PSN ID
by I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Steam, but it's sort of the PC equivalent to PSN and XBLA except it's...much better. Tons of things on sale quite often, steam cloud saves, free online play, instant updates, chat, gifting, mods, etc.
You can download big-name retail games straight from Steam, as well as small indie titles. The best part is that once you've downloaded Steam, you can download the steam client and play them elsewhere. Some games still have draconian DRM enabled, but that's left up to the publisher. Steam itself does not.
Here's a few of the games I really enjoy from Steam:
Garry's Mod.
It's basically a huge open-world mod service. You download character models, maps, weapons, other things and make your own stuff with it. You can pretty much do any thing and everything with it.
Machinarium
It's a point and click adventure. There are a number of these on Steam, but this one is by far my favorite.
VVVVVV
VVVVVV is a platforming game in which you are a tiny little sprite guy navigating through a giant space ship full of obstacles and stuff. You can flip upside down to navigate and also go left and right. Some of these puzzles are pretty tough, but they are also rewarding. Not to mention it has a brilliant chiptune soundtrack.
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
This game is so addicting. It's a item-shop simulator mixed in with a dungeon crawler RPG. You're a little girl whose dad is off in some far-off land and has a huge debt. This little fairy comes to collect, and ends up forcing you to create an item shop to pay off the debt. It's a very interesting concept that flips the traditional JRPG on its head.
The Path
It's almost like an art project. It's sort of a modern take on Little Red Riding Hood, but not really. You pick one of six girls, and it says that the goal is to "stay on the path and go to grandma's house" (or something to that effect. However, the true goal is to veer off the path, explore, and then all of a sudden you wake up in front of grandma's house. It's creepy, it's weird, it can be pretty dark, but it's also really cool.
And Yet It Moves
You're a paper dude, and you do platforming. You can move left and right, and jump...but you can also rotate the screen 90 degrees and 180 degrees and 360 degrees in any direction. Using this concept, you have to make your way across a bunch of levels in the safest way possible. Falling rocks, fire, huge gaps, swings, and such add to its challenging nature. Since you're just a paper dude, if you fall too far or too fast you'll crumble into a bunch of pieces (like in the screenshot) and have to start back at the last screenshot.
Amnesia: Dark Descent
I wouldn't really label this as a 'horror' game, but it can be quite scary. It's the story of a guy who lost his memory and he's in this strange castle. There's pink goop on the floor, and you decide to follow it. Strange screen effects come up from time to time as you explore filling your 'insanity meter' which makes you tremble and scared. If it fills up too much, you die. So to prevent this you stay in the light, or light torches at different areas.
This game, man, I can't play it for more than 30 minutes at a time. It doesn't go for cheap thrills, it goes for a truly creepy environment. Playing it in the dark in a completely silent area can also heighten the affect.
Now, most of these games can be bought elsewhere, but just like on Xbox or PS3, it keeps them all organized and is a unified service. You can see which friends are playing what, and how far they. It also shows what achievements they have earned.
You can see what other games Steam has to offer here: http://store.steampowered.com/
If you sign up, be sure to add me my username is alicethesister.
You can download big-name retail games straight from Steam, as well as small indie titles. The best part is that once you've downloaded Steam, you can download the steam client and play them elsewhere. Some games still have draconian DRM enabled, but that's left up to the publisher. Steam itself does not.
Here's a few of the games I really enjoy from Steam:
Garry's Mod.
It's basically a huge open-world mod service. You download character models, maps, weapons, other things and make your own stuff with it. You can pretty much do any thing and everything with it.
Machinarium
It's a point and click adventure. There are a number of these on Steam, but this one is by far my favorite.
VVVVVV
VVVVVV is a platforming game in which you are a tiny little sprite guy navigating through a giant space ship full of obstacles and stuff. You can flip upside down to navigate and also go left and right. Some of these puzzles are pretty tough, but they are also rewarding. Not to mention it has a brilliant chiptune soundtrack.
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
This game is so addicting. It's a item-shop simulator mixed in with a dungeon crawler RPG. You're a little girl whose dad is off in some far-off land and has a huge debt. This little fairy comes to collect, and ends up forcing you to create an item shop to pay off the debt. It's a very interesting concept that flips the traditional JRPG on its head.
The Path
It's almost like an art project. It's sort of a modern take on Little Red Riding Hood, but not really. You pick one of six girls, and it says that the goal is to "stay on the path and go to grandma's house" (or something to that effect. However, the true goal is to veer off the path, explore, and then all of a sudden you wake up in front of grandma's house. It's creepy, it's weird, it can be pretty dark, but it's also really cool.
And Yet It Moves
You're a paper dude, and you do platforming. You can move left and right, and jump...but you can also rotate the screen 90 degrees and 180 degrees and 360 degrees in any direction. Using this concept, you have to make your way across a bunch of levels in the safest way possible. Falling rocks, fire, huge gaps, swings, and such add to its challenging nature. Since you're just a paper dude, if you fall too far or too fast you'll crumble into a bunch of pieces (like in the screenshot) and have to start back at the last screenshot.
Amnesia: Dark Descent
I wouldn't really label this as a 'horror' game, but it can be quite scary. It's the story of a guy who lost his memory and he's in this strange castle. There's pink goop on the floor, and you decide to follow it. Strange screen effects come up from time to time as you explore filling your 'insanity meter' which makes you tremble and scared. If it fills up too much, you die. So to prevent this you stay in the light, or light torches at different areas.
This game, man, I can't play it for more than 30 minutes at a time. It doesn't go for cheap thrills, it goes for a truly creepy environment. Playing it in the dark in a completely silent area can also heighten the affect.
Now, most of these games can be bought elsewhere, but just like on Xbox or PS3, it keeps them all organized and is a unified service. You can see which friends are playing what, and how far they. It also shows what achievements they have earned.
You can see what other games Steam has to offer here: http://store.steampowered.com/
If you sign up, be sure to add me my username is alicethesister.
