freeware-friday posts

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

The Mechwarrior series is one of the better in gaming. Based upon an old board game, they have consistently put players into the cockpits of complicated war machines and told them to, plainly, "figure it out." While the second is one of the most revered classics on the PC, there have been four main series games to date. The last is Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, and while it may have not received the attention that Mechwarrior 2 did on release, it's grown considerably in appeal as time has gone on. The folks at MekTek have partnered with Microsoft and the remnants of FASA to bring this excellent game to everyone for free, and with it being free, there's now no reason not to play it. After all, it's a large, commercial-quality game that runs beautifully on modern systems.

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

Indie games tend to lean towards the format of short, sweet, and action-oriented. It's not often that you will see an involved, strategic RPG released by an indie developer. This isn't a matter of disliking the genre, but rather because of the time and energy necessary to make a good RPG. One of the first indie games we ever covered the release of on Big Download was The Spirit Engine 2. Two years later, the developer has decided to release it to the public for free, and despite a few minor shortcomings, it's easily a classic. Since it doesn't cost anything, there's no excuse not to play it!

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

Some games tell us all we need to know about the game in the title. Assassin's Creed is about an assassin and his creed. Command and Conquer tells you exactly what you have to do to succeed right there in the title. Action Fist follows this same principle, and gets you pumped for the game simply through the title. There is lots action, and like a fist, you are smashing your way through any resistance you meet. There are no actual fists, however, just guns blowing stuff apart. It's a stellar freeware title that, while lacking polish and being a little rough around the edges, still manages to pleasantly surprise the player at every turn.

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

Much like Freeware Friday alumni 10 Second War, Drone is marginally based upon the tower defense formula. You can build towers which kill enemies, giving you money to buy more towers until you survive all the waves. However, where 10 Second War decided to merge in puzzle-oriented gameplay, Drone throws arena shooting mechanics in with tower defense to bring a distinctly action twist to a tired old genre. The result is one of the more addicting games we've come across on Freeware Friday, especially given that it'll take a good amount of time (3+ hours) to complete. It's always great when a freeware game is the quality and length of a mainstream title.

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

Sokoban is one of the most influential games in all of video gaming. The puzzle-like elements can be seen in pure form in many indie and freeware games, such as Nethack, or in an altered form in games like Half-Life 2. Mobile Bomb Squad is one of the more pure Sokoban games, but it introduces enough new and interesting elements to keep players on their toes. It is, in essence, the best kind of puzzle game: simple to learn, hard to master, and thoroughly satisfying when you finish it. The decent production values also keep you engaged throughout the process, and that's a must have for most gamers. So let's sit back and be challenged by the puzzle-pushing of Mobile Bomb Squad.

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

Some games are complex in how everything interacts, and some games are complex due to the timing necessary to complete them. 10 Second War falls solidly into the second category, and we're perfectly fine with that. Made as an entry into a competition to make a game with the theme of 10 seconds of gameplay, 10 Second War manages to merge time management and tower defense into an interesting, cohesive, and entertaining whole. Sure, there's some minor problems, but this is one of our favorites from the 10 second competition, and with good reason. It'll provide you with a quick, but lasting, impression of quality.

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

We do not normally cover flash games on Freeware Friday, and for good reason. Most are finishable within half an hour of play at the most, incredibly simple, and slightly-tweaked clones of other games. However, sometimes we get blown away by the artistry present in a Flash game, and it impresses us enough to be worth mentioning. Anna Anthropy's latest game and collaborative effort, Redder, is easily one of the most unique, engaging flash games we've ever played. It also helps that the other member of the team is Amon26, whose games have been featured twice before on Freeware Friday. Time to delve into the insanity of Mars!

Castlevania is a classic console series whose main appeal lies in just how hair-pullingly frustrating and hard it is. There aren't very many of those on the PC, but there is a genre with the sort of entertaining, mind-numbing difficulty that is so prevalent on consoles. The genre is rogue-likes, and when you merge the two, you get the excellent CastlevaniaRL: Serenade of Chaos. A java-based game originally made for a rogue-like competition, it has expanded greatly. In a way, it's much like the (already covered) excellent DoomRL, except with Castlevania.

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

There are games that are replayable thanks to how complex the interaction of gameplay and story mechanics are. There are games that are replayable due to their incredible multiplayer component. Then there are games that are replayable simply because they are fun. Rescue: The Beagles falls solidly into this last category. It's not particularly hard to understand, anyone can play, but it consistently draws you back with charming graphics, good visuals, and entertaining gameplay. We originally covered it for the TIGsource competition that spawned it, but it's time we went more in-depth, especially since it's the only game from that competition we continually find ourselves returning to.

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

Command and Conquer is an extremely long-running RTS series. It's certainly the one with the most entries, as the only other contender is Blizzard's -craft series, which has five entries compared to Command and Conquer's eight. In anticipation for Command and Conquer 4, which is supposed to be the biggest departure for the series, EA has released two more of the Command and Conquer games for free. Red Alert was already covered on Boot Disk, but Tiberian Sun has had no coverage whatsoever. With this new pack, players can enjoy both Tiberian Sun and Firestorm for free, and despite being slightly buggy upon release, Tiberian Sun is one of the most interesting and entertaining entries in the series.