For my inaugural posting of Going Critical here at Critical Hits, I thought I would focus on some of the best free games that exist in this wonderful land we call the internet.
MMORPG
Silk Road Online
Description: A MMORPG about oriental mythology involving the Silk Road that stretched from Roma into the heart of the Chinese empire.
Key Features: Anime-esque graphical style. Pseudo action-based gameplay with focus on looking cool doing it, large semi-realistic world based on eastern cultures.
Kal Online
Description: Another MMORPG about oriental mythos, but this time based in a more fantasy setting.
Key Features: Anime-esque graphical style. Branching job/class system allows for extended customizablity of your characters.
Entropia Universe
Description: A sci-fi MMO with a real cash economy. Yes, that means you can earn real cash there. I made like 3 dollars in the month I played.
Key Features: Real Cash Economy. The ability to earn extra cash.
ACTION
Grand Theft Auto 1 & 2
Description: I’m sure we all know what GTA is, but for those of you who have been locked in a cave for the last 700 years by an alien prince, allow me to elaborate. Grand Theft Auto is a 2D top down open-ended crime-based game. As the title implies, car jacking plays a large part, as well as murder, hit and runs, amd assassination, among other crimes.
Key Features: Open-Ended world. Humourously violent (GOURANGA! Anyone?)
Space Cowboy
Description: A massively multiplayer space shooter where you can pilot and upgrade your own custom space fighter.
Key Features: Allows players to pilot and upgrade ships in a persistant world. Has arcade style quests where you have to take down Bosses at the end of “levels”.
Penumbra
Description: A survival horror FPS/Action/Puzzle game with physics-based gameplay. Originally a tech demo to show off the game engine, the game itself is actually pretty damned good.
Key Features: Physics-based gameplay, scary atmosphere.
FPS
WarRock
Description: A Multiplayer FPS in the vein of Battlefield 2 and CounterStrike, WarRock is completely free, unless you wish to purchase a “game-enhancing” item to give you an advantage on the battlefield.
Key Features: Ability to “upgrade” the game as you see fit, buying only the enhanced items/features you want.
F.E.A.R. Combat
Description: The multiplayer portion of F.E.A.R. has been released as a stand-alone multiplayer FPS.
Key Features: Cool firefights with shrapnel flying everywhere. Gorgeous graphics.
Nexuiz
Description: A multiplayer FPS based on the Quake 3 engine.
Key Features: Enhancements on the already solid Quake 3 gameplay. Graphical improvements as well.
STRATEGY
TA Spring
Description: A re-creation of the game Total Annihilation, this game takes the great gameplay of TA and adds new features, higher resolution graphics and takes it completely into 3D.
Key Features: Takes everything good about Total Annihilation and expands upon it. Beautiful graphics.
FreeCiv
Description: Recreates the game Civilization, a civilization building game, in an open source engine.
Key Features: Takes everything good about Civilization and expands upon it.
Savage
Description: A multiplayer RTSS ( Real Time Strategy Shooter ) where you can either be the RTS-style commander and perform RTS-style actions, or you can jump into the fray as one of the units themselves and experience the battle from the FPS perspective.
Key Features: Unique gameplay. Many choices of what and how to play.
ARCADE
N
Description: A physics-based puzzle game about a ninja trapped underground, collecting gold and avoiding robots. (I had Bartoneus hooked on this one for a while.)
Key Features: Physics-based gameplay. Oldschool Atari feel.
OH GOD…N…
…at last we are together again. (You’ve both ruined and saved my life at the same time)
Great list!
Someone recommended Savage for play at the LAN party but we never got to it. I like the idea of hybrid games that let people do what they enjoy in games but have everything work together. Of course, that’s no good if you’re like me and suck at both RTS and FPS!
I suggested Savage, but I didn’t really push it as I hadn’t played it in ages and couldn’t remember if it was any good. I also didn’t feel like going through the hassle of distributing the ISO. It is free right now though (and legal).
The main problem of Savage is that the commander gives orders to real people, and we all know how people love to follow orders!
So the main problem of Savage is that people play it? 🙂
For the record, I did send you gold whenever you asked in WC3. (Uhh, after I found out how to do it.)
Another game that I’ve been enjoying lately is Battle for Wesnoth–it’s a free turn-based strategy game. I play it on Ubuntu Dapper Drake, but there are versions available for Windows and Mac OS X as well. There are roughly a bazillion campaigns available to customize the game as well.
http://www.wesnoth.org/
No wonder you had Bartoneus hooked on N. It’s practically his dream game! Ninja + gold + robot = best game ever.
+ Excellent flash platform/puzzle game!
Though yes, of course, a stylized pixel-ninja helps EVERYTHING.