The Steam Deals Thread v10

[Detruire]

New Thread:

This thread has been replaced by TSDT v11. 

Daily Deal:
Please check the Steam homepage.

Weeklong Deals:
Steam usually has week-long deals that change on Mondays at 6PM UTC. They mostly feature indie games, and may not run every week.

Sale summary lists:

Key:
⤷ indicates DLC, — specifies part of a pack, + shows alternative versions, ⚠ highlights things worth knowing, ♫ is obvious, and ... denotes a multi-pack.

Holiday Sale 2013 | 19/12/13 through 3/1/14:
Days 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13-14.

Spring/Autumn Sale 2013 | 27/11/13 through 3/12/13:
All days.

Steam deals on other stores: (Related threads on CAG.)

• Amazon
• Green Man Gaming
• GamersGate

Indie* bundle threads: (*Not always indie, nor always a bundle.)

• Humble Bundle/Weekly/Store Megathread
• Groupees (Be Mine/Build a Bundle)
• Bundle Stars
• IndieRoyale
• Indie Gala
• IndieGameStand

Free stuff:
There are quite a few free games (mostly Free to Play) and mods available via the Steam platform, a comprehensive list of which can be found in this thread on the SPUF.
(NOTE: free games are not permanently attached to your Steam account like actual purchases would be. You'll need to manually download a game again from the website if you uninstall it.)

Past Steam Deals Threads:

• v1 thread (Nov 2010-July 2011)
• v2 thread (July 2011-Feb 2012)
• v3 thread (Feb 2012-July 2012)
• v4 thread (July 2012-August 2012)
• v5 thread (August 2012-December 2012)
• v6 thread (December 2012-March 2013)
• v7 thread (March 2013-May 2013)
• v8 thread (May 2013-July 2013)
• v9 thread (July 2013-November 2013)

 

[Syntax Error]

I liked BSI and am happy for its win(s) but I'd have expected a Best Game before Best Shooter.  I personally liked it but I heard a lot of people kvetch and moan over the shooter mechanics portion.  "Best Game" could rest harder on the plot, setting and characters.

 

[Captain Urahara]

From VGX:

Studio of the Year = Naughty Dog (for The Last of Us).

This please me.

 

[Solid-Snake-Eyes]

How the hell is Telltale going to make all these games they're announcing, they can't even produce one episode per month and they have at least 4 games going on that I've heard of.

 

[wtsutton]

Yeah, I like a good mix of length for RPGs. RPG is my favorite genre, and if a game is great and the world is fun to be in, I definitely don't mind 60+ hour adventures. At the same time, RPGs that are like, 25-40 hours (Mass Effect and such) are nice too, because I don't want to be dropping 60 hours or more on every game I play.

I agree wholeheartedly. The most hours I've put into games have been the first Disgaea (around 95 hours) and Persona 4 Golden (around 80). But I'm a single dad raising a soon-to-be seven year old on my own and I have my own business so those looooong games, while I love them, aren't something I jump into often. With that said, I'm starting Skyrim LE and will probably player Witcher 1 and 2 very soon.

 

[dudebro]

How the hell is Telltale going to make all these games they're announcing, they can't even produce one episode per month and they have at least 4 games going on that I've heard of.

don't worry, at least 2 of the 4 games will suck and bomb

 

[pasports31]

I liked BSI and am happy for its win(s) but I'd have expected a Best Game before Best Shooter. I personally liked it but I heard a lot of people kvetch and moan over the shooter mechanics portion. "Best Game" could rest harder on the plot, setting and characters.

Mehhhh i take it more as "best game that's a shooter" than "game w/best shooting mechanics"

How the hell is Telltale going to make all these games they're announcing, they can't even produce one episode per month and they have at least 4 games going on that I've heard of.

I was thinking the same thing. Biting off a bit more than they can chew, maybe. Of course, with TWD exploding, they're probably expanding, and who knows when Borderlands/GOT are gonna be released. For all we know, those might be the only games they have in the pipeline, so once TWD and AWAU are done, they'll still only be producing two games.

 

[wtsutton]

Don't stone me to death.  I thought Bioshock Infinite was just okay.  I stayed for the bewbs though.

 

[pasports31]

Don't stone me to death. I thought Bioshock Infinite was just okay. I stayed for the bewbs though.

stoned99 isn't here, you're safe from getting stoned to death

oh wait, i see

You're lucky you just mentioned you have a kid

 

[Solid-Snake-Eyes]

From VGX:

Studio of the Year = Naughty Dog (for The Last of Us).

 

[Captain Urahara]

Just went downstairs to check and see what washers/dryers were available in my apartment building. Walked by a vending machine and someone had left a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos in the bottom.

PRAISE DORITO POPE!

 

[Pheace]

Best Shooter absolutely baffles me for Bioshock Infinite. The shooter gameplay of BI is the worst part of the game...

Dying light looks promising.

No Man's Sky went from Blah to Whoah, this could be pretty awesome, back to Blah when he started talking about what people did affecting eachother

 

[Syntax Error]

Mehhhh i take it more as "best game that's a shooter" than "game w/best shooting mechanics"

Fair enough. I first heard of VGX maybe 12 hours ago so I don't really have an opinion of how they decide who wins what.

Or really care, I guess.

 

[dfg]

I liked Borderlands 1/2 but feel like I'm the only person who got bored with TWD within the first hour.

I didn't find it as boring as I did ridiculous. With all the ex machinas and sloppy details like

Spoiler

Kenny fishes for dolphin, and Clementine is an 8-year-old first grader?

. The writing was even poorer than the show's.

Meanwhile, for a game whose strength is supposed to be its loot system, the Tiny Tina DLC was fantastic and pitch-perfect. I'm looking forward to the mashup, and hopefully they create brand new characters for it.

 

[MysterD]

GTA5 won Soundtrack Of The Year.

Performance going on w/ like a band and mini-orchestra set-up - w/ a big-screen TV w/ footage of the GTA5 game; performance of the actual "traditional" score; & some of the rappers' songs that are on the soundtrack (such as Freddie Gibbs, The Game).

 

[pasports31]

Fair enough. I first heard of VGX maybe 12 hours ago so I don't really have an opinion of how they decide who wins what.

Or really care, I guess.

I don't know if that's how they decide it...that's just how I would vote for it...look at all the games whose primary genre is FPS, take the best overall game out of that selection. That's the best FPS. All games have pros and cons, the combat is just one part of it. If a game has good shooting but everything else sucks, I'm probably not gonna want to play it.

 

[Captain Urahara]

GTA5 won Soundtrack Of The Year.

Meh. GTAV had a lot of songs I liked, and a lot that I didn't like. Very middle of the road for me. I would have gone with The Last of Us for Soundtrack of the Year.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqGG70zNDbI[/youtube]

 

[M_F_A_H]

GTA5 won Soundtrack Of The Year.

Performance going on w/ like a band and mini-orchestra set-up - w/ a big-screen TV w/ footage of the GTA5 game; performance of the actual "traditional" score; & some of the rappers' songs that are on the soundtrack (such as Freddie Gibbs, The Game).

flylo fm fuk yeah

 

[MysterD]

flylo fm fuk yeah

After seeing this & hearing it, I'm thinking rappers should use mixtures of mini-orchestras & live-bands more often - especially on their albums.

EDIT:

Tyler The Creator's up.

EDIT 2:

They have like a whole section w/ drums; whole sections of trumpet players; whole section of sax's; keyboard player; and a DJ (wait - is that The Alchemist?).

 

[Rerujnoc]

For those that bought any bundles from Bundle In A Box, time to download and backup all your games. Looks like the site is shutting down and the current ongoing bundle is the last one from them. (source)

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[pasports31]

Just watched the no mans sky trailer on kotaku...looked good, wasn't entirely impressed until i rewatched it because i had missed the first 30 seconds as i looked up to catch a bit of a movie im watching, and realized it's all procedural. Then I was blown away.

 

[MysterD]

The Chain Gang of 1974 is performing their song "Sleepwalking" from GTA5.

And, looks like...we're done here w/ VGX.

Credits rolling.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

For anyone who has played the Ys games on multiple platforms what was your preference: PC with KB/M, PC or PS3 with controller or handheld (PSP/Vita)? I'm most interested in opinions on Oath.

Cross-posting in the PSN thread.

I've been playing Chronicles 1 on PC with a controller, but I haven't tried KB+M so I can't compare the two. I'm a bit biased toward controllers anyway (old habits die hard).

Hello Games (an Indie team of 4) showed off No Man's Sky - not sure what it is.

Hello Games made the excellent Joe Danger games, so I'm very excited to see they are working on something new and different. Will have to remember to look up what they showed.

From VGX:

Studio of the Year = Naughty Dog (for The Last of Us).

*sigh*

I liked BSI and am happy for its win(s) but I'd have expected a Best Game before Best Shooter. I personally liked it but I heard a lot of people kvetch and moan over the shooter mechanics portion. "Best Game" could rest harder on the plot, setting and characters.

I probably don't need to say anymore about my disappointment by Infinite, but am certainly in the camp that found the shooting particularly lackluster and uninteresting. I'm still baffled by what so many find fun and engaging about it, but perhaps I just don't agree with most of the general public's taste in games. This is coming from someone that thought B1+2 had great shooting and gameplay.

Meh. GTAV had a lot of songs I liked, and a lot that I didn't like. Very middle of the road for me. I would have gone with The Last of Us for Soundtrack of the Year.

For all I disliked about TLoU I will say the score was terrific

 

[dudebro]

The Chain Gang of 1974 is performing their song "Sleepwalking" from GTA5.

And, looks like...we're done here w/ VGX.

Credits rolling.

Im speechless, and not in a good way

 

[hal]

I like Telltale but I'll be honest when I say I wasn't really a fan of the Borderlands series. I'm not looking forward to this Borderlands adventure game. I AM looking forward to TWD Season 2 and the rest of The Wolf Among Us.

I like Borderlands, but I thought the writing was the weakest part; especially for BL, but even for 2. Because of that, I wouldn't have picked it as a game I'd love to see Telltale's tackle.

I guess I'm hoping TT can make something interesting out of it so that Gearbox can learn from them. Consequently, BL3 might have an interesting story to go along with the one-liners and loot hunting.

From VGX:

Bioshock Infinite won Best Shooter.

The shooter gameplay of BI is the worst part of the game...

I share your opinion. Does VGX not have a "Best Story" option?

 

[pasports31]

I like Borderlands, but I thought the writing was the weakest part; especially for BL, but even for 2. Because of that, I wouldn't have picked it as a game I'd love to see Telltale's tackle.

I guess I'm hoping TT can make something interesting out of it so that Gearbox can learn from them. Consequently, BL3 might have an interesting story to go along with the one-liners and loot hunting.

I share your opinion. Does VGX not have a "Best Story" option?

If borderlands 3 had a legit engaging story and characters that were a tad more engaging, and can find some way to change the gameplay just a bit (so they're not carbon copying 3 games)...they might have a legit GOTY candidate.

 

[BrownDerby]

For anyone who has played the Ys games on multiple platforms what was your preference: PC with KB/M, PC or PS3 with controller or handheld (PSP/Vita)? I'm most interested in opinions on Oath.

Cross-posting in the PSN thread.

I've played I&II on Turbo Duo, and then Oath, Origins, and Chronicles on PC with a controller. I think if there is a PC version of it, that's the one to get. But Ys Seven on PSP and the new Vita one look pretty cool and I want to play those

 

[Mooby]

The VGA/VGX is everything that's wrong with the AAA game industry in a nutshell.  Re: Bioshock Infinite -- the shooter facet of a first person shooter is the worst part of the game and yet... people still rave about it?  I rest my case.

 

[wtsutton]

GTA5 won Soundtrack Of The Year.

Performance going on w/ like a band and mini-orchestra set-up - w/ a big-screen TV w/ footage of the GTA5 game; performance of the actual "traditional" score; & some of the rappers' songs that are on the soundtrack (such as Freddie Gibbs, The Game).

I smile every time I jack a car, turn on the radio, and hear "Baker Street".

 

[pasports31]

The VGA/VGX is everything that's wrong with the AAA game industry in a nutshell.

U okay? Usually you can't say enough good things about AAA games, or the industry.

 

[Mooby]

'da industriez is gr8!  Can't wait for 'da next 6 hour QTE/cutscene GOTY!

 

[pasports31]

'da industriez is gr8! Can't wait for 'da next 6 hour QTE/cutscene GOTY!

The only qualm I have w/AAA games is that they still have "gameplay." I just want a really long cutscene

 

[Mooby]

Dear Esther is ahead of the curve on that one.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

Dear Esther is ahead of the curve on that one.

Did you forget that Diner Date you went on?

 

[indef]

I don't think anyone holds the VGXAs up as bastions of impartiality or anything like that.  It's nothing more than a showcase for upcoming stuff.

Thought No Man's Sky looked great, although it's going to have tough competition with Star Citizen.  The 30 second clip from Stick of Truth hopefully will be enough to hold me over for another year of waiting.  As for the rest of the games showed, i'll just wait for their inevitable Telltale spinoff.

And how disappointing was that Witcher 3 clip?

 

[wtsutton]

After seeing this & hearing it, I'm thinking rappers should use mixtures of mini-orchestras & live-bands more often - especially on their albums.

I love when singers and bands bring orchestras on to play in shows. I've always been a huge advocate of it. I LOVED when Metallica performed with the San Fran Symphony. A lot of people hated. Fade to Black and For Whom the Bell Tolls sounded fantastic and the music was so much fuller. Just bringing in an instrument people aren't used to hearing in a certain song can make a huge difference.

I produced a show over the summer. Had a singer I've been working with for the past year and a half singing the old Pattie Griffin song "Up to the Mountain" which Pattie used to do with a band. I changed the instrumentation and stripped it down to just an acoustic guitar and brought in a cellist. People in the crowd were in tears. It was so haunting.

Would love to see Linkin Park do a show with an orchestra. And Bruno Mars. And 30 Seconds to Mars. Hell...I would just love to see an orchestra playing ON Mars!

 

[pasports31]

I don't think anyone holds the VGXAs up as bastions of impartiality or anything like that. It's nothing more than a showcase for upcoming stuff.

Thought No Man's Sky looked great, although it's going to have tough competition with Star Citizen. The 30 second clip from Stick of Truth hopefully will be enough to hold me over for another year of waiting. As for the rest of the games showed, i'll just wait for their inevitable Telltale spinoff.

And how disappointing was that Witcher 3 clip?

I'm so cautiously excited for Stick of Truth. I just want it to come out already, but all this delaying makes me a bit nervous.

 

[sunasun]

I'm so cautiously excited for Stick of Truth. I just want it to come out already, but all this delaying makes me a bit nervous.

Is it still coming out?

Did you forget that Diner Date you went on?

Or the romantic walk through The Graveyard?

 

[Detruire]

I love when singers and bands bring orchestras on to play in shows. I've always been a huge advocate of it. I LOVED when Metallica performed with the San Fran Symphony. A lot of people hated. Fade to Black and For Whom the Bell Tolls sounded fantastic and the music was so much fuller.

I really like S&M, it's probably my favourite Metallica album.

 

[Blade]

I really like S&M

 

[BrownDerby]

I made the mistake of reading this:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/07/tomb-raider-definitive-edition-detailed-on-ps4-january-28th/

Getting our gameplay up to native 1080p meant increasing all of our texture resolutions by over 4x so the details and nuances can be seen in their full glory. However, it’s subtleties like our subsurface scattering technology — how we manage realistic lighting effects through solid/semi-solid matter — that we’re so proud of, which bring a new glow to Lara’s skin. All of these elements working in conjunction drive a much more realistic world than we’ve ever had.

The entire game world — the perilous island of Yamatai — is alive as well. Foliage bends as Lara pushes through it; trees whip in the wind; even cloth moves courtesy of new, more sophisticated physics modeling. Weather effects lash the island with unprecedented levels of venom, and rain particles are dynamically lit as they slice through piercing searchlights. The in-game cast has also enjoyed an upgrade — characters and enemies alike have been enhanced visually, while in-game destructibility has been given additional refinement to increase the sense that you are leaving a mark on this world.

However, as always, it’s Lara who’s the star of the show. As such, one of our boldest changes was to handcraft an all new, even more realistic head and face model for her, taking advantage of the increased power of PS4. This is our first glimpse of our next-generation Lara. We also drastically improved shader and lighting effects, adding dynamic sweat, mud, and even blood for a new level of visual acuity that reacts on Lara in different situations. Objects on Lara’s person like her climbing axe or arrows now independently react to her movements and sway or jostle with an obsessive eye for detail, further adding that nothing was too small for us to tackle.

Glowy skin! Raindrop lighting! Dynamic mud! Any new levels or anything, any gameplay stuff? No? NEXT GENERATION WOO

 

[pasports31]

I made the mistake of reading this:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/07/tomb-raider-definitive-edition-detailed-on-ps4-january-28th/

Glowy skin! Raindrop lighting! Dynamic mud! Any new levels or anything, any gameplay stuff? No? NEXT GENERATION WOO

How hipster-esque of you to hate on dynamic mud. Errybody luvs dat shit

Edit: I'm hoping we'll be seeing a lot of this just because "it's next gen, gotta show off our grafix." Hopefully by the end of the year it'll die down a bit maybeihope

 

[warreni]

How the hell is Telltale going to make all these games they're announcing, they can't even produce one episode per month and they have at least 4 games going on that I've heard of.

It's either half of it will be crap or you can expect a really slow burn on the releases. I wouldn't assume the former, though. We've been hearing about the Fables games for quite a while now, but the first episode has only recently released and to nearly-universal acclaim.

I like Borderlands, but I thought the writing was the weakest part; especially for BL, but even for 2. Because of that, I wouldn't have picked it as a game I'd love to see Telltale's tackle.

I guess I'm hoping TT can make something interesting out of it so that Gearbox can learn from them. Consequently, BL3 might have an interesting story to go along with the one-liners and loot hunting.

As usual, I have to echo hal's thoughts on this. I haven't started BL2 but the first game had dreadful writing--the end was absolutely pathetic. Now some of the characters were interesting and I could see Telltale taking the setting and the characters and really creating a compelling narrative, but Gearbox isn't really good at this sort of thing on its own.

I'm so cautiously excited for Stick of Truth. I just want it to come out already, but all this delaying makes me a bit nervous.

Yeah, people have been hyping this for ages too. I'm almost completely certain it's just me but I think South Park is the most overrated thing since Bioshock 1 or Oblivion. This could be this generation's Baldur's Gate in terms of quality and I wouldn't give two halves of a bad rat's ass.

I made the mistake of reading this:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/12/07/tomb-raider-definitive-edition-detailed-on-ps4-january-28th/

Glowy skin! Raindrop lighting! Dynamic mud! Any new levels or anything, any gameplay stuff? No? NEXT GENERATION WOO

Gadzooks! You read that?! I fell asleep two sentences in and was awakened three hours later by cats licking my face.

 

[MysterD]

Im speechless, and not in a good way

I like this song (from the GTA5 commercial) - but, the live performance of it here at VGX....I was Not fond of it.

And it wasn't the band/mini-orchestra - they sounded great.

I didn't like thelead singer's performance.

He just sounded....off.

 

[tebowdragon15]

that waht mysterd liks bout aj heh . i mean mysterd is horny when she does that hhe

 

[Neuro5i5]

As usual, I have to echo hal's thoughts on this. I haven't started BL2 but the first game had dreadful writing--the end was absolutely pathetic. Now some of the characters were interesting and I could see Telltale taking the setting and the characters and really creating a compelling narrative, but Gearbox isn't really good at this sort of thing on its own.

Something tells me a that a game that markets itself with the tags of 87 bazillion guns and 96.5% more wub, wub...that literary depth is not its focal point.

And I'm OK with that.

 

[walkonshadows]

there holiday sale on sniper zombie army https://games.rebellionstore.com/en/

Oh, OK. I think I get it now. You're one of those people who can't be understood most of the time, but if your plastered drunk off your ass, you speak perfect English, am I right? Just chug a 40 before you answer so I can understand it though.

This hit me in just the right time and mood for me to seriously laugh my ass off. Well done Sir, well done.

 

[pasports31]

Something tells me a that a game that markets itself with the tags of 87 bazillion guns and 96.5% more wub, wub...that literary depth is not its focal point.

And I'm OK with that.

I dunno man. Don't you want to know how they could afford to manufacture so many guns? Why is there so much wub, wub? These are questions that need answers.

 

[MysterD]

The VGA/VGX is everything that's wrong with the AAA game industry in a nutshell. Re: Bioshock Infinite -- the shooter facet of a first person shooter is the worst part of the game and yet... people still rave about it? I rest my case.

I really don't know what it is w/ people hating Bioshock: Infinite's shooting mechanics! Also, we could also make a point that BS:I isn't a full-blown shooter since it also has Vigors - which, more or less - are like Magic in most games. Combat-wise on the feel and whatnot, BS:I certainly felt much better & got a few more tricks up its sleeve than the original Bioshock - especially when you throw in the sky-rails & Elizabeth (with her tear-pulling and constantly chucking you things to help you out). I certainly enjoyed it - probably more than I expected, actually; it kept me on my toes. I think it really helped for me that they kept throwing new mechanics and things at me, to keep me interested in the actual combat itself and possibilities. Plus, a lot of the environments had a much more open-space and open-area feel to them for combat-space/arenas, when compared to the enclosed corridors-galore of Bioshock 1. Though, Bioshock 1 + 2 probably did a better and less-linear job of letting you mix, match & upgrade your skills/weapons a bit more to your desires.

Actually, come to think of it - maybe, I think I finally *do* know why people ain't super-fond of Bioshock: Infinite's shooting mechanics. There was a lot of backlash after the game came out, about its heavy focus on combat. I think the problem (for those gamers) stems on how many people always say that they are madly in love w/ the Bioshock series' game-world, its art, the lore, and they want to just flat-out explore it - and especially how this game does many of those things worlds better than most. I think people might want a truly open-world Bioshock - where they can explore the game's world, its inhabitants, its lore, and things where it's all done at the player's own whim and will. Maybe gamers want something like Dear Esther or Gone Home - where they're just exploring and don't want any combat? Or maybe some gamers want some combat, but not beat just over the head with it? I don't know. I'm sure some gamers would probably want a Bioshock game w/ an open-world, just so they are not be always forced down a COD-like linear path, so that they're able to soak in everything at their own will and start missions whenever they so desire - this way, they could feel (or have that illusion) that they'd have more of an exploration experience than an actual shooter experience.

EDIT:

For me, Bioshock: Infinite is my GOTY of 2013 (so far). It's better to call this game a hybrid type of game (since it mixes shooter and the "upgrading" RPG elements) than a shooter. It's not 100% shooter. But, honestly - a lot of games been mixing elements and genres for a long time. It's just...we're beginning to see that more so than ever, these days and age - especially since games like System Shock 2 and Deus Ex 1 dropped.

 

[M_F_A_H]

that guy's been cutting his wrist like a sad boy

 

[hal]

Something tells me a that a game that markets itself with the tags of 87 bazillion guns and 96.5% more wub, wub...that literary depth is not its focal point.

And I'm OK with that.

That's a fair point. Borderlands isn't a 2 Deep 4 U kind of game.

However, BL was just dreadful. So bad that they even made fun of it in the next game.

BL2 was a small step in the right direction and complimented the yuks with some semblance of a story... albeit a rather week one. Not until the Tiny Tina DLC do you even begin to get some emotion to compliment the action.

So maybe they don't need a convoluted and unnecessarily deep Ken Levine plot for Borderlands 3, but they do need to step it up in a big way. For every jewel of a character they create, they trot out two that are as limp as dish rags and then they don't give them much to do. Mordecai is the perfect example of crap character development.

Imagine wub wub humor, solid looting, and an interesting reason to run from Point A to Point B.