The last game I bought in 2008 was The Orange Box, and I must say that for Team Fortress 2 alone, the price was worth it. I’ll probably love the whole package more after I get my new PC, as The Orange Box proves (even if it was released last 2007!) that my current rig is at the end of it’s rope. Yes, I can play Portal, but barely, and I’d like to relish the short experience it will bring me. As for the various Half-Lives 2′s [sic], aside from the sluggish performance, I also don’t have the HD space. So, I’ll experiment on those when I get my new PC, hopefully before the month ends.
I mentioned before that my SO gave me Left 4 Dead for xmas. I was hoping to make it among the last experiences of 2008, but alas that was not to be. It WILL be my 1st new AAA title experience this 2009 after getting my new PC, I’m reserving it for that. For my 1st purchase of the year, though, I gave in and got something old, and something new.
For something old, I got Psychonauts. I keep hearing it’s one of those great games that few played. Tried the demo on Steam, and I liked it well enough. For US$10 (with a US$1 year end sale discount), I thought it was already worth it for the quirky humor and the amazing imagery alone (I loved how the art plays on the imagination). It reminded me of American McGee’s Alice, and for US$10, I’m willing to go through this one time experience (I rarely play a story based game over again).
For something new, I gave in and got Defense Grid: The Awakening. I’m not a hardcore tower defense player, but I do enjoy the occasional build-n-watch. The tower defense games I enjoy the most are the Bloons Tower Defense series and GemCraft, both playable for free at Kongregate. Still, the sci-fi setting drew me in, and I was interested on what the doll-up treatment can do to a familiar game concept that’s pretty much available left ‘n right.
What annoyed me was the lack of a demo. [2009.01/15: A demo is now available!] Slick graphics or not, it feels a bit steep to shell out US$20 for a game concept with a lot of free implementations. The 25% holiday discount at Steam made the prospect a tad more compelling, as I argued that I probably could get at least 15 hours of gameplay out of it (US$1/1hr of gameplay is one of my criterias for games I’m not sure about). So, I decided to buy it and give it a try. Let’s see if my “act of faith” (as Paul Eres from Indie Games Blog put it) pays off.
Two games to start off the year, one old, one new. Both non-mainstream and non-blockbuster. Let’s see what 2009 has to offer on those lines.
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Glad someone is willing to give that game a try — I found this post through a google alert for my name, if you’re wondering
My own tower defense game does have a demo, if you want to try it too. (Sorry for the self-promotion!)