The Steam Thread

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I was disappointed to see they did not make a campaign for AOW 4. I know they have these story like events but previews say the factions play similarly.

Well this is a Paragon game, so there will be countless updates and DLC's in the future. Would not surprise me to see one of them be a campaign.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Well this is a Paragon game, so there will be countless updates and DLC's in the future. Would not surprise me to see one of them be a campaign.

If you mean Paradox, it's only published by them. They didn't develop it. So it might not be 500 DLC's to make a complete game.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

If you mean Paradox, it's only published by them. They didn't develop it. So it might not be 500 DLC's to make a complete game.

paragon,paradox whatever

[Edward64]

Bethesda seems to have messed up (pooped) with the Redfall launch.

Wasn't really on my list to play. Will see how the patches work out and wait for the $70 price to drop.

[Atocep]

Redfall sounds exactly like I expected. You take a talented developer and pressure them to go outside their area of expertise and make a multi-player game that has enough single player elements to hopefully not alienate the fanbase they've built over their last few releases. You end up with a bad game that doesn't do anything well and unfortunately the developer usually gets blamed for these mistakes and bleed talent to other studios.

Multi-player games can be great and have their place, but it's hard to believe publishers haven't figured out that there's nothing worse than trying to shoehorn multi-player into single player experiences. The success rate of these games should scare anyone away.

[dubb93]

With Redfall not being good I guess that begs the question what if Starfield sucks too? Those are the two new IP AAA Microsoft games being released this year. Microsoft really needs to figure out how to get the studios it owns to release good games. The constant miss after miss has one thing in common and it's Microsoft.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dubb93

With Redfall not being good I guess that begs the question what if Starfield sucks too? Those are the two new IP AAA Microsoft games being released this year. Microsoft really needs to figure out how to get the studios it owns to release good games. The constant miss after miss has one thing in common and it's Microsoft.

At this point I'm not sure why anyone would expect anything other than a botch from Bethesda.

We're 8 years from the last time something wasn't a clusterfuck, and that's if you were okay with FO4.

Otherwise it's 13 years back to Skyrim.

[SirFozzie]

Showgunners review

Take XCom style game play. Add the Running Man kill or be killed dystopia, and shake vigorously.. and..

Add in a couple of plot twists including the death of one of your teammates in a way you can't stop, that isn't really signposted, and a bit of Death Race 2000 (the David Carradine original) reason your character is in this lethal game show

It's not going to have a TON of replay value, unless I want to try different builds, go for 100% in finding optional battle areas/loot crates/autographs to sign, but it's definitely worth $30.

I've run into a variety of enemies so far (all dolled up appropriately) in the in-universe game show "Homicidal All-Stars" (which this game used to be named)

SCUM: The base unit type. Give a death row convict a gun, and tell them if they kill the "challenger" they get their sentence commuted. Not quite mooks, but mid game, you'll be one-shotting them.
RONIN: Give SCUM a katana, and a tendency to unsheath it and look menacing (before you fill them with lead)
MUERTA: Her hits can poison you, or heal other Scum. Annoying
DRONE MONK: Summons Attack Drones. The Attack Drones can do some serious damage, but the Drone Monks themselves can die in two-three hits, and when they die the drones go with them. Focus Fire, but not super dangerous.
OGRE: Give a SCUM a perfectly balanced amount of steroids and battle drugs. They hit hard, and can regenerate. Don't let them get close.

Your "Challengers"/Heroes, with a bit of spoiler information:

Scarlett: The Main Character.

Spoiler

she's in this to get at the game's champion defender, Ulysses, who prior to his capture killed Scarlett's family. She quit being a cop, and changed identities to become a bounty hunter, then join Homicidal All-Stars to get a crack at Ulysess, AND the producer behind the game show)

Marty: A returning former champion.

Spoiler

A former Homicidal All-Stars (HAS) champion, who came back on the show after bad investments meant that his prize money was all gone. You will rely on him, but he gets murked by Ulysses a couple missions in. Don't buy weapons for him, or do so because he's good, but know that you're going to have to sell them when he dies

Tybalt: A former hacker trying to commute his sentence in HAS. Able to use holographics to change his appearance and that of others. One of his abilities swaps visages with an enemy, meaning the enemy will treat Tybalt as a friendly, and the enemy he swapped visages with as someone to be shot.

Spoiler

He's in HAS because he was a CI for the cops, who embezzled funds to pay him, and framed him when the fiddling was discovered. Only sentenced to two years in jail, but since it was known he was a CI for the cops, he volunteered for HAS rather than get shivved in prison

Warden:

Spoiler

A Mech that you can "win" the use of during the show. It's almost a given at some point the Warden will be turned on you, although it hasn't happened yet

Most of the game is set in two modes, Exploration (where you search for additional loot, deal with traps, puzzles and the like) and combat. Great set-piece battles (for example, you fight in an old train station. During the battle, trains will rush through the tracks, killing anyone on them. Thankfully, you get a one turn warning, the baddies don't (or don't care))

The game is crying out for Create-a-Challenger and Create-a-Episode modes where you build areas and combat. It does have Twitch Mode, where streamers can play the game, and their chat can help or hinder them. Made for streaming. Not a $60 game, but it's only $30 (26.99 on release for a couple weeks), and definitely worth that.

Note: I'm sure there will be other enemy types and possibly other characters to help you.

[Fidatelo]

Oooh, this sounds fun, thanks for the post SirFozzie!

[Capital]

Thanks for the information on Showgunners. Thinking about giving Hard West II a try - A western turn based game. Reviews are pretty good.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Capital

Thanks for the information on Showgunners. Thinking about giving Hard West II a try - A western turn based game. Reviews are pretty good.

I will give you a strong recommend on Hardwest 2, very well done and some unique mechanics.

[SirFozzie]

Showgunners update

Got a couple new allies in Showgunners, the young CEO of a major arms corporation (who resembles Overwatch's Zarya), and an across-the-board sniper who can delete bad guys, but is not useful up close .Sad thing is you can only have two people in exploration and ambush missions, and three in combat arenas.

Oh, and funny moment, the game's music has a stinger that basically rips off the "Da-da-da, da-da-da" bit from SportsCenter.

I half expect Scott Van Pelt to pop up on the screen and say "Tonight, after Homicidal All-Stars, we go into the best highlights and kills from tonight's action, and a bad beat when a Challenger hits a tripwire on their way out of the arena. Again, KillCenter, After Homicidal All-Stars"

[SirFozzie]

dola: Also, two phrases I never thought would go together: "Rogue-like" "Hockey Game" Tape2Tape is out. Aracde-ish hockey with rogue-like elements as you go through a run.

[SirFozzie]

Also: If anyone wants a 14 day trial pass to Xbox PC Game Pass, let me know.

[Thomkal]

If you have been waiting for a Star Wars game sale, you might want to look around today, May 4 be with you Day

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

If you have been waiting for a Star Wars game sale, you might want to look around today, May 4 be with you Day

Is there any good Star Wars games? Any I have tried since KOTOR have been let downs.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Is there any good Star Wars games? Any I have tried since KOTOR have been let downs.

Fallen order is really good and jedi survivor is outstanding but needs some patching. Story-wise they're incredible and stand up to the best mainstream lore entries. Cal Kestis grows into one of the most likeable characters in the Star Wars universe IMO.

Gameplay wise they can be difficult since it's a mix of Souls-like gamelay with a sprinkle of God of War.

Squadrons is solid, if a bit generic.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Is there any good Star Wars games? Any I have tried since KOTOR have been let downs.

I played a bit of Kotor, but not bring a Star Wars fan, it didn't grab me.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Fallen order is really good and jedi survivor is outstanding but needs some patching. Story-wise they're incredible and stand up to the best mainstream lore entries. Cal Kestis grows into one of the most likeable characters in the Star Wars universe IMO.

Gameplay wise they can be difficult since it's a mix of Souls-like gamelay with a sprinkle of God of War.

Squadrons is solid, if a bit generic.

I bought Fallen Order and returned it. I'm not good at that kind of game. Squadrons was majorly disappointing. To me gameplay>>>story every time. When you have a bunch of cut-screens were you sit around and watch stuff happen, I'm immediately turned off.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I played a bit of Kotor, but not bring a Star Wars fan, it didn't grab me.

Beyond the setting, that style of play is among my favorite. Turn based, or turn based-ish. I need games that don't require me to push button fast.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Beyond the setting, that style of play is among my favorite. Turn based, or turn based-ish. I need games that don't require me to push button fast.

Me too

[Mota]

As FOF players, we're used to thinking about our moves. So when I play an FPS, I think "Hey, there's a bad guy, I should shoot him. I'm going to aim for ... and I'm dead".

Also doesn't help that many of us are long past the age 25 peak of FPS gaming.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Mota

Also doesn't help that many of us are long past the age 25 peak of FPS gaming.

And in some cases (like me) ... loooooong past.

I've thought many times that it's actually to my advantage against "normal" players in something like Fortnite though. Since I know my limitations far too well, I play most situations differently than probably 95% of the people they run into. Basically, I don't do anything they expect and sometimes that results in what I figure are victories that inspire rage quits lol

[dubb93]

Started Redfall with my son despite the reviews because we aren’t gonna let some negative people on the internet stand in the way of a good time.
Anyway the game isn’t terrible so far, but having the game on the Series X and my PC in the same room at the same time….it’s jarring how bad it runs on Xbox. He’s getting less than half my frames and quite a bit of stuttering and slowdown. It’s just a much smoother experience for me so far.

[Thomkal]

Darkest Dungeon II has been released on Steam. Its quite different in setting, still very dark but you travel through the world now instead of staying at a manor. Events, encounters, and dungeons along the way

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Darkest Dungeon II has been released on Steam. Its quite different in setting, still very dark but you travel through the world now instead of staying at a manor. Events, encounters, and dungeons along the way

so it's what Diablo 2 was to diablo 1

[GrantDawg]

This is a big wowser. The publisher of Destiny 2 has won a RICO case on a cheat software maker and every site that hosted the software. Pretty big judgement.

Hey, Twitter, and especially my #LitigationDisasterTourists, gather round. B/cwhile DM is focusing in on the court finding that selling videogame cheats is criminal copyright infringement and RICO, I'd like to tell you about something different. The CFAA, and @KathrynTewson https://t.co/ONfpFO0CNZ

— Akiva Cohen (@AkivaMCohen) May 9, 2023

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

This is a big wowser. The publisher of Destiny 2 has won a RICO case on a cheat software maker and every site that hosted the software. Pretty big judgement.

Good snag, I sent that along to Will. He loves a creative use of RICO so he'll enjoy this I'm sure.

[Thomkal]

claim Hotshot Racing for free at Fanatical

[Thomkal]

Crusaders Kings 3 is free to play on Steam thru the weekend. Also having a big Paradox publisher sale too!

[GrantDawg]

Anyone playing Age of Wonder 4? I'm enjoying it so far. It is a super deep and very customizable game that still is not hard to play.

[Toddzilla]

Tape to Tape is eating all of my time.

Hockey? Check.
Roguelike? Check.
Throwing your stick and clobbering the ref? CHECK.

The gameplay is where it's at, and it's so much fun, very NHL 95 ish

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Tape to Tape is eating all of my time.

Hockey? Check.
Roguelike? Check.
Throwing your stick and clobbering the ref? CHECK.

The gameplay is where it's at, and it's so much fun, very NHL 95 ish

Can you play effectively with the keyboard or is a joy stick really needed?

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Can you play effectively with the keyboard or is a joy stick really needed?

It's do-able, but a controller makes all the difference

[Edward64]

Just noticed that Xenonauts 2 has a Q2 2023 release date. I'm assuming this is EA release.

Serious concerns about this as Xenonauts has been in development for a long time and forums don't seem very active.

Hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

[flere-imsaho]

I guess I don't understand that cheater software case. What is the harm? Are these, like, cheat codes so you can bypass hard parts or otherwise win the games? Or are these cracks?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I guess I don't understand that cheater software case. What is the harm? Are these, like, cheat codes so you can bypass hard parts or otherwise win the games? Or are these cracks?

In the latest case, the dev sold hacks that were used in online play.

edit to add: I believe that's true in both cases where Bungie won judgements this week, nearly $7m in one, nearly $17m in the other ... plus significant precedent by getting their RICO claim agreed to. We may finally start seeing these p.o.s. do prison time.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I guess I don't understand that cheater software case. What is the harm? Are these, like, cheat codes so you can bypass hard parts or otherwise win the games? Or are these cracks?

Destiny 2 is a MMO with PVP so cheating has a negative impact on the entire user base. MMO cheats are usually secondary software that runs at the same time as the game to bypass code which allow you do things like see enemy players through walls or aim hacks recognize players and immediately targets them when they come on screen, and can go as far as allowing players to just shoot through walls.

[GrantDawg]

Right. Destiny 2 is free-to-play, so these cheats help players steal directly from the creators by allowing people to gain whatever currency the game uses to purchase in-game items. They are stealing money by artificial "grinding" these tokens.

[flere-imsaho]

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh, now I understand. Definitely harm. Thanks for explaining!

[Thomkal]

Tom Clancy's the Division 2 is free to play thru the weekend on Steam

[Thomkal]

From the makers of Monster Train, Inkbound is now in Early Access:


Inkbound on Steam

[Edward64]

I'm close to finishing up my 5th region in Wartales. Good game and worth the <$30 that I spent on it since late early access. But it's become repetitive and not holding my interest. It needs more ... variability. I'll let it sit until more stuff comes out before resuming.

Thinking about buying BG3 which is due to be released in Aug. I know I'll get it eventually but 3 months is a little long to be playing EA for me.

Starfield is supposedly out Sep 6. There is a Starfield Direct event on Jun 6 so we'll know more.

Haven't seen anyone else mention it but Jagged Alliance 3 is scheduled for Jul 14. The demo gameplay looks promising.

I'll wait for the Memorial Day sales to make a decision on next game. Meanwhile, XCom WOTC and Civ 6 to bide my time.

[Thomkal]

Hue, a puzzle game where you adjust the color to advance, is free to claim on Steam thru the weekend

[Thomkal]

Nookrium found and played a new game just come out of early access on Steam: Archmage Rises. You start by totally randomising the world, its people, its history. Then you are born, and you get choices for your life until you suddenly get the gift of magic power. You can choose which magic realm to specialize in, then go to mage school for 3 years where you meet three other students just starting their studies.



They become your friends, potential allies, lovers, rivals or enemies. Then after three years of study you are kicked out of school to adventure on your own. You end up in a totally random town where you can build relationships, get quests, jobs, etc whatever you want, including just ignoring the town and going your own way. Combat is turn based, you have spells and weapons to fight with. And every time you start a new game its all new. I'm certainly intrigued by it. There's a Steam link to on Nookrium's play through of the game here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijdW...ist=WL&index=4

[Edward64]

Disappointed no Steam sale this Memorial Day or at least not the ones on my wishlist.

Also Homeworld 3 has been pushed to 2024 (no surprise).

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Disappointed no Steam sale this Memorial Day or at least not the ones on my wishlist.

Also Homeworld 3 has been pushed to 2024 (no surprise).

Probably just about 3 weeks to the summer sale, yeah?

[dubb93]

Jan 23 - Jan 30, 2023: Base Builder Fest
Feb 20 - Feb 27, 2023: Mystery Fest
Mar 16 - Mar 23, 2023: Steam Spring Sale
Apr 24 - May 1, 2023: Puzzle Fest
May 15 - May 22, 2023: Sports Fest
Jun 29 - Jul 13, 2023: Steam Summer Sale
Jul 24 - Jul 31, 2023: Stealth Fest
Aug 7 - Aug 14, 2023: Visual Novel Fest
Aug 28 - Sep 4, 2023: Strategy Fest
Sep 25 - Oct 2, 2023: SHMUP Fest
Oct 26 - Nov 2, 2023: Scream Fest (Halloween)
Nov 21 - Nov 28, 2023: Steam Autumn Sale
Dec 21, 2023 - Jan 4, 2024: Steam Winter Sale

[Edward64]

Thanks both for the schedule

[CrimsonFox]

not to mention flash sales. steam is like a furniture store nowadays that"goes out of business"