Steam

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Softonic review

Jon Riggall

“Incredible games platform developed by Valve”

by Jon Riggall about Steam

Steam is a game and download/update manager from Valve, the creator of Half-Life.

Allowing you to buy and download any of Valve's games, like the recent, fantastic Left 4 Dead 2, Steam also has a huge library of titles from other big developers, as well as free demos and videos. The list of games is ever increasing, and it also supports non-commercial things like game mods.

Installing and setting up a Steam account is really easy, and the download manager is very stable. Whatever your internet connection speed, you don't need to worry about stopping a download partway through. If you exit Steam, it will continue your downloads the next time you start it without complaints.

This new version of Steam has a much improved interface, with a better news stream and cleaner overall feel. The layout is much simpler, allowing you to quickly navigate between games, available demos and videos. There's a game wishlist feature, and your game library now has real time search and customizable categories.

While you miss out on a box or instruction booklet by buying games from Steam, you do get all the latest patches and updates downloaded automatically. There are often exclusive demos and offers available through Steam too, and there's a great community service which allows you to join groups and find people to play online. Its major downfall is that the client auto-updates far too often.

Steam may not sell every game under the sun, but it's an excellent download application featuring some of the best PC gaming you can find, and the best community features found in PC gaming.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Stable download manager
  • Great community features
Cons
  • Slightly limited library
  • Client updates too often
Free Download Steam v009

Steam is virus free

We have analyzed the latest version of Steam with 30 antivirus engines and it is virus free. See analysis results.

TESTED VIRUS FREE - Softonic GUARANTEED

Steam (22) User reviews

  • Very good
  • 8/10
  • 4ngu51 4ngu51
    User reviews
    1

    The site, games and concept are awesome but when I buy full priced software and agree to the license conditions I expect to be able to activate in less than five and a half hours and intall off the... More

    • Review of Steam - 03 Feb 2011
      This review is liked by 29 of 32
  • ronmax4 ronmax4
    User reviews
    1
    • Very good
    • 6/10
    steam

    i've got steam for 3 months now. in the beginning it seemed very cool: downloading the latest updates and paches, free demo downloads and news from game-world every day. But that changed when i bou... More

    • Review of Steam - 10 Sep 2010
      This review is liked by 224 of 261
  • empire4352 empire4352
    User reviews
    1

    you guys are totally useless. this game is useless, because YOU made it useless with the 26% GLITCH. This is a steam powered ride into frustation trying to get this game to go. I've lost 5 hours of... More

    • Review of Steam - 05 Jun 2011
      This review is liked by 12 of 15
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