Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - Abe's Free PC Game Dynasty (With Reviews!)

Abe Sargent · 02-09-2010, 08:28 PM

It seems like most of the free games out there fall into one of five categories:

1). Games that are trying to recreate the game, either virtually or literally, of an old game they like that will run on modern machines. Examples include the Ur-Quan Masters, FreeCol and Widelands.
2). Games that were formerly a commercial release and now are put out there for free. Examples include the Ur-Quan Masters, MechCommander 2 and Dink Smallwood.
3). Quick games that are unique, but meant for casual gaming. Examples include puzzle and arcade games, such as Chromium BSU.
4). Games that are an homage or pastiche of a genre conquered by one or more franchises, that want to improve or make changes. Examples include LinCity NG and C-Evo.
5). New and sometimes unique games that will always be in alpha or beta stages with severe problems like PlaneShift.

You can totally combine categories, like UFO: AI is sorta between 1 and 4 while also being 5.

What seems really, really rare is The Battle for Wesnoth. Sure, there are a few games out there that it has similarities with, but it is not trying to be anything. It is not trying to be a better Civ, a new SimCity, an updated Elite, a quick casual game or a formerly commercial game now getting another day in the sun.

That makes it quite rare.

The longer I go the more i see it as the gold standard of free games.

So many free games are still in alpha, beta and may never be finished. Then there are free puzzle or arcade type games, but I've done one of those already, and I'm not really interested in more right now.

The number of quality free games is diminishing. Do you know how many free RPGs are out there other than Roguelikes? Do you know how many more free strategy and/or simulation games are out there that are not Civ, SimCity, Elite, or Transport Tycoon clones? You know, I could d/l and try out Micropolis, built from SimCity the original, or FreeCiv the free civilization clone, etc.

It's getting a little tough. Now, what I could do is switch up genres. I count roughly 12 first person shooters that are free and not commercials with open sources like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D and Duke Nukem 3D and Quake 1, 2 or 3, which are all open source now. However, I don;t really like FPS as a genre anymore. Boring. After Half-Life, the genre sort of stopped getting better and simply got prettier. It's like real time strategies post-Starcraft.

02-09-2010, 08:28 PM	#95
Abe Sargent Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Catonsville, MD	It seems like most of the free games out there fall into one of five categories: 1). Games that are trying to recreate the game, either virtually or literally, of an old game they like that will run on modern machines. Examples include the Ur-Quan Masters, FreeCol and Widelands. 2). Games that were formerly a commercial release and now are put out there for free. Examples include the Ur-Quan Masters, MechCommander 2 and Dink Smallwood. 3). Quick games that are unique, but meant for casual gaming. Examples include puzzle and arcade games, such as Chromium BSU. 4). Games that are an homage or pastiche of a genre conquered by one or more franchises, that want to improve or make changes. Examples include LinCity NG and C-Evo. 5). New and sometimes unique games that will always be in alpha or beta stages with severe problems like PlaneShift. You can totally combine categories, like UFO: AI is sorta between 1 and 4 while also being 5. What seems really, really rare is The Battle for Wesnoth. Sure, there are a few games out there that it has similarities with, but it is not trying to be anything. It is not trying to be a better Civ, a new SimCity, an updated Elite, a quick casual game or a formerly commercial game now getting another day in the sun. That makes it quite rare. The longer I go the more i see it as the gold standard of free games. So many free games are still in alpha, beta and may never be finished. Then there are free puzzle or arcade type games, but I've done one of those already, and I'm not really interested in more right now. The number of quality free games is diminishing. Do you know how many free RPGs are out there other than Roguelikes? Do you know how many more free strategy and/or simulation games are out there that are not Civ, SimCity, Elite, or Transport Tycoon clones? You know, I could d/l and try out Micropolis, built from SimCity the original, or FreeCiv the free civilization clone, etc. It's getting a little tough. Now, what I could do is switch up genres. I count roughly 12 first person shooters that are free and not commercials with open sources like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D and Duke Nukem 3D and Quake 1, 2 or 3, which are all open source now. However, I don;t really like FPS as a genre anymore. Boring. After Half-Life, the genre sort of stopped getting better and simply got prettier. It's like real time strategies post-Starcraft. __________________ Check out my two current weekly Magic columns! https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent Last edited by Abe Sargent : 02-09-2010 at 08:37 PM.