If you’ve somehow missed the past 45 days of faux cobwebs and “terrifying” witch decorations cropping up in every grocery store and suburban cul de sac, let us be the first to welcome you into the Halloween season. This is the time of year when children dress up as superheros and sparkly, lovelorn vampires in an effort to score a massive haul of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Adults are generally left out of this annual sugar orgy, but thanks to Valve Software and its ubiquitous Steam service, the holiday just got a lot more entertaining for those of us who are over the age of 12.
As of this morning Steam launched a massive Halloween sale that sees almost every included title being marked down 50 to 75 percent. As is appropriate for the most evil of commercialized holidays, these games (of which there are more than 80), are all thematically linked by their horror elements, though what exactly defines “horror elements” for this sale seems up to a wide scope of interpretation. You’ve got relatively standard survival horror titles like Dead Space 2 and Dead Rising 2 (both of which are available for 75 percent off, at $5 and $7.50 respectively), but then the sale also includes whimsical puzzlers like Plants Vs Zombies (75 percent off; $2.50) and first-person shooter/roleplaying game hybrids like the Ultimate Edition of Fallout: New Vegas (50 percent off; $15) which only fit the criteria of “horror” if your personal phobia is giant naked mole rats and lockpicking mini-games.
On second thought, I guess one might be afraid of the nuclear holocaust too, so yeah, Fallout: New Vegas works nicely.
Point being: There is a huge variety of games on sale here, a number of which are objectively excellent. That said, there are a few standard caveats to deal with before you start picking up genuine classics for $5 a pop. First, as these games are distributed via Steam, you’ll need a computer to play them. PC gamers can play absolutely everything available in the sale, while Mac gamers have a smaller, but still quite excellent selection of titles.
The other caveat is probably the most important thing to remember here: This offer is only available to those who buy games prior to 10AM PST on November 1. That seems apropos given the holiday, but it means that you prospective skinflint gamers have less than three days left to pick up any and all of the video games that catch your eye in this offer.
Oh, and if you’re on the east coast, you should probably get a move on. You’ve obviously still got the necessary electricity to read this, so you may as well download a couple of entertaining adventures before Hurricane Sandy decides that you’ve enjoyed the convenience of electricity for far too long.
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