[Blaster86]

So, the sale ends soon enough. Much like every year, the cheap games offers me an opportunity to go hogwild and get games that I would normally never go near for fear of buyer's remorse. It also tends to net me a few happy surprises amongst those games that become staples in my gaming list. Last year KOTOR and Mass Effect were the titles that grabbed me. Though not to surprising considering the quality of those two games, prior to the sale I had issues with dropping the coin on them.

This year I've been a bit more adventurous (re: loose with the credit card) and because of that got quite a few more games. Here are the best surprises/games that I came across this year.

5. Binding of Isaac: has to be the hardest game I've played in a long time. It seems like a game that should be easy, and everytime someone watched me play it, they commented that I am terrible only to fail far earlier than me. The game's imagery and sense of humour are twisted and delicious. I can see me sinking hours upon hours into this game in between other titles. The only turns offs are a lack of a save function.

4. Space Pirates and Zombies: After failing with X, but still wanting to conquer space the options were install Spore or drop 2.49 on this little diddy. Glad I dropped the 2.49. With promises of future content and a massive universe to explore, this is a game that could easily slip in and replace Skyrim for my major time eater. Though much like Spore (and in the end Skyrim) the combat offers me the fear of it getting quite repetitive once I get deep into the game. I also have the fear of the Terraria syndrome where "New Content" means a new style of dresser and not actual game content. Still, a solid game.

3. Company of Heroes/Dawn of War II: Retribution: Coys gets big ups for this one. It's a game I doubt I'd have ever touched with a ten foot pole because of what I perceived as Medal of Honour imagery which immediately turned me off. But enough beer and someone telling me to do something always seems to end with me doing it and so I bought it. Very similar to Dawn of War and Dawn of War II which then prompted me to buy DoWII's expansion when it went on sale a day or two later. Just solid RTS's all around. I hope Relic tries to stick to this sort of game, not because I didn't enjoy Space Marine, but because they just do this so much better.

2. Jamestown: A game that had been staring me in the face for months. Egging me on to buy it, but I was gunshy because of the thought that without four people it wasn't worth the time. Wrong. But the game really shines when you get a couple more people in on it. I definitely recommend this as a game to get with friends. We turned it into a drinking game pretty fast. I'll give you the rules if you think it's up your alley, word of warning though: game is fast paced so you drink a lot.

1. Bastion: I did no research before buying this game. I remembered the adds from Steam right before it dropped a few months or so ago. I decided that with Diablo III on the horizon that I wanted to get my click-and-kill on to get ready. After buying it, playing it for an hour, I had a blast as that sexy Barry White-like voice narrated what I did. I then found out that this has been a contender for GOTY for some magazines and websites. Not shocked at all. Looks phenomenal, plays wonderfully and that voice. Just don't IMDB who it is, you'll feel let down.

What about you guys?