Free PC Gaming Blog

The new beta build is up and running for the new free to play MMO: Mythos.  You can sign up for an invite into the next phase of beta testing. Looking at the posted screenshots, this Diablo style online MMO is looking pretty cool.  There seem to be a lot of games like this popping up these days that allow you to play for free, but give you more items and a jump ahead by putting up some cash (microtransactions).  This is kind of cool for those who have the cash but not the time to put into these games. It feels like a bit of a cheat for those putting massive amounts of time though, but as long as there’s a careful balance, I guess it’s a decent trade off. It’s kind of like real life that way, those with $$ can jump ahead while the rest of us need to bust our butts to keep up. I’ve found that this kind of model works well in the fact that you can get a good idea of the full game and make a well informed decision on whether or not you want to invest your money into it.  Let”s face it… while free is great for us, the programmers and guys putting these games together deserve and need to get compensated and have inspiration to continue developing great games.

Ok, now I’m really on a free games kick. Inspired by my old flash star wars game I made years ago and my love for all things Star Wars, I was just thinking… I wonder if there are any free Star Wars games out there… so off to Google I go. I just searched Google for “Free Star Wars Games” and I couldn’t believe the first result that came up: http://www.swcombine.com.

Star Wars Combine is a free massive multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Star Wars univers, and it’s FREE to play!! I have not had the chance to play yet. I’m waiting for approval, but this looks really in depth for a free to play game. I can’t wait to get in and try it out. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it before. Shows that there are a lot of hidden gems out there… and we aim to find them and point you in their direction!

For those of you who own FATE, you might not know of the items you can download from the official FATE website. If you’re like me, you downloaded it and never looked at the main FATE site. I checked it out this weekend and was surprised to see these additional packages to download.

They have an Enhanced Media Package to improve the games textures and sound. There is also a Bonus pack that adds new weapons, armor, and 3 new monsters.

Nice little packages for an already spectacular game. As I’ve said before, if you like the Diablo games (only better graphics!), than you shouldn’t miss out on FATE.

One of the things I like to do is find the games out there that are a diamond in the rough. They may not have the latest and greatest graphics, but the fun factor is the most important to me. I found this in Aveyond.

Aveyond is an RPG that is very much in the style of an old school SNES game like the Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger games. If you enjoy these types of turn based games, then this one’s a game you should check out. I had a nostalgic feeling as I started playing Aeyond. At first it felt like an SNES Zelda with the top down view and slowly building story elements. Once the turn based battles started, it felt like I found a classic Final Fantasy I never played.

I think sometimes I go into checking out these games with the preconceived notion that because of the low price, I’m not going to get the full experience that I want. I’m finding as I explore some of these alternate non-mainstream games that there are a surprising number of great diamonds to be discovered: FATE, Aveyond, Grimm’s Hatchery just to name a few. I hope to find many more and post them here so that others can find them and enjoy these games that we’ve been missing out on.

I heard of Fate before, but this weekend I finally downloaded it and gave it a try. I was very impressed! This was a whole lot more than I was expecting. Wildgame’s has done a fantastic job capturing the Diablo style RPG feel and control with great graphics to match. You have a pet companion that will accompany you and assist on your journeys and battles in Fate. You can fish in certain locations for food to feed your dog companion that will transform him into creatures that are much more powerful. There is a surprising amount of depth to this RPG for a game in its price range.

Speaking of the price range, Wildgames has some interesting systems in place. First off, you can purchase the full game for $20. The other option is a “coins” system. With this system, you purchase a plan that gives you so many coins. You can use these coins to play 100s of their games. This is a neat idea… you pay less and get to play many different games without having to purchase the full versions. I like seeing these different plans that online game producers are experimenting with these days!

I have just started playing Fate this weekend and I’m hooked. I’ll do more of a review post when I’m further into it. If a new Diablo style game RPG dungeon crawler is what you’re looking for, give the free trial of Fate a try!