We trawl the sale so that you don’t have to. The Steam Summer Sale of 2017 is now on, and wallets everywhere are being emptied by good old Gabe and his video game publisher cohorts on Steam – one imagines they’re all cackling, and doing that Doctor Evil thing with their pinkies. Almost certainly. The 2017 summer sale continues the trend established in earlier steam sales of late, doing away with the flash deals and daily deals. In one sense this is good – there are no more arbitrary smaller ticking clocks, and there’s no more waiting to see if that game you really want will get a daily deal at the eleventh hour towards the end of sales. It also works for Valve – dropping those formats of sale helped to bump its sales by 50%. There is a negative side to all this, however – there are an absolute ton of games out there on sale. Hundreds! It’s practically too many to really properly take in, and so that’s where we come in. Over on … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water slide … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water slide … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water slide … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water slide … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water slide … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water … [Read more...]

June is bustin’ out all over, wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein, and bustin’ makes me feel good. If summer could hold out just a little longer and last the weekend, ooh that’d be grand. And if it doesn’t, hey, we can shelter indoors playing video games. What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on. Adam: Darkest Dungeon’s Crimson Court has its claws deep into me. My blood is burning, my adventurers are rotting from the inside, and I’m on the verge of screaming about some of the nastier new features. It all seems a tad unfair at the moment, and Red Hook are balancing certain aspects, which suggests they might agree that it’s the bad kind of unfair rather than the devilishly fun kind. It’s tasty stuff though, even if I’m finding managing my blood-thirsty bunch a little too fiddly. Alec: I’m going to Center Parcs, for my sins, so I will only be playing “wiping tears away after the water … [Read more...]

The best sidequests in PC gaming have historically, for me at least, been few and far between. That is to say: while I've thoroughly enjoyed certain quests in certain games, far too many side ventures eschew narrative reward, often serve as filler, and are ultimately plain boring. This is particularly true in open world games—The Witcher 3 is perhaps the exception—however the Assassin's Creed series is looking to improve its side quest design into the future.   Officially revealed at this year's E3, Origins will reduce its icon clutter by introducing a new "quest system". Speaking to our Samuel on the show floor, the game's creative director Jean Guesdon said: "That's one of the three main things that we reworked a lot. Traditionally in past Assassin's Creed [games], we had what was called a mission system. So, it was really about missions, but missions are really good to tell a little bit, a chapter, of a big story. So we had a main story and side … [Read more...]

Stepping off the beaten path in any given game can open up a whole new world. Main story lines are fine, but side quests often contain better writing, funnier jokes, and more interesting mechanics. Sometimes they’re so good that when the credits roll, the distractions and detours burn brighter in your memory than the central journey itself. With that in mind, here’s a list of the best side quests on PC. Don’t blame me if you suddenly have an urge to reinstall that RPG you sunk 100 hours into five years ago. Oh, and leave your own suggestions in the comments below the story. Oasis, Fallout 3“I had you brought in here to ask one simple favour. Would you kill me?” It’s one of my favourite lines from Fallout 3 within arguably its best side quest. Tucked away in the corner of the grey wasteland is Oasis, where flourishing plant life obscures a tragic tale.   At the centre is Harold, a mutant with a tree growing out of his head. It’s … [Read more...]

Just in time for that Steam Summer Sale to start, we’re taking a look at the best gaming deals from the past week. Let’s get to it, shall we? As usual, we’ve got deals that’ll work in the UK, deals that’ll work in the US, and some deals that will work in both the UK and US, as well as presumably many other places. Let’s get started. UK & US Deals As you probably already know by now, Steam’s annual Summer Sale is now on. In fact, by the time you read this, you may have already drained all the money from your bank account picking up a vast assortment of PC games that you’ll never quite have enough time to actually play through. That said, a Steam sale is always an exciting time, so here are some of the best things on offer: Stardew Valley for £6.59 / $8.99 Firewatch for £6.74 / $8.99 ABZU for £4.49 / $5.99 Hitman Season One for £15.89 / $23.73 Transistor for £2.24 / $2.99 SteamWorld … [Read more...]

Visual novels seem to work better when they give players (or readers, as the case may be) more to do beyond clicking to advance through text boxes. Some of the most beloved visual novels, such as the Ace Attorney and Zero Escape franchises, blend genres and incorporate elements of room-escape, investigation, and verbal spot-the-difference games. Similarly, Walkerman caught my attention with its fusion of choice-based novel sections and board game styled grid combat. The end result is a fascinating fantasy novel and a riveting logic puzzle game, but it has a notable imbalance between these two identities. Walkerman is the story of Jorgen, a young man who has decided to take up his father's trade as a walkerman, or "poucher." Walkermen are very analogous to the Witchers of their eponymous series: monster hunters for hire that meet with the distrust of the general populace. In the game's world, loosely reminiscent of Northern Europe in medieval times, monsters only come out at night and … [Read more...]

Summer. It’s the season to spend money on the essentials: a new air conditioner, backup pairs of sunglasses, hand-woven picnic baskets and 15 or so video games you probably won’t even install on your PC until next year. That’s right, folks. PayPal warned you, and now the video game chickens have come home to virtually roost. The Steam Summer Sale is upon us. Last year’s sale came packed with new sets of trading cards and craftable game badges. This time around, they’ve added quests which fill a digital sticker book. Completing a page in the sticker book will permanently unlock that page on your account. We know it’s tough to sort out the best deals and discounts while basking in the sunshine and taking delicate sips of an afternoon mint julep, which is why we’ve done all the work for you. Some of this year’s highlight price drops include the Final Fantasy and Ghost Recon franchises, as well as Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor’s Game … [Read more...]

The Steam summer sale is in full blaze. For a while it even blazed so hot that the servers went on fire and all the price stickers peeled off the games. Either that or the store just got swamped with cheapskates looking for the best bargains. Cheapskates like you! Well, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up some recommendations. Here are the things you should consider owning in your endless consumeristic lust for a happiness which always seems beyond reach. You’re welcome. Newish These aren’t the best deals, because the games are still quite fresh. But it’s better than nothing! Torment: Tides of Numenera for £17.49/$22.49 – A sad man falls out of the sky and must read 2 million words to discover why Nier: Automata for £27.99/$41.99 – A lovable robot accidentally unplugs her own CPU chip and dies Northgard for £12.74/$16.99 – A Viking with a lisp is axed over a piece of land, and says: “That was Thor!” Dead Cells for … [Read more...]

When you're playing a game you truly love, it's hard to see it come to an end. That's where downloadable content comes in, usually. You can purchase additional scenarios, events, story instances, weaponry, or a veritable treasure trove of new content that could make a game you've already moved on from feel new again. This year was full of an absolutely excellent selection of downloadable content that not only extended the life of some of the best games over the past year or so, but offered slam dunks in terms of bang for your buck. This is the best DLC of 2016. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine This massive piece of downloadable content will go down in the books as one of the greatest things to have happened to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Large enough to nearly be considered a standalone expansion, it introduced players to the world of Toussaint and its striking hues, verdant greenery, and smiling citizenry. It offered an additional 90 quests, a new Gwent deck, a way to dye your armor and … [Read more...]

Ian Williams is a freelance writer based in Raleigh, NC. He’s currently Vice Sports’ featured weekly pro wrestling columnist, but he still finds plenty of time to write about and investigate labor issues in the video game industry, as well as a smattering of more general games related coverage. He’s contributed work to Giant Bomb, Jacobin, The Guardian, Paste, and a whole bunch of others. You might think that a year with as many good games as 2016 would make it easy to make a Top 10 List. Pick a little from there, one from over yonder, until you’ve got a big, bountiful basket of beautiful digital entertainment. This is wrong! The practical effect of so many compelling, fun, deep, moving games, of all genres, is that I’ve mostly stared at my computer, frozen to inaction, unsure of what to play for fear of missing out on something in another game I’m not playing. Despite the creeping fear that this glut of good games is going to continue right on into … [Read more...]

Watch the Day One Deliberations here: Game of the Year time is upon us, and the entire Giant Bomb crew locked themselves into the deliberations bunker for a solid week. We weren't allowed to leave until we had whittled down the best game of the year, but we also came to a number of other conclusions. Day One of our deliberations yields the following collection of winners. 2016's Old Game of the Year The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Webster's dictionary defines The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as one of the greatest games that just barely snuck onto last year's Game of the Year list. It's a long game. Sometimes these things take time to marinate, to grow on you, to fully and truly understand. Well, we're glad to soften the blow a bit this year by recognizing its now fully-formed splendor. Following up on Hearts of Stone from late 2015, 2016's Blood and Wine expansion makes The Witcher 3 as enticing a prospect as it ever was. Since its release, CD Projekt Red has added these two fantastic and fully … [Read more...]

After the Steam Winter Sale start date was confirmed to begin today, the sale is officially underway, competing against the Xbox Countdown to 2017 sale! There are plenty of games on sale, but you can check out a couple highlights of the sale below. In addition to the sale going live today, the Steam Awards have also launched bringing the ability to vote on games along with it. The Awards and the sales will be accessible until January 2nd, so you have time to grab the games that you want or cast your vote. Daily deals and Flash Deals are no longer part of the sale. Head to the store to catch the full deals: Under $10: Resident Evil 4 Resident Evil 5 Resident Evil Starbound Civilization 5 Terraria Some of the highlights: The Division 50% off Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition 60% off Civilization Franchise 10 - 92% off Doom Franchise 67% off Total War Franchise 25 - 75% off Farming Simulator 17 15% off Cities. Skylines 75% off Project Cars 67% off The Banner Saga 2 … [Read more...]

EA has put out some stellar titles on Origin for PC this year, and if you've been waiting to get your hands on them, then Christmas has come early. The Origin EA Holiday Sale has a ton of great games to choose from, and you might want to check the Origin storefront before you drop your cash on the Steam Winter Sale. Standout Sale Titles: Battlefield 1 (40% off) $35.99 Battlefield 1 Deluxe Edition (40% off) $47.99 Battlefield 3 Premium Edition (75% off) $9.99 Battlefield 4 Premium Edition (60% off) $19.99 Battlefield Hardline Ultimate Edition (67% off) $23.33 Dragon Age: Inquisition - Game of the Year Edition (50% off) $19.99 FIFA 17 (50% off) $29.99 Need for Speed (75% off) $9.99 Need for Speed Deluxe Edition (75% off) $12.49 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege (50% off) $24.99 The Sims 4 (67% off) $14.99 Star Wars Battlefront (67% off) $9.99 Star Wars Battlefront Deluxe Edition (67% off) $13.33 Star Wars Battlefront Season Pass (33% off) $19.99 Star Wars Battlefront … [Read more...]