Three for Free – a choice pick of free to play games: Shooters
Three very different games, one common thread – you shoot things, be it other gamers, assassination targets or just pesky invaders from space. It is after all not about who you kill, but how happy it makes you feel doing it.
Quake Live
There was a time when neither Halo or Call of Duty existed, when if you wanted to go shoot someone in the face online then you needed a PC, and if you were a real stone cold killer, you needed Quake.
Quake Live is a browser based, online multiplayer throwback to the days when id software were the Kings of the FPS. It features all the game modes that we have come to expect – Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag etc, as well as a friends list, stat tracking and unlockables. The game does of course look dated, but it is easy to get over this and enjoy it for the fast paced fun it is.
A small install is needed to run the game, but once this is done you’ll have access to the most fully featured free to play FPS on the PC, and being browser based it will run on even low end machines. Perfect for some lunchtime laptop fragging.
Tactical Assassin series
If you want to shoot people, but aren’t any good at, well, shooting games, then maybe you need a new way to do it. What Tactical Assassin lacks in competitive multiplayer, 3D graphics, and high action excitement it more than makes up for in Stickmen.
As an assassin for hire you are tasked with a number of missions requiring you to utilise your Sniping skills to the fullest. A scope view of the area gives you the chance to plan your hits. Sometimes these will be straightforward, at other times certain conditions may need to be met to ensure satisfactory mission completion. These conditions work well to mix up the gameplay – sometimes pinpoint accuracy and fast reactions are the key, at others there is more of a puzzle element as you work out how to achieve your goal.
Simple, effective and fun games, though the graphics are basic the games as a whole is well presented and polished.
Upgrade Complete
Sometimes an original idea is worth every bit as much as great gameplay, and Upgrade Complete is an good example of this.
These days no game worth its salt gives you everything you want on a plate, it’s all about the unlocks, upgrades and achievements. Upgrade Complete takes this mechanic to the extreme, where everything is an unlockable extra, from the first menu to the achievements system itself. Same goes for the graphics – they start off truly old school, and as you unlock and upgrade they evolve through the gaming generations.
Admittedly, even when everything has finally been unlocked the resulting game isn’t going to win any prizes, but that isn’t the point. It is fun to play, a trip through memory lane for some older gamers, and an interesting commentary on our current obsession with upgrades, unlockables, and above all achievements in games.
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There are of course other “proper” FPS games available to play for free, but Battlefield Heroes fails the acid test as it is very much geared around the idea of paying to remain competitive. The other notable free FPS is Americas Army. In the process of researching I did download and play this, and in short, No. Just plain no.
Next time on Three for Free – Platform games.
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