Cheap This Week - 04/05/11

Have you got the back-to-work blues? This might cheer you up: cheap games, and lots of them! The selection includes a revisited classic from yesteryear, a couple of flawed gems that might have passed you by and one of the hottest pre-order deals I've seen in a long time. If none of that tickles your fancy, there's more over at SavyGamer.co.uk.

Here are this week's deals:

Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror: Remastered, PC/Mac – £1.98

After getting an iOS release late last year, the enhanced version of this classic point and clicker is now making its way to your desktop.

This versions boasts improvements such as, "A new interactive digital comic from Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons, fully animated facial expressions, improved background and animation graphics, improved cut-scenes, high quality music, and a context-sensitive hint system and diary."

There's also Dropbox integration for cross-platform cloud saving across the PC, Mac and iOS version. Ain't that clever?

Split/Second: Velocity, Xbox 360 – Deal no longer available, was £8.47.

Update: Unfortunately, this deal has now sold out.

This is an ex-rental deal, but I've ordered many ex-rental games from Boomerang and they always turn up in pristine condition.

You might have missed Split/Second: Velocity when it was originally released but that won't have been because it wasn't making enough noise. It's a lot like other racing games but has way more explosions. Oli said this about it back at release:

"Split/Second requires exactly the right combination of skill, memory and reflexes from you while maintaining a permanent high of tactile feedback, sensory assault and knife-edge excitement. If that's Black Rock's elevator pitch for a modern arcade racer: sold."

I'd say this would be worth the money at twice the price. If you like your racing with a side of BOOM! it's a must-have.

Alpha Protocol, Xbox 360 - £5 delivered, PS3 - £6 delivered (pre-owned)

Only 20 of each format in stock at time of writing, although CEX will be selling these in-store at the same prices if you're up to braving the questionable choice of music, funky smell and massive queues (if my local one is representative of the rest of them anyway). Christian said this of Alpha Protocol when he reviewed it:

"Obsidian can't really compete with the bigger boys in the RPG field, then, but it's carved out a little space to call its own. With ambition instead of budget, and integrity instead of polish, in the end the choice of whether to persevere or not is pretty easy to make."

I was a little less fond of it. Elements of the PC version's interface will make your brain melt, but that's most likely because they were designed with a twin stick controller in mind. I don't think you can go wrong at this price. Speaking of twin stick controllers...

Wired Xbox 360 Controller [Black] - £15.99 delivered

This is the cheapest price I've ever seen for an official Xbox 360 controller. It's a wired one, so it's ideal for using on a PC or a 360. These pads are probably the closest we'll ever get to universal support on the PC, with more and more games supporting them (and being configured properly) out of the box.

The d-pad is a bit naff and it's a little too easy to click the sticks for my liking, but otherwise the 360 pad is one of the better traditional gaming controllers out there.

Deal of the Week

Deus Ex: Human Revolution [Augmented Edition], PC – Deal no longer available, was £25.91.

Update: Unfortunately, this deal is no longer available. However, Amazon is now offering the Limited Edition on PC for £26.79

Last week the best price going for this was in the £40 region, but now Amazon is offering pre-orders of the Augmented Edition for 42 per cent off the RRP. The game ain't out til August but you can whet your appetite with Will's preview from last week. Sounds a bit bloody good, basically.

Amazon's Pre-order Price Guarantee means that if they increase the price between now and release, as long as you order now, you'll pay the lower figure. In the highly unlikely event of them dropping the price further, your order will be automatically discounted.

If you'd prefer to save a bit of money by plumping for the standard version instead, Coolshop have the standard edition for £23.99 delivered - although £1.92 for an OST, artbook, Making Of DVD and in-game tat sounds worth it to me.

Also of note this week...

• Dragon Age: Origins, PC - £5.99 delivered
• Week long EA Steam sale