Last Day of Steam Summer Sale!

The end is here, finally. Tomorrow the sale is over, so I’d be sure to check the featured things to see if your favorite game has been put back up!

Good news today! All of these are pretty good! Basically anything on the front page is a good buy. I’d recommend “Sanctum” and “Just Cause 2″ as your cheap buys.

I’d also recommend taking a second to check out other games that may be on deep discount that haven’t been summer sales. You can search for “All games under $5” on the store page, and you’ll find a lot of good 75% off deals.

Happy Hunting!

Steam Summer Sale Update!

Hey there, Correct Platform For Playing Games owners (for as long as I am talking about it)!

The Steam Summer Sale has updated with a new batch of stuff you

Really Must Buy Instantly:

- Magicka, or for a few bucks more the Magicka Complete Pack: Just a solid, entertaining, neat little slice of different. Great fun with a friend.

-Super Meat Boy: Significantly better than Super Mario.

Don’t Really Have To Instantly Buy But I Mean Might Row Your Boat:

-Darksiders: Like a less charming Zelda is what I’ve heard

-Battlefield Bad Company 2: Don’t even know, but at least it’s not fucking Call of Duty

-Fable 3: If you like Fable you probably will want to buy another of these games!

-Bioshock 2: If you really really need to go back to Rapture

-Plants Vs. Zombies: Fun, if you don’t already have it.

-Half-Life: Episode 2: If you don’t have it, why don’t you have it?

Probably Do Not Want To Buy:

-Hoard: I’ve had a bit of fun with it, but it’s way too simple to warrant a purchase. You can find free games online with better content.

-Aliens Vs Predator: It was not well received

-Resident Evil 5: Like 4, but without the humor and you’re constantly escorting an AI player. Maybe if you and a friend both buy it and play co-op.

Football Manager:

-Football Manager 2011: Football manager.

Magicka Announces First Expansion Pack: Magicka Vietnam!

Not even kidding.

Not even kidding.

At last count there were around 150 games set in World War 2 (at last count on Wikipedia, anyway) and only 20 set in Vietnam. Possibly because people are afraid setting videogames in a famously morally suspect and horrifically brutal war might be disrespectful.

Now what Magicka has done is they’ve made a game where you wear little wizard robes and carry an American Flag staff and an M60, and you kill Vietcong goblins with magic spells, like Fireball or Ice Wall or C4. They’ve kept things respectful.

From the announcement site:

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if wizards were allowed to roam the jungles of war-torn Vietnam, attempting to bring peace and stability to the region by casting spells on all opponents? Wait, you haven’t ever wondered that? Ever? Okay, so we’re probably the only ones who have but in our defense: here’s your chance to stop being so closed-minded. Magicka: Vietnam delivers over-the-top action as players take on the role of four meek and physically inept wizards as they try to do what so many 80’s action stars have done in the past: blow stuff up.

Oh and the trailer is set to “Surfin’ Bird”.

I think the announcement alone has earned these guys the $10 they’re asking for the game. Check out the demo, and buy it if you like! Also the bugs are worked out by now I believe, mostly in a great big expansion/patch called “Mea Culpa”.

Magicka Is Interesting! Also: Fun Times!

So Magicka is a game from tiny Arrowhead Game Studios in Sweden, published by Paradox Interactive and it is a thing that proves interesting. It’s a pretty basic top-down dungeon crawler. Which is to say, you (and 3 of your friends) control a little dude (in this case a magician) and make him walk around exploring a big ruin/town/castle/etc and shoot/kill/crush/etc whatever random little monsters appear. Sometimes, you get coins or loot or a better sword or whatever.

So, pretty much the most basic thing besides Pong. What makes Magicka worth your time? Well, that’s… elementary. The Magic(k) system in Magicka is truly, honestly, the best idea for magic in a game I’ve seen in basically forever. It’s incredibly simple, too. There are 8 “elements” that you use to cast spells: Water, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Cold, Shield, Arcane, and Life. In order to cast, you simply hit a button (q, w, e, r, a, s, d, f respectively) that corresponds to an element and then choose a target: yourself, an area in front of you, an area around you, or your sword. So far, reasonably simple. Fire + front = flamethrower that you can sweep around. Life + self = heal yourself a bit. Water + self = put out robes when you inevitably set yourself on fire.

But that’s only the start.