Drunken Gamer Journal: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Halo: Combat Evolved: Anniversary: Turbo Hyper Edition: Director's Cut 2011 is a rerelease of Halo by 343 Industries (originally by Bungie). The update isn't bad on the campaign side, but I am disappointed by the fact that they only had a certain amount of multiplayer maps, and that they put them on the Halo Reach engine, ya know, because 343 assumed Halo Reach was the greatest Halo of all time ever. I would say that would lie on Halo 3, considering how many hours I sunk into that game, and how much fun I had with it. I know others would say Halo 2, and I wouldn't disagree. The little Halo 2 I played online was pretty damn fun. Additionally, I have a little experience with the original Halo....I only played the campaign on the version I downloaded via Xbox Live Arcade. In comparison between the 2 games, the graphics look amazing on the update, making dark areas brighter, fancier, and stuff. I only had 2 problems though; my first problem was that my Xbox froze in the middle of Truth and Reconciliation on my first play through, and it forced me to replay everything to that point because it didn't save a damn thing. Secondly, the snow was a little too good, and in order to see clearly on a level like Assault on the Control Room, I felt the need to switch to the old graphics to see clearly. Beyond that though, like I said, on the campaign side, great update. Especially for a game that was 40 bucks. (Thanks 343 for making it cheaper than most games, that was not worth than 60 bucks)

And that leads me to my next drunken story, which, oddly enough, I wasn't drunk for. I think this happened about a week or so ago. I was playing the level Truth and Reconciliation (I have no luck with this level, I swear) with a friend of mine over Xbox Live, and he was pretty schlammered. Sure we made it through the first couple levels ok, but he passed out midway through the level, leaving me behind to finish it. I kept shouting his name into the mic, with no answer. I forget exactly how long it took me to finish, but it was a good chunk of time. Come to find out, he doesn't remember even playing the level, and he woke up with no pants at his buddies house (which he was playing at to begin with).

GamersGate

Along with steam GamersGate is having a ton of sales too. Really there are too many to mention (over 400 items on sale) so I will just link you to GamersGate so you can look for a game you've always wanted and see if it's on sale. Most of their sales are about the same as Steam's so it's really a matter of which retailer you like more.

Steam Sales: November 25th

Today we have Dead Island, a free roaming zombie apocalypse sort of game. I'm surprised this hasn't been thought of sooner but I wasn't too impressed with it. The best thing is that it's multiplayer and you can run around and do zombie shooting quests with your friends.

Dead Island - $19.99
http://store.steampowered.com/app/91310/

We also have Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This is a Star Wars RPG with an amazing story. The game is a little older but it is by far one of my favorites. It's also a good game to pick up while you're waiting for the Old Republic to come out.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - $4.99
http://store.steampowered.com/app/32370/?snr=1_4_4__617

Then there's Patrician 4. Personally I love the Patrician series. It's an economy game set in Scandinavia near medieval times. I really am a sucker for economy games though so this may not be your cup of tea. Steam has their own special edition and the Gold edition is on sale as well.

Patrician IV Steam Special Edition - $6.79
http://store.steampowered.com/app/57620/?snr=1_4_4__617
Patrician IV Gold (Includes Rise of a Dynasty expansion) - $10.19
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/11830/

There are also a couple of games I've heard good things about but never really got the chance to play:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - $24.99
http://store.steampowered.com/app/28050/

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine - $33.49
http://store.steampowered.com/app/55150/

Sanctum - $2.49
http://store.steampowered.com/app/91600/?snr=1_4_4__617

Grand Theft Auto Complete Package (I've only ever played GTA2) - $12.49
http://store.steampowered.com/sale/2011_pre_GTA_fran?snr=1_4_4__617

Steam Sale: November 24

Today there are some great sales going on on steam...

There's Rift, an mmorpg. Rift plays a lot like wow if you've played that before but the class system is completely different. You have 8 unlockable skill trees and you can mix and match them to create whatever you want. There are also public quests/raids which are pretty fun.

Rift - $7.49 (plus $15/month subscription fee)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/39120/?snr=1_4_4__617

Fallout: New Vegas is also on sale today. Fallout is a post apocalyptic free roaming RPG. Although it's an Rpg it's also a first/third person shooter. The mechanics work well and the gameplay is fantastic. It's one of those games you can play for hours upon hours. Personally New Vegas is my favorite Fallout game.

Fallout: New Vegas - $4.99
http://store.steampowered.com/app/22380/
(I would say this is the best buy out of all of these games)

We also have the Total War mega pack. It includes Rome: Total War + Alexander, Medieval II: Total War + Kingdoms, Empire: Total War, Napoleon: Total War, and all the DLC for the last 2. It's a huge pack that includes a lot of games. The Total War series is sort of 2 games in one for each title. On one hand you have the campaign mode which is managing your empire and it's economy, troop placement, etc. and on the other hand you have the battles which the series is famous for. The battles are massive and can have thousands of troops on the field at once. A great series in my opinion.

Total War Mega Pack - $12.49
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/11657/?snr=1_4_4__617

Finally on my list is VVVVVV. It's a silly title but the game is pretty silly too. It's a simple puzzle game which requires you to switch gravity either up or down in order to get past obstacles. It's a fun enough game but for $1.24 I have to recommend it.

VVVVVV - $1.24
http://store.steampowered.com/app/70300/?snr=1_4_4__617

Steam: Thanksgiving sales

Steam is having some great sales that will be going on from now until Sunday (the 27th) if you want to check them out they're on the main page at http://store.steampowered.com/.

I would recommend Mass Effext 1+2 (http://store.steampowered.com/sale/2011_thanks_masseffect_page) and Portal 2 (http://store.steampowered.com/app/620/)

There are also some other good games on there worth checking out but those are 2 that I thought definitely worth it.

Budget Gaming: Sim Game Bundles

 The X Series

All the X games are on sale on gamers gate for the next 2 weeks or so. As far as I know these games are all great. I've heard great things about the series as a whole and I've played X3: Terran Conflict and it was amazing.

The X series of games are space sim games. Basically you start out as a lowly starship pilot and you can do a bunch of things to build your name. You can be a trader, a pirate, a policeman, etc. Eventually if you get enough capital you can buy entire stations and fleets. If you've ever played freelancer think of the X series like that only in a much larger scale. The only problem is that with a scale as large as this there is also a steep learning curve. It's worth it if you ask me.

You can buy them each separate or you can buy the X superbox for $20 which is naturally the best deal. Otherwise, if you buy them all separately it will set you back about $25-$30 or so. I recommend getting at least X3: gold for $14.50

X3: Gold - $14.50

X Superbox - $20

The Guild

The Guild is a medieval life sim I guess... Truth be told it's more of an economy sim with life elements thrown in. I have played The Guild 2 and its expansion, Renaissance, and I liked them both a lot. There is also the first in the series and the second expansion to The Guild 2 (Venice).

I really liked the game it was really fun. I'm a sucker for economy games to be honest and in The Guild 2 you start as a lowly family name with nothing but a shop or 2 and a house to call your own. You slowly gain both financial and political power and can become the mayor of a city as well as a powerhouse tycoon.

If you're into this kind of game I recommend at least The Guild 2 Platinum $7.98. Otherwise you can get The Guild Complete, which includes the first game of the series for $10.20. They're on sale for the next 5 days.

The Guild 2 Platinum - $7.98

The Guild Complete - $10.20

Stay tuned tomorrow for Steams midweek madness sales. We'll see if there's anything interesting.

Budget Gaming: Neverwinter Nights Complete

Neverwinter Nights Complete on sale now on GamersGate for $20! Neverwinter Nights is an amazing rpg series that takes place in the Forgotten Realms world (R.A. Salvatore) and it uses dungeons and dragons rules for the gameplay. I have Neverwinter Nights Platinum and have never played Neverwinter Nights 2 but I've heard good things about it, such as it's only an improvement on Neverwinter Nights 1.

This includes both Neverwinter Nights 1+2 plus all the expansions for each. So it's basically 8 great games for $20. Doesn't get much better than that...

Budget Gaming: Bastion, Now even Budgetier!

 

Just an update on Bastion; it's even cheaper now and for the next 3 days on GamersGate. At $15 it was well worth it but at $7.50 it's a steal!

My only problem is that the soundtrack edition is still $25. The soundtrack is amazing though so if you feel like shelling out an extra bit of cash it's most definitely worth it.

If you want you can look at my first impressions of the game here.