[promo title=”#4 Counter Strike: GO”][/promo]
CS: GO rocks. If you use Steam, you know Counter Strike.
It’s a beautiful game, and to anyone who’s played the previous Counter Strike installments know how much of a fantastic improvement Global Offensive made. For those that don’t necessarily know much concerning Counter Strike, it is an FPS multiplayer title, whose main mode is Bomb Diffusion. The mode is pretty self-explanatory. Counter Strike: Global Offensive is incredibly addicting, and its fast-paced gameplay is to be appreciated. Servers do get bad at times, but there will always be some sort of lag in multiplayer. Global Offensive should be played at first with the mentality that you won’t be necessarily playing to “unlock” anything. The premise is by no means focused on progression, but more on casual play. It should be noted that some gametypes have a sort of “built-in” progression system, but it is all match-specific.
This title is simply a must-have for diehard PC gamers. Fun as hell, and will keep you occupied for a while.
[promo title=”#3 The Walking Dead”][/promo]
We’re getting into the big dogs of Steam games now, aren’t we?
Yes, The Walking Dead most indubitably has to be on this list, as the story that this magnificent series tells is heart-wrenching, at times heart-warming, and most of the time horrifically depressing. With the coming of The Walking Dead season 2, gamers may rejoice to now find that this new entry is just as well-made as its predecessors. It is by no means a Steam exclusive, but it is a darn good game. If it was an exclusive (which would never happen), it’d rank among the top two. The characters, the environment, the story — all of it is so true to the original comic series and portrays a living, breathing parallel to the original stories. Telltale Games knows how to make a fantastic point-and-click, and The Walking Dead is their masterpiece. Steam as well as other platforms just came out with Season 2 as mentioned before, so go check that out if you haven’t!
[promo title=”#2 Starbound”][/promo]
Starbound is a moderately new addition to Steam, not too old to the point where it isn’t relevant, though. Starbound, if anything, is very relevant right now, as the game is growing a massive following and is under some serious construction by its team of dedicated developers. Chucklefish, the small indie team of devs that made the game, are currently working hard to add more and more content to the game. It is a Steam exclusive, and there is currently no mention of it moving to consoles.
Starbound is easiest explained as “Terraria in Space”. It is however, by no means extremely similar, as the two games share some very distinct differences. Starbound is a massive game, and is built upon the idea of exploration. It involves a procedurally-generated universe that players can explore freely, if their ship has the fuel for the voyage. Really, the game reminds me a lot of Stark Trek in the sense that you never will encounter the same monster twice, nor the same combination of world features. There are certain biomes in the game, and they each have recognizable features. There is a crafting system in the game, and can be a bit of a grind at times, and at other times, seem too easy to progress in. The game is by no means finished, but it does show some amazing playability already. At its current stage it is incredibly addicting, and can be played and enjoyed for hours upon hours on end. Starbound’s soundtrack is magnificent, the visuals are stunning, the guns, armor and tools are incredibly fun, the mechanics are solid, and the idea is so far ahead of its time. There are a lot of balance issues at its current state, and it does suffer from a content cap that leaves the players wondering what to do once they reach it. It isn’t a finished game yet, but the sheer fact that it is already so fun to experience, and fantastic to play with friends makes it very likable. It deserves, to me, a spot as #2 of the list.
Now, read on, as perhaps its “cousin” may be the star of the show…
[promo title=”#1 Terraria”][/promo]
Yes, the known cousin of Starbound, and the King of 2D sandbox games.
Terraria once was a Steam exclusive, and this did make us “PC Steam Nazi Master Race” gamers pretty freaking happy to have this gem on our side, as did we with Minecraft. What makes this title so great, is not anything you’d really think about. I believe it is the love and careful attention that the developers put into every detail of it. The game is simple. You start a new world, you look for resources, you build a house, you get new armor, you build a town, NPCs move in, you level yourself up, get better weapons, fight your first boss, and the rest is history. There are about 13 bosses in the game, each one more fierce than the next, and requires you to beat the previous one in order to challenge it. The game’s currency system is incredibly straight-forward, and the RPG mechanics are stunningly good. It continues to be updated with huge chunks of new content, and at an alarmingly fast rate. It’s very easy to say that it is a complete title, but Andrew “Redigit” Spinks, the main developer, will continue adding more content until the game is absolutely perfect. It has continued to rank as one of the best games on Steam and still remains on the Top Sellers list on the online store.
Terraria will continue to surprise you, even after 250 hours of playing the game. Heck, I still play the game, have about 400 hours put into it, and am still finding new things to do. This beautiful game absolutely deserves the #1 spot on the list, and completely personifies the idea that “simple is better”, and doesn’t need a thousand or so features to stay one of the most played games on Steam to date.