So I got so many wonderful games from fellow GWJers during the Steam Sale that I started posting reviews of the first hour I played of them (give or take an hour) to let the givers know that the games were appreciated and enjoyed.
At your suggestion, I've made this it's own thread. Did you get a Steam Gift? Want to tell the world that you actually did play it? Here's your thread!
Have at it!
UPDATE.
For those of you looking to jump right to the reviews, here's a handy list (thanks Taharka!)
9.03M (Eleima)
140 (danopian)
10,000,000 (danopian)
Airport Simulator 2014 (tanstaafl)
Alien: Isolation (Aaron D)
Aliens: Colonial Marines (Farscry)
Bleed (Bubs14)
Broforce (doubtingthomas396)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (MrDeVil909)
Bulletstorm (JillSammich)
Bully: Scholarship Edition (Gravey)
Bully: Scholarship Edition (McIrishJihad)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (JillSammich)
Call of Jaurez: Gunslinger (McIrishJihad)
Call of Juarez Gunslinger (Tetranomad)
Card City Nights (Bubs14)
Child of Light (Gremlin)
Closure (danopian)
Cloudbuilt (Bubs14)
Cloudbuilt (Godzilla Blitz)
Cogs (danopian)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Gravey)
The Counting Kingdom (Bubs14)
Craft the World (Godzilla Blitz)
Crazy Plant Shop (Bubs14)
Crazy Plant Shop (danopian)
Crypt of the NecroDancer (Bubs14)
Death Skid Marks (JohnKillo)
Deception: Blood Ties (Taharka)
Demonomicon (Pyxistyx)
Destiny Beta (Taharka)
Divine Divinity (doubtingthomas396)
Divinity: Original Sin (Aaron D.)
Divinity: Original Sin (Farscry)
Divinity: Original Sin (Taharka)
Don't Starve (Bubs14)
Dragon Age: Inquisition vs. Witcher 3 (Taharka)
Dust: An Elysian Tale (Eleima)
Electronic Super Joy: Groove City (Bubs14)
Elite: Dangerous Beta (Taharka)
Epic Battle Fantasy 4 (Bubs14)
Euro Truck Simulator 2 (doubtingthomas396)
Euro Truck Simulator 2 (Danopian)
The Evil Within (Taharka)
Fairy Fencer F (mantid)
Far Cry 2 (McIrishJihad)
Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown (danopian)
Final Fantasy XIII (Taharka)
Firefall (Taharka)
FTL (doubtingthomas396)
Game Dev Story (Mrtomaytohead)
Game Dev Tycoon (Bubs14)
Goat Simulator (Bubs14)
Goat Simulator (Eleima)
Grid: Autosport (Gravey)
The Guild II: Renaissance (danopian)
Hard Truck Apocalypse/Ex Machina (doubtingthomas396)
Hydrophobia: Prophesy (Taharka)
Infested Planet (UMOarsman)
Influent (danopian)
Irisu Syndrome (Mantid)
Just Cause 2 (McIrishJihad)
Kairo (PC) (Bubs14)
The Last Of Us (Remastered) (mrwynd)
Lichdom: Battlemage by Taharka
Lifeless Planet (Taharka)
Marlo Briggs and the Mask of Death (doubtingthomas396)
Master Reboot (Taharka)
Midnight Club LA (Fastmav347)
Neighbors from Hell (1 & 2) (doubtingthomas396)
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razors Edge (Cceserano)
Noir Syndrome (Bubs14)
Nosgoth (Taharka)
Odd World: Munch's Oddyssey (PC) (colonelrambo396)
Omega Quintet (Mantid)
One Way Heroics (Bubs14)
Orcs Must Die (imbiginjapan)
Planescape Torment (JillSammich)
Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus by Taharka
The Road Not Taken (imbiginjapan)
Rogue Legacy (Eleima)
Rogue Warrior (doubtingthomas396)
Runespell: Overture (Katy)
Scania Truck Driving Simulator (Gravey)
Secret of Magic Crystals (doubtingthomas396)
Secret of the Magic Crystals (Gravey)
Shift 2 Unleashed (Gravey)
Sid Meyers Railroads! (Danopian)
Sleeping Dogs (Gravey)
Sokobond (Bubs14)
Space Hulk (BadKen)
Spacebase DF-9 (AndrewA)
Spintires (Gravey)
Spintires (McIrishJihad)
The Stanley Parable (Bubs14)
Star Wars: TOR (JillSammich)
State of Decay (Badken)
Steamworld Dig (Malor)
Strider (Ccesarano)
Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (Bubs14)
Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (Eleima)
Super House of Dead Ninjas (Veloxi)
System Shock 2 (Taharka)
Takedown: Red Sabre (doubtingthomas396)
They Bleed Pixels (Taharka)
Ticket to Ride (Godzilla Blitz)
Transistor (Bubs14)
Transistor (Eleima)
Trucks & Trailers (Gravey)
Type: Rider (Bubs14)
Ultimate General Gettysburg (UMOarsman)
UnEpic (Bubs14)
Valiant Hearts (AndrewA)
Viscera Cleanup Detail (doubtingthomas396)
The Void (Taharka)
War of the Human Tanks (Mantid)
Warriors Orochi 3 (Taharka)
Wasteland: The Original Classic (Godzillablitz)
MMO Roundup by Taharka
I endorse this venture.
Yeah maybe I should try this. An hour is better than nothing and maybe I'll find something I really like and clear it off the pile.
Tagging for science!
I started posting reviews of the first hour I played of them (give or take an hour)
Joking aside, I also like this idea. These days, where for many of us, time is the more scarce resource compared to money, first impressions are important.
Secret of the Magic Crystals
This review sponsored by Garden Ninja.
Surprisingly, the 3D is too much for my 9400M.
I've played exactly 65 minutes of Cloudbuilt, according to Steam.
The parkour and jetpack mechanics were far more fun than I expected. Navigating the levels feels like Sonic Adventure mixed with Mirror's Edge mixed with Titanfall.
I wouldn't call the controls tight, but they're serviceable with an X-box 360 controller. I did find myself getting stuck dying repeatedly in a few spots, but either pushed through after several attempts or found an alternative route. The option to drop your own checkpoint helped mitigate frustration.
The plot so far is an interesting premise, I guess, but it's pretty minimal.
I'd certainly recommend it if you see it on sale, but I don't know that I'd drop the $20 asking price on Steam today.
Maybe I should play They Bleed Pixels instead of idling it for cards.
Great thread idea. I have nothing to add yet, but tagging!
Less than 1 Hour Gift Review
1st edition
Marlo Briggs and the Mask of Death
This review sponsored by Aaron D
...
I don't know if the game will hold up till the end. (NO) Combat may get tedious, (CHECK) but the different weapons and combos (ultimately four in all, two of which I've already unlocked) will probably keep things fresh. (NO)
I bought this in November last year had the same favorable impressions after my first hour or two. I got to 5 hours and things were really starting to grind, so I packed it in. In fact it is the only game that has made it to my "Given Up" and never to be revisited list on Steam! Nevertheless, I enjoyed my first few hours with it and felt happy that it was $3.75 well spent.
Finally started Arkham Origins, thanks to the lovely camnipotent, so I'll need to write one up for that. Steam says I'm 19 hours in, but it's a liar, because most of that was solving a CTD bug.
1-Hour Game Review: Call of Juarez Gunslinger
This review sponsored by Jucofett
This game seemed to have some real love from the Conference Call and this community, so excited to try it out. After idling overnight for some cards during the sale, I finally put a first hour in the other night. So far, I can see the attraction - great storytelling that integrates into the gameplay in novel ways. The shooting is fun and the setting/ambience is fantastic. Highlight so far has been unlocking dual-pistols! I have to admit that knowing it is not a particularly long game is actually a big attraction to me - my sweet spot is 5-8 hours these days, unfortunately!
As a side note, the one hour in this game was prefaced by a couple of hours re-doing ethernet cabling, router positions, etc at home to enable Steam In-Home Streaming to our HDTV connected Home Theatre PC via a gigabit connection. Took longer to do than I had hoped (I suck at terminating Cat 6 cables), but so worth it - I'm totally won over by Steam's home streaming - the sight of my entire Steam catalogue being available on a large screen TV with Xbox controller makes me giddy with delight
1-Hour Game Review: Call of Juarez Gunslinger
This review sponsored by Jucofett
This game seemed to have some real love from the Conference Call and this community, so excited to try it out. After idling overnight for some cards during the sale, I finally put a first hour in the other night. So far, I can see the attraction - great storytelling that integrates into the gameplay in novel ways. The shooting is fun and the setting/ambience is fantastic. Highlight so far has been unlocking dual-pistols! I have to admit that knowing it is not a particularly long game is actually a big attraction to me - my sweet spot is 5-8 hours these days, unfortunately!
As a side note, the one hour in this game was prefaced by a couple of hours re-doing ethernet cabling, router positions, etc at home to enable Steam In-Home Streaming to our HDTV connected Home Theatre PC via a gigabit connection. Took longer to do than I had hoped (I suck at terminating Cat 6 cables), but so worth it - I'm totally won over by Steam's home streaming - the sight of my entire Steam catalogue being available on a large screen TV with Xbox controller makes me giddy with delight
I can't begin to voice my love for this game. One of the few that I actually finished (I'm a fithy game tourist). So glad to see more love for this gem!
I love the idea of this thread and will have some contributions soon. It is also a reason to try out many of the games languishing in my library.
Tagging as well, I think it's a brilliant idea, even though I don't know if I'd be abide ton post such extensive and quality reviews myself.
+1
Tagging as well, I think it's a brilliant idea, even though I don't know if I'd be able to post such extensive and quality reviews myself.
Yikes, look at all those mistakes. Posting from my post at 4:30am doesn't make for proper spelling. :D
It's never too early to start drinking. Shalam Baskur!
Yikes, look at all those mistakes. Posting from my phone at 4:30am doesn't make for proper spelling.
Good grief, maybe I *do* need to start the drinking earlier in the day...
A gamepad is actually pretty good for this game, and you don't have to give up 'mouse look', you can map it to the right stick. I think Aaron posted a really nice gamepad button map in the ETS2 thread.
No progress yet, but I have to do one for Orcs Must Die and Metro Last Light which were kindly gifted to me by RnRClown and Grenn.
Here is my '1 Sentence In' review of these '1 Hour In' game reviews:
tl;dr
Here is my '1 Sentence In' review of these '1 Hour In' game reviews:
tl;dr
:-D
And you wonder why nobody sent YOU a Steam sale gift :p
:cry:
Now I feel bad. Don't worry, there's always another Steam sale.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
In an industry dominated by frenetic action, mind bending puzzles and flashy flashiness it's therapeutic to slide in behind the wheel of your 18 wheeler and just cruise along a two lane highway for a couple of hours before subjecting yourself to the harrowing ordeal of backing your trailer into a dock. (Thankfully, a wimpy "press enter to deliver goods" button exists.).
Link credit: BadKen
This vid improved my parking skills 200%.
My only complaint with the keyboard setup is how hard it is to make gentle turns with the digital controls. I may try a game pad to see what that feels like, but I'd miss the mouse look.
Just remember that there's two drop down menus where you select 360 Pad support.
They're both on the Options > Controls menu page. The first is at the top where you pick 360 gamepad. The other in is the next section down under Controller subtype. For some reason, it's defaulted to "Wheel". You'll want to change that to Gamepad, joystick.
Otherwise, your steering on the pad will be WAY oversensitive and squirrely has hell.
L/R triggers: break/gas
L/R shoulder: shift down/up
L stick L/R: steer
L stick Up/Down: cruise control/start engine
L stick (press): horn
R stick: free look
R stick (press): change camera
D-pad L/R: turn signals
D-Pad down/up: headlights/high beams
A button: accept/enter
B button: cycle side mirror displays
X button: cycle GPS views
Y button: center view - interior view
Select: wiper blades
Start: F1: Pause
Space Hulk seems that it would lose some of its tension playing against an AI.
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