https://www.humblebundle.com/jumbo-bundle-6
This big bundle includes a bunch of Shadowrun RPG games, the nice SF RTS Grey Goo (by the people who did the Star Wars Empire At War RTS), and an interesting take on a game type which I enjoyed in the 80’s:
Trans-Ocean: The Shipping Company
This is a transport company game, where you run a shipping company and try to turn a profit – or at least, not lose too much money. Its has its roots in the classic Ports Of Call game.
The original classic is still available (http://www.portsofcall.de/), but it is a great to see a modernized take on the original game. The original had a glaring flaw, in that the costs of ships varied, so you could make more money by buying cheap ships and selling them when the prices went up, but a simple (player-enforced) “house rule” could eliminate that exploit (can’t sell ships unless you buy new ones of equal cost in the same turn). A nice mix of arcade-like mini-games to deal with navigation hazards (and save money, you can pay to skip most of them) and trading game play made it a highly addictive game.
This newer game offers internet play, and there is an improved sequel coming out this year. The Humble Bundle offers a coupon for a discount on that as well.
The RTS Grey Goo (http://store.steampowered.com/app/290790/) is the highlighted game in this bundle, and looks like a wonderful choice for fans of classic Starcraft-style SF RTS games.
The deal is only available until March 22, 2016, so there isn’t much time to get it. But the games included will still be fun to play after that, and worth considering even if you miss this bargain.
In other quick news:
Star Wars Battlefront will have its first DLC come out this spring: March 22, 2016 for Season Pass owners, and April 5 for those who buy it stand-alone. I don’t recommend buying the DLC separately for a game like this, because it isn’t likely to save you money if you just end up getting the rest of them later, and you miss out on the bonus items which come with the Season Pass (or Premium Edition like Battlefield Hardline). There is also new content, including a new large map on Endor. Couple the new content with improvements in the patches, and the game is turning out to be quite nice. If a bit pricey, with its Season Pass for the DLC, but it is by far not the only game not to use paid DLC in order to deliver the best experience in the game. It remains the best Star Wars based game to date.
Battlefield Hardline has its last paid DLC Betrayal come out, and there is a lot of cool stuff in the Hardline DLC packs. Including the Gun Bench customization feature for Premium owners, which adds a level of customization not scene in any Battlefield game to date — nor in most other FPS games. The new maps are very good, and this makes Hardline a very nice choice for FPS players who want an urban light-infantry/special ops sort of game to play.
I’ve been enjoying regular play in GTA Online. Rockstar keeps putting new content for free into the game, and in order to get the most of it, you need to play the game daily in order to earn the money to pay for the new toys. Now, you don’t really NEED the new fancy cars, weapons, boats, or aircraft, or even the cool clothes, but a big part of the joy of playing this sort of sandbox game is to accumulate cool things to show off and enjoy. The game play is definitely not getting old, but the frequent new game modes and game play options makes sure that you always have something new and fresh to try out.
