I got a 75% discount coupon code from Zylom on Friday, valid this weekend, even though I don't have a membership with them (I'm an unpaying member).  So I looked at their sale games and tried Citadel Arcanes again.  I've been undecided about this game ever since I first demoed it, not knowing whether I really liked it or not. 

So I opened the game and continued playing from where I'd last left off and this time I really liked it!    So I decided to use my DCC to get it ... for a whopping 50 cents!    But first I checked out the Platinum Edition version on GameHouse to see what the extras were but decided that for only 50 cents the SE was okay.  So I bought it, downloaded it, and discovered that it was the Platinum Edition! 

So I got Citadel Arcanes CE for only 50 cents! 
 

A CE for 50cents? NICE work!! I got a deal like a year ago where the original MCF ravenhearst was free and although I wasn't sure if I wanted it because its super old school, who passes up a free game! And it became absolutely loved since I had never played those games in order so here's hoping you love yours too xx

And another one bites the dust (please excuse my voice; you probably didn't recognise the song ) ...

I've just finished Secret Bunker USSR.  I loved the demo, bought it, started playing it yesterday and thought oh, it's a lot easier than I'd expected and there are way too many helpful hints (well, you're told what to do and what you need, even in the hardest mode).    But the more I played the more I got into it and I loved the graphics, music and the atmosphere!    You're in an abandoned Russian bunker and so the graphics are all brown rust and very dark, which I personally love, even though there were a lot of complaints about that in the forums. 

There's no walkthrough but you don't need one as the Hint button works well and you can't really get lost as you move from one section then on to another.  You don't have a map for most of the game (but each section is only a few scenes) until you get to one section where you need one and then it's a jump map that shows where there are available actions.  A lot of people in the forums said that it was really old school with crap graphics but I think it was intentional and I loved them as they looked real and really created a fantastic atmosphere.

Some of the things I loved about it:

+  It's long
+  Great music and atmosphere - like Shadow Shelter, it really looks like you're in an abandoned bunker
+  Things look real and you have to do real things, like tilting a lamp up before removing the lightbulb
+  When you need to shoot something you actually have to shoot it, but it's all in the gameplay, not like an arcade
+  Whenever you use a screwdriver/wrench, etc., you choose the order in which to remove things
+  Cursor doesn't change in the HOSs, so no help with the highlighted objects
+  And sometimes you need 2 or 3 steps to get the highlighted objects
+  Except the cursor will change to a hand in the HOSs when you can open a drawer, door, etc.
+  Gramaphone needed a record - sigh - but it was in its cover hidden in a cupboard
+  You had to open the cupboard door, put record on table, remove cover, put record on, find crank in drawer
+  There's a locker puzzle near the end that I loved 
+  Everything's in Russian (scenes & HOSs) but you click on them and they're translated for you
+  You can open and close drawers/doors at will and not everything will contain anything
+  You can even still open/close broken drawers after you've blown them up!
+  Watch out when you push buttons in the HOSs! 
+  I liked the attention to detail
+  Eg. when mixing decontaminant, beaker stoppers were removed and put back on every time
+  You can get hints in the puzzles when you get stuck and you get the next move!!!! 
+  Oh, I was killed a couple of times 
+  Luckily for me I got another couple of chances to not die so I could continue 

A couple of things I didn't like about it:

-  The game was too easy with too many hints - you're told what to do and what you need
-  It's set in Russia with Russian people with Russian accents, and your name is Jack and the girl's name is Emily 

My recommendation? 

I recommend Secret Bunker USSR as a fantastic, atmospheric game with some original gameplay concepts but not for those who want to be challenged as it's easy, even in the hardest mode, and you're told what to do and what you need.  Even though I was disappointed by being told what to do all the time, it more than made up for it in atmosphere and gameplay. 

My rating? 

  I loved playing this game.

My rating system:

  I love, love, love this game
  I loved playing this game
  I really liked playing this game
  I liked playing this game but nothing special
  I didn't like this game at all and couldn't wait to finish
  I hated this game and couldn't bring myself to finish it

This brings my bought/played ratio so far this month to:  2 bought - 6 played.
 

Re your membership rant, Meg.  The only reason I see to be a member is to put aside that GCC every month, like Tirama mentioned, and the Daily Deal, like you mentioned.  COTW can be bought by non-members.  I like my on-again off-again relationship with BFG.  If I'm going to fill a card I can rejoin right before I get the last punch and I'm good for a month.  Usually that happens mid-month so I can fill a punch card the next month before I quit again, if I want.  I never buy games full price so I'm happy waiting for the BOGOs.  And the best part of quitting is that you can tell them why you're quitting each time you do

Just came back from BFG to check out something.  As a member, one of the perks is Tomorrow's Game Today.  As a non member I have to wait a day to download and buy it.  But it only seems to work that way with CEs.  When it's a regular game it seems I can try/buy it that day.  I can buy Mahjong World Contest 2 today if I want.  Weird, huh?  I don't know if I've ever checked with the SE release of a CE but I've noticed it before with the regular games.