The is Niche Deals. In this column, we regularly cover new and upcoming deals, discounts, and more for video games. Let us know if there’s a deal we should cover!
As we get ever closer to the holidays, its time for the year’s last big round of sales on all the major digital distribution platforms. GOG is currently holding their Winter 2018 Sale, which continues until January 3rd. Any purchase will give you a free copy of Fantasy General, and spending at least $15 will land you a free copy of Everspace.
I’ve compiled a list of 15 awesome, older PC games that I think you should consider adding to your library. Please note that GOG still uses flash sales and daily deals, so the prices mentioned in this article could fluctuate over the course of the sale.
Aarklash: Legacy
Cyanide Studios
$3.99 (80% off)
Aarklash: Legacy is a real-time tactical party-based RPG set in the same universe as the old Confrontation miniatures game. It’s not like a traditional CRPG; there’s no huge open world to explore, the story isn’t particularly great, and there’s no town hubs or side quests, which all probably led to the game’s obscurity and failure to really grab a large audience. But, what Aarklash: Legacy does have, is a really fun combat system where a lot of your abilities need to be aimed, including your heals. If you go into it expecting a linear dungeon crawler over a proper story-driven RPG, then you’ll probably have a fun weekend with Aarklash: Legacy.
Act of War: Gold Edition
Eugen Systems/Atari
$3.99 (60% off)
Long before Eugen Systems made a name for themselves with the Wargame franchise, they made a lesser known RTS called Act of War. Featuring live-action cutscenes and a story by techno-thriller author Dale Brown, Act of War can best be described as a more serious version of Command & Conquer. It also features a variety of interesting mechanics, like taking POWs to interrogate for map information, and a unique way to handle fixed wing aircraft for its time. The Gold Edition features both the base game and the High Treason expansion in a convenient package.
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Triumph Studios/Paradox
$2.49 (75% off)
When most people think about fantasy 4X games with RPG elements, they probably think about Heroes of Might & Magic, but there’s another really awesome franchise out there called Age of Wonders. Shadow Magic is the third game in the series, and many consider it the best one since it introduced several fan-favorite races and units. It’s also the only one actually on sale, aside from the more modern Age of Wonders III. In any case, there’s a ridiculous amount of content to delve into, especially for the current sale price.
Heroes of Might & Magic 3: Complete
New World Computing, Inc./Ubisoft
$3.39 (66% off)
Speaking of which, Heroes of Might & Magic 3 is also really cheap right now. This complete pack includes the expansions, and when combined with all the mods and fan campaigns still floating around out there, you can easily put hundreds of hours into the game. It hasn’t really aged too well visually, but any long-time fan of the franchise can vouch for its quality.
Aliens Versus Predator Classic 2000
Rebellion
$1.49 (75% off)
Playing AVP on Gamespy via a crappy dial-up connection was a pretty big part of my early teenage years, so maybe this recommendation is based a lot on personal nostalgia. The online might not be around anymore, but there’s still the campaign and skirmish modes to enjoy, both of which were genuinely terrifying back in the day. It’s a real shame they never made any more Alien movies or games after this one came out.
Dungeon Keeper 2
Bullfrog Productions/EA
$1.49 (75% off)
Dungeon Keeper was another big part of my teenage gaming years, and like many older gamers, the fact that we never got a real third installment is something I’m still salty about. While the original game had better monster variety, I always personally preferred Dungeon Keeper 2. War for the Overworld is also 75% off if you want a modern interpretation of Dungeon Keeper, and while its a worthy successor to the DK franchise, there’s still no beating the original dungeon management sim and it’s delightfully twisted humor.
Empire Earth Gold Edition
Stainless Steel Studios/Rebellion
$1.79 (70% off)
There’s a lot of classic RTS games about building empires throughout historical eras, and Empire Earth still remains one of the best ones. While the sequel wasn’t quite what many fans wanted (and lets not even talk about Empire Earth III), the original is still well-worth checking out, especially at the current price.
Full Spectrum Warrior
Pandemic Studios/THQ
$2.49 (75% off)
Way back when the original THQ was still around, Pandemic Studios (press F in the comments section) created an interesting little squad-based tactics game called Full Spectrum Warrior that was inspired by training software developed for the US Army. The pseudo third-person camera angle made the game feel closer to Rainbow Six than your typical real-time tactics game, and there were some pretty challenging missions to overcome. Ten Hammers is also heavily discounted if you want the whole series.
Sacrifice
Shiny Entertainment/Interplay
$3.39 (66% off)
Speaking of unique strategy games, Sacrifice is proof that we can never have good things. Set in a bizarre and surreal world where the gods are at war for the souls of their followers, this extremely creative third-person RTS by Shiny Entertainment was such a gigantic failure that the developers never recovered, and were eventually absorbed by a larger company after being regulated to movie licensed shovelware for several years. There’s multiple mission chains and endings based on which gods you side with, so there’s plenty of replay value as well. Please, retroactively correct your mistake of not buying Sacrifice when it first came out so you can experience this wonderful game.
Stronghold HD
Firefly Studios
$1.49 (75% off)
Stronghold is the first title in the game series that arguably popularized the genre of castle-based RTS games. Part medieval town management game, part RTS, Stronghold allows you to build and destroy elaborate castles. It’s one of those rare games that does something interesting with siege warfare, a form of combat that is normally quite simple in most RTS games. This particular package includes the original game and an “HD” version with improved assets and resolution.
Expeditions: Conquistador
Logic Arts
$4.99 (75% off)
Expeditions: Conquistador is the first game in Logic Arts’ Expedition series, which was recently pick up by THQ Nordic. You play as a conquistador and their followers on an expedition to the New World. The game has elements of text-based choose your own adventure, survival, resource management, and some pretty decent turn-based combat. The Viking-themed sequel is overall a better game, but Conquistador is still worth checking out.
Perimeter
K-D Lab Game Development/1C Publishing
$0.79 (80% off)
Another classic game with creative ideas, Perimeter is a defensive RTS where one of the main mechanics involves temporarily encasing your base in a giant energy field when things go too far south. The game also has a heavy emphasis on terraforming the environment, and your units are comprised of nanomachines that can be combined together to morph into different units to deal with a changing battlefield. It’s a pretty weird game, but at the current price there isn’t really any reason not to give it a try.
Painkiller Black Edition
People Can Fly/THQ
$2.49 (75%)
Painkiller is a fast-paced, old-fashioned shooter from the simpler days. The game is about killing hordes of enemies with insane weapons while metal music blares in the background. It doesn’t try to be anything more complicated than that, and that’s part of what makes it so awesome. It’s a shame that the sequels weren’t all that great, so ultimately Black Edition is all you need from the series.
World in Conflict: Complete Edition
Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft
$2.99 (70% off)
Another classic and personal favorite of mine, World in Conflict is a real-time tactics game that built off a lot of the ideas in Massive’s earlier Ground Control series. Completely devoid of base building, World in Conflict has you spending points to recruit units in a theoretical war between NATO and the USSR in the ’80s. The online mode might not be around anymore, but the campaign was really enjoyable and there is also skirmish mode with the AI.
System Shock 2
Irrational Games/Looking Glass Studios
$1.99 (80% off)
Long before BioShock, there was the System Shock franchise. Unlike its successor, System Shock was much closer to an RPG, and it wasn’t afraid to let you make really bad decisions. System Shock 2 is still an absolute classic, and features one of my favorite video game villains of all time. SHODAN makes GLaDOS look like an emo teenager, and I will fight anyone who thinks otherwise. Here’s to hoping that the third game and the remakes can actually do the series justice.
I’ll also be doing another round of deals focusing on indie games and more obscure titles whenever the Steam sale goes live, so don’t spend all your money yet.
Which of these deals are you interested in? Sound off in the comments below!
