Last-Minute Game Gifts – Entire Trilogies for $30, Digital Downloads Save Us Again

After going big on family gifts, it's not always in the funds to get things for gaming friends and clanmates; the rise of Steam, Origin, and other services have changed that. There's a huge Steam sale right now, but you can also grab games like Battlefield for $1, Dragon Age: Inquisition for 30% off, and Titanfall for $10 via EA's revamped Origin store.

We've already overviewed Steam's sales – here's what Origin's got.

First Person Shooters Under $10

Titanfall ($10): One of the most anticipated games of the year, Titanfall's initially buggy and unoptimized PC launch has been largely patched-up at this point. The game isn't the most innovative in our eyes, but it's good for several hours of play and well worth a $10 price tag. If you like quick, twitchy gameplay with more modernized weapons, you'll like Titanfall. Also mechs. See if your PC can handle Titanfall on our benchmark.

Battlefield 3 ($1): After offering Battlefield 3 for free recently, the server population has been rejuvinated to a point that rivals Battlefield 4. The two games play largely the same and even have similarly high-fidelity graphics, so if you'd rather pay a buck for a more stable game than $15 for BF4, it's a worthy investment. Easily a few hours of play, and at $1, that's good value.

Crysis 3 ($10): Crysis is one of the best benchmarking platforms available. It's also got one of those “story” things, if that interests you – but for our audience, we'd encourage picking up the game for its GPU benchmarking abilities. Let us know how your system performs once you've got Crysis 3 installed.

RPG Series & Trilogy Sales

Mass Effect Trilogy ($28): Mass Effect ($7.5), Mass Effect 2 ($10), & ME3 ($10) total $28, so you could have the whole trilogy for under $30. The Mass Effect games loosely parallel KOTOR's story arc and offer great role-play depth in a traditional sci-fi universe.

Dragon Age Series: The brand new Dragon Age: Inquisition is marked down to only $40 right now, and its preceding titles (Origins - $10, DA2 - $10) can be had for $20 even. The whole trilogy up til now makes for a high-fantasy, dialogue-driven RPG with tremendous character depth.

Kingdoms of Amalur ($10): Written by the famed R. A. Salvatore, known for Drizzt Do'Urden and the Forgotten Realms universe, Kingdoms of Amalur is a story-driven singleplayer RPG with a critically-acclaimed writer behind the story.

Mirror's Edge ($10): Mirror's Edge is one of my favorite games. It's a 3D platformer with a focus on parkour and New World Order-style plot development. Guns are present, but are an “only if necessary” deal – your best bet is to outrun the enemies, making for a more unique playstyle than most other games involving guns.

Space Sims, RTS, & Misc.

Wing Commander ($5): Fans of Chris Roberts and Star Citizen know that the famed developer gained his renown in the early 90s with Wing Commander. The entire Wing Commander series is available via Origin at $5 each right now, dating back to 1993.

Stronghold 3 ($8): Marked down from $30, Stronghold 3: Gold offers an RTS with a story-driven singleplayer campaign set in a fantasy universe. Given the rarity of solid fantasy real-time strategy games, we've taken a liking to the Stronghold series.

Let us know what sales you found by tweeting at us or posting below!

- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.