Burning Thirst

Zombies. Zombies everywhere. The world has changed immensely after the zombie Apocalypse. There is nothing left. No healthy people, no sun, no ordinary life. And no whisky.

Our protagonist in this excellent hack'n'slash game bears the name Joe Blades. He's being presented to us in the first seconds of the intro - a stylish monologue that comes to unfold an important question. It seems that Joe has no problem with the zombies at all, but has a passion, a burning thirst for a gulp of whisky. He heads to a city where rumour has it that the last bottle of whisky is being kept. It is our job to guide Joe through hordes of zombies and to acquire the valuable bottle. As you can see, despite the somewhat depressing setting, the game carries a high amount of humour, only coming to prove that one can find a reason to be positive in every situation.

From a technical point of view, the game is FLAWLESS. The abandoned city, inhabited with zombies that leave a trail of destruction ... As you'll notice, there is a distinctive 50s style implemented in the city - look at the signs and especially the old casino. The graphics are top-notch as well. As for the hack'n'slash - I have no words to desribe it. I've never played a free game before that features such a quick and smooth motion capturing, variety of combos and spectacular moves that make you feel as if you're playing God of War. A round of applause for the developers! There are no problems with controlling Joe and fighting the hordes of zombies is really fun. The game features a boss fight, after which Joe gets his bottle.

The game has its ... I can't use the word "flaws" because there aren't any at all. There are two things that in my opinion could be better. Optimization is the first. My machine, being an average one, had difficulties with the Graphic Details being set on High. The second thing - the length. I'd really like to see some more levels in the same style. Though, I'm sure there won't be any. The developers didn't include a save option and I don't think they are planning to expand the game.

Don't be mistaken, though. This is an excellent hack'n'slash game and probably one of the best free games I've ever played. You can download it here.

GoldenEye Doom 2

Nobody who has even a slight knowledge of gaming history can deny the significant role of the DOOM games. Released back in 1993, DOOM caused a revolution in first-person shooters and became one of the most popular action games. Some of the implemented ideas, such as the graphics, the level design and the steady working multiplayer possibilities, made a vast impact upon the genre and the gaming culture as a whole.

James Bond hardly needs words of description. GoldenEye, released in 1995, was the first film to feature Pierce Brosnan as the famous fictional British spy and received mostly positive opinions. In 1997, GoldenEye 007 made its way to the console game shelves - as an arcade FPS, released for Nintendo 64.

So much for the history. What I present today is not a free game in a strict sense - it is a DOOM 2 modification never seen an official release. Yet, it is distributed freely and can be played without owning any of the DOOM games.

The story sticks as close as possible to the film. The Bond atmosphere has been meticuluously transfered. The intro is well-known and the musical theme comes in the typical Doom-ish style.You will see the treacherous Trevelyan, get the chance of exploring various locations that can be seen in GoldenEye and use a tank and a rocket launcher just the way Pierce Brosnan did back in 1995. You'll even find a Vodka Martini in some of the levels, raising your health above normal!
If you've ever played Doom, you'll feel at home here - the HUD is absolutely the same - choice of weapons, health, armor. Most of the levels are structured as if you're in the original game - labyrinths, strong opponents, red/blue/yellow cards used to proceed.. I've never had the chance of playing the GoldenEye 007, but a few YouTube videos convinced me that the delevopers have even tried to reproduct some of the levels there! Speaking of them, this is the place to point out that GoldenEye Doom 2 features 32 levels, vastly differing from one another - you'll pass through secret laboratories and open spaces where you'll have to plan every step carefully. Or else you'll get easily shot. Being a Doom mod, the game offers 5 different difficulties (named after Bond films, e.g. "The man with the golden gun"- the easiest of all. I recommend "You only live twice" - challenging, but fully playable.)

I could go on praising that game for hours, because it fully deserves it. Being both a Bond and Doom fan, it was a real pleasure for me to come across such a game at the Internet. No matter if you are, you should try it. The developers' hard work and dedication can't be simply ignored. Download it here and have fun!

Alex Gordon

It is a bit hard these days to come across a platformer that doesn't include lots of shooting, slashing and blood. Not that one can deny the big impact games like Prince of Persia, Metal Slug, Abuse and many others made back in the 90s - even now there are people who enjoy them.

Yet, there is another type of platform games - the Super Mario type - vivid graphics, some story about rescuing somebody and, of course, endless jumping - on top of the enemies and in the search for coins.

Alex Gordon is a game that fits perfectly into this description. First of all - the character. Alex Gordon is a cat. Being a treasure hunter, he collects precious artifacts. There is a friend of his, who got kidnapped and Alex goes on a dangerous journey to save him. So much for the story.

The graphics, on the other hand, is pretty well made, as far as Alex and his enemies are concerned - highly detailed and with meticulously animated moves. The levels are also vivid and bright.

Speaking of the levels, I can't look over one of the best things - the length of the game. It includes about 50 levels! And the game doesn't get tedious, because the levels differ heavily in terms of design and mission - some require you to find a certain number of objects in a limited time, others are the simple jump'n'run stuff we all know.
Apart from following the main story line, Alex possesses an island that you can redecorate and buy some things - a house or a boat, for instance. They can be upgraded to become bigger and better looking.
In spite of the positive words, I can't overlook one simple thing - this game is a complete Mario clone. The gameplay is identic, the level design is similar... Even some of the enemies are turtles!

Final verdict? It's a playable game, but it doesn't offer anything new. This is a highly polished Super Mario clone, with distinctively easier gameplay. Alex Gordon aims at children and I'm sure they will find it absolutely fantastic. But I'm not too sure that a grown-up person will endure it to end, especially after knowing what Super Mario actually is. In other words - give it a try. Or give it to your child/little brother. They'll be grateful. Grab it here.

Rolling Coaster

A catchy arcade game

It's not that hard to come across a freeware 3D game these days. Yet, some of them are just not that what you wanted. To be honest, I had absolutely no expectations about the present game. Yet, it left me with a very positive feeling.

The idea of controlling a ball and going through complex levels has actually been used in the game industry (I can remember of Switchball, Ballance and one or two more) and probably there was a free game using that concept, but I doubt it could be a match for Rolling Coaster. Today's game has a simple concept - use the ball to get through obstacles and finish the level in time. Yet, it's practically flawless.

Let's start with the graphics. Beautiful and exquisite. It's obvious that the developer has put a lot of effort to make both the levels and the ball highly detailed. The included graphical effects, such as anti-aliasing, also contribute immensely.

The excellent graphical result has been very wisely used. The level design is simply perfect. There are different obstacles, such as going underwater and gliding on icy or a glassy surface. Which leads us to the physics. Simply brilliant. The more continuously you press the boost button, the faster the ball moves. As I mentioned before, there are different surfaces, such as asphalt (the usual and most easy to control the ball on), ice and glass (makes the ball very unstable when moving with a high speed), planks, dust, snow (slowing the ball a bit).

Throughout the levels you'll have to collect some objects or arrive on time. Try not to get out of the track, since it will cost you some precious seconds and it will return you to the last checkpoint. And this can make things quite difficult if you're playing one of the be-on-time levels.

Verdict? Download it. Play it. I'm sure you'll like it.

Burn The Trash

A minimallistic arcade shooter

Burn The Trash is a stunning game. Coded in just about 36 hours (according to its creator), it combines some of the best features of the arcade shooter genre.

Let's start that way. There is no story. There are no cutscenes as well. Everything you'll get is a set of instructions and a little rectangle placed on a black surface that can navigate and shoot. Yes, this is your ship. Sorry, if you're into stunning graphics, I'd have to disappoint you. This game is focused on gameplay. Neat, fast, challenging gameplay.

Your little rectangle proves to be quite powerful, though. With the X and Z buttons you can conjure two powerful streams - the orange one annihilates the enemies and the blue one destroys their bullets. Your opponents come in numbers and their quantity is more respectful that their intellect. The huge amount of your enemies has obviously led the developer to an interesting decision that ballances the gameplay to a serious extent.

Instead of letting the player turn this game into a boring, yet powerful technical massacre, focused upon the extinction of everything bigger than our own rectangular ship, the developer has approved the use of those two streams to a certain point. If one does try the previously mentioned situation with two of his fingers pressing Z and X all the time, this will result into imminent death. Rectangular self-destruction is the technical term, I believe :)

As you can see, graphics are not a necessity when it comes to some real entertainment. Especially when the musical background is so good. Yes, it's some hardcore electronic music that helps building some atmosphere. Moreover, the game is very well built - I've experienced no bugs whatsoever. I recommend you giving it a try, it is smaller than many Java games. If you're a fan of arcade shooters or just want to try something different, don't hesitate and download!

Captain Binary

A cartoon platformer

Free platformers are easy to be found on the internet. There are many remakes, some of which even playable and interesting. But when it comes to really entertaining, smooth-running and good-looking freeware platformers the choice is rather meagre.

That's why, today I'd like to focus your attention on an interesting game, product of a Polish-Japanese teamwork.

Captain Binary is a superhero platformer. What does this stand for? No deep story? Positive. Aliens are taking over the Earth; there's nobody who can stop them except Captain Binary. Yes, that's where we jump into the action. It's Captain Binary's task to wipe out any sign of extraterrestrial presence on Earth.

A familiar scenario, yet a decent excuse to start shooting. Personally, I'd forgive the developers for using such a cliche story, since all their efforts were pointed to both gameplay and graphics. And they've come up with an excellent result. The graphics are comics-like - vivid, highly detailed and with bright colours. Captain Binary, as well as the enemies and the surrounding world have been drawn simply perfect. The gameplay is very intense. This is the place to warn you - don't underestimate the game, judging from its cartoonish outlook. It IS hard and getting killed is just a matter of time, especially in the beginning. Yes, it is strange for a superhero to be beaten down with a single strike, but that's the developer's decision.

Nevertheless, Captain Binary is a very entertaining game, with a great sense of humour, challenging gameplay and beautiful graphics. Of course, it comes for free. This is the website you need to visit and uncover your hidden superhero abilities ;)

8bit killer

An old-school FPS

One thing is certain - game industry evolves rapidly. Games nowadays offer photorealistic graphics, high quality sound and a much more complex gameplay, require better computers and consoles and all this goes with an enormous budget, enough to direct and produce a decent movie. Some 15-20 years ago games were designed to entertain. They were pieces of intellectual challenge, some of which - pure diamonds. Various quests, RPGs and FPshooters - today forgotten, offered people a way to enhance their logical thinking but never stopped entertaining them.

I won't discuss here the benefits and disadvantages of having a consumerist game industry. Instead, today I'd like to draw your attention to a game, coded primarily in 90s traditions.

8bit killer is a reminiscence. A product of today, bearing the feeling of long gone times. Built in the style of DOOM or Wolfenstein 3D, it is actually a game, developed in 2008.

8bit killer is a first person shooter. The story, inspired by various futuristic games and films, is a good excuse to jump into the action. The gameplay will leave you with a specific nostalgic feeling - a weapon located in the middle of the screen, no pointer, labyrinth-like level design, using keys to unlock doors in order to finish the level and so on.

Graphically, the game has a distinctive early 90s style. Yet, using modern coding techniques, it offers a really good atmosphere. Once you get used to its specific outlook (in case you haven't played some 90s shooters) I can promise you an hour of endless fun. An hour? Yes, it took me a little over an hour to finish the game.

This, together with the complete lack of a save option are the two and only flaws of the game. There is no way you can save your progress throughout the game, but you actually don't need it.

The game isn't hard to beat, the difficulty is balanced , which I consider a plus, compared to the sometimes impossible to play difficulty levels of the old shooters.

Final conclusion? Download and play. Just be sure to have about an hour of free time ;)

kkrieger

A minimalistic First-Person Shooter

No, there's no mistake in the name of this post.

kkrieger is actually a project of a few German developers who aimed to show that modern first-person shooters don't need to be run by big and expensive engines. Using very advanced coding techniques, they managed to create a game with the size of only 97 kilobytes!

Again, no mistake in numbers.

kkrieger offers a very minimalistic HUD. Your life and ammo is the only written information you'll get. You'll have to fight your way through one level. Yes, the game is that short - about 15 minutes of gameplay if you're curious enough to have a look or two around. Luckily, there are many enemies and a rich variety of weapons - spanning from a simple laser pistol to a very imposing hand-cannon. The graphics, as of 2011, could be addressed as "decent". Yet, the game was released in 2004 and back in those days I was pretty impressed with it. Those 97 kb, by the way, include also some musical background and sounds - walking, jumping, shooting and so on. Impressive!

Of course, the game has its flaws. You'll notice that it is actually a beta version. There was a one and only version released, with no further modifications. kkrieger needs improvement in every aspect.

I really hope that one day kkrieger will have its official release. No matter if it will be freeware or not. At present, you could download the beta from here and give it a try.

Highway Pursuit

A fast-car arcade game

Highway Pursuit, as one could think, is a car chasing game on an anonymous highway.

There is not much of a story.
You are the owner of a car, that can go up to 180 km/h in no time. But on the road there are some bad guys who want to dominate over the traffic. It is your mission to prevent this.

The game starts with your car, zero points, three lives and the opportunity (and obligation) to shoot as many enemy cars as you can. Enemy cars are easy to be spotted - they are purple and orange, move at a high speed and try to push you out of the highway which will result in your imminent death.

But, remember, we're on a highway- there are some random drivers who are not to be shot. I'm sorry if you expected a Carmageddon-like massacre. That's just not your game, then :)

If you shoot one of the "good" cars you're supposed to protect, the game won't accumulate points to your account.

A very interesting idea are the trucks that supply you with some weapons - varying from some smoke (to confuse the enemies) to rockets (that you will use against a pretty mean helicopter, dropping bombs upon your person while you're trying to stay alive).

Being an arcade game, the developers have offered you three lives. When you get killed or crash three times, the game ends and the accumulated points come into consideration.

Graphics are decent, especially if you bear in mind that the game is app.4 mbytes.

Here is the link to the developer, it's a simple, but very entertaining game. I highly recommend it.

Quadro Racing

Quadro Racing is a game about ATVs - all-terrain vehicles who can be driven under almost any condition of climate and terrain.

The main aim is one - win, using your ATV. Some words about the graphics - it's really awesome! I'm not sure whether this screenshot lets you feel the atmosphere .. It's all about you, the opponents and THE DESERT. The developers made me feel as if I were a participantin a real desert rally. Thums up for that! It offers some visual effects as motion blur, anti-aliasing and so on.

The sound .. well, they could've passed without it. Use your own music, because there is no in-game one. The nice part - when you do something spectacular with your ATV you can hear people clapping at you.. Nice!

The gameplay is addictive. Quite addictive. In the beginning you have only one ATV and 1 track available and as the game goes, you can unlock the other features. This is the right place to warn you - in case my so-called review has persuaded you to try it, I highly recommend to enter the "Quick Race" mode first. Why? Simply to get to know the game system and to understand the fact that the most important thing is to screw your opponents by beating their ATV down. Don't try to drive as if you're in the real life. You'll get your buggie crashed and this will eventually make you lose some precious seconds.

The difficulty goes up gradually - a wise developer decision, I guess. In the end the game is quite a challenge!

Of course, Quadro Racing has its flaws. When you download and install it, you'll be sent over to GameTop.com - a free games website. Get used to this - whenever you finish playing, a browser page will pop up with GameTop.com loading inside it.

But, let's not be that covetous - this is a very decent free game. I recommend you trying it! You can find it here !

Halo Zero

Halo Zero is a 2D shooter with nice graphics, but a bit short.

Halo Zero is an interesting fan-built project, based on the original Halo franchise. Many things have been said about Halo:Combat Envolved. I will not discuss here the awkward politics of Bungie - Halo 2 was released for PC 3 years after the Xbox release and Halo 3 never actually made its way to PC gamers' hardrives. But some fans wanted to outlive new Master Chief's adventures. That's why an independent French company - Dobermann Entertainment, emerged. This cooperation lead to the development of Halo Zero.

In essence, Halo Zero is a typical 2D side-scrolling shooter. And, as a bonus, one of the best I've ever played. The story ... well, there could be no thrilling and story in a freeware game. Let's just say that it has its place and is a decent excuse to jump into the ... ACTION.

Remember that word. Halo Zero offers it in bulk. Non-stop action in 10 levels, 10 types of weapons, spanning from the usual sub-machine gun to Covenants' own weapons. A piece of advice - Covenants' weapons are much more functional and are found more often, so don't hesitate to drop your precious Spartan gun in exchange for a blaster.

The graphics, as you can see for yourself, are neat, fast and have preserved the typical "animation" feeling Halo:Combat Envolved offered. The music is strong, impelling, driving you forward to the next rival .. and to the very own end.

This is one of the minuses of this game - it is quite short. At a "Normal" difficulty it took me about 20 minutes to get to the end. Some people will consider it as an advantage - play it, see the end and forget about it, but I just can't. Halo is one of my favourite games at all and really do expect a second part or a simple map pack with new rivals.

I really recommend this game. Here is the place where you can find it and download it for free. Have fun!

Hi, everybody!

And welcome to my blog!

I've always liked free games. Yes, the ones you download on the Internet, without worries whether it's a copyright infridgement. The ones that are developed not to be sold, but to entertain.

Which, in my opinion, is the most important thing about a game.

This will be a blog about those games. You may find them outdated, innovative, complicated, easy, boring, exciting... But I'm sure you won't be indifferent towards them :)