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Steam Summer Sale Must-Buys

The Steam Summer Sale is nearly over! Here are some iconic games that you can pick up and play at bargain prices!

July 5, 2019

Every year, summer rolls around, bringing with it ice-cream, sunburn, and discounts. Lots and lots of discounts. Here’s a list of the top five games I recommend picking during this year’s Steam Summer Sale.

HOTLINE MIAMI

Source: Microsoft

Hotline Miami is a high octane, top-down shooter. The visual brilliance resembles the neon 80’s and a fantastic soundtrack underpins the whole experience. Upon release, the game was met with critical acclaim and has since become a cult classic. A sequel was released soon after, however, it didn’t quite hit the heights of the original.

The player can tackle a situation in a multitude of ways. Go in silent and take out everyone quietly. Or, kick down the doors, whack the guard, steal his gun, shoot his friends. Both work. The margin for error in Hotline Miami is almost non-existent, which just adds to the tension of the gameplay. The vibrantly gruesome ultra-violence of Hotline Miami will always keep you on your toes. If you are looking for a unique single-player experience, look no further.

DARKEST DUNGEON

Source: Nintendo

This Lovecraftian turn-based RPG is currently 70% off on Steam, which is great value for such a unique game. Darkest Dungeon offers a challenging blend of adventuring and roster management that makes every second of Darkest Dungeon engaging and tough. Traversing the dark world full of monsters and bandits can offer endless hours of fun.

Source: Medium

The game boasts 15 different classes that offer unique skills and abilities to your team. These characters can become influenced by certain conditions, some positive, most negative, and can further influence how you build your party moving forward. You have to build your small hamlet from the ground up, upgrading buildings and equipment. This game isn’t for the faint of heart and throws some of the worst nightmares imaginable at you, but the game is certainly thrilling.

PORTAL BUNDLE

Technically two games, however, the ridiculously low price warrants picking them up together. The Portal Bundle comes with both Portal 1 and 2. This item’s price has been reduced by a staggering 93%, giving perhaps the best value of any title in the Summer Sale. Valve‘s puzzle masterpiece concoction of physics-based puzzles and iconic Portal-play offers a great single-player experience for anyone.

Source: Steam

Portal 2 also has a multiplayer component, meaning one of the best puzzle games of all-time can be played with a buddy. A separate co-op campaign is available to work through, with a completely different set of levels from the single-player campaign. Portal 2 is highly regarded and was released to widespread critical acclaim. If the ‘overwhelmingly positive’ reviews on Steam weren’t enough to tempt you into buying this bundle, then the incredibly low price surely should be.

If you want to learn more about the game’s multiplayer offerings, then head over to my ‘7 Essential Multiplayer Experiences‘ article!

BORDERLANDS: THE HANDSOME COLLECTION

Source: PlayStation

As far as first-person shooters go, Borderlands is perhaps the wackiest. The Handsome Collection includes Borderlands 2 and The Pre-Sequel. The gunplay is great, the randomly-generated weapons are a breath of fresh air in a polluted stream of uninspired shooters. Whether you’re exploring Pandora or Elpis, Gearbox has plenty to throw at you and provides you with some of the best FPS playgrounds to-date. Gunning your way through all of the diverse environments and wild enemies is always a joy. The Pre-Sequel uses Borderlands 2 as a baseline for content and then just throws even crazier stuff into the mix. Low-gravity levels and guns that freeze enemies are always welcome in my games.

Source: Gamespot

The Borderlands series isn’t only known for its inhospitable settings, but characters too. Handsome Jack is a fascinating antagonist and offers the player genuine moments of comedic brilliance. Claptrap is perhaps the most annoying character ever created, but he has this SpongeBob-esque adorability that makes you humour him. The way he narrates everything in his grating voice will make you want to put a bullet straight through his robotic shell. Gearbox seemed to understand this, and provide you with a chance early in Borderlands 2 to shoot him with a cannon. It is compulsory. Thank you, Gearbox.

Fortunately, Borderlands 3 is just around the corner, so that means now is the perfect time to buy The Handsome Collection. You could play the games over the summer and be ready for Borderlands 3 come September. This collection is 97% off on Steam and if you are looking forward to playing Borderlands 3 or just want something to do during the summer then look no further. You could easily sink 150 hours into both titles, and you wouldn’t regret it.

DARK SOULS III

Source: Amazon

“Isn’t that the game which is just really hard?”. Over the past few years, Dark Souls has become synonymous with difficulty. Yes, I appreciate Dark Souls is tough and can seem unfair at times, however it is one of the deepest and richest RPGs to have been released within the last decade. Dark Souls III, much like its predecessors is an incredibly challenging, but beautiful role-playing game. The Kingdom of Lothric has just as many pitfalls and dangers for the Ashen One — the player — to explore and to fight off. Diverse environments and grotesque Lovecraftian horrors await any potential player who dares enter.

Arguably the most alluring aspect of any SoulsBourne game is the bosses you will encounter. Dark Souls III does not disappoint in this department either. Offering up some of the most sickening and grotesque enemies the series has had since its inception. All of the demonic and terrifying enemies you’ll come across feed into the immense and rich lore of the franchise. The roots of this game run deep and Dark Souls has one of the most in-depth backstories in modern gaming. It’s confusing, but if you enjoy uncovering ancient secrets and traversing the annals of history in order to unearth each and every secret a game has to offer then Dark Souls III may be an essential title to pick up.

IN CONCLUSION

Every year, Steam offers great discounts on almost every product on the platform. I believe that the games listed above are the best value for money and will certainly provide you with more than enough to play. Whether you enjoy puzzle, action-adventure or first-person shooters, then hopefully I’ve listed something above that may appeal to you.

Zak Deacon

My earliest experience with video games consists of my father buying me a PlayStation 2 for my birthday, and me responding by saying that “I just wanted toys”. Couldn’t have been more wrong.

Tagged : Bandi Namco borderlands Borderlands Handsome Collection Dark Souls Darkest Dungeon discounts Hotline Miami Portal Portal 2 Steam Valve