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Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2018!

It’s that time again! That time where we get overly excited about seeing tons of games on sale that we don’t have enough money to buy or time to play! I pretty much just have fun predicting prices and seeing all the sales. All these sales go through Monday it looks like as well.

What I’m Looking For

Farcry 5 – I had a ton of fun with Wildlands. I’m told Farcry 5 is the same type of open world gameplay, but with FPS. It also has multiplayer so I’m in. Additionally it has a custom-map arcade, so the replayability is really high. I’m looking for something under $30 for the base game, but if I can get the DLC at a good price, I’ll buy that too.
Purchased: $29.99 off Humble with an additional 10% off for being a monthly subscriber and another 5% into my store wallet. I opted not to go for the DLC because it has bad reviews, and because I can always buy it later once I get a chance to try the game.

Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor Martyr – WTF is an Inquisitor, exactly? I’ve had my eye on this game for a long while. I’m a big fan of the 40k universe, and this game fits my holiday channel event perfectly. I’m also a big fan of procedurally generated games, which is what makes this game so massive.

Fallout 76 – I’ve been so up and down with this game. I’m not sure I like the RPG gameplay. I’m used to crafting a hatched to hack up rocks and trees. I’m also not sure I like the $60 price point. Seems a bit much for a survival game, even with the Fallout franchise behind it. I’m not expecting much in the way of a price drop since it just game out, but who knows.
Purchased: $39 on Amazon. Humble has it even cheaper!

Origin Sale

Runs through 11/26/2018. My recommendations include Battlefield 1 & Dead Space. I cannot recommend these two games enough, and they are both only $5. I continue to have a blast with Battlefield 1, and do so much better than other shooters. Dead Space was just such an incredible experience. I don’t normally play singleplayer games, or horror games, but Dead Space was well worth it. I’ve already picked up Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3. I’ve also got my eye on the DLC for Dead Space 3 which is just $5 right now. I plan to buy it before the end of the sale.
Purchased: $4.99 Dead Space 3 DLC.

Fanatical Black Friday Sale

There are over 1500 games on sale at Fanatical. You can also use the code BLACKFRIDAY10 to get an extra 10% off. I have  partner link which will help me out with a commission if you purchase something. Monster Hunter: World is 37% off  with the code and Fanatical is having 48 hour flash deals every day. You’ll have to check back each day to see what the new games are.

Humble Fall Sale

If you want to do your bit for charity, Humble Bundle is also having a black friday sale. I have a partner link with Humble as well, so you can help me AND your favorite charity by purchasing through this link. My recommendation from here is the Elite Dangerous. WHAT a great game! I cruised right past 100 hours in this starship simulator. If you are a humble monthly subscriber, the extra 15% could make this website your go-to for the best deals.

Steam Sale

Loads of good deals. I’m just going to list the ones I own and recommend. You may see a Warhammer heavy list, and those reasons will become apparent soon.

  • Space Hulk: Deathwing – $13.59
  • Battlefleet Gothic: Armada – $7.49
  • Dawn of War II – $4.99
  • Total War: Warhammer II – $29.99
  • Vermintide II – $14.99
  • Foxhole – $12.99
  • Jurassic World Evolution – $21.99
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Halloween 2018

Planning Early for Halloween!

Halloween is my second favorite holiday. There’s just something about that spooky, suspenseful atmosphere that I’ve always enjoyed. Of course the memories of dressing up as a kid are great ones. Some costumes I remember enjoying were ghost and Batman. To get into the spirit of things, I like to play dark or scary themed games. I started this tradition last year, and I enjoyed it so I’ll continue it for as long as it lasts.

I’ve got a short list below, and I’d love to get your opinion on what game(s) you’d enjoy watching during this spooky time of year. I’ve also written on some of these games in the past if you want to know a little more:

What games would you like to watch for a Halloween stream?
  • DOOM 25%, 9 votes
    9 votes 25%
    9 votes - 25% of all votes
  • Hunt: Showdown 22%, 8 votes
    8 votes 22%
    8 votes - 22% of all votes
  • The Black Death 19%, 7 votes
    7 votes 19%
    7 votes - 19% of all votes
  • Vermintide II 14%, 5 votes
    5 votes 14%
    5 votes - 14% of all votes
  • Dead Frontier II 8%, 3 votes
    3 votes 8%
    3 votes - 8% of all votes
  • Left 4 Dead 2 8%, 3 votes
    3 votes 8%
    3 votes - 8% of all votes
  • Space Hulk: Deathwing 3%, 1 vote
    1 vote 3%
    1 vote - 3% of all votes
Total Votes: 36
Voters: 20
September 20, 2018 - November 1, 2018
Voting is closed

Some other games that I might play that aren’t on the list include:

  • Alien: Colonial Marines – One of the worst video games ever? Might find out!
  • Goatman – You must hunt down an urban legend terrorizing a modern countryside!
  • Resident Evil titles – Zombies, ’nuff said.
  • Killing Room – Twitch interactive game where I have to entertain YOU for points.
  • Some surprise VR titles!

You can leave any extra suggestions in the comments below. All this should be starting up towards the end of October. Most likely the last week in October, but I’m waiting on some vacation dates to solidify so I can nail down a good schedule.

Halloween Stream Theme Update

I’ve created all new Halloween themed bonuses for the stream! There are all new spooky alerts, a creepy new starting soon screen, an AFK screen graveyard that grows with new follows, and a background graveyard that grows with each sub during the month!

Each new Follow will add a tombstone to the AFK screen, and each Subscription allows you to customize a tombstone with your own battlefield-death themed epitaph! At the end of the month I will put up a YouTube video showcasing everyone’s creative causes of death.

 

As always, thank you guys for all your support. Be it a simple follow, leaving a lurk, chatting me up during a stream, donating bits/subscribing, or just using one of my partner links to buy a game you want. I really appreciate it. I’ve found a lot of great games so far this year, and met a lot of awesome people. I literally couldn’t do it without you.

As always, you can find me on Twitch, or catch me on Twitter if I’m offline.

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Top Picks for the 2017 Steam Summer Sale

My Recommendations for Best Value in 2017 Steam Sale

I’m changing up the release day for posts back to Tuesdays. That’s when I get the heaviest traffic to the site, so it just makes sense. As you may or may not know, the Steam summer sale is in full swing. I had 26 games from my wishlist on sale, which is about half. I’m honestly surprised it isn’t more. I decided to take a look back over the past couple of years, and go through the games I already owned to see what was on sale. I picked out the best games with the best discounts that I simply can’t recommend enough. There were quite a few surprises considering the age and heavy discounts of some of these games.

Battlefleet Gothic Armada: $13.59

Probably the biggest surprise because of the HUGE discount having only been out for a year. This is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. A strategy game of capital ship combat in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The campaign part of the game gets lots of praise, but I really enjoyed the skirmishes versus AI. The multiplayer queues are a bit slow, and imbalanced, due to the small population. That might change with this sale though.

Fortified: $4.94

This is probably the surprise hit of the sale for me. I’ve been playing a lot of Foxhole lately, so when I started checking out the developer I found this game. This is a third person shooter style game where you build up your defenses to defend from an alien invasion. A different style of tower defense game. It all takes place with vintage 1950s science fiction stylized graphics. It has a hint of humor in it too. While you can play solo, I really recommend you have a friend along for the ride. The devs have been pretty quiet for almost a year so the game may be ‘finished’, but it is a lot of fun for less than five dollars.

Helldivers: $9.99

I wasn’t much for top down shooters, aka twin stick shooters, until I found Helldivers. It’s heavily influenced by the movie version of Starship Troopers. You fight bugs, cyborgs, and robots alongside up to four friends. All your missions take place on procedurally generated planets. This is another of those must-have-friends games to get the most out of it.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3: $24.99

While I don’t normally play singleplayer games, this one really surprised me. It’s an open world stealth shooter, meaning 90% of what you do is going to be sneaking and sniping. Taking place in modern day eastern Europe, it’s a great story about an American sniper and his brother. The game has great graphics and great sniping kill cam effects. A huge discount too considering it just came out this year.

Total War Warhammer: $20.39

If you missed the Humble monthly sale, this is the next best thing. A Warhammer fantasy strategy game done by the Total War team. There is tons to do in this game if you enjoy battling with the available factions, even without the DLC. It will also add to your campaign world if you purchase the upcoming Total War: Warhammer II. All of the DLC is on sale as well if you want to pick up a little something extra.

Space Hulk Deathwing: $23.99

This game is a Warhammer 40,000 first person shooter. A colossal failure when it first launched, but 6 updates later this game is amazing. The dark and gothic environment visuals are on point, as well as the weapon effects. If you enjoy horde-mode style games, blasting away at waves of enemies with your friends brothers, this game is for you.

Company of Heroes 2: $4.99

This is probably the best deal on Steam right now or ever. World War 2 era RTS with no base building. This is my favorite strategy game, and for this price you won’t find anything better. This game has a campaign, multiplayer, and even a mod community for all kinds of new maps. The devs outlined an 8 year lifespan for this game when it launched, and there’s a good 4 years left to go.

DOOM: $14.99

Yet another game that has just plummeted in price being just barely a year old. It dropped to $16 during the Black Friday sales, but now the legendary first person shooter is even cheaper. A great Sci Fi experience, battling demons with the baddest weapons mankind has to offer. There’s plenty of player created maps as well thanks to the easy to use SnapMap editor. While it is a reboot of sorts, this is a great addition to the DOOM series.

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Gaming Intel Dispatch 2017.3

General News

Steam has started regulating who you can gift games to. According to an announcement earlier this month, Steam gifting has been restricted to those using the same currency. The game’s developer has some leeway to override this on a game-by-game basis. While I understand the reasoning behind this is to stop 3rd party key resellers, I think the implementation is a complete fail. I fully support purchasing games legitimately, but this really goes too far. Punishing the whole for the actions of a few kinda thing.

I found another bundle site called Groupees. It focuses mainly on Indie games and Indie music. More obscure than Humble or Bundlestars, but if you like music and indie games it could have something for you.

Speaking of Humble bundle, the monthly bundle features Stellaris this month! You can pick up Stellaris for just $12 right now. All kinds of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Warhammer 40k and other Sci Fi genre mods that really make the replayability of this game infinite.

Start saving up! Don’t buy that game yet! The Steam summer sale is rumored to be starting towards the end of June! (22ish?)

The new tabletop game edition of Warhammer 40,000 is coming June 17th. An RL friend of mine is interested in playing, so I’ll be jumping into that. I’m considering putting some Warhammer 40k tabletop related content here on my website. Painting pictures, strategies, etc. Maybe some Tabletop Simulator on Stream and YouTube. I know there’s a decent following for Warhammer 40k here. What do you guys think? Something you’d like to see? Let me know in the comments!

Games I’m Playing

New update for Space Hulk Deathwing hit and WOW am I in love! Procedurally generated missions offering new play experiences every time. This is where the game should have launched from and it would have been a HUGE success I think. I totally recommend this game now.  Future updates promise new loot and more.

There are two new classes in For Honor, but the only one I want to see more of is the Centurion! This Roman is part of the Knight faction, so while I’ll be venturing away from the Warden class, it wont’ be too far.

After an afternoon of sifting through upcoming and obscure games on steam, I came across Foxhole. What a gem of a game it is too. Foxhole is a persistent online world where war ebbs and flows between two factions. No resets, the battle rages on even when you log off! Foxholes, pillboxes, walls, gates and more dot the landscape, making it quite an accomplishment to take a territory. There’s a HUGE logistical component to the game, so don’t expect the flow of an FPS. You can check out the free demo right now on Steam. I’ll be keeping up with this game.

I’ve just started playing Rocket League and I gotta say, I really like it. Went ahead and bought the Marauder skin because it was the closest thing to a Jeep. Alkalidum has been carrying me so that I can do what I was born to do in that game – ram, sideswipe, and otherwise harass the other team! It’s a really solid game, and I should have a review for it up soon.

Tried playing some Arma 3 but it’s proven quite complex. I’d love to get a group together to play one of those sandbox modes where you start with a small sector, and have to conquer and build up to take over the map. I really need a helping hand, as I’m pretty lost when I load into the game. Working with a few people to teach me so we can get this going. If you can help, let me know!

Released May 2017

Steel Division full release came on May 23rd. I’ve been enjoying the heck out of playing the 101st Airborne division. Been managing the Medium AI pretty well, so I think I’m about ready to start doing more PvP.

Couple cool games to check out. First up is Ravenfield, which looks like a mix between UEBS and TABS. You set up the battle scenarios, and then pick an army to join and fight it out. Singleplayer game though, which is my only reservation. The other game is Medieval Kingdom Wars, which follows the Kingdom Wars series that a lot of my Twitch viewers enjoyed. The devs mentioned this one would have a persistent world, so I’m interested to see how that works out.

Future

A new MMORPG was announced that takes place in the American west. Wild West Online is supposed to launch later this year. A huge cowboy sandbox to play in! I’ve already signed up and look forward to seeing more as the game launch comes closer. I’m more of a fan of that time period than ever thanks to Hell on Wheels and Cowboys vs. Aliens.

I’ve also finally decided to dive into Total War 2. Once I saw the Saurus or Cold Ones or whatever it is the Lizardmen have that look like dinosaurs, I was sold. These guys look AMAZING and I can’t wait to stomp some Elven @$$!

Virtual Reality Gaming

There have been a few games lately that have started my VR itch. A little game called King Kaiju that lets you stomp around a city as faux-Godzilla, wrecking buildings and tossing cars and helicopters. Very basic looking, but a great idea. Another game called Breach It which lets you blow through walls with explosives. Not necessarily something that would benefit from VR specifically, but still nothing I’ve ever seen before. Finally the game that made me look forward to trying VR the most so far is The Frontier Outskirts. A giant SciFi battle sandbox with heavy Star Wars influences (light-swords, not lightsabers).  There’s also Star Trek bridge crew as well, which should be self explanatory. I’d play all of these games without VR, but they are all VR-only. I just can’t seem to find anything like them in the ‘normal’ gaming world, so maybe one day I’ll find the disposable income for a VR setup. Vive or Occulus though? Luckily I have time to figure that out.

What do you think of Virtual Reality?
Results

May 2017 Gaming Stats

Monthly Stats