Steam Sale - Summer 2014

It's been months since my last post, and I'm really tired of looking at that rant at the top of my post queue... how about a quick rundown of the PC titles I picked up and tried out on the most recent Steam sale?  In alphabetical order, then...

BattleBlock Theater - Charming short-level puzzle-platformer, with collectibles and, quite possibly, the best narrator/script combination ever.  Available on other platforms... get it, if you don't have it already.

Blockland - Lego-flavored FPS/Minecraft, what could be better?  Many things, actually... limited gameplay modes, plus it's the most hurf-inducing first-player-perspective game I've played in over a decade.  Skip.

Borderlands 2 - Loot-centric FPS with a cel-shaded look and a sense of humor.  Available on other platforms, and recommended, especially since you'll get to know Tiny Tina.

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons - Requires the use of a game controller, since you use one analog stick and trigger to control each of the titular brothers... I'm sure I've run across this control scheme before, but where eludes me.  Not too difficult, beyond keeping track of which brother is controlled by which stick, and what I've seen so far is well-done.  Worth checking out.

Castle Crashers - Side-scrolling beat-em-up with leveling, a wonderful cartoon art-style and equally wonderful juvenile sense of humor.  From the same developers as BattleBlock Theater, and having either game unlocks goodies in the other.  Again, available on other platforms, and should be owned by anybody who likes action games.

Don't Starve - Peculiar art-style combines with the "start from scratch and survive" game mechanic of Minecraft, etc.  Might come back to give it a fair chance later, but it strikes me as a game that will require the investment of time to truly enjoy... and that's in short supply for us gainfully-employed types.

The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim - Yes, I've already got the XBox360 version of this game... and, as the "development target" Bethesda used, that's the smoother/more stable version.  However, at the price Steam offered for the "game of the year" copy with all the DLC, I gladly picked this up for PC.  Plus, the PC version allows for community-created mods, covering a spectrum of useful, fanciful, and downright game-breaking options, if you're so inclined... I already picked up one to color-highlight books I haven't already read, to cut down on the OCD factor when playing.  The only downside... I was playing with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning prior to the sale, and it pales so badly in comparison that I'm likely to drop that game to continue the character I started in Skyrim instead.  Oh well, survival of the fittest and all that...

Giana Sisters:  Twisted Dreams - Platformer with an interesting art style, which ties into a light/dark character switching mechanic... I enjoyed it well enough, until it switched from allowing/encouraging exploration to forcing exploration to get through levels.  If that doesn't bother you, give it a go, otherwise pass.

The Stanley Parable - Honestly, there's not much "game" there... and I can't say much about it without ruining the experience for new players.  That said, if you're old enough to have had a long-term job, but still young enough to be inquisitive, I would absolutely recommend this to almost anyone.

They Bleed Pixels - Combines the difficult precision-platforming play-style of titles like Super Meat Boy with a Lovecraftian/Dreamlands storyline centered around a new arrival at a "home for troubled girls".  Made it a few levels in, but odds are I'll make it no further... wall jump/slide mechanics are all well and good, but levels consisting almost entirely of such are more than I can handle these days.  Worth checking out, if this sounds like your sort of thing.

Well, at any rate, it's a nice parcel of games to keep me occupied for a while... assuming the new season of anime coming up doesn't do that for me.  Just as well I'm not independently wealthy, I guess... I'd never get out of the house!  ;)

EDIT:  Whoops, forgot one... XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Lovely update of the original '90s-era game, simplified where it makes sense, mostly left alone where it should have been left alone.  Definitely worth a peek if you catch it on the cheap... just know that the mouse controls are a little janky.