5 Free Steam Games

[TheFirstMonk]

I booted up Steam today and saw an announcement showcasing some F2P (free-to-play) games: http://store.steampowered.com/genre/Free%20to%20Play/

 

Global Agenda, Champions Online, Forsaken World, and Spiral Knights are all MMOs according to their descriptions; Alliance of Valiant Arms seems to be a co-op first person shooter of 4-5 players.

 

Since these are free games, there doesn't seem to be much risk in downloading them. Some of these have hefty sizes though, so you might spend quite a bit of time downloading one game and then discover you don't particularly like it. I have only played 2 of these games, but here are my thoughts:

 

Global Agenda (10+ hours):

(I think other people have already commented on this game before in the forums.)

 

Pros: Sort of like a third person shooter with flying mechanics (you get a jetpack). Customizing the look of your character seems to be a strong incentive, but I haven't felt that urge for my avatar.

 

Cons: The missions I went on didn't feel interesting. The introductory scenes set up an intriguing premise, but I didn't experience anything like the beginning in my later quests.

 

I only have about 12 hours on record, and I *think* I may have completed the main PVE campaign in maybe 10 of those hours; I did spend some of that time just wandering, so I bet the better players here can do it in less time. I've been looking around for more quests, but the only ones I can find are from a computer hub. The NPCs don't seem to have anything else to give me, but I haven't been in the game since they converted my account to a different one. From this point on, it may just be PVP matches or small PVE instance missions from the hub which pairs you up with at least 3 other players. I'll check later to see if they changed this...

 

Things I haven't tried: crafting, long term PVP.

 

My summary: Interesting concepts but lackluster execution. Play seems predominantly geared for PVP after a certain point. Futuristic tech setting and classes are fun to experiment with but challenges eventually dwindle (at least for me). Jetpack and other devices add a little novelty to the conventional gameplay. Personal opinion is to not prioritize this one on your list; you will not be missing too much.

 

Champions Online (100+ hours):

(I think other people have already commented on this game before in the forums.)

 

Pros: Designing your own character is fun. There are alot of options to choose from in making your hero/ heroine your own in terms of appearance. While this may not sound engaging, I actually liked experimenting with different looks and saving them in case I wanted to load them later and modify a look. You can create your own nemesis at level 25 too, an enemy specifically made to harass you.

 

Speaking of character design, you'll find a lot of different allies and enemies ingame. Cowboy robots, zombies, gangsters, ninjas, insect-like aliens, raptors, etc. are all present.

 

Varied, if not wholly original, backstories and lore in the world of Champions Online.

 

"Crisis" mode- an environment that is under siege until the overwhelming threat (aliens, mutated hillbillies, zombie army, etc.) is vanquished. Once completed, the setting reverts to a semi-peaceful place, although there are definitely still threats out there. Crisis mode is really cool as it feels much more threatening and therefore challenging. Smaller places like warehouses and caves are frequently reskins of the same places though.

 

The combat system is somewhat engaging. Blocking and attacking require some strategy as you advance. Loot system feels like an action-RPG type setup.

 

Great sense of humor, whether it's paying homage to the Hulk in the form of the "Project Greenskin" initiative or a mission that has you rescuing passengers from a downed aircraft... that have names of characters from the TV show "Lost." One gang looks like it comes straight out of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. There's lots of pop culture and comic book references, which gives the game a light-hearted atmosphere.

 

Cons: F2P has many restrictions in relation to the subscription version. For example, F2P only allows you 2 character slots before making you pay to get more; you get to make 2 characters total. Classes, or archetypes, are predetermined in which your character's power progression is limited to a preset design. At most you will be able to make a choice between 2 different powers at one or two instances of the 40 levels of your character. Beyond that, you cannot choose your powers unlike the freeform design, which is subscription only. You are limited to 8 classes/ archetypes, making your 2 free choices kinda important.

 

Grinding. I have only Guild Wars as my MMO reference, so I don't know how WoW works in comparison. The progression in GW is easy compared to this game. Once you get to the mid-teens in Champions Online, you will start to feel anxious from the repeated missions of "Find X number of items/ kill X number of people/ find and escort Person X safely." I am at level 30, but like I said, most people will get tired by level 15 which will seem really far from the cap of 40.

 

Crafting does not take up a lot of my time. The gear I find is generally better than what I can make. Healing patches are the only things I have committed to making regularly.

 

Things I havent tried: long term PVP.

 

My summary: Fun design and gameplay, but taxing grinding experience and some restrictions for free-to-play models. From what I've read from other forums, DC Universe Online is a better but paid version. I'd still play it for a few hours just to get a taste of flying around a city or throwing a snowmobile at a zombie (which I have done many, many times).

 

To be fair in my reviews, I am mainly a PVE person. I can't comment exclusively on the PVP aspects, which may be better than what I've experienced. I certainly need to spend more time with Global Agenda to give a balanced review. If someone else has an opinion on these or any of the games listed, chime in. I will probably try Spiral Knights later as it has the smallest download size. (FYI, I think Age of Conan is rumored to show up this summer as F2P too.)

[samurai nightling]

Spiral Knights

 

Anyone else playing this? For free its a fun game that is pretty involved. And i like that it limits your "free" energy to 100 per day cuz its a game i can just work on over an hour or so and then quit and play something else cuz i cant do anything without energy when its gone. And of course if you really like the game you can pay for things like more energy.

 

Everyone should at least download it and give it a shot. Read the Wiki, its very helpful in learning how the basics of the game work.