Humble Monthly Bundle - May - Review and Discussion Thread

[RanceJustice]

Another month, another Humble Monthly Bundle! You can see my previous coverage of April's bundle , as well as an overview of the Humble Monthly system here - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...nd-discussion-thread.1929347/#post-1042929633 - so this time I'll just jump right in to this month's items!

May Humble Monthly Titles

This Is The Police ($15, Win/Mac/Linux ) - This simulation puts you as the chief of police in a corrupt city, not unlike favorite crime dramas. You have to manage your officers, calls, undertake detective work and reconstruct crime scenes and make decisions that can have significant impacts both in the short term and the long. Various major arcs such as the Mayor exploiting situations or the mafia control complicates your job. There are multiple endings and a dynamic "sandbox" mode added for when you clear the main story. I am curious to see how well the title is implemented and how it compares to "Beat Cop", another recently released police-focused game.

Undertale ($10, Win/Mac/Linux) - A JRPG that takes the style of SNES-era Dragon Quest or more accurately Mother/Earthbound, Undertale is one of the most highly regarded indie titles of the past few years. Its story is unique and notable for its character focus and the various mechanics for non-violent "combat" where you can actually befriend even bosses if the conditions are right. Many branching elements and story arcs based on your decisions in typical JRPG style (ie what characters and items you find , who you talk to etc) as well as how you handle various conflicts lead to varying endings. The game is also novel in terms of mechanics as besides some excellent DragonQuest / Earthbound style menu combat, there are also mini "shooting, bullet hell" sections that you have to navigate to see how certain abilities and spells "work" (ie weaker than normal, critical strike, or perhaps just hitting at all) based on your performance. For fans of Mother/Earthbound and indie JRPGs this is certainly not to be missed.

DIRT Rally ( $60, Win/Linux ) - An offroad racing/driving sim in a long running series, DIRT Rally is one of the high priced titles in this month's bundle. I am not a driving sim fan so I don't have much to say about the title, but it seems to be well appreciated by those that are fond of the genre. Kudos to them for Linux support, though! Also, there is a discount code for DIRT 4 included in this bundle!

Inside ($20, Windows, Linux possibly in the works ) - Several years ago the atmospheric indie platformer "Limbo" broke into the genre to great fanfare. Now its developer is back with another "spooky, child lost in a scary atmosphere" title with "Inside". Debuting to rave reviews, Inside is said to be even more polished and enjoyable than Limbo by many, with tighter mechanics and a more chilling, deeper story. Its near universal acclaim within the genre suggests it is certainly worth a play

Metrico+ ($14, Win/Mac/Linux ) - This puzzle platforming title has a unique hook to say the least, with the entire gameworld taking place inside a living extrapolation of data, infographics with various charts, graphs, and metrics appearing and disappearing depending on your input. Understanding these mechanics and overall thinking outside the box seems to be the crux of the adventure. Is this a novel environment for gameplay or does the game have something to say about the role of big data metrics in the world today? If it does, it probably won't be revealed until the end of this minimalist puzzle experience, but regardless it seems an interesting ride!

GoNNER ($10, Win/Mac/Linux ) - A 2D, procedural generated, rogue-lite platformer with a minimalist (yet many may find cute) art style, GoNNER differs from other "short form" platformers like "Super Meat Boy" and "Slime-San" thanks to giving the player an attack. Where others push avoidance and a strict adherence to a time mechanic, GoNNER offers hectic combat instead for a differing experience. Death is a constant mechanic, character presence, and story element (along with cheering up a space whale, a main reason for your character's quest), and acts as a method of upgrade and progression too. Lots of secrets, unlockable abilities and other staples of rogue-lites are present as well, which seems to grant plenty of replay value. If you enjoy the more hectic platforming style, rogue-lite progression/design, or cute minimalist storytelling it seems worth a play; many reviews and awards agree

The Turing Test ($20, Windows; Linux possibly coming soon.) - In this 3D physics puzzle adventure players take the role of Ana Turing, a scientist heading to Europa to handle specialized issues that require a human intellect and hopefully figure out what happened to the previous expedition. In the vein of Valve's Portal Series or the excellent The Talos Principle, story and puzzles merge and rely upon the player's mastery of a special "gun", in this case the Energy Manipulation Tool. If you enjoyed the aforementioned games, then The Turing Test may be right up your alley.

Super Rude Bear Resurrection ($14, Windows) - This month's Humble Monthly Debut title, Super Rude Bear Resurrection stars the titular bear in a 2D platformer. Unlike the combat of GoNNER, this title has another hook by allowing the corpses of your previous deaths to remain in the game world to be interacted upon. Push a mound of corpses to allow you to climb to new heights or a corpse wall to block hostile projectile launchers! Apparently however, the game can be beaten without dying even once, for those truly skilled in the platforming arts.

A2Be ( $?? , Windows ) - This month's Humble Original, A2Be bills itself as a science fiction narrative. Given its black+white aesthetic and what may be point-and-click interface, this game poses a world where waste free, ecological travel is also instantaneous. Will it be a hopeful vision of the future, showcase our possible downfalls even in a world without some of our current pressing concerns, or offer something else entirely? Humble Originals are always unique little additions!

*BONUS* Kevin Eastman's UnderWhere #1 (e-comic) - From the original author/illustrator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles graphic novels comes a comic about the creations of a young boy's fanciful imagination. This series is being exclusively debut via Humble Monthly and future issues will come in following months

June Humble Monthly Early Unlock

Stellaris ($40, Win/Mac/Linux) - From Paradox, the developer and publisher known for grand strategy titles like Crusader Kings comes this very well reviewed entry set on the galactic scale! Diplomacy, warfare, research, expansion and other intricate systems present in well made "4X strategy" titles are here and apparently polished well and more accessible than many other Paradox titles. They have created relatively deep lore for the various alien species, their culture and mechanics, as well as adding procedural generation for new galaxies to keep the game fresh. The title has been given several content updates since launch including free ones, but there are also several DLC available for purchase including the "Utopia" expansion pack. Like all Early Unlocks, by paying for next month's bundle you can gain immediate access; I wonder if Humble will offer discounts on the various DLC packs, a common practice when a high profile Monthly title offers them for sale.

So that's it for this month! What do you think!? Personally I see a few gems and some titles that pique my interest, but I wouldn't call it one of their stronger bundles. This is likely affected by my lack of interest in DIRT Rally; I am sure I'd feel differently if I was an avid racing fan.

Remember if you wish to get ahold of Stellaris and the rest of next month's bundle for $12 or less plus a global 10% stacking discount at the Humble Store, sign up for Humble Monthly and as always, using my link is always appreciated. https://humble.com/monthly?refc=02L8o8

 

[you2]

Glad I passed this one and I have no interest in Stellaris though the game itself has been well received by others.

 

[Nebell]

I've been Humble Monthy bundle subscriber since day 1. But you know what it turned me into? Not a gamer, but a game collector. I just keep getting more and more games and not having enough time to play them.
Humble monthly is nice, but not for me. And it's a big gamble for most of us.

 

[RanceJustice]

I've been Humble Monthy bundle subscriber since day 1. But you know what it turned me into? Not a gamer, but a game collector. I just keep getting more and more games and not having enough time to play them.
Humble monthly is nice, but not for me. And it's a big gamble for most of us.

I think this phenomena is in many ways a good thing all around; Good for the players who have a wealth of titles available to them thanks to affordable (non-cracked) access, good for developers and publishers who foster many sale. While Humble Monthly certainly contributes to the possibility players will end up with many more games than they really have time to play, one could say the same thing about Steam/GOG/HumbleStore sales, keysellers like GreenManGaming/CDKeys.com, and all the various "bundle" sites out there. This is one of the fantastic things about PC gaming, whereas consoles have far from the number of deals, much less the discount percentage that we have here. While we may only have a limited time to play, having a "backlog" of titles makes it possible for the player to stumble onto something they already own when looking for a change from their "games of focus", or when a certain situation (ie Friends or significant others are up to play some co-op! What do I have that they would enjoy, supports online co-op, and can be played in relatively short sessions easy to get into? ) arises.

As far as Humble Monthly is concerned, I think the best way to look at it is if you'll get at least $12 worth of enjoyment out of the month. That's one reason I list the current standard price of each title on Steam (or another storefront) and given that many of them end up at $10+, if you even enjoy one title for awhile its probably a good value. This is to say nothing for the ability to gift/sell keys you don't plan to use/already own etc... which is especially useful since Steam themselves have altered their gifting procedure in certain frustrating ways, or the Humble Store's 10% discount for subscribers which stacks with most other discounts and promos. Humble Monthly may not be for everyone and that's all right, but at least for me I've found it a great (sometimes truly fantastic, such as when XCOM2 was one of the titles included this year, plus offered a huge discount on its expansion pass) value and a good way to be introduced to a variety of titles, giving you the chance to play many that you may never think to strike out and buy individually, but turn out to be enjoyable.

 

[LurkerLito]

I've been Humble Monthy bundle subscriber since day 1. But you know what it turned me into? Not a gamer, but a game collector. I just keep getting more and more games and not having enough time to play them.
Humble monthly is nice, but not for me. And it's a big gamble for most of us.

I know the feeling but overall I still like humble monthly and will be continuing my subscription. Even if the backlog is ever growing, I have made peace with it and don't mind at all that I probably will never be able to get through it. Honestly I kind of dig the idea that if I feel like playing a certain type of game, I probably already have it on my Steam list and only have to install it to play it.