During the Summer Sale, even big blockbusters can slip below the five euro mark. The GlobalESportNews editorial team recommends 10 games that are particularly good value for money.
Yes, the annual Steam Summer Sale can be quite overwhelming. Should you buy the 20 games you put on your wish list years ago? Should you go for the big blockbusters that are advertised on the homepage? Or should you keep your feet still and work on your own Pile of Shame?
We have an idea. Because our editorial team has also put together 10 games that you can currently get for less than 5 euros – in other words, just for the price of half a pizza. At the same time, these are all games that we definitely want to recommend to you and that are well worth their 5 euros.
But beware: not all that glitters is gold in Steam sales. We also tell you which offers are currently not worth it and how you can recognise fake deals in the Steam Sale.
Table of Contents
Yakuza 0
(Genre: Action – Release: 2018 – Developer: SEGA – Price & Discount: 4.99 Euro (75 percent discount))
My God, I know it myself. I recommend that damn yakuza every chance I get. But I also know for a fact that you haven”t played it yet. Admit it! Exactly, which is why I”ll keep going until you finally give in. Because I can”t believe how little is said about this great open-world series.
I wander through the Japanese city district at night, which I know like the back of my hand by now, surrounded by neon lights and night owls. On my way to the karaoke bar, I am stopped by a group of street thugs. I skillfully beat them up, then fail by all means at karaoke and move on to my part-time job as hostess club manager. And a voice whispers softly in my ear: Main plot …
Yes, in Yakuza I get more distracted than in any open-world game before, because in terms of side activities it”s a bottomless pit. But the main storyline is different from representatives like Skyrim and co. – namely really good. Yakuza 0 tells the prehistory of the Yakuza series and lets you experience first-hand how series hero Kazuma Kiryu became the person he is today. As usual, it is about the Japanese Yakuza, loyalty and a big conspiracy, behind which further abysses gradually open up. In the process, Yakuza 0 (unlike me at karaoke) hits the tone perfectly – between incredibly wacky and highly dramatic.
If you”re new to the Yakuza family so far, then this is the perfect entry point – as you”re introduced to the complex plot from the start, but don”t have to start at the primordial slime of 2005.
Batman: Arkham Knight
(Genre: Action-Adventure – Release:23. June 2015 – Developer: Rocksteady – Price & Discount: 3,99 Euro (80 percent discount))
It still feels a little strange to recommend Batman: Arkham Knight on PC. After all, this game was not in a good state on that platform at release. However, that has since changed and that is why it needs to be mentioned at this price! Because the Arkham series is one of the best superhero sagas that has ever existed in video game form. And I personally don”t consider Arkham Knight to be a disappointing finale in this like some others.
Yes, Rocksteady slightly overshot the mark with the Batmobile. But at least I have a Batmobile! I love the freedom to explore Gotham completely. Whether traditionally via grappling hooks or just with a shadowy high-tech tank. And in this case, the gloomy metropolis still looks good enough to eat. Show me another game where your mouth is already open when I simply crouch down on the edge of a roof in the guise of the dark knight, while the wind makes the cape flutter and the rain dynamically rolls off the black armour. I could watch that for hours.
The story also knows how to convince with a few twists and turns, there are enough villains to confront aside from the main plot, and the gamplay combo of freeflow fights and sneak interludes is beyond reproach anyway. Four euros almost feels wrong for this game, even on PC.
Darkest Dungeon
(Genre: Roguelite – Release: 19. January 2016 – Developer: Red Hook Studios – Price & Discount: 3.44 Euro (85 percent discount))
Darkest Dungeon has long since ceased to be an insider tip, but 3.44 euros for one of the most atmospheric tactical role-playing games of the last ten years? Yes, hello! Darkest Dungeon was instrumental in fuelling all the hype about ultra-hard roguelite “failure is just part of it” games. The starting point is simple: I have a typical role-playing troop and lead them into dungeons to free a town from evil.
Well, “typical role-playing troupe” is not quite correct, after all, plague doctors, robbers and fanatical clerics don”t necessarily line up in the same cast next to Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn. And then Darkest Dungeon simulates heaps of factors that other role-playing games don”t even touch on: madness, panic, fears, my characters can suffer permanent damage in the dungeons and so on.
And sooner or later it will happen that one of my characters will bite the dust permanently. It”s not a big deal in Darkest Dungeon, ultimately I use the resources to expand my city, send new hero troops into the dungeons with stronger prerequisites … Roguelite, that is.
If you like that kind of Roguelite role-playing game, you can”t get past Darkest Dungeon. And 3 euros is no price for a game you can put over 100 hours into.
Ruiner
(Genre: Top-Down Action – Release:26. September 2017 – Developer: Reikon Games – Price & Discount: 3,99 Euro (80 percent discount))
Cyberpunk is just a brilliant genre. I love the idea of gloomy, neon-lit mega-metropolises where people give themselves superhuman powers with cyborg upgrades and hackers take on nasty corporations. But I also love the fast, brute and uncompromising action of Hotline Miami, where with the right timing I can overrun a whole gang of criminals in seconds like a hurricane. And because Ruiner brings together the best of both worlds, I can only warmly recommend this offer for under five euros.
In a nutshell: As a fighter of the year 2091, you”re on the hunt for the bosses of the corrupt Heaven company and, from a bird”s-eye view, use an arsenal of melee and ranged weapons to flatten everything the city”s underworld and corporate henchmen throw at you (for example, killer robots, high-tech samurai or street thugs). In between, you upgrade your hero with hacks, energy shields, dashes and other special abilities or complete small side quests. Of course, Ruiner is not a AAA open-world game with a budget in the millions. But the atmospheric graphics, the phenomenal electro soundtrack and the story around revenge and a mysterious hacker make Ruiner a cyberpunk short trip that is worthwhile!
Black Mesa
(Genre: First-person shooter – Release: 2020 – Developer: Crowbar Collective – Price & Discount: 3,74 Euro (75 percent discount))
Technological progress is a treacherous beast. On the one hand, of course, I”m delighted that game graphics are getting fancier, sound is getting crisper and user interfaces are (almost) getting easier to use. But unlike a good book, I find it increasingly difficult to pick up classic games from 15, 20 or 25 years ago again, because their old technology makes me wonder how I could endure those spongy visuals back then. Half-Life is one of those games that I can”t play today.
No, nonsense, I can now, thanks to years of work by dedicated fans. Black Mesa is the only way for me to experience Half-Life again – and an unreserved recommendation for all those who never played this groundbreaking shooter. For not only does it bring the dusty technology of the original into the 21st century, it also makes some small changes to gameplay and level design that fit in beautifully with Valve”s milestone. Yes, even the ending on the alien planet Xen is no longer annoying! Now that”s a reason to get it.
60 Seconds! Reatomised
(Genre: Strategy – Release: 2019 – Developer: Robot Gentleman – Price & Discount: 4.99 Euro (50 percent off))
Imagine you have 60 seconds to pack what you need and get into your bunker before the nuclear apocalypse breaks out. What do you take with you? Tins of food? Lighters? Your family? This is exactly the question you deal with for the first 60 seconds in the game of the same name. After that, you spend the majority of the game time living with your decisions.
From then on, you live through life in and around your bunker via diary entries and have to make new decisions every day: Who gets what to eat? Who has to prove themselves against mutated cockroaches and who do we send out into the irradiated world, while at the same time fighting against strife, resource scarcity and mania? 60 Seconds combines management strategy and insane stories in the Fallout style into a nice game for in between. Thanks to the Reatomized version, even in 4K and with some additional content.
Grim Dawn
(Genre: Action Role-Playing Game – Release: 2016 – Developer: Crate Entertainment – Price & Discount: 4,79 Euro (80 percent discount))
For 4,79 Euro you get two random legendary gems in Diablo Immortal. Or the full version of one of the best action role-playing games of the last decade, whose main campaign will already keep you dazzlingly entertained for 30 to 40 hours, and all that without being stretched by artificial level barriers. So I know what I would choose.
Grim Dawn comes from the makers of the legendary Titan Quest and has three great strengths, which is why I always like to bring it up: 1. a game world that is as cohesive as it is fascinating. 2. an interesting class and character system that offers a lot of freedom and interesting decisions without overwhelming me with mammoth talent trees like Path of Exile. 3. a huge scope with exemplary product maintenance.
The latest update is dated 21 June 2022 and, among other things, makes ranged combat a much better choice for the endgame. In addition, there are two top-class add-ons, Forgotten Gods and Ashes of Malmouth, which have also been reduced by 40% in the Steam Sale. Or you can go straight for the Definitive Edition complete package with all expansions for 20.13 euros. But no matter what you choose: If you like traditional action role-playing games, you won”t go wrong with Grim Dawn.
Catherine Classic
(Genre: Action-Adventure – Release:10. January 2019 (PC) – Developer: Atlus Software – Price & Discount: 4.99 Euro (75 percent discount))
Actually, I can”t do too much with JRPGs. But damn, Atlus” games are strong acts without exception! Sure, Catherine is not a role-playing game at all, but the story and especially the decisions still play a role that should not be underestimated. PC players will have to do without the advantages of the console version Full Body, which has been technically and content-wise revised, but you can still expect a completely unique story experience here – and not even for 5 bucks!
Catherine, which by the way even fits into the Persona universe, revolves entirely around the protagonist Vincent. Vincent loiters around in his favourite pub almost every evening and finds himself in a dead end as far as his (love) life is concerned. He is actually with Katherine, whom he wants to marry. But then he meets Catherine, who for some reason has a crush on him. This leads to a rather turbulent love triangle in which every wrong decision can even have fatal consequences. To make matters worse, there are nightly nightmares in which not only Vincent but also other people have to puzzle for their lives.
I have to admit that I am not a puzzle fan. Every little obligatory puzzle in a game makes me grimace. But don”t let that put you off Catherine, even I, a puzzler, surprisingly quickly enjoyed it. Otherwise you would miss out on a really successful story with a lot of freedom of choice, which is definitely aimed at an adult audience. Because Catherine is just like its title character: seductive, shrewd, mysterious and also a little bit creepy.
Dishonored
(Genre: Action – Release:12. October 2012 (PC) – Developer: Arcane Studios – Price & Discount: 1.99 Euro (80 percent discount), 3.99 for the Definitive Edition with all DLCs (80 percent discount))
What would Assassin”s Creed look like if it were set in a steampunk world where you wield supernatural abilities? You can get the grandiose answer to this question for a paltry two euros in the Steam Sale right now. In Dishonored, you are falsely accused of murder and end up in the dungeon. However, you can free yourself and are now supposed to put an end to the activities of the conspirators who are actually behind the crime.
So you set out on assassination missions in the gloomy, rat-infested city of Dunwall. You have an arsenal of swords, pistols, crossbows and gadgets at your disposal, supplemented by cool supernatural abilities. These help you to fight or sneak. If you want, you can also take out your opponents without killing them.
The story of your character”s quest for revenge is unexceptional, but nevertheless exciting and both fighting and sneaking are really fun. By the way, the unique look of Dunwall, which still impresses today thanks to the timeless graphic style, was designed by the art director of Half Life 2.
Slime Rancher
(Genre:Action – Release:August 1, 2017 – Developer:Monomi Park – Price & Discount:4.99 Euro (75 percent discount))
Everything is getting more expensive, everyday life is stressful and you could really use a holiday right now? Why not do what Beatrix LeBeau did and open a Slime Ranch as a brave rancher thousands of light years away from Earth? That”s right, in Slime Rancher you”ll mainly be looking after the sugar-sweet, almost always good-humoured Slimes, who hop around in great variety on your new planetary home. You catch water, lava, honey and even cat slimes, feed them their favourite food and finally harvest the so-called plorts, the remains of satisfied slimes.
We won”t go into detail here about what plorts actually are, but what is important is that you can convert them into hard currency. With the money you earn, you can buy better equipment, decoration parts and enclosure extensions for your ranch and finally new land for even more slime enclosures and fields. You”ll need the better equipment when exploring the wilderness around your ranch, because the rarest slimes hide in the most remote places – and you can only gain access to some areas by solving puzzles. Slime Rancher is a relaxed feel-good game, also suitable for kids, in which you can lose yourself for a few hours without hesitation.
Is there something for you in our extra-favourable recommendations? Do you have any other tips that you should definitely pick up in the Steam Sale? Or do you now do without discount promotions? Tell us about it in the comments
