Free games

[chakkman]

I try to avoid Epic Store as long as i can... might get weak one day with one of their free or exclusive offers, but... until then, I need it as much as a millstone around my neck. 

Not a fan of this clustering, and thousands of exclusive stores. 

[Carnage]

6 hours ago, peter_spy said:

What's the point of copypasting marketing materials? Epic Store is pretty known by now, those who want to keep up with the news can do that via the launcher.

You know you can just skip this topic altogether right? I'm doing this in the little free time I have. It's meant for those that actually are interested and don't have, miss or forget about the notifications. 600+ views is enough confirmation for me that there is interest. You're always welcome to add your own text if you feel it is needed, criticizing is just cheap and something every rotten apple can do...

[STiFU]

9 hours ago, peter_spy said:

The least he could do is to say something about each link with his own words. Otherwise he's just a human spambot.

Yeah, I guess that I can agree with. Or cite reviews and post average scores etc.

[Shadow]

I applaud Carnage for providing this service. I had no idea there was an Epic store before he starting sharing his game info. Keep it coming Carnage, since I can't go searching everywhere on the Internet at once as some people here apparently have the ability to do. 

[Aosys]

I honestly keep forgetting Epic offers free games, so personally the reminder is a welcome one for me, but that's just my two cents.

[Carnage]

The free game on the Epic Store this week is:

Jotun: Valhalla Edition

Jotun is a hand-drawn action-exploration game set in Norse mythology. In Jotun, you play Thora, a Viking warrior who died an inglorious death and must prove herself to the Gods to enter Valhalla. Impress the Gods!

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/jotun/home

Most helpful positive review on Steam

"This game has left me with mixed feelings. From one side - you have amazing artwork and location/boss designs, but from the other side you have gameplay...
I won't say the gameplay is terrible, but it just doesn't work. The fights during location exploration are non-existant (if you kill a mob from 1 hit it's not a fight), and fights with bosses can usually leave you unsatisfied (you can kill him too fast or die when the animation was not even touching you).
But nevetheless you should give this game a chance. It's too short to complain about it too much)"

Most helpful negative review on Steam

"I love the concept of this game. Nordic mythology is my favorite one and I had big expectations about this game. I was hoping for 2d epic boss fights. So... this game is 2% boss fights, 8% clearing trash, and 90% walking. Walking with an average speed on the massive labyrinth with nothing in it. This game does look good but it's not what I was expecting from this game. It could be much more fun if the "neverending walking scenes" were cut out and a solid 2h of gameplay will left."

Overall rating

Very positive

[peter_spy]

On 12/3/2019 at 1:46 AM, Carnage said:

You know you can just skip this topic altogether right? I'm doing this in the little free time I have.

So... you're copypasting corporate marketing materials as a hobby? That's interesting.

Have you played any of these games? E.g. I thought about buying Hades, which was Epic exclusive, but I'm not sure if it's as good as what SG Games made so far.

[STiFU]

Come on Judith, let it go. He actually added Steam Reviews now, so he implemented some of your criticizm. 

[chakkman]

I'm highly doubtful that Carnage wants to feed corporate material to this unbelievably big community.

Edited December 12, 2019 by chakkman

[peter_spy]

Yeah, that sounds even more ridiculous than dedicating your free time to do corporate robot's job, for no compensation.

I'm genuinely interested about Hades though. It appeared on Steam recently and why it's still in Early Access? It was an Epic exclusive for at least a few months.

[Carnage]

17 hours ago, peter_spy said:

So... you're copypasting corporate marketing materials as a hobby? That's interesting.

Have you played any of these games?

I’m assuming your real life is so horrible that you feel the need to let off steam on a forum and see everything in a negative way, because if this is your way of communicating in real life I pity the people that are part of your life. It’s a shame that this otherwise great community is tainted by a person like you. It’s not my problem that you’re lacking empathy and can’t see that I’m sharing info about something someone might be interested in (regardless if you like the way I’m doing it or not and regardless if I like or played the games myself). Once again I want to remind you that you can skip this topic if you don’t like it. These will be the last words I’ll spill on communicating with you.

[STiFU]

Please don't escalate this little nuisance now. Just let it go, both of you. It's really no big deal.

[Carnage]

The free game on the Epic Store this week is:

The Escapists

You’ve landed yourself in prison again, and your only chance is to engineer an escape by any means necessary. How you do it is up to you! Why not cause a prison riot? Or dig a tunnel right under the walls of the prison? Or even steal a guard uniform to blend in with your captors?...

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/the-escapists/home

Positive Steam review

The Escapists is a great little game about escaping prisons, Surely The Escapists 2 has improved in every aspect, But That doesn't make the first one a bad game. I would recommend it for sure.

The goal is escaping several prisons, It might sound simple, And it can be simple if you exactly know what to do and how not to get spotted. But in reality it is pretty hard, Getting the right tools, And hiding these tools in maximum security prisons seems impossible. Let alone escaping the prisons.

The game requires a lot of patience, Gaining the knowledge to craft tools from everyday objects, Gaining the strenght to actually overpower people, And gaining the speed to run away from them. If you don't keep up with these stats they will degrade over time. Observe the daily structure and find the best moments to escape.

There are dozens of tools that you can craft, But also weapons, it is as simple as combining a soap bar with a pillowcase, or combining a toothbrush with a razorblade. There are also a lot of items that are not accessable for most prisoners, There are jobs that you can apply to so you get access to specific places or specific tools.

You can also trade with other prisoners, some people sell stuff, Some have missions for you, It is also important to not annoy the guards too much, They will treat you unfairly. You can even knock out people, steal their clothing, steal their keys, Some prisons allow you to just walk out the front door this way.

There are a bunch of prisons, but even if this is not enough it has workshop support I would recommend The Escapists 2 over this one because it really improved in every way, But If you really like that one, You can get some extra levels out of this game, It is missing a lot of the mechanics, But there is also no Multiplayer and no proper controller support.

I myself am really a controller gamer, So it is hard for me to really get into this game, But If you really life The Escapists and you want some extra levels, And you don't play with a controller anyway, It is certainly worth the extra maps, Some are pretty tough, I think they are a lot tougher than in the Escapists 2.

Overall, I really like the game, my only problem is using a keyboard and mouse is not really convenient with a Living Room PC setup. I would recommend the sequel over this game anyday, but I do think it offers great extra challenges for people who love the Escapists 2. I have to give the game an 8, For its originality and level of detail.

Negative Steam review

I want to like this game. I really do. And it isn't really a "bad" game. It just has too many issues for me to reccomend it. If there were a "meh" option I'd pick it. I have two major issues with the game.

One being you aren't given a lot of important information. Metal Detectors can find everything on you that you DON'T wear. You can have nunchuks and a metal plated uniform and it won't detect it. But if you have a nail file in your pocket you instantly go to solitary. Lots of weird recipes where you might have an idea of something CLOSE to what you can do, or maybe you have part of the items you need, but you won't ever know unless you get lucky finding the recipe note.

And two, RNG is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥t. I spent roughly 4 days in the 2nd prison with three key moulds. I had gotten nunchuks and made metal plated prisoner armor. I had accumulated a bit over 150 dollars and I spent four whole days just stuck. I needed to make a key to progress, and I was missing a lighter. I searched EVERY inmate's desk multiple times every day. I checked every inmate store. This continued on and on. Eventually I just pulled a chuck norris and attempted to beat down all the guards. Which did barely work. But felt very unsatisfying.

I don't mind slow progression as long as I can make actual progression. But when I'm stuck sitting doing nothing for days in game because I am not getting an item I need the enjoyment just becomes massive frustration.

There's also some kind of irritating small things, like how if a vent if missing from the roof of your room a guard will INSTANTLY notice if he walks by. I'm not sure how many guards stare at ceilings, but it seems a bit silly. Not to mention you can't seem to frame other inmates which is VERY disappointing. It's basically flavor text. You can be told they are about to search the room of so and so, and throw a glass shiv in his desk, but the guards will not give a ♥♥♥♥. They only throw you into solitary.

The game has a lot of great ideas and is close to what I want, but there are some serious underlying flaws in the game. I'm not sure I'll come back, very disappointing.

Overall rating

Very positive

Epic hasn't got a planned free game giveaway for next week yet, which could be just because of the holidays or this will be the last one for a while. If they continue with the giveaways next year, I'll continue to update this topic. The same goes for occassional giveaways.

[Carnage]

2 minutes ago, STiFU said:

Please don't escalate this little nuisance now. Just let it go, both of you. It's really no big deal.

Don't worry I will. In all fairness he should have just skipped this topic all together if he doesn't like it or at least communicate in a respectful way and I would have been happy to take on any criticism. But I guess that's how some people feel they need or can communicate online.

[peter_spy]

1 hour ago, Carnage said:

I’m assuming your real life is so horrible that you feel the need to let off steam on a forum and see everything in a negative way, because if this is your way of communicating in real life I pity the people that are part of your life. It’s a shame that this otherwise great community is tainted by a person like you. It’s not my problem that you’re lacking empathy and can’t see that I’m sharing info about something someone might be interested in (regardless if you like the way I’m doing it or not and regardless if I like or played the games myself). Once again I want to remind you that you can skip this topic if you don’t like it. These will be the last words I’ll spill on communicating with you.

Swing and miss, couch psychologist. I'm actually pretty likeable fellow in RL, and I've been leading a happy, fulfilled life Not sure what makes you think that this community is "tainted" by my presence, when your posts are just pasted words of others. At least I make original content that everyone here can enjoy using.

But to honor STiFU's request, I'll leave you with a positive example on how you can do this stuff, and that's how Henke on TTLG's General Gaming posts. He actually gives a damn about actual conversation whenever he posts something about games, e.g. here: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150251

[Carnage]

Epic has another giveaway which wasn't announced, but if Steam reviews are anything to go by, then it's a very good game.

The Wolf Among Us

From the makers of the 2012 Game of the Year: The Walking Dead, comes a gritty, violent and mature thriller based on the award-winning Fables comic books (DC Comics/Vertigo). As Bigby Wolf - THE big bad wolf - you will discover that a brutal, bloody murder is just a taste of things to come in a game series where your every decision can have enormous consequences.

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/the-wolf-among-us/home

Positive Steam review

Telltale Games has once again formulated a remarkable and enthralling adventure game, with a chic noir presentation. A well-written game, appeasing action, and decision-making that feels significant. The Wolf Among Us provides one of the exceptional storytelling that Telltale Games has produced.

Negative Steam review

The Fables setting is probably the most interesting of all the modern Telltale adventure games; it's too bad the story is pretty dry. The lack of player choice is even more apparent than in other titles, likely because the flaws in the story itself are pretty obvious. The characters are great; it's a shame they're not utilized more effectively.

Overall rating

Overwhelmingly positive

Personally I'm not a big fan of the Telltale games (just played the Walking Dead series) as the game(s) give(s) you a sense of choice, but in the end those choices lead to the same outcome. So even though you have different choices, the main story remains pretty much the same. Of course it takes a lot more time to create multiple main story lines but IMO don't say that choices matter then. Just my two cents and I haven't played this one, so it might be better.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Carnage

[Carnage]

Epic is giving away a free game every day during the holidays. Each give away is just available for 24 hours. As the time frame is so short it wouldn't really make sense to post about every game.

[Carnage]

Today Shadow Tacticts Blades of the Shogun is the 24hr free game in the Epic Store. This is a stealth game in the style of Commandos and one that I personally enjoyed a lot. The level design is great and it can be a challenge to do everything stealthy, which is kinda necessary because of the sheer amount of enemies. Once you master the mechanics it can be a little bit easy sometimes, but it's still difficult enough to give you satisfaction upon completion, especially in the later levels and if you want to be a complete ghost.

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/shadow-tactics/home

[chakkman]

The Talos Principle is free now in Epic Store. Seems like I finally get weak, and make a account for that.  Edit: Done.

Edited December 30, 2019 by chakkman

[lowenz]

Talos Principle is in a league of its own

It's a game with a multilayered, deep interpretation. It's not "cheap" philosophy at all (as Portal 2 is "cheap" psicology  )

 

And it shows what CroTeam is capable to realize, Serious Sam apart!

Edited December 30, 2019 by lowenz

[JackFarmer]

2 hours ago, lowenz said:

Talos Principle is in a league of its own

It's a game with a multilayered, deep interpretation. It's not "cheap" philosophy at all (as Portal 2 is "cheap" psicology  )

 

And it shows what CroTeam is capable to realize, Serious Sam apart!

Will there be something like Talos II in the future? I vaguely recall that it had been announced a few years ago.

[STiFU]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:58 PM, Carnage said:

Today Shadow Tacticts Blades of the Shogun is the 24hr free game in the Epic Store. This is a stealth game in the style of Commandos and one that I personally enjoyed a lot. The level design is great and it can be a challenge to do everything stealthy, which is kinda necessary because of the sheer amount of enemies. Once you master the mechanics it can be a little bit easy sometimes, but it's still difficult enough to give you satisfaction upon completion, especially in the later levels and if you want to be a complete ghost.

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/shadow-tactics/home

I hope some of you guys got this game. I already had it, but it's absolutely excellent!!

[chakkman]

Just took a brief look into Talos Principle. Looks like just my kind of game (I liked Portal very much as well). Nice.

[STiFU]

Does Epic continue to give away games in 2020? I figured the 2 week day-by-day game-give-away was the final of this procedure, but apparently, now there's Darksiders 1 & 2 and Steep on offer for a week, so it seems they continue this.

By the way, loved Dark Siders 1, back in the days, but Dark Siders 2 was kind of boring design-wise, as it plays mostly in the desert. The best is Dark Siders 3, however.

[Carnage]

On 12/30/2019 at 6:57 AM, JackFarmer said:

Will there be something like Talos II in the future? I vaguely recall that it had been announced a few years ago.

Probably not anything soon. They are working on their early access game Scum and also on Serious Sam 4.