Steam Early Access Gaming - Guilty Pleasure Pick-Ups

Sulrn

Sulrn

Deuces
2,159
360
I know some of us here have probably been burned or turned off by some of the trash on Steam's early access or the anti-consumerist aspects of what it represents. I know I can't be the only person that's gone through my Steam discovery queue to see something interesting and then only find out it's a Steam early access. Right now of my 36 games on my wish list about 20 are early access games I'm waiting to leave the void and show signs of life.

However, curiosity has to get some of you with part of the time so what games have you picked out of the line up and found worthy despite it's Early Access labeling.

While I was gone this past year I picked up:



It's pretty much a Kingdom Under Fire / Bladestorm small unit warfare version of World of Tanks. Right now it covers China's Three Kingdom factions with Roman Infantry introduced in the last update (still missing Roman Cav and Skirmishers). I really enjoyed Kingdom Under Fire and hate that the only successor we've seen is Bladestorm / Nightmare, so this scratches that itch for me.

It's free to play and good for a couple of quick skirmishes at the start, but once you get tier 2/3 (tier 3 is the top) things get more interesting as the units you're using can start doing some real damage / get utterly crushed depending on how you work with your team / abilities.


So what is everyone else playing?
 
Amzin

Amzin

Lord Nagafen Raider
2,917
361
I'm still playing Empyrion. It's been in EA a long time but I bought it super early too. Having fun flying my combat-steel encased borg cube covered in turrets around the enemy planet conquering their bases one by one, with fire support from my brother in a smaller ship armed to the teeth with rocket launchers.

Unlike a lot of people that get burned, I buy Early access games the way we really should all buy games in general - if I'm going to play it right then, right there, in the state it's in. I don't think I've ever bought one based on what it said it "could be" because that's asking for trouble. Similarly I've only kickstarted games that have a LOT of details about the game already in there, like Hyper Light Drifter or Everspace which have both turned out awesome. I don't think these types of crowd funding are anti-consumer, I think they're anti-careful-consumer which is basically something most retail stores have taking advantage of for decades anyway *cough* monster cables *cough*. Early access is actually way better than Kickstarter etc. in that regard.
 
Arden

Arden

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,647
1,941
I've only picked up one early access game and I've absolutely loved it: Divinity 2. I'm very stoked for full release.
 
Sulrn

Sulrn

Deuces
2,159
360
Arden said:
I've only picked up one early access game and I've absolutely loved it: Divinity 2. I'm very stoked for full release.
Click to expand...

I still need to go back and finish D:OS before D:OS 2.

Is D:OS 2 going to be more co-op friendly than the first?
 
T

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
606
#1 of all time early access is Rimworld. Dead Cells is really good as well. I find most to suck.
 
Gravel

Gravel

Mr. Poopybutthole
36,281
115,087
I've actually probably put in more hours into EA games than released at this point.

Between PUBG, Rust, and 7 Days to Die I've got a ridiculous amount of hours. I'd say only Dota 2 has more into it than those.
 
Ignatius

Ignatius

#thePewPewLife
4,596
6,094
Prison Architect, Killing Floor 2, Rimworld, Don't starve together, Oxygen not included....all pretty solid. Rust was decent, ARK annoyed me with that expansion-while-early access thing.DayZ gets honorable mention for being such a disappointment.
 
D

Droigan

Trakanon Raider
2,495
1,162
These are not in early access anymore, but Grim Dawn and Darkest Dungeon are both great games that started there. Been holding off with Divinity 2 until full release, but had it since it was released on EA.

The Long Dark also turned out fairly well apparently, not tried it much yet. Did a little bit of survival a year+ ago. Figure I'll wait until all episodes are out.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
Arden

Arden

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,647
1,941
Sulrn said:
I still need to go back and finish D:OS before D:OS 2.

Is D:OS 2 going to be more co-op friendly than the first?
Click to expand...

Yes. Made my room mate get early access so I could test multi. They have a new GM mode that looks badass
 
Enob

Enob

Golden Knight of the Realm
413
112
Early Access rustles me so hard. It's all on me but it basically ruins games for me. Sell me the packaged complete experience when it's done and I will play it. My logic is that if I play an incomplete experience I won't have as much fun as waiting for the real deal. Also, I don't want to play through a 2nd or 3rd time with small incremental improvements along the way. So waiting for true release is what I do. This rustles me due to the exposure these Early Access games get for years before release. Rimworld, PUBG, and Factorio won't feel fresh and new upon their actual release date. The community of twitch streamers, youtubers, and forum posters have already come and gone by release and games ship already "solved".

So it's like being stuck between an unpolished, incomplete experience (which can still be massive fun) or losing the newness and excitement of an actual launch.

Edit: Forgot my own counterpoint. These games are often much better because of the Early Access and feedback from the community so it's a mixed bag.
 
T

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
606
Rimworld launched as a game worth full price. Early access allowed the developers to not have to package the game up and sell it as complete and allowed them a revenue stream to really perfect and polish the game. The biggest issue with EA is not everyone is a Rimworld and games will come out that seem full of potential but the developers (either maliciously or not) advertise it as EA but never make it perfect and polished.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.