Free Games: February 2015

What's Better Than Free Games?

Absolutely nothing, so here's a list of what you can get for nothing this month:

XBox One

#IDARB

This month, Games with Gold is offering the rather unique #IDARB for free to any subscribers with an XBox One. #IDARB is...well...the best explanation is their own:

#IDARB is a chaotic 8-player eSport jumping jetpack future arena ball game that is as inspired by Bomberman and Smash Bros. as it is by cans of soda, paint-by-number books, and driving five miles faster than the speed limit.

It's like a pixelly game of space-football, stuffed with pop-culture references and spoofs thereof. Where else are you going to find a game that flashes a rage-quit meme when someone quits early?

XBox 360

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

For the first half of the month, Games with Gold is giving XBL's last-gen users a free copy of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. It's a fun top-down puzzle-adventure game, where the player simultaneously controls two brothers, Naiee and Naia - one with each thumb stick - on their quest to save their dying father.

Sniper Elite V2

During the second half of this month Games with Gold will be giving 360 users the opportunity to become Lietenant Karl Fairburne and snipe their way through World War II Germany. If your reaction to this news is along the lines of "**** not another third-person military-themed shooter" then stop right there - between it's heavy focus on sniping (bet you didn't see that coming!), slightly-horrific-but-still-awesome X-Ray kill cams allowing you to see precisely the damage you've inflicted on your target's skeletons, and the ability to kill enemies by shooting and blowing up grenades attached to their belts, Sniper Elite V2 is set apart from the rest.

PlayStation 4

Transistor

Next-gen (can we still call it that?!) PlayStation Plus members can get their hands on this sci-fi RPG for free at the moment. Set in the city of Cloudbank, the player controls Red, a famous singer who was almost the victim of an assassination ordered by the Camerata. Left with The Transistor, the greatsword that was to end her life, Red must track down the villains and stop them. Transistor's most notable feature is it's Turn() system, which allow the player to freeze time, whether to assess the situation and plan their next attack, take cover, or set traps. However what truly sets it apart is it's breathtaking artwork and stellar soundtrack, which sold close to 50,000 copies within two weeks of release.

Apotheon

Also free to PlayStation Plus' PS4 members is Apotheon, a 2D platformer based on Greek mythology. Explore Mount Olympus, kill all sorts of mythological creatures with all sorts of weapons, and battle the Gods who have turned their backs on humanity. There's also a pretty neat 1v1 multiplayer mode which will allow you to duel with your friends. And you could learn something about the Ancient Greeks! Whoever said that killing stuff can't be educational?

PlayStation 3

Yakuza 4

Ever wanted to go fishing in Tokyo's red light district without leaving your house? Well now you can, and all for free with PlayStation Plus! Yakuza 4 follows four characters whose lives have been woven together by a conspiracy, and all set in a startlingly accurate recreation of Tokyo's seediest neighbourhood. 

Thief

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Sorry, had to run and install this because PlayStation Plus are giving away this absolute gem this month! Become the master thief Garrett, sneak your way around The City, stealing from the rich and pick-pocketing guards. Although, if you're a fan of the older Thief games then you might want to give this one a miss, as it appeals mainly to newer fans and has left many an old one quite disappointed.

PlayStation (All)

Rogue Legacy

Free on PS4, PS3 and PS Vita through Playstation Plus this February is Rogue Legacy, a rogue-lite platform game where you aim to fight through dungeons and defeat the bosses that await you. What makes this game unique is that when you die you're replaced by a randomly generated heir of yours - but as in real life, genetics can be...interesting. You could be colourblind, dyslexic, or be generated with one of several other genetic anomalies, which can actually have their advantages, such as those with dwarfism being able to fit into small spaces. This also means that Rogue Legacy has a huge replay value, especially as when you've completed the game you can start a New Game + and tackle it all again...and again...until you've mastered every class...and then probably repeat it all again, because this is addictive.

PlayStation Vita

Kick & Fennick

Kick & Fennick is a brand new platform adventure for PS Vita about a little boy with a very big gun

Uh....what?!
You play as said little boy, Kick, as he goes on an adventure with his recently aquired robot friend Fennick, through 45 levels full of enemy robots, magnets, teleporters and more, using that great big gun. The gameplay - a combination of shooting and jumping - is simple but fun, and the colourful world it's all set in is pleasing on the eye. All in all, this looks set to be a fun game good for eating up your spare time. And best of all, it's free thanks to PlayStation Plus!

Steam

Rise of Incarnates

Bandco's brand-new free-to-play multiplayer will be arriving on Steam this month. Play as 'incarnates' - humans with powers drawn from ancient mythologies - in 2v2 matches set in battle arenas around the world. It's worth mentioning that this is Early Access though, and not the finished product, so anyone downloading this should be aware that it may not be very polished. But, it's free, so what have you got to lose? Check out the free comic explaining the backstory and then go and grab it from Steam.

Origin

Theme Hospital

This one doesn't really need explaining, does it? The classic strategy sim is still available for free through Origin's On The House scheme, and is a great way to waste an hour or 20 and possibly give yourself a nervous breakdown.

GOG.com

If you own a PC and you haven't done already, then go and so sign up at GOG.com now as they give you a bunch of free games for doing so! 

However, if you have already signed up, then go and check out their free games page because they occasionally change what's free and you might find something that you haven't already claimed.

That's It For Now...

...however, if any other free games sneak up on us, I'll update to reflect that, so check back soon. In the meantime, enjoy your free games!

The Best Of Steam's Indie Releases: November(ish) 2014

So, originally I was going to try and include every indie release on Steam this month, but then Steam went and deleted the upcoming releases page. Because that's a great way to get people to add upcoming games to their wishlists...a round of applause for Valve's money making tactics please. However, two of the games I found before Steam committed page-murder were so good I couldn't just forget about them, so here they are:

Homebrew - Vehicle Sandbox

A vehicle-building sandbox where your imagination is the only limit. Yes, I'm still trying to wrap my head around 'vehicle-building sandbox' and how cool that sounds too. The demo is available to download through the Homebrew website, so I gave it a go:


So, here I am in the middle of a very pretty map, in a vehicle that I had to spawn in mid-air, rather than on the ground. Let me tell you, it creates a whole new game in itself: "Can-I-Catch-The-Car-Before-It-Slides-Into-A-Lake". Once in the car, I wasn't really sure what I was doing so I drove around for a while catching some of these orbs dotted around the map:

(Gotta catch 'em all!)

The first thing I found was that the controls are a little bit clumsy: steering is limited to just the A and D buttons, and it feels weird having no mouse control. Sharp corners are also a bit tricky, and steering at a slow speed will send you far too wide. After a few minutes on one of the map's dirt tracks I felt comfortable enough with the controls to venture off onto the grass...and shouldn't have. I ended up in a lake and drowned a little bit.

Not that it mattered, because I didn't lose anything. In fact, it worked out in my favour because I respawned in front of The Dome, which I had just been invited to. This is where the cool part of the game plays out; this is where you build and customise your vehicles, buying parts using those orbs I had collected earlier. 


I wandered down to the factory where I was greeted by Dan, and admired his boobs while wondering who he'd killed in the dumpster, and how to pronounce the player-character's name:

I went through a short tutorial where I had to help Dan fix his 'Danvan', which turned out to be simple enough if you follow the instructions, but complicated enough that you have to follow the instructions. On the up side, this means that you can do a lot with this game: like I said earlier your imagination really is your only limit. However, it also means that if you're like me and not particularly mechanically minded, then this probably isn't the game for you. You don't just throw a few parts together and see if they work, you have to tweak every part to create a masterpiece.

But once you've finished in The Dome, you can go back outside and test out your creations. The map is full of dirt tracks to zoom down, ramps to fly off, and I'm sure some of the scenery could be used to create some amazing stunt jumps. That is, if you can get the vehicle to stay upright:

As you can see, finding myself upside down happened a lot, and I couldn't find a way to set my vehicles upright again. This isn't a very big deal as you can spawn as many vehicles as you want, but it is an annoyance. However, when I wasn't trying to drive on the sky I was having a great time, exploring tunnels and setting up huge jumps.

All in all, this is a really fun game and I would definitely recommend at least trying out the free demo, if not going ahead and getting the Alpha. It's planned to be in constant development meaning many more features will be added after launch: boats, armor building and a mission creator are among the planned additions, so you're going to be getting a lot of content for your money. There's also a multiplayer mode with vehicle sharing, meaning you can collaborate with your mates to create the perfect vehicle, or pit yourselves against each other to see who's the building king or queen.

For more info, see Homebrew's website or Steam page, where Homebrew is on sale until 21 November.

Lumino City

A puzzle adventure game entirely handmade from paper and card! The sequel to Lume, Lumino City was three years in the making and as you can see in that video, it looks incredible. Picking up where it's predecessor ended, protagonist Lumi's grandfather is dramatically kidnapped and Lumi is thrust into a whole new adventure to find him again.

As she makes her way through the breathtaking city, Lumi will be able to explore the various building within it to find out more about her grandfather's life and discover that there may be more to him than she thought.

The game is visually stunning - the more I look at it the more I fall in love with it - and if it's anything like Lume then it's unique puzzles will have you scratching your head for a while; this isn't just a pretty game, it's set to be a fun one too.

I can't wait to get my hands on this, but unfortunately Steam is being a prick and won't give an actual release date, only 'Available: November 2014'. 
Lumino City has a release date of 3rd December 2014, which in their own words is nearllllllllly November (in my defense, I did think it was coming out in November when I wrote this). In the meantime, check out the Steam page so you can add it to your wishlist, check out the official site, or buy Lume to experience the first chapter of this awesome story.

Throwback Thursday: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

One Christmas when I was a kid my parents bought me a bright red Game Boy pocket with a black carry case and a copy of Super Mario Land 2. I think it's safe to say that that was the moment when my addiction to gaming was born.


In his debut appearance, Wario has taken over Mario Land and cast a spell over the inhabitants, making them believe that he is their master and Mario is their enemy, before locking himself inside Mario's castle. The castle gates have been sealed with a spell that can only be broken using six golden coins, scattered around Mario Land and carefully guarded by Wario's henchmen. It's up to you to retrieve them and take the castle back.






Super Mario Land 2 was everything that a platformer should be; simple and fun. There are multiple levels to choose from, including hidden levels, and there's a lot of variety within them. It can also be surprisingly hard; navigating through water when everything is trying to kill you isn't very easy. Which, to be honest, it should be: HE'S A PLUMBER!

You also have a massive replay value, as you can play any level except from boss levels and the intro level as many times as you want, and you're going to want to do that because this game is addictive. I was going to try and prove that by including some gameplay videos but every single one I've taken is corrupted! Yay! Instead you'll just have to go and find out for yourself at Playr where you can play it in-browser for FREE!

Black Friday Has Come Early

GOG.com has secured it's place as possibly the greatest website ever by throwing a ma-hoo-sive sale. To kick it off they're giving away Mount & Blade until Friday so I suggest you go and get that now, and from now until 25 November they will be holding flash sales, announced a few hours in advance. And if that wasn't already enough for you...

By visiting the site on seven different days and collecting stamps each time, you can bag yourself a free copy of The Witcher 2 and The Gamers: Directors Cut.

 There will be over 700 games in the sale in total, at up to 90% off their original (and cheap anyway) prices, and as it's GOG they are completely DRM free - that means no copyright whatsoever. You can download these games twice each on the computers of everyone you know and you won't be doing anything wrong. When was the last time Steam or Origin let you do that?

Sexism In Video Games

Sexism in video games is something that has been mentioned a lot recently, but is it really as rife as is claimed? 

Sexism In Games and Their Characters

Let's face it, there aren't enough female characters in video games, in fact out of all of the characters from the top 25 best-selling games of last year only 4% were women. On top of that, the ones that do exist are too often over-sexualised, boring, and unimportant. There also aren't enough games that offer the option of playing as a woman. All in all, games themselves can be pretty sexist. Can't they? Let's compare a sinner that calls itself a Saint to a game that's heralded for it's positive portrayal of women and contains some of the best female characters out there.

 Saints Row

Saints Row could be considered one of the most sexist video games there is, for it's overly-sexualised women. After all, this is the game that brought us adjustable sliders for setting our character's breast size. This is the game that lets us dress up in nipple tassels, a thong, and suspenders and watch those adjustable boobies bounce. The game also puts strippers in our houses, has us walking into hookers on the street, and in the third installment it introduced us to the lovely Zimos, a pimp who never seems to be far from a half-naked woman or twelve.

Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a series that no one can accuse of being sexist - which is exactly why I've included it. BioWare's masterpiece gave us an all-female alien race (who just happen to be the richest, most advanced and most powerful race in the Mass Effect Universe), it gave us multiple strong and powerful female characters and it gave us the option of a female main character, FemShep as she came to be known, who is now considered one of the best female video game characters out there. In fact, FemShep grew to be so popular that there was a campaign for BioWare to make a trailer for Mass Effect 3 featuring FemShep rather than the default male Shepard featured in the others, and it resulted in this:

 Most importantly, the Mass Effect series has a huge amount of female fans, far more than just about any other game of it's kind. All in all, it looks like Mass Effect is one of the least sexist games out there, so what's the difference?

The President vs. FemShep

Saints Row is the only urban sandbox game to allow a FEMALE player-character. That's a female leader; a female president; a woman saving the world. And not only does the game allow you to play as a woman, it actually encourages you to do so. There's an achievement, one of those super-must-have-them-all-shinies, that's only obtainable by playing as both genders. In it's own words, Saints Row is an equal opportunities offender. Although you can dress President Mass Murderer up in all manner of lewd outfits, you can do that to characters of both genders - and personally I think it's much more humiliating to dress a man up in tiny pink panties and make him run around an imaginary city than it is to do that to a woman.

Mass Effect introduced what has become one of the most iconic female figures in gaming. Her face chosen by fans, her voice provided by the insanely talented Jennifer Hale, her fate decided by you; it's hard to deny that FemShep is awesome. So just how popular is she? Well, uh...18% of players choose her. That's less than one in five. And the reasons? Yes, for some players it's about being a woman, but for a lot it's down to either preferring Jennifer Hale's acting to Mark Meer's male Shepard, or a fairly sexist "FemShep's ass is nicer to look at." So it would appear that FemShep's successes aren't down to the romantic idea that she empowers women. 

But what about the rest of the women?

The Ladies of Saints Row

(L-R That's Shaundi, Asha, Viola & Kinzie)

Let's face it, they look like a bunch of strippers. And that's putting it politely. Except:

Asha is an MI6 agent. She's strong, intelligent, ten steps ahead of everyone else and takes crap from no one.

Viola has a masters degree in economics.

Kinzie is a computer genius and former FBI agent who saves the lives of the entire gang multiple times. She also much prefers a hoodie and jeans to skirts, heels, low-cut tops...heck, even make-up. The picture I used above is the only time in the two games that she appears in where she wears anything 'sexual'.

Shaundi...well. Shaundi is well known in-game for sleeping around. A LOT. Shaundi also went from being the relaxed hippy chick on the right to the surgically-enhanced supermodel on the left (a move that upset a lot of fans). That being said, like the rest of the women she's strong, independent and intelligent, in addition to being an incredibly loyal friend.




None of the women in Saints Row are beta personalities (people who will follow but not lead) and none of them are made a mockery of. Most importantly, they are significant to the story - too many games have female characters that feel like token women, only there so the developers can say, "But we had a woman in it!"

The Ladies of Mass Effect

Mass Effect has some incredible female characters, something you don't see very often, and is noted for it's positive portrayal of women. It's not like any of these characters have been over-sexualised in any way, is it? It's not like Samara (the lovely and formidable blue lady in red) is wearing an incredibly low-cut top, or any of the girls are wearing skin-tight outfits? I

   mean, Jack is always fully-dressed.

Nice belts!

And you can't receive a lap dance from a member of that all-powerful female race I mentioned earlier...

...and their honoured advisors certainly don't walk around with their boobs virtually hanging out.

In fact, the ladies of Mass Effect aren't any less sexualised than the ladies of Saints Row, so why does the former get praised while the latter gets judged? Is it ok for a game to be a bit sexist as long as it wraps it all up in a nice bow? Are we allowing our perceptions to be skewed because we expect some games to be more or less sexist than others? 

Why Don't Women Play 'Hardcore' Games?

Although the majority of gamers are now women, most of those are playing Facebook or mobile games. When it comes to 'hardcore' games such as FPS's, women are a minority, and that it's time the industry did something about it. More needs to be done to attract and accommodate female gamers, right?

I have a ten year old daughter who loves gaming, so I asked her a couple of questions. I started by asking her if she thinks that girls playing video games is weird, and if the boys at her school think that girls playing games is weird. Her answers to both questions were a big resounding no. Then I asked what she would do if a boy told her that girls shouldn't play games or were any worse at games than boys are just because they're girls, and her answer made me laugh so hard I gave up on my informal interview: "I'd punch them in the face." 

The reason I did this? Because it proves that being a female gamer really isn't a big deal - this is something we're led to believe, not unlike what Always proved with their #LikeAGirl ad. Therefore over-reacting to female gamers differently is, quite frankly, pointless and nothing needs to be done to accommodate female gamers. We don't need special attentions to be given, because we're no different to male gamers. Maybe the reason that women are less likely to play hardcore games than men is just that women are less likely to want to play them; my best friend doesn't play The Sims instead of Call Of Duty because she feels like she should, it's because it's what she wants.

But What About The Ones Who Do Play?

Studies like this show that women apparently receive a lot of abuse while playing online multiplayers. There's even an entire website dedicated to snapshots of sexist messages received by female gamers. However, it's often made out as though women are specifically targeted when actually gamers trash-talk each other all the time. Additionally, it's hard to blame a whole group of people for something that's only being committed by a minority. Although neither of these points justify (or are intended to try and justify) the use of sexism it does prove that gamers aren't as inherently sexist as the world is being told.

As a woman who has spent more time on these than is healthy, I have NEVER been on the receiving end of any gender-based harassment, or witnessed it being used towards someone else. I have never felt the need to hide my gender. In fact, when revealing my gender I've never been met with any response other than a positive one. So why, if gender bias is as common as we are led to believe, have I never once witnessed or been subjected to it? Is this another area where we could be seeing sexism where it doesn't really exist, or exaggerating it's severity? For example, do we assume that if a male gamer calls a female gamer a 'bitch' then he's being sexist, and if so, would we make that assumption if he had said it to a man instead? Similarly, was I being sexist the countless times I yelled "You absolute (insert string of expletives here) bitch!" at the screen after dying at the hands of a male gamer?

(Wait, did I say countless times? Because I never die...honest... )

Rant Over 

While different people will have different experiences and different opinions, in mine gaming and gamers aren't sexist. While a lot of games have a long way to go in creating good female characters that actually feel valued (I'm looking at you, GTA), or in creating female player-characters (*cough*Assassin's Creed*cough*) the industry overall isn't necessarily in as bad of a situation as we are often told that it is. 

#ThrowbackThursday - The Sims 2

Ah, The Sims. The game with unlimited potential, where you are God and your only limit is your imagination. What great adventure will you carve? Will you create a rich and famous movie star? Will your they marry the Sim of their dreams, buy a mansion in the country and raise six sickeningly gorgeous children together?

No. In  the average The Sims 2 (or 1, 3, or 4) game you will:

Create the most hideous Sim that you can









Give him an equally hideous wife, a cute dog, and move them into their own home.

Micro-manage like there's no tomorrow...

...because your Sims have to eat, sleep, play, bathe, clean, tidy, cook, study, sleep, work and entertain the random strangers who show up at their houses, all in approximately half the time it takes to do all that stuff in.

Have a LOT of cartoon sex, probably with just about every Sim in town.

 Why? For the same reason that you do everything else in The Sims: Because you can.

Experience the totally realistic birth of your Sim's children:

Ignore Biology class, babies actually fall from the ceiling

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And then, of course, the classic pool murder! No day on The Sims 2 - well, any The Sims game for that matter - is complete without a visit to a watery grave and from the Grim Reaper.

And then you get to do it all over again because, unlike in it's predecessor, that cute little bundle of joy that just fell out of the ceiling will grow up! Unless you forget to look after him and he gets taken away by the social worker...

The Sims 2 was an awesome game that allowed some of the freedoms that the original The Sims game didn't afford us, such as aging which added a feeling of progression, without any of the drawbacks that it's successor went on to have, such as hefty loading times and lag due to massive, open neighbourhoods. As someone who has spent a little bit of time Simming...

Just a tiny amount

...I preferred TS2's neighbourhood customisation - not being able to create vacation worlds in TS3 still hurts - and I think TS2 has a better balance of simplicity to creative freedom. 

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If you don't already have it, you'll have to look for a second hand copy of The Sims 2, as EA hate making money and it is no longer available on Origin. If you do have it then check out the mighty TheSimsResource, AroundTheSims2 and MTS for custom content that will literally make you squeal with excitement.


Now if you'll excuse me, I think I left my toddler by the pool...

(Sorry, outdated and bad The Sims 4 joke)

Bundle Stars (aka How To Save A Lot Of Money)

If there's one thing that us gamers can't get enough of it's cheap games, and Bundle Stars is a great way to get them for PC. Founded by Focus Multimedia two years ago, Bundle Stars offers discounts on individual games but the best deals are in the bundles: You get a set selection of games (usually around ten) for a fraction of the value of the contents. Each bundle is only available for a  limited period however, so you have to act fast and check back regularly.

Right now the F.E.A.R. Bundle is available, containing all F.E.A.R. games and DLCs for the absolute bargain price of £5.89 so what are you waiting for?

Check out Bundle Stars here.