GOG's preservation program now includes Splinter Cell, Resident Evil HD and, er, Spore, while you can also get 95% off XCOM 2 in its Autumn Sale

(Image credit: GOG)

GOG's preservation program is a commitment by the distribution service to ensure that classic PC games included in the program will run on your Windows machine no matter what. This doesn't mean included games will receive any fancy overhauls or resolution boosts—quite the opposite. GOG's pledge is to preserve the look and feel of the original experience, while ensuring the games boot without any intervention from you.

GOG launched the program just under a year ago, with 100 games such as Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital and Blade Runner receiving the badge of +1 compatibility. As of now, that number has increased to 250.

The latest batch of entries includes some big names like Splinter Cell, Resident Evil: HD Remaster (which has been preserved in digital amber a year after GOG convinced Capcom's bewildered execs to add the original version ) and Hitman: Codename 47, as well as forgotten gems like Clive Barker's Undying. There's also a few genuine oddities on the list, like Legend Entertainment's Superhero League of Hoboken and Adventure Soft's Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, a spinoff of the TV show that the game's store page claims is 100 hours long. There's also the entire Spore Collection, if anybody's interested in playing Will Wright's ambitious but disappointing life sim.

The entry that surprised me the most, however, is Crystal Dynamics' 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. While it is 12 years old now (the grave beckons) I'd be surprised if anyone had trouble running it given how it's still relatively modern tech-wise. Then again, I suppose such complacency is exactly how games fall into technical obsolescence in the first place. Prevention is better than cure, as my mum likes to say.

These additions coincide with GOG's Autumn Sale, which'll let you grab games from across the store on the cheap. The newly preserved Tomb Raider, for example, is 85% off at $3 (£2.29), which would be a great deal if it wasn't even cheaper on Steam (though you do get GOG's preservation promise on top, I suppose). Meanwhile, Splinter Cell is currently $2.50 (£1). That is cheaper than Steam at the moment.

There are also some decent deals on non-preserved games. Predictably, The Witcher games are all on deep discounts, with The Witcher 3 at 80% off for $8 (£5). Frankly, I'm amazed there's anybody left to sell The Witcher 3 to. But perhaps there's a newborn in your extended family you can gift it to for Christmas (and have the parents disown you when they see what Geralt and Yennefer get up to on that unicorn).

The best deal that I've seen, though, is a whopping 95% off XCOM 2. $3 (£1.79) is an absurd price for what is probably the best turn-based tactics game ever. The sale ends on November 5.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

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