Good old games are having a 15% off promotion for their RPGs this weekend, the following games are in the offer.
Arx Fatalis - $8.49
Fallout - $5.09
Fallout 2 - $5.09
Fallout Tactics - $5.09
Gothic - $8.49
Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus - $5.09
Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader - $5.09
Sacred Gold - $8.49
Stonekeep - $5.09
Apply code "PROMO1" to get your 15% off.
GOG RPG weekend promotion
Dragon Quest - Chapters Of The Chosen, DS - £9.73
Dragon Quest - Chapters Of The Chosen, DS - £9.73 delivered
Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia, DS - £23.73
Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia, DS - £23.73 delivered
They also get bonus points for their photoshop'd cover, they took the original NES Castlevania cover and turned it into a DS box. "Artwork TBC" indeed.
Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia, Xbox 360 - £4.75
Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia, Xbox 360 - £4.75 delivered
(no) More Quake Live Beta Invites.
I've got another round of invites, this time I have 5 spare invites.
Whoever the next 5 people to email me at lewiep@savygamer.co.uk are will get an invite into the Quake Live beta.
You need to include your full name, and whether you classify yourself as Beginner/intermediate/Expert skill level, or if you are not sure.
Next 5 emails I get will have them, so be quick!
Update: all gone
Xbox 360 Elite - £209.99
Xbox 360 Elite - £209.99 delivered
A decent price for the console on its own, but you can also choose to get the Wireless Entertainment bundle for £20, which is Kung Fu Panda, LEGO Indiana Jones and a Wireless Controller.
You can also get any of these games for £10 too, just apply code "XBXGME10" at checkout:
Lord Of The Rings: Conquest
Prince of Persia
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009
Far Cry 2
Fracture
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Quantum of Solace
LEGO Batman: The Videogame
Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Warhammer: Battle March
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
CSI: Hard Evidence
Crash of the Titans
Crayon Physics Update
Haha, this is so awesome.
On of my few gripes with Crayon Physics Deluxe was that there was a flaw in how challenging it was. It felt like there was always an elegant solution, but I didn't know if I had got it or not.
Well, Petri has just updated the game. He has added an extra star to each level, for different things.
In his words "you can now get an extra star for each level if you complete them in couple of different ways and under certain restrictions."
It looks like he has fixed what was one of the only real problems I had with the game, kudos for taking on board the constructive criticism, and doing something with it. I've not had time to play with it yet, but I can't wait to dig back into it.
You can check out my review here, and grab the demo or buy the full game here.
Call Of Duty 4 [GOTY Edition], Xbox 360 - £24.73
Call Of Duty 4 [GOTY Edition], Xbox 360 - £24.73 delivered
Maybe this game is finally going to stop dropping in price...
Edit: It's opposite day or something...
Blue Dragon, Xbox 360 - £5.98
Blue Dragon, Xbox 360 - £5.98 delivered
It was this price before, then went out of stock, but has just gone back in stock.
Prices Slashed at Blockbuster
You can get it online for £27.73.
Thanks to Martinus Prime for the video.
Free Geometry Wars Megamix
The nice folks at Bizarre Creations are giving away, for absolutely free, a Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Megamix entitled "46860 Choices".
It's pretty nifty.
Grab it here.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution, Xbox 360 - £16.77
Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution, Xbox 360 - £16.77 delivered
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £14.99
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Wii - £14.99 delivered
Mirror's Edge, PC - £26.99
Mirror's Edge, PC - £26.99 delivered
This is the best price around at the moment, but it's actually hard to recommend buying it at this price. I loved the game on the 360 (you can see my review here), but I am pretty certain that the price will drop to under £20 pretty quickly, likely in the next month or so.
Meteos Wars - Review
Review by Robert Boyd
Meteos Wars is the latest puzzle game to be released on XBLA from Q? Entertainment - publisher of such gems as Lumines Live and Rez HD. As a big fan of Q? Entertainment's previous games, I went into Meteos Wars with high expectations.
In Meteos Wars, the player is tasked with the defense of a planet from the meteor-like meteos (meteor, meteos, get it?). In typical puzzle game fashion, this is accomplished by matching up colored blocks (the meteos) in lines. In not so typical fashion, matching up colors doesn't instantly remove those meteos from play, but instead creates rockets that launch your meteos up into the air. The bulk of the gameplay consists of trying to juggle stacks of meteos in the air, matching enough colors to keep them aloft, but not enough to leave the planet, allowing the stacks to get bigger and bigger from the falling meteos, before finally creating enough propulsion to launch the entire stack off the playing field for a ton of points (and a lot of extra meteos on your opponent's screen in multiplayer and versus modes).
I was a little worried that Meteos Wars wouldn't control well with a traditional controller (Meteos was originally a stylus-based DS game), but I'm pleased to report that the game works reasonably well with the 360 controller, using one analog stick to move the cursor and the other stick to move meteos up and down. Switching from one side of the screen to the other can be a little slow, but even this problem can be alleviated by adjusting the cursor speed in the option menu.
Meteos Wars contains a respectable amount of content for an 800 point puzzle game. There's a story mode where you fight against the computer across a number of different planets, finally fighting on planet Meteos itself. There's a vs. mode where you can play against another player or the computer in a single match. There's a Marathon mode where you don't have to worry about an opponent and you just try to get as many points as possible. Finally, there's are a few challenge modes available like trying to get as many points as possible in a minute. With multiple difficulty levels, unlockable planets (each with their own visual scheme & music), unlockable accessories for your alien avatars, achievements, and leaderboards, there are plenty of reasons to come back for one more game.
The game is not without its flaws. Online multiplayer is a joke with game-ruining lag being a frequent problem, assuming of course, that you can even find an opponent to play against in the game's barren online community. The color schemes for some of the planets can make it difficult to distinguish between colors which can be frustrating. Finally, if you have played a good deal of Meteos on the DS, you may find it difficult to adjust to the different controls.
Problems aside, I have enjoyed the time I've spent playing Meteos Wars and plan to spend much more time on it in the future. It looks and sounds great (the audio in particular seems to be much better than the DS game) and the game's frantic gameplay is a nice change of pace from the other puzzle games I tend to play. It's not the best puzzle experience I've had on XBox Live Arcade (that being Lumines Live with the Rockin' Holiday pack add-on), but it's still a lot of fun. I highly recommend it to fans of fast paced puzzle games, especially if you haven't already played the DS version.
BE QUICK RE5 FOR £30.36
The Hut.com 10% off everything
Head to The Hut.com now, and enter code "JAN10" for 10% off the total of your order. I'm going to compile a list of the highlights now. Sale ends tomorrow (Wednesday) at midday, so don't delay!
PC
Saints Row 2 - £20.46
Command And Conquer: Red Alert 3 - £13.26
Dead Space - £13.26
Spore - £22.26
FIFA 09 - £13.26
World Of Warcraft - Battlechest - £13.26
World Of Warcraft - The Wrath Of The Lich King - £15.96
Mercenaries 2: World In Flames - £13.26
The Witcher [Enhanced Edition] - £15.96
DS
Trackmania - £15.96
Dragon Quest Monsters - £8.94
Space Invaders Extreme - £13.26
Guitar Hero: Decades (with stupid clippy thing) - £25.86
Wii
Sega Bass Fishing - £10.56
Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games - £21.36
Endless Ocean - £13.26
Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City - £29.46
Tomb Raider: Underworld - £15.96
Top Spin 3 - £15.96
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core - £6.96
Lego Batman - £15.96
Wii Play - £26.76
Links Crossbow Training + Wii Zapper - £13.26
We Love Golf - £10.56
Ghost Squad - £10.56
De Blob - £15.96
PS3
Lord Of The Rings: Conquest - £33.96
Dead Space - £22.26
Lego Batman - £15.96
Xbox 360
Lord Of The Rings: Conquest - £33.96
Infinite Undiscovery - £15.96
Command And Conquer: Red Alert 3 - £22.26
Top Spin 3 - £15.06
Dead Space - £22.26
Lego Batman - £15.51
Dark Sector - £4.26
Gears Of War 2 - £26.76
John Woo Presents: Stranglehold - £6.96
Devil May Cry 4 - £13.26
Skate 2 - £33.06
PS2
Dragon Quest - The Journey Of The Cursed King - £7.86
PSP
Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII [Limited Edition] - £15.96
If you see any good deals, let me know in the comments.
(no) More Quake Live Beta Invites.
I've got another round of invites, this time I have 5 spare invites.
Whoever the next 5 people to email me at lewiep@savygamer.co.uk are will get an invite into the Quake Live beta.
You need to include your full name, and whether you classify yourself as Beginner/intermediate/Expert skill level, or if you are not sure.
Next 5 emails I get will have them, so be quick!
Update: All gone, keep checking back for more though!
Far Cry 2, Xbox 360 [Collectors Edition] - £24.98
Far Cry 2 [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £24.98 delivered
You can get the regular edition for £19.99.
Dawn of War II, PC - £22.99
Dawn of War II, PC - £22.99 delivered
Although it's probably worth thinking about getting the special edition for only £4 more, although I have no idea what extras it comes with beyond what looks like a steel case.
Trauma Centre: New Blood, Wii - £15.92
Trauma Centre: New Blood, Wii - £15.92 delivered
As I posted before, Amazon seem to keep dropping the price on this, first it was £19.99, then £18.56, then £16.75. Maybe it will drop further soon...
(no) More Quake Live Beta Invites.
I've got another round of invites, this time I have 3 spare.
Same as before the first 3 people to email me at lewiep@savygamer.co.uk will be in the Quake Live beta
You need to include your full name, and whether you classify yourself as Beginner/intermediate/Expert skill level, or if you are not sure.
They go pretty quickly, so don't delay!
Update: And they're all gone
Fable 2 [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £39.99
Fable 2 [Collectors Edition], Xbox 360 - £39.99 delivered
Contains:
1 token card for in-game content
Bonus disc containing the "Making of Fable II"
"The Wreckager" Legendary Cutlass Weapon
"The Hall of the Dead" Dungeon
"Otherworldly Bonus" - Two items, "Hal's Outfit" and "Hal's Sword",
And a purchasable "Master Chief" Hero title.
Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City, Wii - £28.99
Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City, Wii - £28.99 delivered
Braid givaway
Jonathan Blow is giving away 20 copies of his superb game Braid on XBLA, all you have to do is guess the games in the ten screenshots.
I've got two of them, but then I am stumped.
You can see my review of braid here.
X-COM Complete Pack - £2.99
X-COM Complete Pack - £2.99
Contains:
X-COM: UFO Defense
X-COM: Terror From the Deep
X-COM: Apocalypse
X-COM: Interceptor
X-COM: Enforcer
A whole bunch of cheap PSP games
All these games are £7.99 at Shopto, but all of them are "Stock Due In", so who knows when they will arrive:
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
Killzone: Liberation
Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Loco Roco
Everybodies Golf
Armoured Core 4: Answer, Xbox 360 - £17.99
Armoured Core 4: Answer, Xbox 360 - £17.99 delivered
Update: Apparently Shopto don't want to sell this any more.
Far Cry 2, Xbox 360 - £15.99
Far Cry 2, Xbox 360 - £15.99 delivered
It's been this price for a while, but just come back in stock.
Resident Evil 5, PS3 - £33.99 delivered
Resident Evil 5, PS3 - £33.99 delivered
Student discount is available too, might be the best pre-order price, if not I'll post again before it comes out, and you can cancel this one.
Resident Evil 5, Xbox 360 - £33.99
Resident Evil 5, Xbox 360 - £33.99 delivered
Student discount is available too, might be the best pre-order price, if not I'll post again before it comes out, and you can cancel this one.
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (GOTY Edition), PC - £14.99
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (GOTY Edition), PC - £14.99 delivered
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Xbox 360 - £17.99
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Xbox 360 - £17.99 delivered
The Incredible Hulk, PC - £1.99
The Incredible Hulk, PC - £1.99 delivered
It's probably not as good as Ultimate Destruction, but it's also £1.99
Harvest Moon Magical Melody, Wii - £9.98
Harvest Moon Magical Melody, Wii - £9.98 delivered
Cheers to Alpha eX for the tip off.
Audiosurf, PC - £3.73
Audiosurf, PC - £3.73 delivered
£2.26 less than it would cost on steam, and you get a boxed copy to boot. This adds it to your steam account anyway, so there is no reason to buy it through steam right now.
Update: Appears to be sold out now.
Ratchet & Clank: Tools Of Destruction, PS3 - £9.99
Ratchet & Clank: Tools Of Destruction, PS3 - £9.99 delivered
Not in stock right now, but get your orders in.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Wii - £10.72
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Wii - £10.72 delivered
Gears of War 2: Limited Edition, Xbox 360 - £34.24
Gears of War 2: Limited Edition, Xbox 360 - £34.24 delivered
Comes with:
Artbook,
Making of DVD,
Dominic and Maria Keepsake Photo (whatever the hell that is),
Gold-plated Lancer Assault Rifle unlock code,
And it all comes in a nice steel tin.
The Darkness, PS3 - £7.49
The Darkness, PS3 - £7.49 delivered
That wasn't the PS3 boxart was it? I thought it had the same on both consoles.
Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock, + Wireless Guitar Controller, Wii - £34.99
Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock, + Wireless Guitar Controller, Wii - £34.99 delivered
You can get student discount too. Works for all games but Rock Band 1, so GH3, GH:WT and Rock Band 2 are fine.
Trauma Centre: New Blood, Wii - £16.75
Trauma Centre: New Blood, Wii - £16.75 delivered
They seem to keep dropping the price on this.
Bully, Xbox 360 - £7.99
Bully, Xbox 360 - £7.99 delivered
Update: Sorry, this has sold out now, next best price is £13
Crayon Physics Deluxe, PC - Review
Crayon Physics Deluxe, PC - £13.78
Review by LewieP
It's a testament to how simple and yet compelling the crayon physics core mechanic is that a bunch of clones have sprung up between the initial release of the Crayon Physics tech demo and the release of the proper game, Crayon Physics Deluxe. There have been homebrew clones on the Wii, DS, an iPhone clone, and several PC clones, and those are just the ones I've encountered. When I say clone, I don't even mean that in a derogatory sense, I'm pretty sure they would all happily cite Petri Purho's IGF winner as their inspiration.
It taps into an idea I know I've had since watching Penny Crayon as a kid, drawing something, which then comes to life.
But does it work as a game? For the most part, yes, very much so.
The game is structured in a fairly traditional manner. You start off on island no. 1, which has a X number of levels (puzzles is probably more appropriate), and you have to get Y number of stars from the puzzles to move onto the next island and there's always some margin of error between X and Y for those individual puzzles you can't solve.
Each puzzle has stars for you to collect, initially just one star per puzzle, but a few have two. You collect stars by creating stuff with a magical crayon, that takes on the physical form of it's appearance. Draw a box, it will bounce, slide, and have weight, momentum and friction appropriate to it's shape. Same for a circle, or ropes and pulleys. You then have to use that stuff to move a red ball around the puzzle towards a star.
If it sounds complicated, it's not, and there are nice on screen tutorials that offer just the right amount of guidance without feeling invasive whenever a new technique is required. At it's most basic, Crayon Physics Deluxe is a game of cause and effect, action and reaction.
The difficulty curve is pretty shallow at first. It is a very forgiving game. Even if you mess up completely on a puzzle, a quick press of the space bar resets it all. Since the puzzles are only short, you generally don't mind experimenting, since you won't really lose much progress if the experimentation is unsuccessful. I also like that once you have gotten the star(s), nothing else matters, your construction can all fall apart, the ball can fly off the screen, anything can happen, and long as the red ball touches the star, you have succeeded.
Now I would say that the biggest missed opportunity in Crayon Physics Deluxe is in the puzzle design. A lot of the puzzles are solvable in more than one way. In fact, pretty much all of them are.
There's the 'correct' way, which will often be elegant and simple once you know how, and it can be really rewarding working these solutions out.
The other way is to brute force it. Hash your way through it and you'll probably get the ball to the star without too much difficulty. Either using what I guess are limitations in the physics engine, or just dumb trial and error.
The problem is, you often don't know which of these you are doing until you've practically solved the puzzle. I wish there was more clues as to whether or not I was on the right track to finding the more elegant solution. Maybe if there was some kind of reward for having achieved the more intelligent solution, even just a little feedback to say "you have mastered this level, you can now move on" would be great, but as it is, the player is left guessing whether or not the have mastered a given puzzle, and for me, that really detracted from me wanting to perfect the levels.
Problems aside, the puzzles is more than enough to put a smile on your face. It can really make you feel clever.
It's technically impressive. It looks, feels and sounds like something a 5 year old digipen graduate might come up with, and that is entirely meant as a compliment. I've got plenty of time for games that look like no other games on the market (excluding direct clones of it of course).
The creative commons sources soundtrack is a highlight. It's downloadable free right here, and _ghost's Lullaby has been helping me get to sleep since I first heard it. My only complaint is that there is just over 11 minutes of music, and you will spend much longer playing the game, so each track will repeat lots of times, but if it bothers you (it didn't really bother me) you can always mute it and stick something else on in the background.
Then there is the level editor. To be honest, that's not really my thing, but it looks pretty robust, so I reckon if you are the type of gamer that likes creating levels, then this is a big plus for you.
What definitely is my thing is the downloadable levels other people will make for me. Already, from just the beta there are a bunch of great looking levels been made by users, so I bet in a few months there will be mountains of levels made by users. And here lies the rub, who knows what the communities quality control will be. Thousands of levels to download is useless if 99% of them are terrible and there is no way to tell the gold from the turd.
A minor technical downer, I seem to be unable to get it to run at 1280x1024, the highest resolution it will run at is 1024x768. It's only a slight annoyance really, barely worth mentioning. It is still beautiful.
In all honesty, I am pretty sure most gamers will get plenty of enjoyment out of Crayon Physics Deluxe, and if even if the more jaded amount you feel a little short changed, just head to his web site and try one of the plethora of games he has made publicly available for completely free.
Update: Check out my custom level.
Discuss it in the forums.
Crayon Physics Deluxe, PC - £13.78
Xbox 360 60gb Pro console - £137.01
Xbox 360 60gb Pro console - £137.01
Pre-order, not sure when they will have stock in. £107.65 for an Arcade too.
Dragon Quest - The Journey Of The Cursed King, PS2 - £8.73
Dragon Quest - The Journey Of The Cursed King, PS2 - £8.73 delivered
Castlevania - Judgement, Wii - £17.99
Castlevania - Judgement, Wii - £17.99 delivered
Pretty good price for a terrible looking game, imo.
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