freeware-friday posts

Freeware Friday: Tyrian

by James Murff Jul 3rd 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Back in the day, PC gamers had two great shareware shoot-em-ups to choose from: Raptor and Tyrian. While many chose Raptor (whose full name is Raptor: Call of the Shadows), the clear winner in terms of care and quality is Tyrian. Oozing professionalism from every pore, Tyrian sports some excellent pixel art, music, and gameplay elements. It was also the launching pad for Alex Brandon, whose may be better known for his work on Unreal Tournament or Deus Ex. However, the original programmer, in a fit of generosity, decided to release the games as freeware, and the game engine as open source. Thus, new generations can be exposed to the genius shmup gameplay of Tyrian... for free!

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Filed under: Features, Indie, Arcade

Freeware Friday: Chalk

by James Murff Jun 26th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Joakim Sandberg, otherwise known as konjak, is perhaps better known for his sublime (and fantastic) Noitu Love series. But what about his other outings? Some, like Legend of Princess, are one-level affairs. Others, like Tripline, are engrossing but in a purely simplistic way, much like crosswords or Sudoku. He also has a bunch of short, on-off alphas and demos for players to jump into. However, his best freeware game is, without a doubt, the innovative and interesting shmup Chalk. With some interesting game mechanics and delightful visuals, it's a must have for any freeware fan.

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Filed under: Features, Indie

Freeware Friday: Triangle Wizard

by James Murff Jun 19th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

We do love rogue-likes. They've been featured a few times here on Freeware Friday, and they definitely inspired the hack-'n-slash games we know and love like Diablo. What happens, though, when you mix the in-depth sensibilities of a rogue-like with the fast-paced action of an arena shooter? Well, you get Triangle Wizard, a trippy and excellent freeware game that straddles the line between simulation and action. If you are the sort to get caught up in things like spell levels and resistances, then this is the game for you. If not? Well, give it a try anyway. It certainly wouldn't hurt, and it's quite newbie friendly!

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Filed under: Features, Indie, RPG

Freeware Friday: Eversion

by James Murff Jun 12th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

There were quite a few impressive games to come out of the Commonplace Book competition at TIGSource. Experiences such as Verge or The Clatter of the Keys were all quite good, even if they weren't particularly scary. The one game that really captures the Lovecraftian style of horror out of the whole competition, however, is Eversion. Mixing disturbing imagery, excellent use of music, and a combination of puzzle and platformer gameplay, it is definitely the scariest game of the competition by far. You'll be hard pressed not to have shivers run up your spine while playing Eversion.

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Filed under: Features, Indie, Puzzle

Freeware Friday: Every Extend

by James Murff Jun 5th 2009 @ 1:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

For those who have a PSP or Xbox 360, you may recognize the game Every Extend Extra (Or Every Extend Extra Extreme, in the 360's case). It's a cheap, addictive arcade-styled shooter that pulls people in with trippy graphics and a trance-inspired soundtrack. However, what most people do not realize is that Every Extend Extra was originally Every Extend, a freeware PC game released through the internet. Much like Cave Story, Every Extend found new life out there in the wilds of the console lands. But for those wanting some simple puzzle-shooter mash-up action, look no further than the original. After all, it's free! Can't get better than that.

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Filed under: Features, Indie, Arcade

Freeware Friday: All Of Our Friends Are Dead

by James Murff May 29th 2009 @ 1:00PM

After playing games like F.E.A.R., Silent Hill, and Resident Evil, I thought I knew terror. I thought I knew the fear that wells up deep within the soul, the kind of horror that drives your heart into your throat and the breath from your lungs. But that was not the case. Staring at a surreal and human organ as dismembered, tortured limbs shoot destructive orbs at me and runes and words skitter across the screen has given me a new understanding into that primal urge H.P. Lovecraft calls the "fear of the unknown." All Of Our Friends Are Dead is what taught me this fear, and it is single-handedly more terrifying than all of the retail horror games I have ever played combined.

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Filed under: Features, Indie

Freeware Friday: Grand Theft Auto 2

by James Murff May 22nd 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Nowadays, Rockstar is recognizable for its blockbuster series of satirical, crime-driven, non-linear third-person shooters known as Grand Theft Auto. Back in the early days, however, the studio behind the GTA games was not Rockstar, but DMA Design, which is now known as Rockstar North. They created a number of games, but of note were, of course, the first two games in the GTA series: Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2. It is debatable amongst the community which one is better, but really, there is no contest. Grand Theft Auto 2 is much better in just about every concievable way. Thankfully, Rockstar has been kind enough to bless those without a copy of the original access to the open-ended sandbox gameplay for free!

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Filed under: Features, Action, Sandbox, Full Games

Freeware Friday: Infiniminer

by James Murff May 15th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Much like Iji or pretty much any game released by Flashbang Studios, some games simply grab your attention as soon as they are released and refuse to let go for quite a while afterward. Infiniminer, which was released earlier this month, is one such game. We haven't felt the tingle of such a superbly crafted engineering game since Dwarf Fortress, and the combination of building and mining help distinguish Infiniminer from other underground romps such as Spelunky. Be cautious: once you download and start this game, you may not stop playing for a long time. You have been warned.

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Filed under: Features, Indie, Sandbox, Arcade

Freeware Friday: One Year Reflection

by James Murff May 8th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge! It's our one year anniversary! Here's to many more years of talking about the best freeware games out there!

It's been one full year since Freeware Friday debuted on BigDownload. There has been many freeware games featured, and there are many that are waiting to be found. In memoriam of the past year, we'd like to present to you my personal favorites of all the games we took a look at over that past year. These are the games that were enjoyable and memorable above all else. The games that really define the independent and freeware communities as being truly classic and entertaining.

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Filed under: Features, Indie

Freeware Friday: osu!

by James Murff Apr 24th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

The PC has a strong tradition of creating freeware remakes of popular rhythm games that allow for user-created content. First came the remake of Dance Dance Revolution in Stepmania, which fueled the creation of the In The Groove series. The came the remake of the Guitar Hero franchise with Frets on Fire. Now, there is osu!, a remake of Ouendan (or Elite Beat Agents, pick your poison) that manages to put both to shame. A flexible built-in editor and player, a thriving community, and a unique online experience propel osu! above its peers in the freeware music game niche.

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Filed under: Features, Rhythm

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