The 2015 Steam Summer Sale Haul Thread

[Alex Connolly]

Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.

- Benjamin Franklin

Friends, we're on the final stretch of yet other Summer Sale, where digital money is frittered into the virtual winds. List your catch, friends. List the reasons, the hopes and reservations. Let us compare our fresh wares.

[Bowley]

Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.

- Benjamin Franklin

Friends, we're on the final stretch of yet other Summer Sale, where digital money is frittered into the virtual winds. List your catch, friends. List the reasons, the hopes and reservations. Let us compare our fresh wares.

These seas have been heavily trawled. Can't make a livin' as a bayman anymore.

I picked up The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Assassin's Creed Liberation. The first mostly on Mark's wife's review and the second because I haven't played Ass Creed in a while and this questionable Vita port is all my geriatric PC can handle.

I'm itching to take a bite out of one of these survival games that are all the rage, like The Forest, but nothing seems 100% feature complete yet.

[RedSwirl]

Y'know, my last few Steam sale hauls have basically all been little fish. Being unemployed for three years will do that to you. As an example of how small the catches have been, I've actually finished all the games I bought during the holiday sale, and have already finished one game I bought during this sale.

I pretty much just decided to clean up a lot of what's accumulated on my wishlist over the last five or six months. In that time we've seen a lot of nice-looking games fill in the $5-$10 price range, and I'm able to shimmy those in between sessions of Skyrim. I blasted through Legend of Korra in about a week and am finishing up Grow Home. Snakebird and Freedom Planet are up next.

[Bowley]

Y'know, my last few Steam sale hauls have basically all been little fish. Being unemployed for three years will do that to you. As an example of how small the catches have been, I've actually finished all the games I bought during the holiday sale, and have already finished one game I bought during this sale.

Are you still on the same rig? I remember our PCs are a similar age (2007-2008 ish). I'm surprised how long this thing has been viable with one graphics upgrade. I think that's a testament to the indie explosion and the length of the last console gen, since I had to stop buying the intensive AAA's about two years ago.

I wonder if a Steambox is worth it.

[Bowley]

Reeled in Fallout 3: New Vegas Ultimate in the last hour of the sale, because... why not? I've been dutifully watching that price drop for years.

[Beige]

I made out fair to middlin'. As Bowley said, these waters have been heavily fished before. Kinda sad to have a Steam Sale and look over the reeking fishdocks to realize that I either already own it or don't want it.

My total collective haul was a copy of Wolfenstein that I got for 75% off and Ground Zeroes which I got for five bucks. Oh, and that $2.50 reskinned version of One Finger Death Punch with the Kung Fury pixel art.

I'm 100% down for a Squad collective survival sim. I'm into Dinosaurs when Ark gets finished... otherwise there are a few aquatic ones that look nifty.

[Alex Connolly]

I'd recommend Subnautica, which is incidentally one of the games I picked up during the sale.

My dragnet contained the following amid kelp and flotsam:

- Technobabylon [It's been a while since Gemini Rue, and few do grotty, crunchy science fiction better than Wadjet]
- Subnautica [Rich and gorgeous design; the antidote to a world yoked by tired, brown half-hearted survival crafters]
- Sniper Elite 3 [Dig the series, and this sounds like a right underdog with very open levels]
- Terraform [A fine little hex-puzzler with a biome-centric tilt]
- Satellite Reign [Optimisation is needed, but good to have a modern Syndicate Wars back]
- DigiFish AquaReal 2 [For use in the classroom, went really well]
- Doorkickers [Honestly, the best damn puzzle strategy out. Addictive, speedy fun]

EDIT: Bowls, you'll have to let me know how that AssCreed game goes. I've always eyed it off on Vita, and Rampant's seal of approval pushes it closer to a point of purchase. Would get it on the handheld, just because it can be had for a song. Was incidentally called 'Lady Liberty' in this land of heathens.

[Bowley]

- Technobabylon [It's been a while since Gemini Rue, and few do grotty, crunchy science fiction better than Wadjet]

EDIT: Bowls, you'll have to let me know how that AssCreed game goes. I've always eyed it off on Vita, and Rampant's seal of approval pushes it closer to a point of purchase. Would get it on the handheld, just because it can be had for a song. Was incidentally called 'Lady Liberty' in this land of heathens.

Oh, she recommended The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, not Liberation. In fact, most of the reviews say skip Liberation, but I'm diving in anyway. It's a pretty mundane Creed game and Aveline is a bayou beauty smoke show in a green and white lady dress. That's my review so far.

I'm curious to hear about Technobabylon.

[Alex Connolly]

Ah, gotchya, with a re-read. Either way, perhaps the noble economy of Liberation within the confines of a handheld might improve its chances. To be fair, it was the only AssCreed that has blipped substantially on the radar since Ezio's debut. Anything on the Bayou...

Started playing Technobabylon last night with my daughter in tow. It's cool, and passes the four-almost-five-year-old test of 'cool girl characters', at least with the opening chapter. Good game.

[Beige]

I snagged Technobabylon back when it first hit the Steam Store. Interested to give it a shot, though I haven't yet. For the most part, Wadjet Eye can do no wrong in my books. Pointnclick 4 life dawg.

Subnautica too is (I believe) on my Steam wishlist. As one of the 3 people in the world who played and loved Endless Ocean 1 and 2, I am down like Charlie Brown for underwater diving. Just gotta get a little bit farther out of the Early Access and I'll take the plunge.