T EXP works his way through the 2012 Steam Summer Sale backlog

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I posted in the Steam summer sale thread that I was going to create a new thread going through the backlog of games that I purchased in the steam summer sale.  This thread isn't meant to be self-aggrandizing; the overall lesson of the thread will probably end up being not to go nuts with the steam deals.

So I'm going to force myself to play these games.  I rarely have time to play games but I will make time.  I commit to spending at least 10 hours a week going through these games.  The goal is to try to complete these games the best I can to the extent of me feeling like it.  Some games will be crap and hell, some probably won't even run on my gaming rig regardless of suggestions out there on the internet.  To make things easy, the first game I'll play is Dear Esther.

I will update the thread when I complete a game, offer impressions, etc.

The list:

Bastion
Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY
Batman Arkham City
Ben There, Dan That!
The Binding of Isaac
Borderlands GOTY
Bulletstorm
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
Cave Story+
Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
Dead Space
Dead Space 2
Dear Esther
DiRT 2
Divinity II – The Dragon Knight Saga
Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition
Driver San Francisco
E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy
Empire: Total War
Far Cry 2
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto 3
Grand Theft Auto 4
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Half Life 2
Half Life 2: Lost Coast
Hard Reset
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Codename 47
Jamestown
Medieval II: Total War
Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms
Men of War
Men of War: Assault Squad
Men of War: Condemned Heroes
Men of War: Red Tide
Men of War: Vietnam
Mirror’s Edge
Napoleon: Total War
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Orcs Must Die!
Rayman Origins
Red Faction: Guerilla
Rome: Total War – Alexander
Rome: Total War Gold Edition
SimCity 4 Deluxe
Skyrim
Super Meat Boy
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
Thief 2
Thief Gold
Thief: Deadly Shadows
Time Gentlemen, Please!
Torchlight
Trine 2
Tropico 4
VVVVVV
Wizorb
Xotic
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
Ys Origin

[Himu]

Word up, mayne. Prepping for next gen here too. Will keep me busy for a minute. I got mostly everything i wanted off of steam from this sale.

[MrAngryFace]

It was a good sale, no doubt.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Yeah, the best part is that I got a lot of games I've wanted for a while for almost nothing (Mirror's Edge, Super Meat Boy, etc.).

I will also include games on Steam that I previously owned that I did not get from the sale.  Those games are DiRT 2, Rayman Origins, Skyrim, Saints Row 3, and Ys Origin.

Word up, mayne. Prepping for next gen here too. Will keep me busy for a minute. I got mostly everything i wanted off of steam from this sale.

Yep.  I still want to eventually go through the PS3 titles I missed that I want to play but for now, its all about Steam.

It was a good sale, no doubt.

Yep.  There were a few games I held off on like the Crysis collection and Dead Island; I know I can get those games for a couple bucks for the holiday sale or for next year's summer sale.  I'm not worried.

[Positive Touch]

that's more games than i played in the last 5 years

[pickle]

Dear Esther's pretty cool.

[MrAngryFace]

most games are pretty entertaining if you approach them with an open mind- not saying that to point out something you're doing wrong- but mostly to point out my approach to gaming the past few years.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I finished Dear Esther.

I really liked this game.  Well, I wouldn't really call it a game but I really enjoyed exploring every bit of the gorgeous environments.  The cave section was omg, the water effects were amazing, and the ending area was visually spectacular as well.  The writing is a little overwrought but the game is called "Dear Esther," so it is to be expected.  I highly recommend that you all get this game during the next Steam sale.

Time on the steam clock: 1.4 hours
Indie Cred: Moderate - I've heard a few mainstream podcasts and forums talk about it
Buy?  Yes!

Next game will be Half Life 2.

[Himu]

can you change the thread title to the backlog thread?

let's all make backloggery accounts

[Vizzys]

its 2012 how has anyone not played half life 2

[pilonv1]

can you change the thread title to the backlog thread?

let's all make backloggery accounts

what is your fascination with catch all threads?

[CajoleJuice]

awesome thread

[Himu]

can you change the thread title to the backlog thread?

let's all make backloggery accounts

what is your fascination with catch all threads?

i think it's the aspergers. I just need shit all in one place. 

[pilonv1]

Make your own backlog thread! I would read it.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

can you change the thread title to the backlog thread?

let's all make backloggery accounts

No.  Nobody would participate and it would die off in a couple of days.  You should make your own backlog thread.

its 2012 how has anyone not played half life 2

After I play Half Life 2, you'll be correct.

[Cormacaroni]

played Dear Esther last night, cool stuff. Nice to see a game narrative leave some space for imagination for a change. THANKS TREESONG

[demi]

I'm not even bothering to make any backloggery, I just need to look at my shelf to remind me all the shit I'll never play.

Then I'll get OCD and have to remember every game I ver beat so my list doesnt look pathetic.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

played Dear Esther last night, cool stuff. Nice to see a game narrative leave some space for imagination for a change. THANKS TREESONG

You probably extra enjoyed it because of the strong thematic connection to Iain Banks' The Bridge! But yeah, if you're gonna do an art wank game, at least do it right.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Dear Esther is a really good game and it will definitely be something that I will revisit someday.

I've been playing some Half Life 2.  While it is apparently possible to play this game on a 360 controller through some modifications, I've opted to use the wasd KB/M control style.  It isn't something I'm used to so I'll occasionally make a stupid mistake like hitting the Windows key when I want to hit the CTRL key instead but the mouse is by far the superior method of aiming.  While I'm not the biggest fan of FPS games, I have been enjoying this game.  The simple puzzle elements add a nice twist, especially compared to almost on-rails type of FPS games that are common with the dudebro titles.  I have everything cranked up to maximum settings and effects and it is running without a hitch so it looks really nice in some areas.  I'm at the water hazard area and going from some of the information I've seen, it looks like I'm about a quarter into the game.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I failed at my first week; I only played 6.5 hours of games instead of the 10.

I'm at Ravenholm in Half Life 2.  I'm really getting used to the wasd kb/m setup and this game is pretty good.  I'm just having a hard time sitting down and playing a game for more than an hour at a time.

[fistfulofmetal]

Ravenholm is so awesome. When you're at Black Mesa East and Alex ominously says "We don't go to Ravenholm anymore" you're like "ooooo i'm gonna have to go to Ravenholm" and you do go to Ravenholm! and it's awesome.

[Positive Touch]

kb/m is great for aiming but terrible for comfort.  i got carpal tunnel from a half-life marathon years ago :'(

[demi]

I wouldnt be able to stomach an hour of Half Life 2 as well. Booooring

[MrAngryFace]

Ravenholm is the worst part of HL2, fucks up the pacing of the game

[Positive Touch]

i think you forgot about the waterboat part or the car part or the desert where bugs pop up all over the fucking place

[Great Rumbler]

I liked the vehicle parts.

[fistfulofmetal]

Ravenholm is the worst part of HL2, fucks up the pacing of the game

you're full of shit.

[Himu]

vehicle parts are better on replays

ravenholm owns

[Cerveza mas fina]

I never finished HL2. Meh.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I wouldnt be able to stomach an hour of Half Life 2 as well. Booooring

I agree.  I'm at the Sandtraps part and I'm getting tired of this game and is the sole reason why I missed my gameplay target both weeks.  I'm going to play something else to cleanse the palate.  I'm going to wrap up DiRT 2, which I didn't get on the Steam sale (although it was on sale!) and maybe get back to HL2.

[Sho Nuff]

Sandtraps is real bad, no idea why that's in there, or else I'm playing it wrong

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I finished DiRT 2.

I didn't get this game on the sale but this game was on sale so I'm counting it anyway!

I really like racing games and one of my favorite racing games last generation was Rallisport Challenge 2 for the Xbox, made by DICE before they turned into an outfit that just pumps out Battlefield games.  It had great graphics, varied tracks, and was a lot of fun in general.  Since then, the racing genre has been on a steady decline, which is a shame.  One of the few developers who even bothers to make these games anymore is Codemasters, who just recently announced that making racing games is all that they're going to do now, which means they will probably be shuttering their operations in 2014.  Anyway, while I'd love to see a Rallisport Challenge 3 someday, Dirt 2 from Codemasters holds the mantle of my favorite rally racing game now.

The meat of the game is in the Dirt Tour, where you progress worldwide through several events consisting of usually 2-3 tracks, acquiring experience points and money, both of which will unlock additional vehicles and events.  You'll befriend some of the other competitors, go head to head with some in special challenges, and even team up with them in some events.  The graphics are fantastic and the music isn't quite my bag but after a while, some of the music (which is pretty much all pop-punk) will get in your head.  There's a multiplayer mode too and a few people were online at any given moment to race.  So it has a small community of online participants, who of course proceeded to kick my ass in every race I participated in.

I was able to get 60 fps on full settings and works great with the 360 controller.  The biggest flaw is that it has GFWL and it lacks true fullscreen.  You can maximize the window but not true full screen gaming, which isn't a huge deal but still.  Also, at the end there was a glitch that wiped out all of my experience, requiring me to start over.  Not a big deal as I experienced this towards the end of the game where I've already unlocked all of the tracks and vehicles anyway.  Not a bug free game by any means.  I stopped playing once I completed the Dirt Tour and messed around a little bit on the online multiplayer modes.

This game during the sale was $5 and I highly recommend it.  Heck, even at full price, $20, it is still worth it.  Support the dying racing genre, especially Codemasters, who has the balls to switch over to a racing game only outfit.  It won't turn out well for them sadly but they're pumping out racing games when every sizable developer is steering clear.  http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/04/20/codemasters-drop-shooters-and-action-games-for-cars-form-codemasters-racing-label/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

Time on the steam clock: 19.4 hours
Indie Cred: None - This game is made by a mainstream developer with minimal to non-existing amounts of irony
Buy?  Yes!

Next game will be Jamestown.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Goddamn, Jamestown is an amazing game.

[CajoleJuice]

Yep.

[Fifstar]

Don't know if you still need it but I think you can proper maximise Dirt 2 by pressing alt + enter, at least that did the trick with Dirt 3 for me (which I just played one week ago and is also a really great game, so I can recommend it if you're not burnt out on the formula).

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I finished Jamestown.

This is a great game.  Great 16 bit era shoot em up gameplay with an absolutely amazing soundtrack.  At first, the game is very easy and in the first couple of levels, you need to play the second from the most difficult level to have any bite.  However the final level can be extremely difficult and I'm pretty sure I beat the last boss by sheer dumb luck.  There are also a lot of unlockables that you can exchange for the Ducats you get at the end of the stage.  This game was dirt cheap on Steam and during the next sale, definitely pick it up.

Time on the steam clock: 3.7 hours
Indie Cred: Moderate - It got quite a bit of attention on mainstream gaming websites, podcasts, and forums
Buy?  Yes!

Next game will be Rayman Origins.  I also want to get back to Half Life 2 and finish that game.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Don't know if you still need it but I think you can proper maximise Dirt 2 by pressing alt + enter, at least that did the trick with Dirt 3 for me (which I just played one week ago and is also a really great game, so I can recommend it if you're not burnt out on the formula).

During the Steam sale, they had a Codemasters bundle with Dirt 3 and Dirt Showdown among several other games.  I really wanted to get it, however I was getting to the point where the purchases got to be a little too crazy and held off on it.  I will probably get the bundle at the next sale.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Half life is not really worth it past the opening hours.

[Himu]

For HL2, it's worth finishing if only for Episodes 1 and 2 which are better than the base game, particularly 2, which may as well be my favorite single player fps behind Riddick.

[tiesto]

I played a bit of Dear Esther, made it to the caves but the damn game wouldn't save so I lost my progress. Will have to play it again continuously.

[Beezy]

I finished Jamestown.

This is a great game.  Great 16 bit era shoot em up gameplay with an absolutely amazing soundtrack.  At first, the game is very easy and in the first couple of levels, you need to play the second from the most difficult level to have any bite.  However the final level can be extremely difficult and I'm pretty sure I beat the last boss by sheer dumb luck.  There are also a lot of unlockables that you can exchange for the Ducats you get at the end of the stage.  This game was dirt cheap on Steam and during the next sale, definitely pick it up.

So that was you playing yesterday. After losing both continues to the stage itself, I got game over while facing the last boss. I'll beat him today then get back to either Ys Oath or The Binding of Isaac.

[demi]

Half Life is great until the alien world. Half Life 2 is fun up until... I think the prison area? I forget. It definitely loses its fun and adventure way early on.

[archnemesis]

For a casual shoot 'em up player like myself I thought the difficulty in Jamestown was perfectly balanced between being really challenging and yet not too frustrating.

[tiesto]

Half Life 2 has good and varied ideas that they drag on for faaaar too long.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Half Life is great until the alien world. Half Life 2 is fun up until... I think the prison area? I forget. It definitely loses its fun and adventure way early on.

Exactly. Giving it a few hours is all you need for the HL experience.

[Positive Touch]

I played a bit of Dear Esther, made it to the caves but the damn game wouldn't save so I lost my progress. Will have to play it again continuously.

choosing new game lets you pick from each of the maps.  you should be able to start right at the beginning of the caves.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I'm still going to try to beat Half Life 2, even if I'm not the biggest fan.  My goal is to beat as many of these games as possible.  I understand I got quite a few strategy games that would ordinarily take up 60-80 hours if not more and I guess I will cross those bridges when I get to them.  I still want to beat as many of these games as I can.  Probably explains why I only finished three games but damn it, I'm going to try!

I finished Jamestown.

This is a great game.  Great 16 bit era shoot em up gameplay with an absolutely amazing soundtrack.  At first, the game is very easy and in the first couple of levels, you need to play the second from the most difficult level to have any bite.  However the final level can be extremely difficult and I'm pretty sure I beat the last boss by sheer dumb luck.  There are also a lot of unlockables that you can exchange for the Ducats you get at the end of the stage.  This game was dirt cheap on Steam and during the next sale, definitely pick it up.

So that was you playing yesterday. After losing both continues to the stage itself, I got game over while facing the last boss. I'll beat him today then get back to either Ys Oath or The Binding of Isaac.

Yep, I go by Rich Manley on Steam, PSN, and Live.

I thought the stage was a lot harder than the final boss in retrospect.  The final boss shoots out some very simple bullet patterns that are easy enough to evade.  The previous boss was a lot more challenging.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Whats this deal with "finishing" games? Why not just stop when you stop enjoying/having fun. Serious question btw.

[Beezy]

I feel like I wasted my money if I don't at least attempt to play through a game that I bought. Even Steam's dirt cheap games.

[archnemesis]

Whats this deal with "finishing" games? Why not just stop when you stop enjoying/having fun. Serious question btw.

For the same reason I like to finish novels and movies. It gives me some sense of satisfaction and it allows me to discuss, and judge, its merits in detail with other people. Of course, this doesn't mean that I'm compelled to finish every game I ever start.

[demi]

Whats this deal with "finishing" games? Why not just stop when you stop enjoying/having fun. Serious question btw.

Mostly because it eats the ever loving fuck out of me.

[Stoney Mason]

I feel like I wasted my money if I don't at least attempt to play through a game that I bought. Even Steam's dirt cheap games.

I lost that along time ago.

At least a shitty movie is like 2 hours at its longest. I barely end up playing any of the games I buy on Steam.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Whats this deal with "finishing" games? Why not just stop when you stop enjoying/having fun. Serious question btw.

1) Because I feel like it!
2) I don't like the idea of wasting money, even if it is a cheap steam game I got for a dollar.  Noodling around for a half hour and then moving onto something else is wasting money to me
3) A lot of the games I bought seem really good and I want to finish them

Now I just draw the line at seeing the ending credits and not getting all of the Steam achievements if there are any.  I suppose if it was a game I can't stand, then I would up and quit but I made sure that I bought games I knew I wanted to play, which is why I avoided those publisher bundles.

[Himu]

Beat Still Life replay. I couldn't really recommend it unless you're a big point and click adventure fan.

I uninstalled Just Cause 2. It's a good game, but I feel like I've done everything I could ever see in the game. I just don't enjoy exploring the island, traveling is a chore, every time I want to do a new mission or go to a new area on the island, I have to drive for what seems to be an eternity. I love open world games, I but HATE how they have transformed into bloated games with overly big maps for the sake of size these days. Skyrim, Arkham City, Saints Row 2/3, and Red Dead Redemption are much better examples of great open world games and are a lot more fun to play.

I'd rather wait and just get Sleeping Dogs.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Rayman Origins is pretty good.  I've played all of the Rayman games except for the shitty Raving Rabbids games.  I still put Rayman 2 at the top, which was a fantastic platformer that was my favorite for quite some time.

This is a game like Dirt 2 where I got it beforehand but was on sale on the Steam sale anyway.  The deal was that if you preordered Origins, you got Rayman 2 for free.  Now I really liked Rayman 2 and was probably my favorite platformer when I got it for the Dreamcast.  However Rayman 2 doesn't really work without some tweaking and I spent the better part of a day trying to get that shit to work.  I was never able to unfuck the graphics so I uninstalled it and gave up.  PSN has Rayman 2 for PS2 for $10, which I might spring on.  I bet it holds up well.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Rayman Origins isn't just pretty good, it's probably the best platformer I've played since Mario Galaxy.

Great graphics, great level design, interesting music, and a lot of challenge without resorting to platformer fuckery like cheap deaths.

I'm at the last world and have a little more than four hours on the Steam clock.  I hope to get this baby wrapped up by the weekend.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I finished Rayman Origins.

I really liked platformers and really liked the old Rayman games.  I got the original on the PC ages ago and played that quite a bit.  Rayman 2 was one of my favorite Dreamcast games.  Rayman 3 was merely okay and the Rabbids games have been pure crap.  Dirty Frenchman Michel Ancel decided to take a chance and go back to 2D for this game.  From what I understand, it was originally supposed to be episodic content but they threw it all together in a package and sold it for every platform under the sun.  While platformers are thriving in the indie scene, the platformer genre is kind of like the racing genre: everyone is moving away from it and it happens to be one of my favorite kinds of games.

This game is fantastic and as I said on a previous post, this is the best platformer I've played this generation since Mario Galaxy.  The graphics are crisp and fluid, the soundtrack is great (I wanted to buy the soundtrack but apparently the only version out there is something with just 12 tracks on it...wtf), the controls are tight, and the gameplay is varied.  This is old skool platforming at its best so there will be several instances in the game where you need to be precise in what you do because the game is very unforgiving, especially in the latter stages.  Fortunately the game gives you infinite lives because some areas are definitely going to be trial and error experiences.  However, unlike many flawed platformers, you are at fault if you fuck up.  That is where a lot of the challenge and fun comes in, knowing that you can beat this, you just need to practice and hope that you pull it of your ass and make it through the stage.

This game was $15 on the sale but let's face it, next summer sale, it will probably be $3.  You can't go wrong with this game at any price.  When I got it, it came with a free copy of Rayman 2.  After spending hours trying to get it to run, it won't.  So I got the PS2 version via PSN so I'm going to play that sometime.  I'm excited to see what is in store for Rayman Legends.

Time on the steam clock: 9.9 hours
Indie Cred: None - This game was originally planned to have episodic content, which definitely scores it some indie cred but incredulously, Ubisoft sold out and charged full price for this game!
Buy?  Yes!

Next game will be Ben There, Dan That!.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I finished Ben There, Dan That!.

I disliked the old LucasArts and Tim Schafer games for its obnoxious fourth wall busting humor and ridiculous game progression sequences.  I played this game because it is the prequel to the highly lauded (by gamers' opinions I trust) Time Gentlemen, Please!  Ben There, Dan That is an adventure game much in the vein of the old point and click adventure games, and has various homages to those games.  The game is about two Brits wanting to watch Magnum PI and getting into all kinds of trouble to watch it.  Video game humor rarely works well with me but I did crack a few smiles in the game.  I wound up just trying to click and grab everything and wound up progressing through the game with little trouble as to what to do next.  It's pretty simple for a noob adventure game person like myself.  I went through this game probably not much more than an hour and definitely not more than two.  It's a nice fun game to play on a boring Sunday afternoon.  This game was included with Time Gentlemen, Please for maybe two bucks at the most during the sale.  I recommend getting these games during the next sale if you haven't already.

Time on the steam clock: No clock but my estimate is less than two hours
Indie Cred: Very High - I'm sure that these developers' monocles would pop right out if they knew someone in Middle America was playing this so yes, definitely
Buy?  I believe it is a pay what you want game so why not.

Next game will be Bulletstorm.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I put a couple of hours into Bulletstorm.  I'm not a huge fan of FPS but I am liking this game quite a bit.  The profanity, the leash where you can grab enemies and send them right into some electrified fencing for bonus points is pretty sweet.  It's a little bro but most FPS games this generation have so whatever.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I finished Bulletstorm.

I finished the single player campaign.  For a person like myself who rolls their eyes at the cheesy yet straight faced brofare found in Gears of War and Modern Warfare, this game is quite a pleasant change.  The game is definitely a dudebro title but it seems aware of that fact and pokes fun at itself.  You play as Grayson Hunt, a steroid jacked Hugh Jackman who causes nothing but trouble.  The game is mostly his foul mouthed path to redemption through seven acts of decimated urban landscape.  Lots of sparks, lots of explosions, one of my favorite things to do is to use the leash and pull shit, including enemies and kick them into open circuits and cacti.  Lots of interesting ways to kill a wide variety of mutated freaks and the game rewards you for doing those interesting things.  Since the enemies are bullet sponges and you get minimal points just sinking bullets into these clowns, you are much better off using a leash, grabbing an enemy, and kicking it off the ledge instead.  The environments aren't that bad and try to be a little colorful to avoid the brown and gray color palettes that its brethren seem to depend upon.

Not much online activity going on with this game and I paid $10 for it.  At 7.2 hours on the steam clock, it violates my tight ass rule about getting at least $1 per hour of enjoyment.  To be honest, I expect this game to be a couple bucks at the next Steam sale.  This game is quite a bit of fun but Steam sales are about fun games for dirt fucking cheap so I advise everyone who is interested in the game to wait for a couple more sales until you can get it for almost nothing.  For a person who isn't a fan of FPS games, this is a nice breath of fresh air.  Naturally, the game did not make back its budget and Bulletstorm 2 is shitcanned, which is a shame.

Time on the steam clock: 7.2 hours
Indie Cred: None - This is a dudebro FPS with minimal amounts of irony, can't get any less indie than that
Buy?  Wait until it is $5 or less in the next sale

Next game will be Wizorb.