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 this weekly Discount Drone feature comes in. Within 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 a game might be worth having. This includes special offers on: Direct2Drive, EA Store, GamersGate, Get Games, Good Old Games, Green Man Gaming, Impulse and Steam.
There are some great games on offer this week and EA Store joins the fray with its own special deal this weekend giving a 50% discount to every order of two or more games. Most notable this week are the excellent underwater shooter BioShock, the turn-based strategy game in a fantasy setting that is King’s Bounty: The Legend and the entire Broken Sword series of point-and-click adventure games up for grabs at Good Old Games. There are also two unusual real-time strategy games that absolutely deserve a mention: Evil Genius is a supervillain take on the Dungeon Keeper style of minion-control gameplay, while Majesty Gold sees fantasy heroes who can only be given monetary incentive to do as you wish, which makes for an interesting change of pace.
Read on for more incredible deals and subscribe to GameDrone for weekly coverage of the best digital download offerings!
Deals of the Week
- BioShock on GamersGate – Save 75% Weekend Deal - 4,99 EUR
As the sole survivor of a plane crash in the middle of the ocean you can do naught but swim to the mysterious lighthouse nearby. That’s where the fun starts in this excellent first person shooter with heavy RPG influences and an engaging story. It may be ridiculously easy and not very innovative, but it’s a lot of fun to play through and impossible to pass up on at this price. - Broken Sword Bundle on Good Old Games – Save 50% Weekend Deal (30% Individually) – 5,42 EUR
This weekend Good Old Games is offering a sale on the Broken Sword point-and-click adventure game series. The first two games are excellent adventure games involving conspiracy tales surrounding the Knights Templar. This bundle even includes the new Director’s Cut edition of the first game. Broken Sword 3 is also available, but not as impressive due to awkward controls and animations. The version of Broken Sword 2 available at GOG.com is not the new Director’s Cut edition! - Evil Genius on Steam – Save 75% Weekend Deal - 2,50 EUR
Assume the role of an evil genius and make a bid for that most worthy of goals: world domination. Meanwhile fend off special agents and spies with inventive traps and powerful minions. It’s a comical game of villainous activity that’s certain to be good for a laugh even if the singleplayer campaign is a tad linear and there are still some minor bugs sprinkled throughout which only fan-made patches can resolve. At this price it’s more than worth a look. - King’s Bounty: The Legend on GamersGate – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 3,- 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. - Majesty Gold Edition on GamersGate – Save 70% Weekend Deal - 3,- EUR
Majesty offers a unique take on the real-time strategy genre by removing direct unit control from the player. This actually makes for a very entertaining game in which you build up a small town and train heroes, while inspiring them to do your bidding by means of cash rewards. Add in some quirky humor, artsy graphics and the included expansion pack and you have an excellent deal.
Specials
- Direct2Drive – 1-in-5 orders is free until December 31st
Direct2Drive will waive the applicable price on 20% of all orders on their service from now until the end of this year. Do note that it’s only valid for purchases made with a credit card. - EA Store – Get 50% discount on orders with 2 or more games
Purchase 2 or more digital games in the EA store and only pay half the price! This counts for everything in the store other than: Medal of Honor (2010), Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, pre-orders and EA points. - Good Old Games – Daily deals until December 14th
GOG.com will see a new deal each day until a final big surprise on the 14th of December. Thus far these have ranged from contests with prizes to massive price reductions on specific games. - Telltale Games – One unique deal each day until December 25th
Telltale will offer unique deals on one or more of their products each day until December 25th. These can range anywhere from great discounts on games to savings on game goodies like Back to the Future t-shirts. Today it’s 25% off all items in the Telltale store.
Action
- Velvet Assassin on GamersGate– Save 66% Weekend Deal – 3,38 EUR
A World War 2-themed stealth action game with a heavy emphasis on the stealth. It’s nowhere near as good as more renown stealth action games like Splinter Cell, Thief or even Saboteur, but it does offer enjoyable stealth gameplay with a fair singleplayer campaign focusing on the adventures of British intelligence agent Voilette Summers.
Adventure
- Runaway: A Road Adventure on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 5,- EUR
In Road Adventure you assume the role of Brian, a student who’s running for his life from the Mafia. Your job is then to find out why the Mafia is after you and which of your friends you can trust. It’s a fairly straightforward point-and-click adventure game with beautiful backgrounds and an exaggerated cartoon art style. - Runaway: Dream of the Turtle on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 10,- EUR
Dream of the Turtle is mostly just more of the same, which means another decent – but not exquisite – point-and-click adventure game. This time Brian goes on a holiday, but his plane crash lands and his girlfriend is nowhere to be found. - The Path on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal - 3,50 EUR
A very dark and unusual horror adventure game featuring little red ridinghood. It challenges you to ignore what the game tells you and features some disturbing scenes.
First Person Shooter
- NecroVisioN: Lost Company on Green Man Gaming – Save 79% Deal – 3,- 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. - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky on GamersGate – Save 60% Weekend Deal – 3,98 EUR
A decent prequel to the original Shadow of Chernobyl that introduces faction conflicts and a variety of other new features. Generally considered to be the worst game in the series.
Role-playing Game
- Dungeon Defenders on GamersGate / Impulse – Save 10% Pre-order Deal – 7,19 EUR
Choose a class, create a character and team up with three friends to defend your dungeon from waves of monsters! Add in a wide variety of towers, pets, loot, monsters, achievements, game modes and a storydriven campaign and you have Dungeon Defenders’ unique take on the tower defense genre. These digital pre-orders come with an exclusive familiar depending on the digital distribution service (Direct2Drive, GamersGate, Impulse or Steam). - Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 7,48 EUR
Recette Lemongrass is stuck with her father’s debts after he ran off to do some adventuring and when fairy creditor Tear knocks on the door there’s only one thing left to do: open up an item shop and work off those debts! There are a lot of ways to make Recettear a successful item shop, from simply buying low and selling high to actual adventuring in randomized dungeons for free items. It includes a lengthy campaign, alternate game modes, shop customization and more. It’s surprisingly fun.
Real-time Strategy
- Darwinia on Green Man Gaming – Save 83% Deal – 0,99 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. - Demigod on Impulse – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 7,53 EUR
Demigod offers a more strategic and attractive take on the popular DotA subgenre of strategy games. This means selecting a hero and then taking the fight to the other team while trying to destroy their main structure to win the game. Demigod mixes things up by offering two different hero types – the regular DotA heroes and generals who command small forces of units – mob upgrades and generally a wider breath of options. It’s unfortunately nowhere near as popular as its competition despite quite enjoyable gameplay. - Europa Universalis 3 Complete on GamersGate / Direct2Drive / Impulse – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 8,39 EUR
Europa Universalis 3 lets you lead a nation from the 15th to 19th century in either singleplayer or cooperative multiplayer. It’s an extremely detailed empire management game and lauded as one of the best of its kind and the included Napoleon’s Amibition and In Nomine expansion packs further improve the experience with extended timelines, enhanced trading systems and more. All other Europa Universalis games are also on sale at GamersGate this weekend, but this is without a doubt the finest of them all. Note that the Heir to the Throne expansion pack is not included in this ‘complete’ edition. - Republic: The Revolution on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 4,98 EUR
A free form strategy game in which you aspire to take control over a vibrant, living, city away from its dictator. In Republic you’re not just faced with strategic overviews and menus, but will also roam about the city in person. - Sins of a Solar Empire on Impulse – Save 50% Weekend Deal - 7,54 EUR
Real-time 4X space strategy at its finest. It doesn’t come with any form of singleplayer campaign, but extensive tutorials and excellent skirmish game modes, as well as multiplayer support, are included. It’s an absolute must-have for fans of large-scale real-time strategy and 4X gameplay. Diplomacy and Entrenchment DLC packs not included. - Supreme Commander Gold on Impulse – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 4,99 EUR
Supreme Commander is one of the most renown strategy games in recent years and a truly successful spiritual successor to Total Annihilation. It’s a strategy game of enormous scale with hundreds of units taking part in most engagements. Three different sides take part in the “infinite war” that has raged for a thousand years and in the singleplayer campaign you strive to put an end to that war from the perspective of each separate race. Multiplayer is more interesting, with matches quickly seeing immense battlefields littered with hundreds of damaged vehicles as reinforcements continuously stream in from countless factories. The Forged Alliance expansion pack is also included, which improves upon what’s there (better pathfinding and interface) and adds some new elements (a new faction, numerous new units, a new campaign, etc.). - Total Annihilation on GamersGate – Save 60% Weekend Deal – 3,98 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. - Universe at War: Earth Assault on GamersGate – Save 50% Weekend Deal - 9,98 EUR
A solid real-time strategy game by Petroglyph (ex-Westwood, Star Wars: Empire at War). It features three alien races that fight for control over the Earth, with humanity relegated to cheap footsoldiers and resources. It didn’t get great reviews, but it’s a decent RTS that’s certainly worth having at this price. - Victoria Complete on GamersGate – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 5,99 EUR
A critically acclaimed grand strategy game that lets you lead a country from the 19th century into the 20th. The included expansion pack actually ties in to Hearts of Iron 2 – Doomsday, so Victoria: Revolutions games can be continued in HoI2. - Warlords: Battlecry 3 on GamersGate – Save 60% Weekend Deal – 4,- EUR
An older but decent real-time strategy game with some role-playing game elements, such as powerful hero units.
Turn-based Strategy
- Elven Legacy Collection on GamersGate – Save 70% Weekend Deal – 8,99 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. Includes all expansion packs. - Sword of the Stars Complete Collection on Impulse – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 14,99 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. This collection includes all expansion packs. - World War 2: Time of Wrath on Impulse – Save 83% Weekend Deal – 4,59 EUR
A decent turn-based grand strategy game set in World War 2.
Simulator
- A.I.M. 2 on Green Man Gaming – Save 90% Christmas Offer – 0,99 EUR
A.I.M. 2 is an open-world action game that’s similar to the likes of Elite, Privateer and the X series, although the execution isn’t quite as good. It differs from those in taking place completely on a planet’s surface and letting the player assume the role of an AI-driven android. This sequel adds some extra freedom and features to the series, such as a new trading system. It’s reputedly also quite a difficult game. - Air Aces: Pacific on GamersGate / Impulse – Save 60% Weekend Deal – 19,99 EUR
An arcade flight simulator set in the Pacific arena of World War 2 with variable reality-mode settings for different flight experiences. - Miner Wars 2081 on Impulse / GamersGate – Save 71% Pre-order Deal – 9,99 EUR
A space simulator with a fully destructible environment in both space and underground areas. It’s a combined single/multiplayer game that can be played cooperatively or versus and comes with joystick support as well as WASD + mouse. It supports battles with up to 300 ships, a wide variety of ships, numerous ship upgrades, full looting on all ships (similar to EVE Online) and 30 different factions to join. It’s hard to tell whether the game will actually be any good, but given the fact that it’s pretty much the only known upcoming space sim I’d say it’s worth mentioning by default. If you pre-order you will get access to the currently ongoing early alpha test.
Other Games and Bundles
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent on Steam – Save 50% Weekend Deal – 7,49 EUR
A recently released first person horror survival game that was very well received for its atmospheric portrayal of horror video gaming. - Go Commando on Green Man Gaming – Save 75% Christmas Offer – 5,- EUR
Included in this bundle pack are the two most recent top-down squad-based strategy games in the Commandos franchise: Commandos 2 & Commandos 3. These are generally considered to be inferior to their predecessors, but are still well worth playing for their challenging World War 2 era behind enemy lines scenarios. Strike Force is also included, which is a mediocre first person shooter loosely based on the Commandos franchise. - Hacker Bundle on Green Man Gaming – Save 78% Christmas Offer – 11,48 EUR
A bundle pack that consists of three interesting indie games. The two Hacker Evolution games provide numerous hacking challenges that need to be overcome by the use of console commands in order to prevent a hostile AI from taking over the planet. Defcon is quite a different beast and puts the player in charge of a global superpower on the brink of thermonuclear war. In this case you don’t prevent the war from happening, but instead aim to win it by inflicting as many casualties as possible! With its distant global map view and cold statistics on nuke efficiency this is definitely not your average heroic real-time strategy game. - Shooter Bundle on Green Man Gaming – Save 50% Christmas Offer – 24,99 EUR
This bundle consists of three very different first person shooters. Painkiller: Black Edition lets you go in all-guns-blazing against hordes of demonic enemies in a grim mythical setting. It’s over-the-top and crazy, but that’s what makes it so good. Mafia on the other hand is a brilliantly executed story-driven shooter set in 1930s and is an absolute must-have for all fans of Mafia movies and good singleplayer shooters. And Borderlands is a great co-op shooter with a random loot system based on action RPGs like Diablo. - Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators on Impulse – Save 75% Weekend Deal – 3,77 EUR
Space Rangers 2 is a varied game that mixes countless genres into an engaging and over-the-top space adventure that you can’t afford to miss. The game combines text-based adventuring, planet-bound real-time strategy, arcade space shooter and role-playing game elements into a cohesive whole. This unfortunately doesn’t include the Reboot expansion pack that expands and improves upon the game in every regard. - THQ Ultimate Bundle on Impulse – Save 68% Deal – 93,64 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 83% Deal – 0,99 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.
http://www.gog.com/en/promo/jowood_collection
Loading ...