We’ve seen a lot of free to play offers come and go with varying success. EverQuest F2P has made me pine for days long gone, Raceroom Racer Experience Teaser made the model look like a demo delivery service, and War of the Immortals even made me think that it might be a highly successful way to do business. None of the titles which use F2P as a business model, and I don’t count truly freeware games under this umbrella, have really captured my attention. Micro-transatations always manage to ruin my immersion and break the flow of what could possibly be a great experience. Then comes Drawfs?! with its F2P offering. What you get is a single, bare-bones version of the game with some modes being purchasable as DLC. I am aware how that sounds, like in DLC Quest when walking to the left was a purchasable add-on, but Dwarfs?! is actually a very good game and you can still purchase the entire game at the original $9.99 USD price point. This is something which I’ve never seen happen before, breaking an existing game up into it’s basic elements and then selling those chunks as additional content to the base game. Well, another round for the geniuses (or fools) behind the F2P movement, then!
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken
Billing itself as a cinematic platform adventure game, this console release has finally been ported over to Steam. With an art style reminiscent of Shank and featuring buff chickens with automatic weapons, you make your way stealthily (and often not as stealthily) through the linear levels of this too-funny game.
Set out on a mission to assassinate the totalitarian penguin leader as Hardboiled Chicken. Destroy enemies with a slew of weapons and illuminate the secrets to his past while uncovering the real enemies of Albatropolis. Master fowl play in the co-op campaign as a pair of Budgie commandos on a mission to save the general’s daughter. Many lives will be destroyed, countless penguins will die!
This arcade flight sim takes place during WWI and WWII. While the first nuclear war has been done to death in video games, WWI is an under-represented time period. I am looking forward to flying bi=planes around and possibly even going up against some of the big name pilots or the era.
Within the missions the player gets different objectives like patrolling, sneaking, hit & run, bombing and escorting. Objectives are presented as dialogues between different characters. After some missions the player can upgrade one of his skills in order to maneuver the airplanes easier, have more endurance or have your wingman boosted. Further, the player can choose between two control schemes. Arcade and simulation. The first one makes the game easier to control, while the second one gives more options to control the aircraft.
If you think you have to look up, waaaaaaay up to see the BFG, then you’ve probably never played Doom before. This game is the this third installment (and some say not exactly the best) of the classic demons-on-Mars shooter. Do yourself a favour and play the first two before playing this game, they’re just better overall.
Developed by id Software, the original team responsible for the franchise legacy, DOOM 3 BFG Edition features Steam Achievements, improved rendering and lighting, and a new checkpoint save system allowing for smoother progression through the game. id has fine-tuned the controls to bringing even more intensity to the DOOM single and multiplayer experience and all DOOM 3 games now feature the new armor-mounted flashlight, allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time.
Another, more indie, iteration in the old yet under-realized first-person melee genre in the vein of War of the Roses has arisen! With a trailer this bloody, I don’t see how it could be bad.
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a first-person slasher with a focus on multi-player. Featuring competitive online combat that seeks to capture the experience of truly being on a medieval battlefield. Inspired from the intensity and epicness of swordfighting movies such as 300, Gladiator and Braveheart, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare aims to bring that experience to the hands of a gamer.
This slick looking stealth game has a console review right here on Levelsave! Let’s hope the Steam version lives up to its XBLA sister app.
In Mark of the Ninja, you’ll know what it is to truly be a ninja. You must be silent, agile and clever to outwit your opponents in a world of gorgeous scenery and flowing animation. Marked with cursed tattoos giving you heightened senses, every situation presents you with options. Will you be an unknown, invisible ghost, or a brutal, silent assassin?
You’ve played Rock Band and mastered all the incredible licks in Guitar Hero, now you’re ready to actually sit down and learn to play guitar. Wait, don’t stop procrastinating yet! There is now a game which let’s you utilize that brand new Fender in the corner, and it is Rocksmith.
Nothing plastic, nothing fake, just the most authentic and complete guitar experience in music gaming. By plugging into your PC, you’ll develop real skills and real styles while playing absolutely real music. Featuring gameplay that automatically adjusts to your personal ability, Rocksmith’s innovative game design makes playing music visually intuitive and will engage experienced musicians as well as those who have never picked up a guitar in their lives.
Edna & Harvey: Harvey’s New Eyes
An indie adventure from the sick minds of Daedalic, this is another title in the flood of new point and click adventure games which aim to lift the video game community to the lofty recesses of humanity known as art. Or maybe it’s just a murder mystery, whatever.
Shy schoolgirl Lilli is having a tough time at the convent. Only her imagination helps her to escape from the strict rule of Mother Superior. But when her best friend Edna disappears under mysterious circumstances, Lilli has to rise above her own and face a tough journey to not only get her friend back but also confront her subconscious fears.
Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign
If you like hexabonal turn-based strategy games, this one might just be for you. Take control of tanks and infantry during WWII and fight for your freedom.
Unity of Command is an innovative and refreshing operational-level wargame that covers the entire 1942/43 Stalingrad Campaign on the Eastern Front. Playable from both the Axis and Soviet perspective, it strives to recreate the strategy, the forces involved and the general tension of that crucial period in World War II.
Explore a highly-stylized version of Norse mythology in this battle-heavy action/adventure title. This console release is graphically impressive and reminds me a bit of Darksiders II on the outside.
The goddess Hel – daughter of Loki, Norse God of mischief, has been banished from the heavenly kingdom of Asgard for defying Odin’s rule. Angry at her fate, she seeks to release the ancient wolf-god Fenrir which legend tells will bring about Ragnarok – the apocalyptic battle that will destroy Asgard and the Gods. With her army of resurrected Viking warriors, Hel marches on the unsuspecting mortal realm of Midgard.
This cute anime-style offering from Edelweiss looks to be a cross between an adventure platformer and a 2D fighting game. With what is supposedly a fairly in-depth combat system, let’s hope this one doesn’t dissapoint.
Take control of Freesia as she protects Lita Forest by beating the living daylights out of enemies invading the forest! Use Mana that builds up during battles to learn new skills. As Freesia progresses through the stages, she will pick up many powerful new techniques and abilities. Chain together combos and send enemies flying into other enemies to take out whole groups at a time & cause massive damage! Beat monsters, human and boss battles and survive long enough to progress to the next day. The more days you survive, the more varied and stronger the enemies will become, and the story of how the humans came to live in harmony with the forest unveils.
A vehicular horde-slaughtering game more akin to the original GTA games than to Left 4 Dead, this one looks like great fun. The HD remix of this game offers more than just better graphics, it adds new content!
Insane mix of cars, speed, explosions, blood and zombies! Fight through an epic narrative campaign or test yourself in the Slaughter and Blood Race modes. Engage huge bosses, save survivors, drive crazy vehicles such as a bulldozer, fire truck or even a tank and smash everything in your way. Take part in the Blood Race tournament – chase other cars and take them down without mercy on brutal racing tracks. Jump into the Slaughter mode and survive as long as possible on specially crafted arenas.
If skirmishes in an apocalypse-devastated landscape with vehicles and huge guns is your thing, then this game might just be for you. With a definite Mad Max feel to it, this game makes me want to watch the Road Warrior again. “That scag and his floozie, they’re gonna die!”
The Scavengers are an overpowering band of murderous savages hell-bent on taking every last inch of land and every critical resource for themselves. They will stop at nothing. Their success seems certain unless someone can rise up against them. The Resistance is the world’s last best hope and humankind’s only chance to restore civilization. Days before the Apocalypse, these freedom fighters were able to seek shelter deep below the Earth, gathering just enough to survive. Finally, they are ready to emerge and rebuild the planet. But it’s a new world, overrun by the miscreants and madmen, warlords and hapless refugees. Only the most savage can survive.
You wanted a realistic flight sim amidst the hoardes of very arcadey Top Gun clones? You just got your wish.
The highly detailed aircraft and ultra realistic flight physics give you a stunning level of realism. Take your seat in the cockpit and enjoy flying over the beautiful scenery of Switzerland with its fantastic mountains. Choose the comfortable Robin DR-400 for sightseeing, use the Discus glider to climb in thermals or practice your aerobatic skills in high performance aircraft like the Extra 330. Experience the thrill of speed flying the F-18 low-level through deep valleys and over the highest peaks of the Swiss alps.
The unforgiving dwarven mine simulator is back, and it’s now F2P. Try out this game if you haven’t already played the now-obsolete demo.
Dwarfs!? offers an addictive, fast paced arcade-like experience, with plenty of difficulty levels and game modes to play, in the tradition of great games such as “Lemmings” and “Dwarf Fortress”. As the new overseer for your underground Dwarf base, your job is to manage the small colony and make it as rich as possible, before they meet their inevitable doom! To survive as long as possible, you’ll have to steer and guide your greedy little fellows to the richest points in the caves, while avoiding all the dangers – so they don’t end up destroying your Town Hall and its essential supply of beer. They explore for you, they mine for you and they fight for you – but if you don’t keep an eye on them, they’ll do what they do best: die for you and take everyone else with them. But, if all else fails when the Spider Queen comes for you – use the Outpost’s Dwarf Cannon and shoot Dwarfs at her!
Another F2P MMORPG? Yes! This one is graphically nice and features a seamless world, which is kind of cool. Does that mean that there is no instancing at all, though? It almost feels like Pokemon at this point: Gotta play ’em all.
Vanguard Saga of Heroes is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the vast world of Telon, an ancient world of magic, intrigue and adventure. Facing the challenges of a war-torn world, the diverse people here struggle to rebuild their once great civilizations. A fragile alliance has been struck and with the lands set upon by invading forces, the races must band together to survive. In the north, the sprawling green hills of Thestra are plagued by an unstoppable undead menace. To the south, the deserts of Qalia have been besieged by an elemental threat spawned from the depths of the earth; and to the east, inhabitants of the tumultuous jungles of Kojan fiercely battle encroaching otherworldly fiends. Telon is in desperate need of heroes. Your journey begins now.
And that’s it for this week, folks. Stay locked to Levelsave for more news and reviews of the latest games. Ta!
