3021

Apparently if you sign up for a trial of IGN Prime, you can get a free copy of Orcs Must Die. It can be activated on Steam, and you can cancel the IGN Prime Subscription before they charge you? A few people said when you redeem it, it is listed as Orcs Must Die Review, so could be a review copy or something? You can also get free Sanctum DLC for the Sanctum game.

Link here:Orcs Must Die

Also link for Sanctum DLC: Sanctum DLC

All the Orcs Must Die keys are gone now.

3022

I bought DA2 at full price upon release but stopped playing in disgust after a couple hours. Bioware’s biggest disappointment ever, by a huge margin. Jade Empire wasn’t my cup of tea either, but it was marketed as a console action game. This was supposed to be Dragon Age 2, the sequel to the hardest-core CRPG since baldur’s gate 2. Pathetic.

If you go into it looking for decent CRPG-lite, it’s probably worth eight bucks. If I paid $8, I probably would have kept playing. Just weird how my mind works.

$10 DLC for dungeon siege 3 is pretty funny. The main game is already down to $35, and based upon weak reviews, I probably wouldn’t buy it for $15.

3023

How is it with m/kb? I have no wheel, and I only get the urge to play a racing game once in a while, so not worth it to get one.

3024

I believe Paul_cze said at one point that he’d played quite a lot of it using the keyboard and enjoyed it, but I can’t comment personally. Realistically YMMV. I play it with a 360 pad, and it’s great with that.

3025

GRID is fine with the keyboard, but a little better with the analog response of the 360 pad.

It’s also about the only racing game not called Burnout that I enjoy.

3026

Oh, great idea, thanks. I didn’t realize it was compatible. Will buy.

3027

I wouldn’t recommend any racing game with a m/kb. At minimum, an analog gaming pad is required (like the 360 one).

3028

What about the DLC’s? Worth it?

3029

I just bought a physical copy of Dragon Age 2 off Ebay for $12 shipped. I consider it a bargain at that price, and it was worth the $4 extra to not have to deal with EA’s lousy Origin system.

3030

It’s very different from DA:O in a lot of ways, which explains the divergent opinions about it, similar to the “ME1 vs ME2” debates. Some of us liked DA2 more, some of us liked DA:O more.

I prefer DA2 because the graphics are a lot better; I like the companions more than DA:O’s; I prefer the faster-paced combat; Hawke’s story is a lot more personal than the Grey Warden’s (I don’t like mute protagonists anymore); the pacing doesn’t drag nearly as often as DA:O does; the inventory streamlining is welcome; and its tale of one person’s rise against a backdrop of political intrigue & social tensions, while half-baked, is more nuanced & interesting to me than DA:O’s “Yet Another Eeeevil Horde Must Be Beaten!” plot which is straight outta Fantasy RPG Cliches 101.

OTOH, DA2 reuses its environments far too frequently, it loses the open-endedness of the main character’s multiple origin options in DA:O, the encounters just keep spamming respawns at you, the focus on a single city & its surroundings makes the whole affair a lot less “epic” (which is a pro in my book as I’m sick of saving the world, but others find it a con), and not being able to change your companions’ armor is a bit annoying. [OK, last one’s not a big deal, but it’s a pet peeve of mine.]

3031

Prevailing opinion (and I agree) is that ME2 was an improvement over ME1. DA2 opinion was mixed, at best.

3032

What kills about DA2 is that it re-uses the same cave for DIFFERENT caves. In a way it would be better if it were supposed to be the same cave. They don’t even try and hide the “doors” that are locked between dungeons to make each jaunt at least half-assed different.

I mean, reusing the tileset is one thing, but not even trying to make a different cave with the same tileset is seven kinds of lazy/time constrained.

3033

Based on the polls, I’d call the prevailing opinion over ME1 vs ME2 mixed, at least here on Qt3 (less so elsewhere). And while I’d describe the prevailing opinion re: DA2 skewing towards it being worse than the first game, I think even most of the people who liked it better acknowledge that it has systemic issues and feels very rushed.

3034

If you anticipated DA2, it sucks.

If you didn’t really care either way, it’s a no-brainer at $8.

3035

For $8, it certainly is worth forming your own opinion about DA2. I am currently enjoying it for all the reasons Unbonqwah listed above.

3036

Same, and I expected to dislike it based on initial opinions + demo. But so far, so good - and more time has passed since DAO that the changes (in party and inventory management) don’t feel quite so drastic, and the combat feels fresh.

3037

+1 for DA2 definitely being worth 8 bucks even if you already have a backlog.

3038

Just remember if you get DA2 through Origin you will then need to download and install the patch as well. The game does not arrive patched.

3039

DA2 was great. I got it during a sale and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

3040

DA2 was inferior to DA:O and absolutely worth $8 and your time. Whatever its problems–I could rant–it’s by no means a bad game. It’s at least above average, and I’m comfortable calling it a good game. It’s just that it’s a terrible sequel.