In the thirteen years since I opened my Steam account, (Thanks, Half-Life 2) I've collected an enormous collection of games through various Steam sales, and bundles for sale through sites like Humble Bundle, Indie Gala, and Fanatical (formerly Bundle Stars).
The thing is, I haven't played almost any of them, but the most 'popular' titles, and I've got no idea what is good, and what is bad. Steam does have a system of user reviews; but I like to experience things for myself, without context, and to suspend judgement from what others have written.
Steam Stats Sourced from Steamdb.info
So here we go, approaching my Steam Collection with alphabetical precision. I don't know what the frequency of these posts will be, but I can tell you that there may end up being a lot of them!
The Apogee Throwback Pack
This is actually four games. Two Rise of the Triad games, and Two Blake Stone games, running in a pre-configured DOSBOX environment. They run well enough on the modern operating system as they should, but these are all horrendously dated.
I can see, in particular, how the Blake Stone games would have been enormously satisfying in the late 80 or early 90s or whenever they released (as they're pretty, pretty pixelly!) but in today's sense; this titles, as a new user; do not come close to being "worth it", no matter the price tag.
There's some history in these titles, I sense, but it isn't one that I can appreciate today; in part due to the poor, dated control scheme, and in part to the lack of context. A good collection, however if you are nostalgic for these titles in particular - which I was not.
Verdict
5/10
Audiosurf
Audiosurf is a game that will hold a special place in my heart, as it was the first real ""video game review"" assignment I ever had. It is a title that lets you load an audio file (in varying formats), from which the game generates a track for you to race down, wipeout style.
That's the best way to describe it. Wipeout, plus Tetris, plus whatever soundtrack that you desire. There's multiple styles of play, that are really, really different from each other (though, most of the Internet goes for Mono where you collect one style of block, and avoid the others) - I personally prefer Pointman, which makes it a legitimate combination of Wipeout and Tetris.
I've poured over 70 hours into this game over the years, and would be happy if it was the last game I'd play before dying of natural causes at whatever age us humans live to these days. It combines perfectly my love of interactive gaming, music, and algorthymically designed experiences.
This just, just as developer Dylan Fitterer's dev moniker is ""Best Game Ever"", or very close to it.
Verdict
9/10
Audiosurf 2
There's a sequel to Audiosurf, that I haven't played all that much as the original, and it was purcahsed exclusively to say "I'd like to give you more money for that first game you made, please".
Audiosurf 2, while not as groundbreaking or stunning as the original, modernises the title, allowing for YouTube search functionality; more accessible leaderboards, and tighter visuals, along with a bunch of new modes, visual styles, and extra content not included in the first game.
It is an iterative improvement of the title, with different course designs, more colour, more visual tweaks, and is just more… Audiosurf. Personally, it didn't capture the same vibe or simplicity that I loved from the first Audiosurf game, but it is still a worthy title.
I didn't really get my money's worth for this one, but that's okay; I certainly have, (and will continue to) get my money's worth for the original Audiosurf game.
Verdict
7/10
I don't know when I'll be back with the next installment of this series, but keep a keen eye out for my gaming related posts, and be sure to follow @steemgc for gaming news and reviews, to which I contribute on a regular basis!
Previous parts in the series: