As an apology for posting my Wednesday games so late I’ve added a few extra games to keep you occupied. You’ll find a nice hotch potch of modern and old games, some may require DOS Box, but all should give the discerning gamer a few hours of enjoyment 9or more0 each. I got a little carried away after discovering a new source of games, 9though it has many of the games we’ve already posted. I’ve not posted any of the images I’ve got yet as they need reducing in size and then uploading. I’ll probably add them over the next few days, but at the moment I’m in the mood for checking out the games I’ve bought over the last few weeks. After Red Faction Guerilla unlocked last week I’ve not played any of the other games I’ve bought, which number several from GOG, Direct2Drive and Steam, so I thought I’d spend the rest of tonight checking all those games out (well I may have one more go at destroying this massive bridge I found on mars while playing Red Faction Guerilla. (lol) The game uses a new game engine that allows for realistic destructible environments. It appeals to my long buried boyish tendencies to pull things apart, lol.
Anyway, here are more games to keep you occupied. The nights are definitely drawing in here in the northern hemisphere. Its going dark just after 7pm now and at the end of this month the daylight saving kicks in and the clocks go forwards meaning it,s going to be going dark around or just before 6pm. (depressing) I really should buy one of those lamps that has a daylight bulb fitted. They really do give you a strange buzz. I once went to visit a friend who’d bought one of those flats you can buy in a converted factory. They were really trendy back in the 80’s. anyway, I remember arriving after sunset and it was almost night time; after making myself comfortable I remember thinking how sunny it still was outside, then realized that it was evening and that the light couldn’t possibly be sunlight, especially as he’d bought a basement flat which only had a very small arched window that looked out onto the wall of the next factory. He’d placed daylight bulbs in the window alcove. The effect was really remarkable.
Some of the links will take you to Gamershell, which I’ve been using for at least four or five years and never ever had any problems with downloads, or perusing their site. At the moment, McAfee is flagging Gamerhell as red. The reason seems to be because there was a link somewhere on the site that pointed to a known risky site. You’ll probably get a Site advisor warning pop up when you click on the applicable links which include the WBF and the oolite games below.
CyberMage: Darklight Awakening (154Mb)
One of Origin's most obscure releases, CyberMage: Darklight Awakening is a fun cyberpunk first-person shooter designed by D.W. Bradley, of Wizardry fame. The game unfortunately suffered from the "too much ahead of its time" syndrome common to many Origin games of that period: games with very high hardware requirements that only a handful of gamers can afford. As a result, it never sold well.
The description and review at MobyGames give a good synopsis of the good and bad about this underdog. Let's start with the plot: "2044 AD. World governments have fallen apart, the Earth is ruled by ruthless corporations doing anything for profit. However, rebels are fighting against corporate control all over the planet. In this world you save the life of a stranger, giving your own life in the process. Taking you to his lab, the stranger uses you in a secret experiment and is able to revive you. You awaken with a strange crystal embedded in your forehead, giving you control over a weird power known as the Darklight.
The lab is attacked by the forces of NeCrom, who also controls the Darklight. You must escape from the lab, learn about the Darklight and the aliens bringing it to the planet and f inally confront NeCrom who is your evil counterpart. CyberMage is a game in Doom-style and has you using several weapons and your Darklight powers against many foes. You can increase your powers over time by collecting the lifeforce of your enemies. In addition to walking around the cities and war zones, you can use vehicles like tanks and air cars. However, don't shoot anything you see, many people are able to help you on your mission. The Good:I liked--no, loved--everything about this game at the time, although many other games have now equalled it in various ways. The level design in particular stands out, and some of my favorite levels ever are to be found in this game... All in all, this one stands at or near the top of my list of all-time favorites; quite an achievement for a game so unknown and unheralded.
The Bad: Level Two. Get past it, then forget about it. Don't let it sour you on the rest of the game. Also, I went back and tried to replay the game recently and found the keyboard controls to be somewhat wonky and uncomfortable. I originally played it with a gamepad, which was a lot more intuitive. The Bottom Line:CyberMage is a first-generation FPS of the highest caliber. It anticipated design elements found in games like Half-Life by a good four or five years, and the production values are excellent... With the story line behind the game so rich, this had the potential to be a really good System Shock clone instead of a really good Doom clone, other than that...not much to complain about." Highly recommended!
Review worth reading
:You can find a decent review of Cybermage HERE and a download link HERE
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Marathon :
The following open source game requires you to download Aleph One. Then download whichever scenario you wish. There’s three available, called Marathon, Durandal and Infinity. You’ll find versions for windows, Mac and Linux. I’ve details just one of the scenarios below. Once you’ve downloaded all the files placed the unzipped Aleph One executable or app file into each of the three scenario folders then you’re good to go. It’s recommended that single player gamers start with the Marathon scenario first.
Aleph One is a game engine currently in development by the Open Source community, which means that you can expaect updates occasionally, so if you like this game it will be worth saving the home page to your favorites. :) It is based on the source code of Marathon 2: Durandal, which I’ve detailed below. Durandal was a game created by Bungie Software in 1995. Since Bungie released the source code to the general public Aleph One has matured to include a variety of new features and improvements. If you compared the original game with the revamped version you’ll see that the resolution has improved, though it’s not cutting edge, it does give a better gaming experience..
Marathon 2: Durandal : (25.9Mb)
Marathon 2: Durandal is a good PC conversion of the Macintosh FPS blockbuster of the same name. Although the game looks out of date and old-fashioned compared to other FPS's on the PC during that time (Quake 2, for example), Marathon 2 more than holds its own with excellent game play and a good sci-fi plot to boot. The game starts off where the original Marathon (which was never released for the PC, unfortunately) left off. In Marathon, you defeated the aliens called Pfhor who invaded Marathon, a colony ship from Earth en route to Tau Ceti. Similar to System Shock's Shodan, Marathon's AI called Durandal was instrumental in your success. By defeating the Pfhor, you inadvertently freed Durandal from his confinement within the Marathon, where he promptly took over the Pfhor ship and escape into hyperspace. As Marathon 2 begins, it's been 17 years, and you woke up from cryosleep to discover that Durandal has dragged you along for the ride - as a slave in his private army. Durandal has taken you and a group of the original Tau Ceti colonists to the home world of the S'pht, a Pfhor slave race who Durandal liberated and who now loyally serve him as their Messiah. Durandal is searching for the location of a legendary lost tribe of S'pht who may hold the key to his quest for something - and it is your job to find out what Durandal is looking for while you do his bidding.
Although the engine is similar to id's DOOM in most respects (2.5D maps, bitmap sprites instead of polygons), Marathon 2 is much deeper than your average DOOM clone. The game has an inventory system, multiple fire modes for each weapon, allies who help you fight, and different factions of enemies who attack each other. Similar to e-mail transmissions in System Shock, the interesting plot of Marathon 2 unfolds via various computer terminals scattered throughout the levels. At these terminals, you either receive a message from Durandal, or read about the history of the Pfhor and S'pht. There are many alien weapons to find and use, most of which are appropriately strange and interesting. In addition to fun solo play, Marathon 2 also has interesting multiplayer options, although you must buy serial numbers separately from Bungie (no longer available). In multiplayer, up to 8 players can play Tag, King of the Hill, or Kill the guy with the Skull. You can even play the actual campaign game cooperatively with other human players.
With an in-depth and evolving plot, involved gameplay, and excellent play balance, Marathon 2 is a worthy addition to every FPS gamer's collection.
Marathon Open source news can be found HERE, HERE and there’s a Wiki HERE
You can find a download for Aleph One HERE together with the all three scenarios.
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Xenon 2000 (14.2Mb)
Creamy pretzel also posted this over a year ago in his Free Games story. There’s load sof games there that we haven’t bothered to include in the free games for the weekdays project simply because they are already listed in the Games synopsis, but this is one of those games I reckon is worth repeating; besides I was a little slow (as usual) in checking the games synopsis. It really should be my first call before I start working on a post, but sometimes I’m so focused on getting it done so that I can go back to my games that I forget. Anyway, here’s some info about the game.
Xenon 2000 is a remake based on the classic game series, Xenon.
In this top-down arcade shooter, blast away meteors and your enemies, while collecting power-ups for weapons upgrades etc. Eliminate the end level bosses to clear each level.
The graphics, sound and game play are as good as we’ve come to expect from the Bitmap Brother’s and most fans of the genre will take a moment of silence to appreciate the fullness of this game. That is until they realise that there is only one level in the game. It is a long level, but there is still only one, which takes something out of the “satisfaction factor” out of completing a computer game.All in all, Xenon 2000 is exactly what every space-shooter should be, but for goodness sake. Couldn’t they have made it a little longer?
The above review was copied from HERE
You can find the download link (Bitmap brothers), HERE
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Flight of the Amazon Queen: (34.8Mb)
If you like LucasArts games like Monkey Island or Indiana Jones, you're going to love this little gem. It's sort of a combination between the two, and contains many of the same elements and much of the same kind of humor.
It is 1949 and you play Joe King, pilot for hire with his small private plane the 'Amazon Queen'. The game is a spoof of old timey radio adventure serials, and as it begins we find Joe in one of those typical situations. It is 11:58 and 36 seconds and counting, Joe and his date are tied up in an abandoned warehouse ("you really know how to show a girl a good time, Joe!"), and a bomb is set to go off at midnight!
Of course they escape, in the nick of time, and immediately set us up for the next 'adventure'. Joe suddenly remembers that he is scheduled to fly the famous movie star, Faye Russell, to a photo shoot in the Amazon jungle the next morning. But when he arrives at the hotel to pick her up, his arch rival Hans Anderson of Flying Dutchman Airlines locks him in the room.
Displaying some exceptionally creative thinking at this latest development, he does eventually manage to take off with the spoiled Miss Russell in tow, only to have his plane get hit by lightning and crash in the Amazon jungle! Now he will have to face some horrible challenges to survive: 6 feet tall 'pygmies', beautiful Amazon women (and their happy prisoners!), misguided missionaries, a wisecracking parrot, and of course a mad scientist, who's trying to take over the world by injecting dinosaur DNA into the women.
This is a long, 3rd person, point & click game, with easy to use icons for action, a small inventory, and a brilliant map. The music is upbeat and changes with each location (turn on your speakers and refresh to hear some now). The graphics are imaginative and colorful, with careful attention to often-hysterical details (Aztec temple statues holding baseball bats!), and the short animated cut scenes used to advance the story are a pure delight to watch.
There are lots of great places to visit and plenty to do when you get there, with a unique challenge in each new location. The puzzles are crazy, absorbing and fun (wearing fake breasts, bartering with a pygmy), and are usually solved by clues you have picked up in conversations and/or with inventory items. Most are not too difficult, but they do get harder as you go along, and a few will drive you bananas (pun intended)! But you can't die or go wrong, so try everything.
This game is also a spoof of adventure games in general, so you will visit all sorts of places, from an Amazon day spa to a 24-hour jungle convenience store. And the broad stereotypical characters are absolutely perfect, from the boyish 'innocent abroad' charm of Joe to the manic evil of Dr. Ironstein, with wonderful offbeat and laid back humorous dialogue (we particularly liked the exchange between Joe and the gorilla!).
It's a great game, an old style adventure that'll give you hours of fun and leave you feeling good. We love it!
The game runs fine under windows, but it's quite possible the music won't run. If you want to hear music and sound use DosBox
The player assumes the role of Joe King, pilot for hire and owner of the Amazon Queen airplane of the title, who crash-lands in the Amazon jungle and subsequently has to save not only his passenger, the famous movie star Faye Russel, but also an entire tribe of Amazon women and even the world from a mad scientist and his lederhosen company, who have concocted a vile scheme to turn Amazons into Dinosaur warriors using his DinoRay invention.
Game locations:
The game is set primarily in the Amazon Basin. The following key locations feature in the game:
• Starting from Rio de Janeiro, Joe flies over the Amazon rainforest and crash lands due to an electrical storm.
• Once in the Amazon, Joe visits a Pygmy village where Trader Bob has his supply store.
• The Pinnacle is a tall rock allowing Joe a view of his surrounding area (and acts as the game map, similar to the postcard in Simon the Sorcerer.
• The Floda Factory manufactures lederhosen, and is the front for the evil scientist's secret base.
• The Amazon Fortress is the home of the Amazon Women tribe.
• The Jungle, where the Christian Mission is located.
• The Ancient Temple which is full of ancient technologies, reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.
• The Valley of the Mists, where the final section of the game takes place.
Controls:
Mouse
F1 = Save / load / exit
F10 = Quit
Reference accessed HERE
There’s a walkthrough available for the game HERE and a wiki article HERE
You can download Flight of the Amazon queen HERE
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WBM Euro 2009: (93.9Mb)
The game is free for everyone to play and will let you select any European National Team and try to qualify to the final stage in Poland and win the Gold! Technically it’s only a mini game, but there’s hours worth of play here.
It offers 2 different modes of the game depending on the national team the user will select to take control. If he selects a team that is already qualified for Eurobasket 2009, will play the final stage mode and if he selects any other European Team will have to play first the qualification mode in order to qualify.
You can download the game HERE. There’s a strategy guide and alternate download link HERE
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Oolite: (20.5Mb)
Oolite is a space sim game, inspired by Elite, powered by Objective-C and OpenGL, and designed as a small game that is easy for users to pick up, modify and expand upon. Almost every aspect of the game can be changed by using simple, free graphics packages and text-editors.
You can read more about Oolite HERE
Download HERE
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