the story is maybe a bit weird and certainly unbelievable and all that, at least it's something different.  If you haven't seem them yet, there are some reviews that say the MP is pretty fun (and pretty much agree with everything else you said), so there's that.  Definitely not a "full price" type game. 

[grumbler]

Something called "The Entente - World War One Battlefields" is on sale on Impulse for 5 bucks.  It is an older (2005 or so I think) WW1 RTS.     

I remember the reviews for that one.  It was basically your typical RTS but, since it was about WW1, you had to produce and manage about ten times more units than it was humanly possible to produce and manage... so the human player always, always lost.  Something about ten or twenty thousand little soldier-dudes organized into 100-man-max units.  One of those games that came out when the Russians were popping out games by the score.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I picked up Battlestations Pacific during a recent Gamersgate sale.
Have to clear up hard drive space before I can install it though.

[MadBurgerMaker]

I remember the reviews for that one.  It was basically your typical RTS but, since it was about WW1, you had to produce and manage about ten times more units than it was humanly possible to produce and manage... so the human player always, always lost.  Something about ten or twenty thousand little soldier-dudes organized into 100-man-max units.  One of those games that came out when the Russians were popping out games by the score.

  That sounds awful.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Crysis is $7.50 on Impulse.  Worth it?

[Caliga]

I've never played Crysis, but heard really good things about it when it first came out... also that (at the time) it was extremely demanding on vid cards.

[Ed Anger]

The demo made my quad core cry.

[sbr]

Dragon Age 2 in your games library? Download Mass Effect 2 for free

[sbr]

On Steam (not sure for how long):

Magicka 50% off ($5US)
Magicka Complete Pack 50% off ($8US)
Borderlands GOTY Edition 75% off ($7.50US)

Other assorted 2K Games on sale this week.

[Grey Fox]

I bought Borderlands. I had been waiting for a cheap ass price for months now.l

Hopefully there is still some MP to have.

[sbr]

Mount and Blade:Warband is 80% off ($6US) on Impulse.

http://impulsedriven.com/mbwarband?ref=impnow

[grumbler]

Mount and Blade:Warband is 80% off ($6US) on Impulse.

http://impulsedriven.com/mbwarband?ref=impnow

If they made that 90% off, I might consider it.

[Razgovory]

Mount and Blade:Warband is 80% off ($6US) on Impulse.

http://impulsedriven.com/mbwarband?ref=impnow

If they made that 90% off, I might consider it.

It was surprisingly fun when I played the unfinished version a few years ago.  I bought the newer version, but I've barely played it.  All these game sales give me a glut of games.  Sometimes, I check steam and am surprised that I already own a game.