Bargain bin game revue

[interman]

This is a pretty neat idea, so kudos to anandtech

When big name titles on the horizon are few and far between, I have found that checking out some of the lesser known budget games can prove to be rewarding at times. While these games exist on the same shelves among the more expensive and more anticipated games, they're often described as being found in the bargain bin. Many bargain titles are easily dismissed as cheap in price and even cheaper in value, but you can sometimes find a diamond in the rough. In this series of articles, I'll explore the depths of the bargain bin and bring you the goods (and not-so-goods) on some of these underappreciated PC games.

With each round of games I present, I will have spent no more than twenty bucks per title, each one purchased blindly without having read any reviews prior. As I did with these first six games, I will simply march into my local retailer and make selections based on the appearance of the retail boxes and their descriptions of each game, all the while trying to provide a fair mix between genres. The games I choose must also have been released within the past twelve months, give or take a month or two. For my first round, I have selected a tactical first-person shooter, a straight up adventure title, a puzzler, an arcade style space combat sim, a survival horror game of sorts, and an off-the-wall shooter that we'll look at first. I won't be including any hardcore analyses as most of what I've found can be played on low to mid range machines. Instead, I'll focus on functionality, playability, and above all the fun factor. At the end of the article, I'll give you my pick of the litter. All set? Let's begin Round One.

AnandTech: Bargain Bin Games Revue - Round One

[Gazz]

Yeah, that's cool. Too bad the outcome is so predictable after glancing at the titles they bought.

[64705]

I thought some of the games they featured look alright. Some of them looked at first glance very formulaic and ordinary but I guess you could say the same for the majority of mainstream games anywho. It can't be a bad thing to bring these cheaper titles to gamer's attention anyway. You never know it could spark some cult following :P

[KamisoriX]

hmm, dunno. doesn't every game become a budget verion after half a year? at least in germany they do. and after 1 year you get them in those 10-15€ editions

[Mazling]

Dosbox has been on my hdd for many years now; old games and those that aren't mainstream can be little gems. Avencast was one such gem that managed to stay under the radar not so long ago. I'll be looking for the sequel ;-)