Steam Christmas sale starts todayFollow

I just picked up shogun 2 with the ltd ed and all the DLC, along with spacechem.

At <$20, it's a no-brainer purchase.

Im hoping Deus Ex picks up a bit. It is supposed to be a good game but I'm having a hard time sticking with it.

On SpaceChem-

I love that game and got about halfway through it, but I reached the point where each puzzle would take me hours to solve (partly because I wanted an eloquent solution). I'm also a nerd and enjoy difficult puzzles. Anyway, what I always found to be interesting about SpaceChem is that is literally computer programming in disguise.

An interview with Cort Stratton of Naughty Dog goes into a little more detail.

she should play dung def with us!

She can be a "cute" huntress and just own faces, disregarding all strategery.

I was very close to picking that one up when it was on sale but after FFXIV, the thought of giving SE more of my money makes me throw up in my mouth a little. Unless the entire intertoobs unites in one voice to decree a specific new SE titled "omfg the best game in years", my inclination is to pass.

I'm hoping Civ 5 turns out to be a winner for me. I loved Civ 2 and played the crap out of it and eagerly bought Civ 3 at launch. What a disappointing buggy piece of crap (although I guess it got a bit of patching later). Put me off the entire franchise for years and I'm just now taking another chance on it.

I figured it out. It's a combination of the on-rails gameplay that discourages any exploration of the otherwise compelling game world and the NPCs. I spend what feels like half the game waiting for them to get into positions so I can advance (I'm apparently unable to open a door or push over a file cabinet on my own), they chant objectives like Rainman during the missions ("Throw a grenade behind it! We need to get behind it with a grenade! Throw a grenade!...") and manage to push me or block my path often enough to be irritated by it. At least once, they boxed me in and refused to move, forcing me to restart a mission.

For the $7 I paid for it, I'm not upset but I can see where the game could be improved. I also realize I'm discussing the single player missions on what is largely intended to be a multiplayer shooter.

Edited, Jan 4th 2012 8:53am by Jophiel

I've enjoyed every Civ title since the first one (some more than others) but if you haven't played any of them before, Civ V is definitely a good place to start. It's a bit of a steep learning curve, but it's also one of those games where you say to yourself that you're going to play for an hour before bed and the next thing you know it's 1am.