Steam Sale Writer’s Picks – August 15th

Steam Sale Writer's Picks

Good Monday to you all. My week has simultaneously flown by and gone super slow. How does that work? I’m doing another workshop tomorrow with 7-12 year olds, but this one is based on Minecraft. Why do I do these things to myself?

Anyway, here are my personal picks from this week’s Steam sale.

XCOM 2 has 45% off this week. It’s part of the popular and highly regarded XCOM series, obviously, and has sold very well since its release in February this year. The game is still yet to be released on console – until next month – so enjoy it for a nice reduced price, and without the restrictions of console gaming. Though you better hope your system can run it. It’s a beast.

In a futuristic, post alien invasion form of Earth, an underground military organisation is recruiting an army made up of people of all abilities and backgrounds. The idea is to play as the commander of this team, and lead the resistance movement against the aliens, who have taken over the world, and are using propaganda and control of the population in order to keep the peace. But this is OUR world, darn it!

You use tactical strategic gameplay to move the members of your team around the mission map, defeat enemies with a wide variety of weapons and abilities, and level up the customisable members, as you wish. Even though character movement is restricted – which is nothing like real life – the immersive storyline, customisation features and voice acting makes XCOM 2 feel very real. Your “Commander” character has no name, never speaks and you never see them, bringing the real you right into the story. You grow attached to your team members, and shed tears if they die. Like, real tears. It’s the ultimate strategy game.

All of the Tropico titles have 75% off this week, if you feel in more of a simulation vibe. Ever wanted to be a dictator on a tropical island? Now you can. You can choose how your residents live, what features to include on the island, how to spend money on infrastructure, etc. In fact, the only thing you can’t really do is physically feel the sun on your face. Hey, why not take the game with you on holiday? Grab a last minute flight somewhere warm and beachy, and go nuts.

I love the style of these games. While SimCity is immersive and addictive, I love the aesthetic of Tropico. I mean, we are talking literal paradise here. The newest title, Tropico 5, is absolutely beautiful. While Total War and Rise of Nations are great for action, Tropico has a wonderful humour and humanity to it. The only thing missing is being able to make your “El Presidente” really yours with customisation. I’d just love to be able to feel the adoration of my public for real, you know? Although, looking like Castro can be fun too.

The frantically fun Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes has 34% off. It’s best played with a VR headset, though if you don’t have one, it’s almost as fun. Play with friends, with one person defusing a bomb, and the other(s) dictating what needs to be done in order to do it, by following the bomb defusal manual.

The mechanics which make this such a brilliant and heart pounding team game are that the guides cannot see the bomb, so the defuser must describe it to them, making sure details are right, in order for the manual to make sense, and the right wire to be cut. Otherwise, everybody explodes. It will make you scream, it will make you laugh, and it will filter out who your real friends truly are.

If you fancy an RPG title, Vagrant Hearts is super cheap this week – 90% off. It’s an indie 16bit style adventure RPG, made on the programme RPGMaker. Give it its dues. It’s made on RPGMaker, so it’s not perfect, but the story is what matters here. There is nothing original in the mechanics, gameplay or settings, but the updated graphics of the programme are great to look at, it features a female main character, and the dialogue is never boring. It might be an example of when people have too much time on their hands for some, but for me, it doesn’t matter. Art comes in all forms, and I appreciate this one.

The Darkness Within titles: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder and The Dark Lineage both have 77% off, if your thing is more of a horror point and click. I mentioned my mum last week, and she’d love this one too. I can’t recall the amount of times I have walked into her house with the SyFy channel on, playing some ridiculous low budget horror mystery show/movie, followed by us playing a point and click together.

“Combine the leather glove and the empty glass bottle!”

“What’s that going to achieve?!”

“I dunno, just try it!”

That sort of thing.

The Darkness Within has a bold influence from Lovecraft, and as my husband has just started reading his best-known stuff. We’re obsessed. So we’ll be trying this for sure. Fun for the whole family!

Finally I’d like to mention the Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy remaster, which is half price. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy was a revolution when it was first released. It’s easy to laugh about now, as it is very of its time, and some of the scenes are awkward (quick time event sex scene, anyone?), but it was a genre defining event. The developer – Quantic Dream – are known for taking their time to make really stunning, special things. They have also made Omikron, Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain, and though they all have their criticisms, no one can deny the effort and love gone into them.

Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy is a game which I distinctly remember following up until release, then buying it on the day. It doesn’t always happen to me, but I was so excited for the story and the brand new mechanic. It was so new and interesting that major titles such as Resident Evil and God of War adopted it, and a new genre was born. Without Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy, there’d be no TellTale Walking Dead. Think about that.

The story follows Lucas as he tries to define the mysterious supernatural events that are surrounding him, and how it ties in to a police detective’s investigations of a series of murders. It’s New York and it’s seriously cold out. The story is driven by your choices and gameplay skill, and it ultimately determines how your stories end. You take charge of multiple characters, and the characters’ mental and physical health makes up a big part of how you progress. It’s a true genre-defining game, and definitely one to try if you are a fan at all of action, psychological thriller, supernatural and other story-driven style games.

Wow, there was a lot to choose from this week, and my head hurts. I hope everyone has a great week, and I really hope that I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew with this Minecraft thing. I’ve got visions of children running around and hitting each other with diamond swords made of cardboard.

Until next Monday, happy gaming!