Review: Discount Games

What’s this? Some game reviews? James are you here to tell us about some current games?

Haha, of course not silly rabbit, I don’t have the money for such a thing. I am what you call a bottom dweller, rarely entering the surface to look upon games shrouded in light... No I find the ones discarded to the dark... unloved and now unwanted I snatch them away... There old keepers too uninterested to stop me.

By this of course I mean I tend to buy discount games.

I got these two games reader for £9 off of steam and if I had a credit card that worked online I’d probably have alot more of their discount games. But anyway lets take a look at Ghost Master and Dark Messiah.


Ghost Master

Well reader this is an interesting one, you have plenty of games about defeating ghouls and ghosts but there are few that reverse the sides. Ghost master is one of these and defiantly pulls it off.

Primarily a puzzle game it’s your job to position your ghosts so that they can scare the bejebas out of the people of the local town. Why? Because it’s funny, plus these pea brained mortals could do with a taste of the supernatural. The game does a quite a bit of humour about it and if I knew more about some classic horror films I’d probably get more of the references and jokes, but they’re there for people to find.

Scaring people is easy enough but it’s when you need to work out how to free other ghosts that the real puzzles begin. Ghost Master is defiantly that kind of puzzle game where you need to start thinking along the lines of designers, and working out their thought patterns can take a bit of trial and error.

Later on in the game the locals start hiring people to protect them from your harmless pranks (I only electrocuted them a little... and I’m sure they’ll get over being on fire) and this is where you need to start being on your toes, cause if one of your ghosts is exorcised he’ll be gone for that level.

The ghosts themselves are a right bunch of characters and for some reason my favourite so far is the cheerleader mirror ghost... it’s not really her I like but rather the idea of a mirror ghost, her powers are pretty cool.

Overall I’d say a pretty solid game so long as your into a bit puzzling and scaring.

Dark Messiah, Might and Magic


Well I read some reviews before getting... Well I lie I read like little bits but overall I got the impression people didn’t really like it cause of its bugs and while I’ve had some major lag here and there... I’ve forgiven it cause it’s really fun.

Its geared up like your usual fantasy fest, with swords, magic and orcs etc, but put that all aside for a moment while we look at some of the unique things it does. First of all it has a physics engine... I know everyone does... But you know what? Screw those other ones for one simple reason.

In this game you can kick shit.

I can not quite express how awesome that is. Just picture your fighting some dude and his friend starts running to cut you up, what shall you ever do? I know! Lets kick that first mother f***** through the window and then throw a box at the other guy. Hahaha! Some planks in your way? Just kick through them cause your badass. When you’re able to brake alot of shit just with your foot it results in a pretty sweet game.

The game also includes alot of little features which aren’t needed, but I DO appreciate. The first one would be that when you look down you can see your feet, but this game goes a step further... by that I mean when you turn your head your sword arm stays where it is until you turn too much... So it’s very immersive which I like. The bow rope is sweet cause if you find a wooden plank above you you can fire an arrow with a rope on it, letting you climb up.

Anyway the game is about your character training under a wizard until you need to set off on your own adventure about discovering lost relics etc. The story is pretty straight forward with its mysterious past and talk of destiny but I like it. You also get a side kick in the form of a demon girl that lives in your head, she merely gives you advice or mocks your poor taste in clothing... plus I think she’s eating your soul or something but I can’t be sure yet.

I know alot of people out there dislike this sort of thing after awhile, they tend to get sick of the harassment or the constant talking... but it doesn’t bother me, mostly because I already talk as my character while I’m playing and another character just gives me someone to talk to rather than myself. According to my friends this is an odd thing to do but screw those guys.

There’s one more thing I feel makes the combat the best as it can be and its actually the shit talking from your enemies. I don’t like it when my enemies don’t talk back... it’s too robotic and uninteresting... But if they shit talk to you while fighting then it gives ample opportunity for witty lines from me, which just make the experience better. Take these for example:

A raider is talking to his friend and mentions that one of the slaves foretolled he’d die this day and chuckled. I then shouted “Urr... Spoliers!” and when he turned around to attack me he unfortunately exploded.

Another time I was one a boat and a necromancer came around the corner and said in his slithery tone “You will die horr-“
“Shit! A necromancer!” I then kicked him off the boat and he drowned.

Sneaking across buildings into a warehouse I come upon two heavily armed raiders. Thinking quickly I pick up a barrel to throw at them before running over and stabbing them alot. Only problem was when I threw it it broke the floor and they fell down and died. I was like “Not what I intended but I’ll take it!... Shit more guards!”

I think the funniest time was when I was in an ancient temple killing goblins when I spied two standing near a large statue, similar to one I’d seen fall over already. Smugly I attacked them making sure to stay out of the statues falling path, and they squeezed their way into a small hole shouting and screaming “It’ll kill us!” But I wasn’t being fooled. Naturally the statue fell down and I laughed, but then the wall started to buckle and I moved away quickly. A moment later a semi indestructible Cyclops burst through the wall and proceeded to smack the crap out of me. I considered it to be poetic justice.