Digital distribution platforms feature regular special offers to lure in new customers. These exceptional deals can be used to your advantage as a means to quickly assemble a vast collection of great PC games at very low cost. But that requires regularly checking in on each and every digital download service for their latest deals, which can be a tiresome affair.
That’s where my weekly Discount Drone feature comes in. In Discount Drone I take a weekly look at everything that is on offer and extract the best deals for your perusal. These are formatted by genre and accompanied by short and accurate descriptions, so that you can decide whether the game is worth it. I currently check for these special offers on Direct2Drive, GamersGate, Get Games, Good Old Games, Green Man Gaming, Impulse and Steam.
This week sees some major changes as I’ve added Green Man Gaming to the mix and reformatted Discount Drone to be sorted by genre rather than service. This should make it easier to find games that you might like. The best deals aren’t quite so different from last week however, as Get Games’ summer deals remain online. This makes for some excellent strategy offerings like Commandos Complete, King’s Bounty, Armored Princess, Space Rangers and Space Rangers 2. GamersGate backs that up this week with two excellent strategy game bundles in RTS/RPG hybrid Spellforce Universe and the siege warfare oriented Stronghold Collection.
There are a lot more excellent games on offer this week, so be sure to look below for the full story. Also subscribe to GameDrone for weekly coverage of the best digital download discounts!
Deals of the Week
- Commandos Complete in Get Games - Save 50% Summer Deal - 7,49 EUR
This package includes all Commandos games, from the excellent and ridiculously difficult squad-based strategy games of Behind Enemy Lines & Commandos 2, to the sub-par shooter Strike Force. An awesome bundle at a great price – definitely worth a look. - King’s Bounty: Armored Princess on Get Games - Save 80% Summer Deal – 4,99 EUR
This stand-alone expansion pack offers an even better take on King’s Bounty’s excellent turn-based strategy gameplay, with the introduction of flight, a dragon pet, new hero abilities, etc. Be sure to get this if you’re into fantasy turn-based strategy games with heavy RPG influences similar to Heroes of Might and Magic. The deal for The Legend is better this weekend, but at this price there is no reason not to get Armored Princess right along with it. - Painkiller: Black Edition on Good Old Games – Save 40% gamescom Deal – 4,68 EUR
Go all-guns-blazing in this excellent fast-paced first person shooter with a grim mythical setting that puts you in the role of a demonic ass kicking mercenary. Crazy weapons, crazy enemies, crazy powers and a crazily fast pace make for one heck of a ride. And multiplayer offers solid competitive arena-based hardcore FPS play that’s unfortunately quite empty nowadays due to the free excellence that is Quake Live. This Black Edition also includes the Battle Out of Hell expansion pack, which was the last decent Painkiller game. - Space Rangers 2: Reboot on Get Games - Save 85% Summer Deal - 3,24 EUR
Space Rangers 2 improves upon the original in ever regard. It’s a hugely varied game, which makes it a tad hard to describe, but its over-the-top yet in-depth space exploration mixture makes for an awesome experience. This reboot version also includes an expansion that adds new game modes, missions, equipment, etc. - Spellforce Universe on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal - 9,97 EUR
Spellforce Universe contains every game ever released in the Spellforce franchise. These are excellent mixtures of RTS and RPG gameplay with some very engaging singleplayer campaigns. The real highlight definitely is in the Spellforce 2 games, but the older Spellforce games are also well worth playing. This bundle contains 5 games in all and is good for hundreds of hours of entertainment. So this is one heck of a deal. - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Weekend Bundle on Steam – Save 75% Weekend Deal – 7,50 EUR
This bundle includes the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and its direct sequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. These are the two best games in this franchise of semi-realistic, open-world, first person shooters set in the Zone surrounding the exploded nuclear reactor in Chernobyl. An area that has been faithfully recreated in the game. But a more recent explosion amongst the ruins has resulted in strange anomalies and extreme mutations in the local fauna, making the Zone both an interesting and dangerous place to explore. - Star Wolves 3: Civil War on Get Games - Save 75% Summer Deal – 6,25 EUR
This game hearkens back to the original Star Wolves with similarly awesome and addictive RPG/RTS gameplay, no DRM and poor voice-acting. It’s nowhere near as buggy as Star Wolves 2 and while the interface takes a bit of getting used to it’s definitely a fun game to play. - Stronghold Collection on GamersGate – Save 75% Weekend Deal - 7,48 EUR
The Stronghold series offers an interesting take on the real-time strategy genre. The five games included in this package all involve building a stronghold and then defending it while keeping it operational. These games are also known for their excellent depiction of medieval siege warfare.
Action
- Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood on Steam – Save 50% - 2,49 EUR
This is a cartoonish third person shooter with great lego-like character design, a lot of blood and satisfying gunplay. I wrote a positive review about it back when it was released, but complained about the lack of content. That’s no longer an issue now that the game has seen the introduction of a wealth of additional content including 5 new maps, new weapons and even customizable outfits. It’s also dirt cheap and actually a blast to play. - Global Agenda on Steam - Save 25% Patch Deal – 22,49 EUR
Global Agenda is a persistent online third person shooter with solid gameplay. It includes MMORPG-style character creation, player classes and player progressions with lots of levels and equipment. The actual gameplay mostly comes down to small-scale PvE engagements and up to 10 vs 10 PvP skirmishes. It has seen a lot of patches lately which have added a lot of new content and handled additional gameplay issues. The game no longer requires a monthly fee which makes this deal a lot more attractive. - Resident Evil 5 on Impulse - Save 50% Weekend Deal – 18,99 EUR
Hunt zombies in the desert in this excellent third person shooter. - Trine on Green Man Gaming – Save 84% Weekend Deal – 5,43 EUR
A great indie platform game featuring singleplayer and local (same computer) co-op modes. Read my first impressions for an indication of what the game plays like and why you should get it. They’ve recently added a free new map in an update.
First Person Shooter
- Aliens vs Predator on Get Games – Save 50% Summer Deal – 17,49 EUR
Become a marine, alien or predator in this futuristic first person shooter. It’s a solid shooter with three enjoyable singleplayer campaigns, a very intense atmosphere and a decent, but not outstanding, three-way multiplayer component. - Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal – 2,49 EUR
A first person survival horror game set on an old nuclear icebreaker on the North Pole. - NecroVisioN: Lost Company on Green Man Gaming – Save 92% Weekend Deal – 3,62 EUR
The latest title in the NecroVisioN franchise is actually a prequel that puts you in the shoes of a German soldier fighting off hordes of monsters during World War I. A good deal if you’re into arcade first person shooters with hordes of mindless monsters to blast your way through. - Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter – Save 50% Weekend Deal - 4,99 EUR
A decent tactical shooter. It falls in the love it or hate it category, so try before you buy. Still a very good deal if you like tactical shooters with semi-realistic gameplay. - Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 4,99 EUR
A decent follow-up to Advanced Warfighter, but it suffers from a similarly weak story and horrible AI problems. Also features ads in-game. Supposedly still a decent tactical shooter, but be prepared to deal with shitty teammates.
Role-playing Game
- Avencast: Rise of the Mage on Steam - Save 50% Weekend Deal – 4,49 EUR
Avencast is a mediocre hack & slash RPG with gameplay centered around wizardry and magic. There are many better games in the genre, but there are worse games to play if you’re looking to pass the time until Diablo 3, Dungeon Siege 3 or Torchlight. - Gothic 2 Gold Edition on Good Old Games – Save 40% gamescom Deal – 4,49 EUR
An open world RPG with great gameplay, but sub-par voice acting and graphics. - Star Wolves on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal - 2,49 EUR
You control a mothership and a set of pilots in their own fighter craft through an extensive singleplayer campaign. The voice-acting is very sub-par and the graphics are merely decent, but the gameplay is very addictive and fun. The universe just sucks you in after a few hours of play. - The Guild Gold Edition on Good Old Games – Save 40% gamescom Deal - 4,49 EUR
A medieval life simulator with a heavy focus on economy and politics. The interface and combat are sub-par, but otherwise it’s a fairly solid game if you think you’d enjoy crafting the greatest medieval dynasty with shrewd play.
Real-time Strategy
- Blood Bowl: Dark Elves Edition on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 14,97 EUR
A mixture of Warhammer and American Football produces a surprisingly fun, but complex, strategy game. It has two game modes with a real-time strategy variant for fast-paced, bloody, action and a turn-based strategy variant that faithfully recreates the board game. - Company of Heroes Gold Edition on GamersGate – Save 60% Weekend Deal – 5,98 EUR
This package contains both Company of Heroes and its Opposing Fronts expansion pack for the best World War 2-themed real-time strategy experience that money can buy. Relic has crafted a much more agressive from of real-time strategy gameplay with its Company of Heroes franchise and these are the two best games in the series. The stand-alone expansion pack Tales of Valor is not included. - Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor on GamersGate – Save 60% Weekend Deal – 11,98 EUR
Tales of Valor offers three short campaigns that each focus on a very small number of units. In this it departs from the limited base-building and small armies of previous Company of Heroes games. And the game suffers for it. It does introduce a few interesting new game modes, maps and units on the multiplayer front however. - Darwinia on Green Man Gaming – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 2,16 EUR
A retro-themed indie real-time strategy game where you have to save the Darwinians from extinction as a computer virus has infiltrated their world. It only features singleplayer, but is actually quite fun to play. - Defcon: Everybody Dies on Green Man Gaming – Save 70% Weekend Deal - 7,22 EUR
Defcon puts players in charge of a military commander trying to turn his country into a global superpower. It’s a cold and harsh presentation of what a nuclear war would be like viewed from the perspective of those in charge. Set up defenses around major population centers, build a fleet to engage the enemy and then launch everything you have at the largest possible population centers of the enemy. With its distant global map view and cold statistics on nuke efficiency this is definitely not your average heroic real-time strategy game. - Faces of War on GamersGate - Save 70% – 1,49 EUR
Small scale real-time strategy gameplay with heavy unit micromanagement similar to Soldiers: Heroes of World War 2. Also similarly difficult, but with an even more impressive graphics engine. - Grand Ages: Rome on GamersGate – Save 75% Weekend Deal - 4,99 EUR
A city-building real-time strategy game set in the Roman era. - Gratuitous Space Battles Complete on Impulse - Save 35% – 20,18 EUR
An excellent indie strategy game that puts you in command of a space fleet. Design your own ships and set up your armadas before each battle, then watch as they tear into the opposing fleets. There is no direct unit control in this game, but it really doesn’t matter given the gratuitous space battles and excellent pre-battle planning systems. This package also includes all three race expansions (The Order, The Swarm and The Tribe). It should be noted that the package comes in at similar price at the official website, which is of course more supportive of the developer. - Hearts of Iron 3 on GamersGate - Save 70% Weekend Deal – 8,98 EUR
Arguably the best game in this excellent series of World War 2-era grand strategy games. Take command of any nation and change the course of history as you battle through both World War 2 and World War 3. - Heroes of Annihilated Empires on GamersGate – Save
This curious fantasy-themed real-time strategy game involves colorful and vast landscapes, large-scale battles with up to 64.000 units and a mixture of RPG and RTS elements to drive the narrative forward. It doesn’t excel in any respect, but it’s a decent real-time strategy game nonetheless. - King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame on GamersGate - Save 66% Weekend Deal – 13,59 EUR
This fairly recent strategy game is set in a fantastical version of the time of King Arthur. Features strategy gameplay that is very similar to the Total War franchise, with a turn-based overmap and massive real-time battles. - Men of War on GamersGate - Save 80% Weekend Deal – 2,59 EUR
A highly realistic take on tactical real-time strategy gameplay in a World War 2 setting. Units have their own inventories and you can take direct control over units. Similar to the excellent Soldiers: Heroes of World War 2, but at slightly larger scale. It’s also similarly difficult (insane) and features similarly excellent co-op multiplayer. Definitely worth a look. - Men of War: Red Tide on GamersGate – Save 80% Weekend Deal – 4,39 EUR
This sequel to Men of War introduces a brand new campaign spanning 23 missions and 4 factions during World War 2. It also includes six historical battles fought in the 1941-1945 time period and more than one hundred different units. - Napoleon: Total War on Get Games – Save 50% Summer Deal – 19,99 EUR
The most recent game in the Total War series, which features the Napoleonic era. It’s an improved version of Empire: Total War, with slightly less features and a smaller theatre of war, but superior execution. - Star Ruler on Direct2Drive – Save 20% Pre-order Deal – 14,95 EUR
This is an upcoming 4X space strategy game that involves enormous, procedurally generated, galaxies with decent 3D graphics. It includes extensive modding and multiplayer support, going as far as allowing for easy interface customization. Star Ruler’s most distinguishing feature is the sheer variability in gameplay experiences, with randomly generated galaxies, two different types of tech advancement, ship customization, various difficulty levels, and so on. Scheduled to be released on August 21st! - Total Annihilation on GamersGate – Save 66% Weekend Deal – 3,39 EUR
An old real-time strategy game that features futuristic warfare at an enormous scale. This is the predecessor of Supreme Commander and offers somewhat similar time-consuming matches that can see some astoundingly huge battles taking place. It actually includes over 50 singleplayer missions and 150 different units. - XIII Century Gold Edition on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal - 6,25 EUR
Two excellent real-time strategy games with large scale battles (thousands of soldiers) in realistic medieval conflicts. It recreates the actual conditions of numerous historical battles, taking into account both the weather and terrain. It may have the grand scale in battles of a Total War game, but it lacks the grand strategy turn-based over map gameplay as it’s more of a medieval battle simulator.
Turn-based Strategy
- Civilization IV Complete Edition on GamersGate – Save 75% Weekend Deal – 9,98 EUR
Civilization IV represents the pinnacle of a franchise of turn-based civilization management games and can’t be missed by any self-respecting PC gamer. This complete edition includes all the expansion packs, but not the Civilization IV: Colonization stand-alone game. - Elven Legacy on Green Man Gaming – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 9,03 EUR
In this turn-based fantasy strategy/RPG you take command of a small army of troops and scour clean maps with gameplay that’s mildly reminiscent of Heroes of Might & Magic. Interestingly the entire map is a battlefield so you always have to properly position your forces when moving, not just during combat. A solid strategy game that should be good for a fair few hours of fun, but don’t expect too much from the storytelling. Don’t bother with it until you’ve finished Heroes of Might & Magic V and King’s Bounty. - Europa Universalis 3 Complete on GamersGate – Save 75% Weekend Deal – 6,98 EUR
A turn-based grand strategy game that lets you lead a nation from the 15th to 19th century. Aside from basic singleplayer it also includes a co-op multiplayer component. This package also includes the first two expansion packs which add interesting new features such as a religion and enhanced trading systems. - Fantasy Wars on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal – 3,74 EUR
Turn-based strategy gameplay in a fantasy setting. This is the prequel to Elven Legacy so the gameplay is nearly identical with constant grid-based turn-based warfare. It’s actually a lot of fun to play despite the low production values. - Future Wars on GamersGate – Save 66% Weekend Deal – 3,39 EUR
This is a futuristic turn-based strategy game similar to Advance Wars and the Battle Isle series. It features colorful 3D graphics and relatively straightforward turn-based strategy gameplay, but adds some unique gameplay modes (e.g.: AI vs AI) and extensive modding capabilities to the mix. - King’s Bounty: The Legend on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal – 2,49 EUR
An excellent fantasy turn-based strategy game with RPG influences that’s similar, but superior, to Heroes of Might & Magic. This is about as good as the genre gets and you definitely don’t want to miss out on it at this price. - Sword of the Stars Complete Collection on GamersGate – Save 30% Weekend Deal – 20,96 EUR
Sword of the Stars is an innovative 4X space strategy game that involves turn-based space empire management and real-time tactical battles. The most crucial innovation comes in the form of randomized tech trees, so that no two games will ever be exactly the same. Despite this randomization it’s actually the most accessible 4X strategy game ever made and the included expansions and DLC introduce a lot of additional features that truly push it to the top of the genre. An excellent game that’s well worth a look. Includes all expansion packs. - UFO: Aftershock on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal - 2,49 EUR
Humanity has fled from Earth after it became uninhabitable, but now they’re trying to reconquer it from the unknown lifeforms that have taken up resources. Naturally you’re placed in charge in this small-scale tactical strategy game. - UFO: Afterlight on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal - 3,74 EUR
Afterlight places the focus on a small human colony on Mars that has to thrive in the face of constant alien invasions. It’s a much better game than Aftershock and a solid mixture of global strategy and small-scale tactical combat. - UFO Extraterrestrials Gold on GamersGate – Save 66% Weekend Deal – 6,44 EUR
Build and improve a space colony while fighting off alien incursions with a squad of marines. It features small-scale turn-based tactical engagements whenever aliens are encountered, but the rest of the game involves base-building and researching technologies. - World War 2: Time of Wrath on Impulse - Save 40% – 16,19 EUR
A decent turn-based grand strategy game set in World War 2. - Worms Reloaded on Steam - Save 10% Pre-order Deal – 17,99 EUR
It’s an all new 2D Worms game set to release in August, a decade after the excellent Worms: Armaggedon. It’s essentially a turn-based warfare game with small squads of worms that is absolutely hilarous in single- and multiplayer alike. This new version includes up-to-date 2D graphics, four player multiplayer, achievements, leaderboards, a map editor, etc. It looks set to be a great new entry in a long dead franchise and comes with Steam integration!
Simulator
- Air Aces: Pacific on Impulse - Save 35% – 29,90 EUR
An arcade flight simulator set in the Pacific arena of World War 2 with variable reality-mode setting for different flight experiences. - City Life 2008 on GamersGate – Save 66% Weekend Deal - 3,39 EUR
A city management simulator similar to the old SimCity series, but much more recent and with stellar 3D graphics.
Other Games and Bundles
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent on Direct2Drive – Save 10% Pre-order Deal – 12,50 EUR
An upcoming first person survival horror game. - Space Rangers on Get Games – Save 75% Summer Deal – 2,49 EUR
This is a difficult game to describe. It’s part RPG, part RTS, part Sim. You’re a space pilot and you can do whatever you want: trade, fight, follow the storyline, accept missions, become a pirate, etc. However it also features strategic ground battles and all sorts of quirky encounters. It’s a very unusual game in the way that the King’s Bounty games are over-the-top weird… and like those games, Space Rangers is one game you can’t afford to miss out on. - Street Fighter IV on Impulse - Save 50% Weekend Deal – 18,99 EUR
There are few fighting games on the PC, which makes this recent entry into the popular Street Fighter series a welcome sight. It combines highly stylized graphics with solid fighting gameplay that doesn’t differ much from previous Street Fighter games. There’s definitely some fun to be had with this game, but it suffers from the same flaws all fighting games have: it’s utterly inaccessible for newcomers and it features a ridiculously over-powered final boss. - THQ Complete Collection on GamersGate – Save 50% – 49,99 EUR
It’s not an actual complete collection of all THQ PC games, but this package does include some great games. The entire Company of Heroes series of World War 2-era real-time strategy games and the excellent Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War and all of it’s expansion packs make for a great RTS bundle. Also included is the excellent action RPG of Titan Quest and it’s Immortal Throne expansion pack. The entire Red Faction series is also included, along with the excellent free-roaming singleplayer FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, racing game Juiced 2, mediocre multiplayer FPS Frontlines: Fuel of War, mediocre action game Saints Row 2 and mediocre zoo-simulator World of Zoo. - THQ Ultimate Bundle on Impulse – Save 80% – 65,49 EUR
This is a bundle of some of THQ’s best PC games. It includes the entire Company of Heroes series of World War 2-era real-time strategy games, along with Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War and Supreme Commander and their respective expansion packs. Proper first person shooters are also included in the form of the entire Red Faction franchise and both Full Spectrum Warrior games. The excellent Action RPG Titan Quest and its Immortal Throne expansion are also included, along with the superb free-roaming singleplayer FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. The racing game Juiced 2 and zoo simulator World of Zoo round out the package. - Uplink on Green Man Gaming – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 2,16 EUR
In this game you assume the role of a freelance hacker. Take on jobs and upgrade your tools with the earnings as you progress through the game’s plot.
Loading ...