Kayfabe
05-06-2008, 02:26 AM
Hi. I'm the Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube, and it's nice to see you again. Oh, don't worry, I'm not that disappointed that you put me in the Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator, really.
Anyway.
Beyond that.
I decided in the chat, and inspired by Wingard's thread, that I would compile a list of free games that I tested myself. Without further ado, here we go. In no particular order.
1. Warsow.
http://www.warsow.net/
Warsow is a Fast Paced, Quake style FPS. It can run on machines with relatively low specs, and has incredible gameplay. Everything from rocket jumping, strafe jumping, to instagib, ctf, ca (A personal favorite), deathmatch, and more. This game is definitely a gem. Also, cell shaded, simple but beautiful graphics, designed with visibility in mind, this game is truly designed to be multiplayer (That's all it's got, but what I am saying is, its got the competitive gamer in mind.) Although the list is in no particular order, I felt compelled to list this one first, because of it's goodness.
2. Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory
http://enemy-territory.4players.de:1041/
This was a planned expansion pack to Return to Castle Wolfenstien, or something like that, that was canceled for reasons I myself do not know. Either way, they released the content as a multiplayer free game. WWII in theme, it pits axis forces against allies in objective class based team combat. Alot of fun, though I found it slightly confusing to start, asking questions gathers answers and it becomes easy to learn. Graphically out of date, but that means little no? One thing that I wonder about this game is why you can't shoot while using the lean ability, which imo makes it useless. Either way, another must have.
3. EXCLUSIVE FOR ATI OR NVIDIA GAMERS: Half Life 2: Deathmatch
ATI: http://www.steampowered.com/ati_offer1a/
NVIDIA: http://www.steampowered.com/nvidia/
An excellent find. This gives you full access to Half Life 2: Deathmatch, for an unlimited amount of time and grants access to all servers, as if you owned the game for real. The downside? It doesn't include the Source SDK Base, meaning you cannot run any mods for it. Still, this game is excellent fun, and the source engine provides great graphics with low spec performance. The gravity gun, which can push things, lift things, and throw things around (Like at players perhaps... Well mostly to be honest) adds a whole other dimension to the gameplay... kindof. Definitely recommended. One note, I noticed alot of servers I pinged low on running low gravity mods (I am in the Great Lakes region.)
4. AirRivals
http://www.airrivals.net/
What can I say about this game? It's really something original at the least. It is essentially a combination of a third person ship flier (Think starfox) and an mmorpg at the same time. It has two warring factions, much like the alliance and horde in WoW but unlike WoW, there are not any races beyond human, and the four "classes" (ship types) are available to both. Anyway, a great game for some long term fun, and levelling hardly gets boring with such action packed gameplay.
5. Alien Arena 2008
http://icculus.org/alienarena/rpa/aquire.html
I didn't play much of this game, but from what I've tried, it seems to be a balanced, futuristic, UT-like online game. The guns are fun, the gameplay is fast, and can be a little confusing, though I'm sure it would clear up sometime after getting into it. Definitely going to play some more of this sometime.
6. Sword of the New World
http://swordofthenewworld.gamersfirst.com/index.php
This is a free MMORPG with a twist; players can control up to 3 characters at once. It is alot of fun, has excellent graphics, and fun gameplay. Walking places is a bit of a pain, cause you must click each destination, no wasd/arrow or holding the mouse button- style movement. Also, alot of the player population is akwardly silent... botting? Either way, fun for a while and probably better if you find a clan.
7. OpenArena
http://www.openarena.ws/
OpenArena is essentially Quake III Arena for free. This game has fast paced deathmatch action, and includes the strafe jump as well as alot of other trickjump techniques, being based off a series that developed trickjumping itself. Either way, an excellent way to put away some time.
8. Daimonin
http://www.daimonin.com/
This game is graphically pretty, but really simple, and using only open source graphic resources. But, if you can get past that, you have an extremely in depth online RPG infront of you. I was very impressed with this game when I tried it, but I couldn't wrap my head around the immense amount of things in this game. Just look at the interface in the screenshot above... Aimed at the more hardcore online RPG fan for sure.
9. Dungeon Runners
http://www.dungeonrunners.com/
This game also impressed me. It is free, with a membership option that enables more features. One thing I enjoyed about this game is it's hilarity, from voice overs to even weapon names such as "Cardboard axe from the ghetto" Definitely give this one a shot.
10. Pristontale
http://eng.pristontale.com/ - website doesn't work properly in firefox.
This is an Asian mmorpg, so you all know what to expect: Hilarious grammar. But alongside that, is a fun game that will last you some time.. At least I found myself playing this one for a longer time than most. It's combat system can be a little bland but if you take morion (I think that's the name of the civilization... my memory betrays me, the one that isn't tempskron anyway) route, you will see some really breathtaking scenery.. A beautiful game that has a good community.
11. Starsiege: Tribes
http://www.planettribes.com/ You may need to google for the download link.
This game was released for free recently due to Tribes: Vengeance's release, but originally released as a retail game in 1998, this is a ten year old, but still really fun game. Not just your standard FPS either, the addition of jetpacks with a recharging, limited power source, added to the game's complexity and skill level. Many, many servers around for this one, and WILL run on an old computer.
Feel free to make suggestions and contribute, though if you suggest a game I tried and didn't like, you'll have to write the review yourself, cause I couldn't be bothered, sorry. Anyway, as stated, whenever I find a new free game, if I enjoy it, I'll make sure to update this thread.
Anyway.
Beyond that.
I decided in the chat, and inspired by Wingard's thread, that I would compile a list of free games that I tested myself. Without further ado, here we go. In no particular order.
1. Warsow.
http://www.warsow.net/
Warsow is a Fast Paced, Quake style FPS. It can run on machines with relatively low specs, and has incredible gameplay. Everything from rocket jumping, strafe jumping, to instagib, ctf, ca (A personal favorite), deathmatch, and more. This game is definitely a gem. Also, cell shaded, simple but beautiful graphics, designed with visibility in mind, this game is truly designed to be multiplayer (That's all it's got, but what I am saying is, its got the competitive gamer in mind.) Although the list is in no particular order, I felt compelled to list this one first, because of it's goodness.
2. Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory
http://enemy-territory.4players.de:1041/
This was a planned expansion pack to Return to Castle Wolfenstien, or something like that, that was canceled for reasons I myself do not know. Either way, they released the content as a multiplayer free game. WWII in theme, it pits axis forces against allies in objective class based team combat. Alot of fun, though I found it slightly confusing to start, asking questions gathers answers and it becomes easy to learn. Graphically out of date, but that means little no? One thing that I wonder about this game is why you can't shoot while using the lean ability, which imo makes it useless. Either way, another must have.
3. EXCLUSIVE FOR ATI OR NVIDIA GAMERS: Half Life 2: Deathmatch
ATI: http://www.steampowered.com/ati_offer1a/
NVIDIA: http://www.steampowered.com/nvidia/
An excellent find. This gives you full access to Half Life 2: Deathmatch, for an unlimited amount of time and grants access to all servers, as if you owned the game for real. The downside? It doesn't include the Source SDK Base, meaning you cannot run any mods for it. Still, this game is excellent fun, and the source engine provides great graphics with low spec performance. The gravity gun, which can push things, lift things, and throw things around (Like at players perhaps... Well mostly to be honest) adds a whole other dimension to the gameplay... kindof. Definitely recommended. One note, I noticed alot of servers I pinged low on running low gravity mods (I am in the Great Lakes region.)
4. AirRivals
http://www.airrivals.net/
What can I say about this game? It's really something original at the least. It is essentially a combination of a third person ship flier (Think starfox) and an mmorpg at the same time. It has two warring factions, much like the alliance and horde in WoW but unlike WoW, there are not any races beyond human, and the four "classes" (ship types) are available to both. Anyway, a great game for some long term fun, and levelling hardly gets boring with such action packed gameplay.
5. Alien Arena 2008
http://icculus.org/alienarena/rpa/aquire.html
I didn't play much of this game, but from what I've tried, it seems to be a balanced, futuristic, UT-like online game. The guns are fun, the gameplay is fast, and can be a little confusing, though I'm sure it would clear up sometime after getting into it. Definitely going to play some more of this sometime.
6. Sword of the New World
http://swordofthenewworld.gamersfirst.com/index.php
This is a free MMORPG with a twist; players can control up to 3 characters at once. It is alot of fun, has excellent graphics, and fun gameplay. Walking places is a bit of a pain, cause you must click each destination, no wasd/arrow or holding the mouse button- style movement. Also, alot of the player population is akwardly silent... botting? Either way, fun for a while and probably better if you find a clan.
7. OpenArena
http://www.openarena.ws/
OpenArena is essentially Quake III Arena for free. This game has fast paced deathmatch action, and includes the strafe jump as well as alot of other trickjump techniques, being based off a series that developed trickjumping itself. Either way, an excellent way to put away some time.
8. Daimonin
http://www.daimonin.com/
This game is graphically pretty, but really simple, and using only open source graphic resources. But, if you can get past that, you have an extremely in depth online RPG infront of you. I was very impressed with this game when I tried it, but I couldn't wrap my head around the immense amount of things in this game. Just look at the interface in the screenshot above... Aimed at the more hardcore online RPG fan for sure.
9. Dungeon Runners
http://www.dungeonrunners.com/
This game also impressed me. It is free, with a membership option that enables more features. One thing I enjoyed about this game is it's hilarity, from voice overs to even weapon names such as "Cardboard axe from the ghetto" Definitely give this one a shot.
10. Pristontale
http://eng.pristontale.com/ - website doesn't work properly in firefox.
This is an Asian mmorpg, so you all know what to expect: Hilarious grammar. But alongside that, is a fun game that will last you some time.. At least I found myself playing this one for a longer time than most. It's combat system can be a little bland but if you take morion (I think that's the name of the civilization... my memory betrays me, the one that isn't tempskron anyway) route, you will see some really breathtaking scenery.. A beautiful game that has a good community.
11. Starsiege: Tribes
http://www.planettribes.com/ You may need to google for the download link.
This game was released for free recently due to Tribes: Vengeance's release, but originally released as a retail game in 1998, this is a ten year old, but still really fun game. Not just your standard FPS either, the addition of jetpacks with a recharging, limited power source, added to the game's complexity and skill level. Many, many servers around for this one, and WILL run on an old computer.
Feel free to make suggestions and contribute, though if you suggest a game I tried and didn't like, you'll have to write the review yourself, cause I couldn't be bothered, sorry. Anyway, as stated, whenever I find a new free game, if I enjoy it, I'll make sure to update this thread.