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.

Budget Gaming: Oblivion

If you aren't too busy playing skyrim (because you're poor like me) or you don't already have it (shame on you) Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is on sale on steam for $5 for the GOTY edition and $6.25 for the deluxe GOTY edition which includes even more dlc. 

If you don't know what Elder Scrolls is then you should probably play more computer games...

It's an open world rpg set in a fantasy world. It's very open ended in that you can play however you want. You can play a power hungry mage , a righteous knight, or whatever you want really. Bethesda (the company that makes this) has a really good track record for open world rpgs such as Fallout and Elder Scrolls. I highly recommend getting this if you don't already have it.

The sale is only until  about 7pm EST 11/17
http://store.steampowered.com/app/22330/

Budget Gaming: Making History Gold

Making history is a turn based grand strategy game. Grand strategy games are basically just strategy games that cover large areas and focus more on managing the nation than battles (i.e. - building armies, managing an economy, diplomacy, etc.)

I'm a fan of grand strategy games but they're not really everyone's cup of tea so to say.

Making History takes place during the mid 1900s. The scenarios it comes with are all pretty interesting. While they all have events that allow you to play historically you don't really have to. There's also a pretty good community out there (although it's better for Making History 2, but that's not budget). It's also fairly easy to learn how to make your own scenarios. All you have to do is go into the game files and edit a few lines of text.

The economy is in depth and well thought out but the combat is just alright. I wish your units would retreat instead of get destroyed but it's all right.

I recommend it if you're into those kind of strategy games. It's only $10 on GamersGate so its not too bad and you could possibly get hours of entertainment. (I would give you some screenshots but for some reason they just show up blank)