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Steam Sale Day 5: the best games, the best deals

5.

It’s wallet o’clock, and your credit card is scared. Steam’s daily deals have just gone live, and there’s plenty to spend your cash on. Here’s what we think you should buy. But before you do, don’t forget to read our Steam Sale survival guide.

Today’s best deal is:Knights of the Old Republic – £1.74 (-75%)

TE: Hell yes. It’s certainly the best Star Wars RPG ever made, and it’s one of the best Bioware games yet. It’s Star Wars done exceptionally well. Our advice: if you’re considering playing SW:TOR – buy this, and don’t bother with The Old Republic – you’ll get a great story, fun combat, and a single player RPG with voiced cutscenes.

SH: I’ve just been reminded that I never actually finished KOTOR, and so I missed out on one of the best twists in games. I mean, I know the twist now, but for £1.74 I don’t mind feigning a shocked expression when it rolls around. FACT: It also features the best character in the whole of the Star Wars universe.

Age of Empires 3 – £7.49 (-75%)

TE: I tried to play this the other day. It’s aged horrendously. The story missions are slow and tedious, the combat feels sludgy, and the graphics have somewhat lost their sparkle. Although the water still looks ‘okay’. Avoid.

Metro 2033 – £3.75 (-75%)

SH: “Atmospheric” is a well-worn adjective, but Metro 2033 is one of the few games to truly be worthy of the term, especially since it has an atmosphere that passively seeks to suffocate you. From behind the FPS’s claustrophobic gas mask you’ll enjoy a world that’s bleak yet at the same time marked by its post-apocalyptic human warmth. A unique shooter, get it down you.

Rage – £9.99 (-66%)

TE: No. It’s dull as ditchwater, a post apocalyptic shooter with some very dull driving bits. You might think it’s a bit open worldy, like Borderlands, but it’s not. Just stay away.

SH: Not even for a tenner, Tim? I’d heard some mild praise bandied about for Rage – tainted by a sense of disappointment in id turning out an average shooter – but I’m curious enough to drop some coin on it for its little robo-spiders and boomerangs. Am I an idiot?

Dear Esther – £1.74 (-75%)

TE: Art-house horror game without baddies and/or shooting based on the Source engine, available for under two quid? PC GAMING! Buy. But only if you understand there are no machine guns.

Iron Front: Liberation 1944 – £13.33 (-33%)

TE: It’s a total conversion of Arma II that I have never played and have absolutely no idea about. Metacritic says 58%. The incomparable Tim Stone says 64%. Bit of a risk. Stay away.

SH: I played the first half an hour of this before turning it off: I remember enjoying the voice acting, but not whether I was enjoying it ironically or sincerely. It’s not worth the asking price, but I’m sure the people who made it are very nice and they should feel proud.

Men of War: Vietnam – £6.24 (-75%)

TE: Men of War is great, but really weird. It’s kind of an maxi-Vietnam RTS, where you’re supplied with a scenario and a group of soldiers, and asked to complete a specific task. You have loads of men to start with, and then they all die because you simply can’t keep track of them all, and hey look, two armies are colliding, and OH GOD WHERE DID THAT TANK COME FROM. That said, there’s always one little guy you end up fixating on, marvelling at his tiny virtual heroics.

But he always dies. Poor guy.

Indie Bundle V – £6.99 (-75%)

TE: Audiosurf (audio racing game thing that generates tracks based on your mp3 collection), Greed Corp (sorta-hexa strategy board game in which the world is collapsing around you) and Gemini Rue (sci-fi adventure game in which you brain hop between an assassin and an amnesiacal inmate) are all great. Haven’t played the other two.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations – £19.99 (-76%)

TE:I bloody love the Assassin’s Creed games. They’re ace. But I wouldn’t buy the complete Assassin’s Creed pack, nor would I leap in with Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. The series is excellent but the games take an age to get through and they’re all basically the same. If you fancy some Assassin’s Creed action, go for either Assassin’s Creed 2 (it’s super-cheap as well), or Brotherhood (also absurdly cheap). The former introduces Ezio, one of my favourite characters of recent time. The latter lets him call in friendly assassins to do his dirty work. Don’t bother with 1 (it’s really limited and repetitive) or Revelations (it’s a game masquerading as a holding pattern while Ubi gear up for Assassin’s Creed 3). In fact, get both, play them in order, and then wait for the next sale to buy AC3. And don’t bother with the DLC unless you’ve got money to burn.

AND THAT’S HOW YOU CHEAPEN IP.

SH: What Tim said. And who knows, if Uplay is working you might even be able to play these.