The Sordid State Of Steam – And The Constant Re-Release of Old Shovelware

Driving Me Bonkers.

The consistent sales, easy to use nature and downright usefulness of the Steam platform astounds me. But it’s extremely easy to see that Steam’s reputation has somewhat faded over recent debacles. Case in point, the re-release of a publishers old-tat (or shovelware, as the industry folks prefer to call it).
Now, this isn’t a new situation at all. In fact, Valve’s mega-storefront has been doing this for quite some time now, but usually under a certain radar. Most of these re-releases would never see the light of day on Steam’s storefront, and instead would be thrown to the bowels of the store. However, this appears to have changed rather recently, and to be fair… Valve aren’t really dealing with it in any way.

Usually, whilst browsing through the ‘New Releases’ category, you’re likely to find some absolute dribble being re-plastered and released with a more ‘recent’ release date. Of course, these release dates are a complete fabrication of the truth, and actually just say when the game released on Steam.
This never used to be the case however. As recent as a few weeks back, newly released shovelware would be added to the New Releases tab with the date of Steam release titled, whereas the store page for the title itself would actually detail the game’s original release date. This information used to take some looking for (usually far down the store page), but it most certainly used to be there.
However, as of recent, Steam have been entirely hiding a games original release date, most probably due to the outlash from various gaming personalities and critics.

All These Came Out On The Same Day According To Steam.

This is the point where it becomes ever clearer that this issue isn’t getting resolved any time soon. So long as these games attract an ‘audience’ they’ll still bring in a small amount of revenue.
Now this issue wouldn’t bother to such a degree, if it didn’t harm the other, GOOD new releases to the platform. For example, Ether One. A great little indie game that was pushed down an entire page on the new releases tab, just days after it’s release. If you don’t think this is getting ridiculous, then go ahead and buy all these ‘NEW’ releases and tell me that you aren’t pissed off.

I do so hope that Valve can clear up this issue, if not for our sake, then for that of good honest developers releasing new content on Steam. It’s clear now that Greenlight has become irrelevant to Steam, so long as a publisher backs you up. But even if your game releases… it’ll be only days before the publishers shovelware pushes you down to the bottom too.

RANT OVER.
Thanks For Reading

The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode Two Review

A House Divided

Does Season Two’s second episode fare somewhat better than it’s somewhat stunted first episode? Yes… Yes It Does.

Episode Two of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series definitely ramps up the emotional stakes. The threat of not only zombies is looming over Clementine and her new group of allies, as the stakes get much higher after a visit from an unwanted guest. I don’t want to spoil anything AT ALL, so as per usual, I will discuss how the story works and whether the gameplay has changed at all.

First things first, from what I noticed, this episode actually had a lot less exploration compared to the previous entry. Most of this episode relies heavily on cutscenes and QTE’s, which all work well to advance the story at a great pace. This means, prepare to sit back and relax and let the story carry you along to the next episode.

All these features are great for this episode, as the story is much more intense and puzzling, so sacrificing some exploration elements definitely helps the story progress by putting more emotions and story behind each of the new characters.
From what i’ve noticed, choices from Episode One, and even Season One have really come into play in this episode, which is a great way of keeping people invested in the story. Much unlike the first episode which didn’t appear to really utilise any choices from Season One.

I really want to keep this review as short as possible as to prevent spoiling any of the Episodes’ best parts, so I’ll sum it up like this…
This episode is definitely the better of the two in Season Two. It’s progression of the story is much better paced, and characters are so much more fleshed out and are able to express themselves more clearly. Choices Do Matter from previous episodes, and that is most certainly evident. The music, sound and art direction are still amazing and lend fact to the foreboding atmosphere of this world.

If you thoroughly enjoyed the first series, and didn’t want to rush into Season Two without a clear reason, this episode could be the turning point. ‘Elements’ from Season One rear their head throughout, so Season One fans will definitely find a reason to pick Season Two up now.
As for those people who haven’t played either Season… I’m just going to ask you to stop reading this, and go pick up both Seasons, Immediately!

9.5/10
(Editor’s Choice)