This Weekend's PC Game Deals - May the Force be with your wallet

By Neowin · · Hot!
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This Weekend"s PC Game Deals is a roundup of games - old, new, or soon to be released - that are available at a great price and can be activated on Steam, Origin, or Uplay - sometimes even good old games that are DRM-free.

After a year of relatively modest “on the house” offers, the Origin store is finally offering a more modern game for gamers to download for free. Mass Effect 2 is regarded by many critics as the best of the original trilogy, and all you need to grab it is an Origin account and the Origin client, which you can set up here. Also, if you happen to like Bioware’s space opera and are willing to spend $17.49, you can get the entire series from Games Planet, and Mass Effect: Andromeda - the next installment into the series - is on the horizon as well.

We live in an era where many good games are eclipsed by those backed by big publishers. The “Humble Monthly” subscription is a good way for passionate gamers to discover hand-picked indie games and timeless classics. The monthly package sets you back only $12 (even less if you choose a recurring plan), and also includes a AAA title to spice things up – the March offer is Total War: WARHAMMER, a real time strategy game that will have you command one of the four races – the Empire, the Dwarfs, the Vampire Counts and the Greenskins - in battles of impressive scale and epicness.

There are a number of other perks to Humble Monthly, such as indie games developed exclusively for subscribers, a 10% discount on purchases from the Humble Store, and the fact that 5% of the proceeds go to a charity. If you’re wondering, the previous Humble Monthly package included: XCOM 2, Ryse: Son of Rome, ABZU, SteamWorld Heist, Okhlos Omega, Project Highrise, and Husk.

Another bundle that offers great value for money is the ‘Star Wars Bundle III’, also from the Humble Store. This is a no-brainer for those of you with a soft spot for the games that came out from LucasArts and want to grab them on the cheap. One dollar or more will net you Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, Star Wars: X-Wing vs TIE Fighter - Balance of Power Campaigns, and Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga.

Paying more than the average (about $10.99/€10.33/£8.79) will also give you access to six more titles: Star Wars: Rebel Assault I and II, Star Wars Battlefront II, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Starfighter, and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

That being said, springing for the upper tier ($13.99/€13.14/£11.19) looks like a better deal– you get all of the above, plus Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D, Star Wars Shadows of the Empire, and Star Wars Empire At War: Gold Pack. May the Force be with your wallet.

If the previous promotions weren"t enough, we’ve also hand-picked some of the best deals on PC games that you can find across all online stores. Some of them are flash sales, so act quickly if you don’t want to miss them. Also, if you happen to be looking for console games as well, check out the list of Xbox games that you can grab with Gold.

Preorder rush

Sniper Elite 4 – This is a game that will please the “PC Master Race”, in that this will be a PC-exclusive due to the scale and complexity of the maps and AI. The action takes place after the events of Sniper Elite 3, so this is a must-play for every fan of the franchise. The developers have promised that it will be a “sniper paradise”, and you can be among the first to experience it for $44.99 (about €41.69/£35.99) from Gamers Gate. The game will launch on Feb 14.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands – If you’re looking forward to Ubisoft’s next tactical third-person shooter game, and are drooling over the idea of having the freedom to explore the Bolivian landscapes where the missions take place – unlike all the other entries in the franchise – you can pre-order the standard edition for a little over $39.99 (about €37.09/£31.99) from Games Planet.

Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 Season Pass Edition– Contrary to the fast-paced action of games like Call of Duty, this one will force you to calculate your every move, blend in the environment, and do a lot of damage with carefully placed, surgical shots from your trusty sniper rifle. The developers have also made this entry more like open-world games such as the Far Cry series, which means that you can tackle your objectives as a special ops sniper during the Georgian civil war in the order of your choosing, instead of following a scripted series of missions.

If you are a Sniper Ghost Warrior veteran, or are looking for an alternative to the Call of Duty’s and the Battlefields of the world, you can pre-order the Season Pass Edition (a.k.a the non-ask-you-later-for-more-money-edition) for $39.99 (about €37.09/£31.99) from Games Planet.

For Honor – A hack and slash game set in a fantasy medieval-inspired world, where you fight as a viking, a knight, or a samurai for the honor of your faction, using a variety of weapons and special skills, as well as a hand-to-hand combat system dubbed “The Art of Battle”. You can pre-order the standard version for about $39.99 (€37.09/£31.99) from Games Planet.

Syberia 3 – In the era of release-now-patch-later, Microids has chosen to make sure that it comes out as polished as possible, even though this means a delay of several months – which makes this worth pre-ordering, if only to encourage more publishers to do the same. Syberia 3 is a continuation of Kate Walker’s adventures in Europe and Russia, and can be pre-ordered for only $31.99 (€29.59/£25.59) from DLGamer.

AAA Bombs

There are a number of popular AAA titles on sale, but we’ve only selected a few of them that are currently priced near or below their historical low:

Indie Gems

Sang-Froid - Tales of Werewolves – an unconventional, brain-teasing game from Artifice Studio, that features a mix of tower defense and strategy elements – which is now free on Steam. In this indie gem you take control of one of the two O’Carroll brothers who must protect their sister from folkloric creatures and spirits that have come to claim her. The graphics are a little rough, but Eurogamer thinks the gameplay is rewarding despite such shortcomings, which are mostly due to a limited budget.

Barrier X – A superfast racer from HypeTrain Digital in which you have to guide a space ship to avoid flat shaded walls while following a neon track. This will test your reflexes, and it is currently free on Steam – although you can pay its $3 price if you want to support the developer.

The Expendabros – A ridiculously fun crossover between the famous Broforce and the infamous The Expendables 3, and also one of the few indie games on Steam with over 10000 positive reviews. It’s free, so you have no excuse not to try it. You can also buy it for $13.99 if you want to support the developer.

DRM-Free

Shadow Warrior Classic Complete – If you’re bored with Shadow Warrior 2 and its ultra-realistic graphics and want to experience the original, know that you can grab it for free on GOG. It’s not the Redux version – which features GOG Galaxy achievements and remastered graphics, but the gameplay is unchanged, and you can run it on pretty much any PC from the last decade.

The Wolf Among Us – For those of you who love graphic adventure games, this one is a must-buy, especially DRM-free. For $6.24, you’ll be brought into the fantasy world of Fabletown, a dangerous place where folkloric creatures are hiding in plain sight using an enchantment. That’s not to say that life is easy for them, as you’ll come to learn while playing as Bigby Wolf. Every choice you make in this game will have consequences, and even the timing is important – which is also adding a lot to its replay value.

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