Christmas is coming, and your debit and/or credit card is a quavering heap of brutalised abjection, tucked at the back of the desk draw, begging for mercy. Soothe the poor little chap's pain with the aid of our winter 2012 shopping guide, a round-up of low, low price tags for a few of the year's biggest titles.
If there's one we've missed, or if you're wise to an undiscovered bargain, by all means drop us a comment. And by all means let us know which, if any game you're hoping to find beneath the tree next month.
Mass Effect 3
Amazon, £17.30
Why you should
As Matt's review somewhat prophetically put it: "The narrative is brilliant, the action is fantastic, and the quality of art direction and aesthetic brings the universe to life like never before. But by the time you see the credits roll, though, none of this will really seem to matter. Mass Effect 3 is brave enough to threaten to destroy its very own legacy. Everything you've worked for is genuinely at risk, and horrifying things are going to happen because of some of the choices you've made."
Why you shouldn't
Alternative #1: You tend to get more than commonly annoyed when a game's ending rubs you the wrong way. Alternative #2: you hate RPGs that think they're cover-based shooters. Alternative #3: you already know the plot inside and out, having spoiled it for yourself in order to better report on the fracas twixt BioWare and its fans. Boo hoo.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
£31.99, RLR
Why you should:
It's Burnout Paradise 2, basically - a pedestrian-free coastal metropolis held together by Criterion's realism-lite handling and a brace of new online functions. "Most Wanted is a compelling argument not just for Criterion's continued stewardship of Need for Speed - assuming Hot Pursuit left you in any doubt on that front - but for the reproduction of those inescapable, irresistible online features across rival genres," I wrote in our review.
Why you shouldn't:
It's nothing all that new, and Fairhaven is slightly lacking in comparison to the festival fun-times of Forza Horizon. In hindsight, there's also a certain stop-start rhythm to racing (cars are indestructible, but heavy collisions spit out a slow-mo cutaway and enforced track reset) which may deter people who prefer to live with their mistakes.
13 comments so far...
EdDeRs1 on 28 Nov '12 said:
you missed WWE '13....
Decent_Jam on 28 Nov '12 said:
What I'm really curious about is what titles will take a price crash after Christmas. I'm hoping Halo nose-dives in an attempt to make a dent in COD's inevitable dominance. One or two of these titles peak my interest, but none are compelling enough to put them on my Christmas list (which doesn't exactly exist this year, as my mum got sick of me asking for such a massive variety and endless list of stuff in an attempt to maintain surprise on the big day).
Also where is Borderlands 2? After all the coverage and well-received both in review and (admittedly more mixed) on the forums.
The other thing that struck me was how little I know about all of these different retailers, I've heard of a few but have only really shopped with Amazon. What do these other sites offer?
OXM ETboy on 28 Nov '12 said:
Borderlands 2 and WWE 13 will be added tomorrow. Sorry, I was running short on time and there are TOO MANY GAMES.
Droidsbane on 28 Nov '12 said:
I noticed Max Payne 3 going for £15.00 at HMV
and Lego Batman 2 going for £25.00 in some places
Clanger67 on 28 Nov '12 said:
Wow Xcom for twenty five,will be getting that sometime soon.Wouldn't mind NFS as well but after xmas for that i reckon.
Uncle dozens on 29 Nov '12 said:
I really calle it wrong for prices this year. I pre-ordered xcom at full price only to see gamestation slash £15 off the price in less than a month (but the game is so awesome I don't really care), but I got Assassins creed totally wrong. By this time last year Tesco had AC revelations for £22, so I decided to bargain they would do the same with AC3. It's still £42 unfortunately.
I usually treat myself to some new gaming action with my birthday money but this year I think I will have to wait a little while longer as the prices seem to be holding.
Until then I still have XCom to amaze and frustrate me.
DOGOFWAR on 29 Nov '12 said:
Max Payne 3 definitely deserves a spot on that list, it was such a detailed game. Rockstar put a lot of love into it... I payed only £15 for it from good old Asda.
ChillieBonBon on 29 Nov '12 said:
I've wanted to get dragons dogma for ages now but every time i could of got it, I got some other game instead. I think this is gods way of telling me to wait for a sequel...
CunningSmile on 29 Nov '12 said:
Can I put in a vote to have Spec Ops the Line added? It may not be the most polished FPS but I think it needs recognising purely for the ambition of it's story and the impact it wants to have on the player. You can get it for under £20 as well.
Bezza89 on 29 Nov '12 said:
Here's a list I wouldn't recommend; (you may not agree, but screw you!)
Witcher 2 - I found it cringe-ingly childish, the story run-of-the-mill for too long (I had no motivation to continue at all, and didn't)
Hitman Abs - A departure from the series I have loved, the hits are a bit too simple, and very few and far between... the opening 15 mini-missions? 2 Hits... maybe even just one considering I can't remember the one in the hotel. I much preffered the old here's a sandbox, go do something ridiculous approach.
Borderlands 2- You need a friend to play this with, and some heavy rock music and whiskey wouldn't go amiss either, a brilliant game until you find yourself on your own - grinding... and that's just your teeth!
AC3 - A great opening, but slow story, bugs and all the side stuff being ultimately pointless left a bad taste in an otherwise brilliant game.
Dragons Dogma - you need a friend again, but this time, you have to hope they also have the game and have a clue what they're doing, or add everyone in the oxm thread. A boring place to be in most aspects, but fun as hell combat wise and the pawns are a brilliant addition.
Mass Effect 3 - Only because you'll be a sheep and complain over not much because you either take advertising literally or expected infinite variations of endings and I don't want to argue with you.
Games you should get - MGS HD - it's two classic stealth games with a barmy conspiracy story and the most ingenius gameplay mixed with spectacle filled cutscenes over 30 hours and a shit portable game that is not needed or talked about.
X-Com - it offers a nice hardcore and customisable bit of fun - I've never been so attached to characters or laughed so hard when they panic and kill all the bad guys.
Halo 4 - the campaign aint that good story wise but it's a lot of fun and offers a lot of replayability with a pretty cool co-op mode to boot.
Skyrim for ps3 - because you're an idiot. Haha no I mean I would recommend the two dlcs, I believe there's a third coming on tuesday too!
Kettch on 29 Nov '12 said:
Can i just say that for at least a week, Horizon is 29.99 at GAME......
And y'all just missed out on half price Dishonored.....its so hard to actually deliberately spell that wrong....
lawsond28 on 30 Nov '12 said:
Wait, so one of the reasons to NOT buy Darksiders 2 was because your reviewer found some of the puzzles to be a little bit tricky? That's a reason to buy the game in my book, not a reason to pass it by. If you want a game with longevity you should buy it (main story plus side quests & collectibles will take you over 30 hrs) especially at the ludicrous prices it's recently been reduced to online. The 'Death Rides Pack (which includes the Argul's Tomb DLC and The Crucible pass code) was just £17.99 at Game a few weeks back, not sure if it's still available at that price though.
schwepterbrowser on 30 Nov '12 said:
Much cheaper prices. I don't understand loyalty to any specific retailer; I use whoever's the cheapest, whether I've shopped there before or not. I could probably list my last 10 game purchases and they'd each be from a different place.
I've only played 4 from the list, those being: Max Payne 3, Sleeping Dogs, Dragon's Dogma & The Witcher 2. I wouldn't recommend Dragon's Dogma (the pawn system is nothing interesting to me, the constant on foot travel is a chore, story and characters suck) or The Witcher 2 (wasn't interested in the characters or story and didn't rate the combat) and haven't played enough of MP3 or SD to say either way.