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

.......

.......

.......

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.

Steam Halloween Sale

The Steam Halloween Sale is now live until Monday, and contains some insane deals on some awesome games.

Fallout 3

It's the future but with robots and fifties music. In case you're one of the few who don't already own this game, both the standard and GOTY editions are in the sale, for a fraction of their usual sale prices. The Fallout Classic Collection (featuring Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics), and Fallout New Vegas are also in the sale.

Fallout 3 on Steam    -    Fallout 3 GOTY on Steam    -    Fallout 3 Official Site

Left 4 Dead 2

One of the best zombie games ever made, and fresh from it's unbanning in Australia. Left 4 Dead 2 features a scary, fun, and often funny single player campaign (complete with an AI that randomly generates zombies and weapons, meaning you never play the same way twice), some inventive zombie types, and the thing that people really buy it for: the multiplayer. As it turns out, becoming a zombie and scratching your friend's eyes out is popular amongst us gamers and nearly 5 years after release it's still one of the more popular multiplayers. 

Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam    -    Left 4 Dead 2 Official Site

Claire

Claire is an indie action adventure game that has you controlling the eponymous protagonist through a nightmarish alternate reality with the aid of her German Shepherd, Anubis. The atmosphere is spot-on, due in no small part to the amazing soundtrack and sound effects, and combined with the great story and design this is a must-play if you enjoy survival horror. The game also offers multiple choices for how to progress which lead to various endings, meaning you have great replay value here.

Claire on Steam    -    Claire Official Site

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are plenty more (439 to be precise) games available in the sale, so why don't you check it out now?