Below the fold are a few of the PC games in this weekend's sales (some of them this weekend only; others for longer periods). They are download only, and they're generally old games - old in computer terms, anyway - although I see Torchlight on sale for the incredibly low price of just $4.95, and it was just released last October.
I've bought games from all three of these distributors, so I trust them. And even the really old games should run on modern computers. (GOG.com not only bundles DOSBox with DOS games, but presets it - and tests it - so they'll run well "right out of the box.")
(The Witcher screenshot from IGN.com)
Impulse (formerly Stardock) has The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut on sale for only $9.99. Released in 2007, this single-player RPG developed by Polish company CD Projekt was a great game, marred only by a sophomoric sexual conquest element (optional) that seemed designed for, or by, 13-year-old boys. Combat is "real-time," but with its own unique twist that makes it easy enough even for me. And you can pause to drink potions at any time.
"Enhanced Edition" means that it doesn't have the incredibly long load times as when it was first released. And "Director's Cut" means that they've removed the clumsy censorship originally tacked onto the game for the U.S. market. (Given our incredible sensitivity to "wardrobe malfunctions," they didn't want American players to swoon at the sight of a naked breast. Apparently, the rest of the world is made of sterner stuff. And no, it's not the partial nudity that's so sophomoric.)
But it really is a great game, and this is an excellent price (50% off the already-low Impulse price). Well, game prices tend to drop like a rock once the game has been released for awhile.
Impulse is also offering a 5-game X-Com bundle for $9.99. X-Com: UFO Defense is arguably the best game of all time (it's probably second on my all-time favorites list, just below Civilization II). They captured UFO mythology perfectly - right down to cattle mutilation - in a game where you're tasked with protecting the Earth from aliens. There's a lot of variety in this game, from building your bases and researching alien technology to battling aliens in the air and on the ground, all while keeping the nations of Earth - who are funding you - happy. But most of your time will be spent in a kind of turn-based squad-level combat which is just great fun.
(X-Com screenshot from Wikipedia)
Keep in mind that X-Com was released in 1994, which makes it ancient in computer terms. So the graphics are far from modern (note the screenshot above). But it's still very playable and lots of fun.
The sequel, X-Com: Terror from the Deep, released a year later, could also have been great, if they'd given it any thought. But they apparently didn't. Semi-aquatic aliens attacking in and around the oceans was a great idea, but we ended up with such things as... throwing grenades under water. It's still X-Com, and the attacks on ocean liners were fun, but considering how it could have been, it was quite disappointing.
X-Com: Apocalypse (1997) was also disappointing in that it takes place in a single city and you have to minimize collateral damage. (In the original game, defending cities from terror raids was the best part, especially since you'd leave behind a smoking ruin when you finished the assignment.) But this game was fun enough. Well, by then I was just thankful to get any X-Com at all.
And that was, indeed, the last of them. Oh, there are two more "X-Com" games in this bundle, but X-Com: Interceptor is a space combat simulator and X-Com: Enforcer is a first-person shooter. I didn't play either one, but they weren't well received by fans.
One more game I want to mention at Impulse is Divine Divinity, on sale for only $2.48. It's an action/RPG released in 2002. I haven't played it, since I'm not fond of action games, but I've generally heard good things about it. Nothing else that's on sale really appeals to me, I guess.
(Torchlight screenshot from official website)
GamersGate has a number of games on sale right now, too. I already mentioned Torchlight, which was just released last fall and yet is on sale for $4.95 - 75% off the normally low price. It's an action/RPG, a Diablo clone from some of the same people who designed Diablo, and I've heard very good things about it. Although it's not really my kind of game, at this price I might get it anyway. Well, I did have fun with Diablo, for awhile. The demo is here, if you want to try it before you buy it.
Also at GamersGate is Gothic II, Gold Edition, a 2002 RPG that has a lot of fans. It's on sale for $5.97. Again, I haven't played it, mostly because I'm so bad at "real-time" combat. To play this kind of game, I need one that's pretty easy, and I don't think that describes Gothic II. I don't know for sure, but I don't think there's a demo.
GOG.com is one of my very favorite places to buy games, but their specials this week don't particularly interest me. However, since I talked about adventure games earlier, I might point out that they're selling two that are very highly rated: The Longest Journey and Syberia, each for $9.99. I actually own both games, though I've only played a bit of the first one. I'm just not a big fan of adventure games (though I really wish I could point you to someone selling Grim Fandango).
(The Longest Journey screenshot from the official website)
Also, GOG.com has just announced that they've made a deal with Atari, so we should soon expect them to offer (among other games) the original Master of Orion. That might be third on my list of favorite games of all-time. Meanwhile, check out their games catalog. They've got all sorts of superb games already, and priced from just $5.99 to $9.99. I'd highly recommend Fallout and Fallout 2, to pick just two.
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