9 Iconic Games and Series to Buy During GOG’s Sale

We all have gaps in our gaming history that need filling. I certainly haven’t played every game ever, and neither have you. It can be tough to find the time and money to pick up and play older, more important games, but every now and then there are sales that make it a lot easier to catch up. GOG, the PC retailer that sells DRM-free games, is running a sale on what it calls “famous” games, including some great and foundational titles as well as some overlooked gems. They’re all worth picking up if you have the chance and the means.

Here’s what you can score during GOG’s Renowned Series promotion.

Wolfenstein

In the 2010s, it actually became cool to punch Nazis again, which is what happens when you let people blatantly claim Nazism and use fascist rhetoric for the first time in decades. Around the same time, Machine Games developed and released multiple entries in a rebooted Wolfenstein series that is interesting to say the least. The series’ longtime protagonist is played more explicitly as a once-disabled Jewish Polish-American soldier in the war against the Nazis than in previous games. After losing the war and spending years in a vegetative state in a hospital, BJ finally gets moving just in time to do something about the Nazis’ grip on the world.

BJ is incredibly layered throughout these games, with the series not only delving into his own inner self and various identities, but also those of his allies, including his wife Anya, a man who may or may not be Jimi Hendrix, and eventually BJ’s own parents. Machine Games titles also boast top-notch cutscene direction and performances from everyone involved, lending the game a cinematic quality and level of prestige in between the intense firefights. The New Order keeps things relatively simple and punchy, but eventually the sequels start to feature super-suits and advanced tools and weapons that complicate matters while also turning BJ into Billy The Butcher. They are a fun and sometimes intoxicating time, and you can pick them up Wolfenstein: The New Order And The Old Blood in Wolfenstein: The Two Pack for $US6, as well The new colossus for another $US6.

Grave robber

Before Uncharted, Lara Croft was the gaming world’s foremost treasure hunter and problematic disturber of sacred and indigenous resting places. And she’s incredible: she’s always fit, she goes wherever she goes with two pistols, and she can perform a six-foot vertical leap from a standing position. Before modern reboots turned her into a reluctant hero who gets endlessly pummeled by supernatural forces and at least one bear, she was gaming’s ultimate badass, a term I’ve grown tired of but feels remarkably apt for Lara. There are multiple Tomb Raider titles on sale now, and I honestly don’t know where to tell you to begin. If you want the classics, you can remastered trilogy of the first three games for $US22.49. If you want something a little more brutal and realistic, but still feels like a fun adventure, pick up the 2013 reboot for $US4. I understand that the prices vary quite a bit, but they are also quite different books about the same character and the same series, so do your research and see what you like.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Bear with me: Kane & Lynch 2 is a bad time. It’s a game obsessed with ugliness. At a time when developers were rushing to release the most aesthetically pleasing titles with the most polished and realistic in-game models, IO Interactive took that realism and turned it on its head. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is the product of that: a third-person shooter with a found-footage aesthetic, pixelated nudity and gore, an endless stream of bad language, and two rotten old dudes at the center of it all. It’s a remarkably unsubtle meditation on violence that almost feels like an alternative take on director Harmony Korrine’s recent film, Aggro Dr1ft. Kane and Lynch 2 isn’t for everyone, but it’s also one of the most remarkably innovative games from an otherwise pristine era, and you can have it for just over four bucks.

God Ex

First-person RPGs with an emphasis on stealth and choices in the layout of the world are my shit. Otherwise known as immersive sims, these represent the pinnacle of what games can be for me, and even the games that aren’t quite set up as immersive sims share a lot of DNA with them! Deus Ex is one such immersive sim, set in 2052 in a vision of America ravaged by an epidemic and massive class divides. Flip some numbers around, and Deus Ex could feasibly (and alarmingly) take place next year. In addition to its prescient qualities, Deus Ex is also one of the most prominent examples of an immersive sim in the medium. Famously, the game allowed you to scale a wall by sticking mines to it, jumping on it, and then repeating the process all the way to the top. If that doesn’t sound like the most ambitious and idiotic way to solve a problem, I don’t know what does. You too can climb a wall full of mines by grabbing hold God Ex GOTY Edition for $US2.79. You can also get the most recent installments, Human Revolution And Mankind dividedfor $US3 and $US4.49 respectively.

Baldur’s Gate

Baldur’s Gate 3 was the biggest game of last year, but I’m sure most of you already know that and have finished that game by now. If you were curious about the beginning of the series, the first two games are currently on sale. Be warned, they are a lot older than the most recent title, having been released on both sides of the turn of the century. CRPGs from that era are, in short, harder than they are now, and many people have a hard time going back because of it. The Baldur’s Gate series is a legendary one though, with three core games that are all praised on their own merits. There really is no harm in buying the enhanced editions of the first two Baldur’s Gate titles, which are now retailing for around $US5 and $US3 each, and see for yourself what’s out there.

Miami Helpline

In the early 2010s, the blurry, digitized violence of Hotline Miami made a major impact on the industry. At the time, developers seemed to be grappling with the inherent violence of combat in games, and the necessity of it. Hotline Miami is a top-down, twin-stick shooter that puts you in the shoes and mask of an assassin known simply as Jacket. By night, he talks to the personified masks he wears on his rampages, which represent the fractured segments of his own psyche that are constantly wrestling with each other. By day, he embodies them, taking anonymous phone calls and blasting his way through gangs, mafiosi, and the like.

Meanwhile, the player has little choice but to complete the missions as they lie before him. Maybe it felt bad, or maybe it didn’t, but interrogating which of those feelings Hotline Miami evokes is the larger point of the game, which sets this violence against the backdrop of late-’80s Miami. Most people assume that the game, like some of its ilk, is trying to make you feel guilty, but I don’t think it ever becomes patronizing. It’s aware of the satisfying loop of fast-paced action it creates, and assumes a certain amount of responsibility and shared guilt for its participation in the cycle of violence endemic to gaming. If you want a truly unforgettable experience with a groundbreaking game from the indie boom of the 2010s, buy Miami Helpline for $US2.49.

Little nightmares

It’s September, which means we’re all counting down the days to Halloween, so why not get ahead of the game with a few horror titles by picking up Little Nightmares? The series is still going strong, with a third title on the way from Supermassive (Until Dawn) and a dedicated following that loves the toy-like aesthetic and the surreal nightmares that haunt the player throughout the various horrific vignettes. They’re perhaps the most accessible horror games out there right now, as they’re essentially platformers with some puzzles thrown in. They’re not really my cup of tea, but I can’t deny that they convey enough of a menacing and unsettling feel thanks to the visual direction and a production quality that’s above average for a title of its size and stature. The third game will undoubtedly be huge when it comes out in 2025, but in 2024 you can and should delve into both Little nightmares and its direct sequel, which retail for around $5 and $10 respectively.

Metal Gear Rising: Revenge

Everyone knows Metal Gear Solid, but not nearly as many have played and/or experienced Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which is criminal. Playing as franchise regular cyborg ninja Raiden, Revengeance delivers frantic, gratuitous hack-and-slash action from the acclaimed developers at Platinum. The team were clearly well aware of the property they were diving into, as Revengeance retains many of Metal Gear’s most baffling quirks and tropes, such as giant robots funded by the US government, corrupt politicians, and nanomachines! This time around, it’s simply layered on top of the most extra game yet, making Revengeance one of the most honest entries in the larger Metal Gear franchise. You can slice enemies into pieces and rip out their cyber spikes in glorious fashion by Metal Gear Rising Revenge for $US18.

Downfall 3

Doom 3 is widely regarded as the black sheep of the series, which means I have to make a clear case against it. It’s not the lightning-fast hitscan first-person shooter its predecessors were, nor is it the over-the-top gorefest its recent instalments have become. It’s something very different, and for that it’s worth re-evaluating. Doom 3 is a grittier first-person survival horror game, but it’s just different. That’s its only real crime. You’re fighting some of the same demons, just in different lighting and at different speeds, which was both revealing and controversial when it came out (2005). It’s saturated in tension, like tearing through a gauntlet in Doom Eternal with very little HP, but imagine being on your back feet the whole time. People are so used to Doom games working in one way, but Doom 3 dared to dream a little bigger.

I understand it’s not for everyone, but just because it isn’t doesn’t mean it can’t be for you. I didn’t know I was going to like Doom until I finally bought the 2016 reboot. You won’t know Doom 3 isn’t for you until you give it a chance. For just $US4 you can watch the most notable episode in the Downfall franchise, and believe me, Downfall 3 is it worth it.