Game Download Review: Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive is one of those websites where you can pay to download games online.
This is my review.
Website: http://www.direct2drive.com/
Pricing: Per-download
Free Things: Demos, trailers, videos
Speed: Slow (Usually around 50 KB/s)
Client: Choice of Direct download, or Proprietary download client
I used Direct2Drive recently to buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. when I was too lazy to drive out to Best Buy and get it. The purchasing process is fairly straightforward: Enter your credit card details, email address, and a new password. They then almost immediately email you a link to download the game.
You have a choice at this point to either use Direct2Drive's custom download manager, or a direct link to the game file - which is just a Zip with the installer inside. It can take a good while to download (over 20 hours when I used it) so prepare to let it sit overnight.
After the Zip is downloaded, you can run the installer, though you'll need to get the CD Key and Activation Code from the Direct2Drive website to finish installing. You'll also want to download any patches for the game, since the Direct2Drive download probably won't include them.
After all this, the game should work just as if you had installed it from a CD, except you don't need the CD to play, which is nice. Of course, for a game you get at the store you can always look for a no-cd crack, though you'd have to do some hunting.
Direct2Drive keeps a record of all games you've purchased from them, so you can download them over again if your hard drive fails. I haven't tried installing my downloads on any other computers yet, so I'm not sure if it's friendly to moving your game around like Steam is.
Check out their games list here: http://www.direct2drive.com/buy-all-pc-games-download
Pros: Convenient, has lots of games
Cons: Slow download speeds, no automatic patching
Rating: 3.5 / 5
If you're too lazy to go to the store or look for no-cd cracks, you should try it out. Direct2Drive has a lot of big pc games available, probably more than Best Buy has stocked at any given time. While the downloads are slow, it's still faster than ordering a hard copy from a website to be delivered.
This is my review.
Website: http://www.direct2drive.com/
Pricing: Per-download
Free Things: Demos, trailers, videos
Speed: Slow (Usually around 50 KB/s)
Client: Choice of Direct download, or Proprietary download client
I used Direct2Drive recently to buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. when I was too lazy to drive out to Best Buy and get it. The purchasing process is fairly straightforward: Enter your credit card details, email address, and a new password. They then almost immediately email you a link to download the game.
You have a choice at this point to either use Direct2Drive's custom download manager, or a direct link to the game file - which is just a Zip with the installer inside. It can take a good while to download (over 20 hours when I used it) so prepare to let it sit overnight.
After the Zip is downloaded, you can run the installer, though you'll need to get the CD Key and Activation Code from the Direct2Drive website to finish installing. You'll also want to download any patches for the game, since the Direct2Drive download probably won't include them.
After all this, the game should work just as if you had installed it from a CD, except you don't need the CD to play, which is nice. Of course, for a game you get at the store you can always look for a no-cd crack, though you'd have to do some hunting.
Direct2Drive keeps a record of all games you've purchased from them, so you can download them over again if your hard drive fails. I haven't tried installing my downloads on any other computers yet, so I'm not sure if it's friendly to moving your game around like Steam is.
Check out their games list here: http://www.direct2drive.com/buy-all-pc-games-download
Pros: Convenient, has lots of games
Cons: Slow download speeds, no automatic patching
Rating: 3.5 / 5
If you're too lazy to go to the store or look for no-cd cracks, you should try it out. Direct2Drive has a lot of big pc games available, probably more than Best Buy has stocked at any given time. While the downloads are slow, it's still faster than ordering a hard copy from a website to be delivered.