Bandai Namco’s Humble Bundle Isn’t Too Bad

Most people will probably be happy to stop at the second tier, but even then you’re getting some decent games for about the price of a cheap movie ticket.

The second Bandai Namco Humble Bundle has been kicking around for a while, but it’s only recently that the full set of games were announced. There was already plenty of value in the first two tiers, although the entry level offerings are pretty good on their own.

First tier: Pay what you want

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• ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West
• Ace Combat Assault Horizon
• PAC-MAN 256

Hey look, it’s an Aussie game! PAC-MAN 256 was made by Hipster Whale down in Melbourne. It’s originally a mobile title, and it’s not as deep an offering as PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX, but then it’s a bit unfair to compare the two titles in the first place.

But getting ENSLAVED and Ace Combat Assault Horizon with PAC-MAN is a decent package. For what it’s worth, I think ENSLAVED is probably the biggest drawcard here – Assault Horizon can be fun, but it’s far from the best Ace Combat game, and you can only play endless runners for so long.

Second tier: Pay more than the average

The average is $12.62 ($US9.63) at the time of writing, and it’ll probably be a notch higher by the time you’re done reading this.

• PAC-MAN, Dig Dug and Galaga (ARCADE 3-in-1 Pack)
• Attractio
• NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 3 Full Burst
• Project CARS
• Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade

There’s some real intriguing mixes in here. For one, getting Project CARS for ~$13 is a good deal if you’re the type who just enjoys singleplayer careers and you’re not too worried about the whole sim-side of things.

And following the not-too-serious trend is NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, which should be taken as a long-ass episode of Naruto where you get to do the fighting. I bought the PC version of this a couple of years ago during a sale, and can confirm that it holds up real well and looks super nice. It’s fully voice-acted and animated, and is easily the best of the modern Naruto Shippuden games.

The rest of the pack is really to taste. The premise behind Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade is interesting – think Warhammer meets Planetside 2 – but you’ll be stuck on American servers, and the game has been relentlessly savaged since launch for unbalanced factions and poor matchmaking. Oldschool Atari games are great to have, but I don’t know how long anyone would feasibly play Dig Dug or Galaga for these days, and Attractio is an odd first-person Portal-esque puzzler set in a reality TV show.

Third tier: Pay $19.69 or more to unlock

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• Tales of Zestiria
• Project CARS On-Demand DLC Pack

The main value of the Project CARS DLC pack is that it comes with several track expansions, which often come with a car or two and new layouts for existing tracks. Most of the DLC was well-received when it launched – save for the Pagani Nurburgring DLC – but none of it is necessary to enjoy the main game, and if you’re not interested in the competitive online racing it’s not needed at all.

Tales of Zestiria is an odd choice. It’s generally considered inferior to the three major Tales titles, and the recently-released Tales of Berseria got a vastly better reception.

If you’re a Tales or JRPG diehard, however, chances are you already have Zestiria. It’s been discounted to around $20 before (most recently around Christmas). Curiously, the game’s full price is a solid $US20 more than Berseria, even though the latter only launched on Steam a fortnight ago.

Fourth tier: Pay $45.91 or more

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• Little Nightmares (pre-order)

Given that Little Nightmares a) isn’t out and b) only costs $26.24 to pre-order in the first place, I have literally no idea why anyone would pay for this tier. You could just get the first two tiers and Little Nightmares separately for cheaper.

It’s worth noting that you get the Humble Monthly 10% discount coupon with all tiers, which you can redeem for Total War: WARHAMMER if you feel so inclined.

Some decent picks all in all. Project CARS at that price is a genuinely good offer, provided you don’t convince yourself you’re buying the next iRacing or anything. And the third Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja game was 15 hours well spent, much more so than last year’s Shippuden title that launched with weird frame rate drops and still frames in place of animated sequences.

If that wasn’t enough, Humble also has a Star Wars bundle going as of today. It’s excellent value, but it’s also predominately the same games that have been discounted time and time again. One reason to give this a second look might be the original Rebel Assault games, although playing those on modern systems can be a bit of a challenge (pro tip: knock the frame rate right down).