Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts

Monday, December 31, 2012

The 30 best FREE games to play now

8:12 AM  Unknown  No comments

When we say Free-to-Play most of you think of throw-away browser games like QWOP, Canabalt or One Button Bob; or money-grabbing Facebook titles like Farmville. And there is, admittedly, a lot of free clag out there. However, Free-to-Play has come on leaps and bounds in 2012 - free games are pushing close to AAA standards in some cases, and there are loads of 'full games' you can play in your browser - or via a reasonably small download - for little or no investment.

So, with money tight around Christmas, and with the economy flatter than month-old Tizer, here's our guide to the 30 of the best free games available right now. 10 of them require a download, 10 of them are playable in your browser, and 10 are free for mobile phones and tablets. Have we missed your favourite? Share it in the comments.

 #1  Planetside 2            


What is it? MMO first-person shooter
Part MMO, part FPS, all awesome - Planetside 2 is the standard all new Free-to-Play games will need to meet. It takes the Team Fortress 2 approach of giving players the whole game for free, then charging for quicker unlocks or more specialist kit. Not better kit - just different. Crucially, this means you can get stuck in and really find your feet in the game without feeling like a second-class citizen, and chances are you'll want to spend a bit of cash after that to make your experience truly unique. The only real problem is that the barrier to entry is high. The war here is vast and intimidating, so our advice is to take a few friends with you. It won't cost them a thing either...

 #2  Hawken          


What is it? Mech shooter
When you think 'mech shooter' the first words that spring to mind are 'lumbering' and / or 'slow'. Hawken changes that, by offering the customisation and versatility of walking tanks and combining them with the pace of a proper PC shooter. It's lead many people to dub the game 'Walking World of Tanks'. That's definitely a compliment, by the way. It's in open Beta now, and there's plenty of game to play through before you need to spend a penny.

 #3  Star Wars: The Old Republic          

 What is it? Sci-fi RPG
Link: Swtor.com
This online RPG - which cost millions to make - was subscription-based for a year. However, following a relatively underwhelming number of sign-ups, it's now free. Well, to an extent. To get the full experience (which includes modern marvels like the 'sprint' ability) you need to pay, but crucially the story missions can be tackled for nothing. This isn't the totally free fix you're looking for, but as a low-investment entry into a massive, involving MMO that you'll probably enjoy... it's a bargain.

 #4  League of Legends          


What is it? Arena battler
It's the biggest game in the world, so you've probably heard of it. It's also hugely competitive, and very strategic, attracting pro-gamers from all around the world. What that means for new comers is a huge amount of choice (there are currently 107 champions to choose from) and an intimidating array of options. Still, with so many players, there are always people to compete against at any skill level, so you can ease in gently. Ish.

 #5  World of Tanks          


What is it? Multiplayer vehicle combat
WOT succeeds because it's simple. Pick a vehicle, join a team, rumble into some standard deathmatch modes. The more you win, the more you can upgrade your machine. This is basically Pimp My Ride, only with huge mechanised vehicles that can destroy small towns. And, of course, you can always spend money to get better parts and accessories quicker, or access different types of tanks.



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Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Top 15 Best Xbox 360 Games

12:52 PM  Unknown  No comments

One of the paradoxes of the games industry dictates that the nearer a console gets to the end of its life-cycle, the better the games for it.
By now, every developer worthy of the name has got to grips with programming for Microsoft's hugely successful Xbox 360 and, while speculation mounts that its successor may make its bow at the E3 Show in June, Xbox 360 owners can lick their lips at the prospect of a deliciously tasty line-up of games due out in 2012.
We've arranged the year's 15 best Xbox 360 titles in alphabetical order, for your delectation and edification.

 #1  Assassin's Creed 3             

 The one thing we know for sure about the next instalment of Ubisoft's historical open-world action-adventure franchise is that it will come out on October 30 2012. But strong rumours suggest Assassin's Creed III will be set in the American Revolution, with a storyline centred on Desmond. Let's hope it receives a thorough freshening-up, after last year's Assassin's Creed: Revelations copped some flak for giving the impression it was going through the motions.

 #2  BioShock Infinite             

 The return of the great Ken Levine to the innovative, steampunk, plasmid-enhanced franchise has generate a palpable wave of anticipation - BioShock Infinite is, without a doubt, one of the year's most wanted. The action moves to 1912, and a city floating in the sky thanks to airships called Columbia. You play ex-Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, escorting a young woman called Elizabeth with fearsome powers which she must learn to harness.

 #3  Brothers In Arms: Furious 4           

 It's reboot time for Ubisoft's previously mega-realistic World War II franchise, this time with Gearbox, the hardest-working developer in the business, at the reins. Furious 4 will take a more cartoonish, larger-than-life approach, with you controlling one of four super-soldiers tracking the Fuhrer and fighting a secret Nazi army. Unsurprisingly, four-player co-op features prominently.

 #4   Call of Duty: Black Ops 2            

OK, it might not actually be called Black Ops 2 - but that would be the most logical nomenclature for this year's iteration of Activision's all-conquering first-person shooter, given that it's Treyarch's turn at the development controls. Frankly, the world might well stop turning if a year went by without a new CoD game. Let's hope it's even trippier than Black Ops - and that those zombies make a comeback.

 #5   Dirt: Showdown           

 Something of a departure - into arcade-racer territory - for Codemasters' rallying-meets-hooning game. Ken Block is back, helping to provide the opposition for bog-standard and figure-of-eight races, demolition derbies and hooning galore. Mad vehicles, such as pick-ups and ambulances, plus obstacles galore should ensure that Dirt: Showdown's proceedings turn out be pretty high-octane.


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The Top 12 Best Games For the PlayStation 3

5:51 AM  Unknown  No comments

Count yourself fortunate if you have a PlayStation 3. You're in for a good time.
Sony's home console hasn't enjoyed the same kind of sales dominance as the Xbox 360 or the Wii during its life cycle, but it's home to great exclusive titles generated by what's arguably the best development studio network among the big three console manufacturers.
Want a solid PS3 game library? Start with these titles below.

 #1  Assassin's Creed II             

 For the second trip down Desmond Miles' DNA helix, Ubisoft Montreal introduced Ezio Auditore and gave players more options for mayhem in the urban centers of the Italian Renaissance. You can hire courtesans to distract guards or use mercenaries to do the dirty work for you. The swordplay showed increased flexibility and depth, too, with more weapons and tactics than before. Underneath it all, the game's virtual Italy sported a more varied, vibrant population than any other free-roaming game so far.

A Good Match for: Fans of serialized fiction. With a conspiracy fetish tying everything all together, the Assassin's Creed games represent a journey through history and iteration, where you get to see how things were in the real world and where ideas are going in game design. Do follow through and continue Ezio's story in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed Revelations.
Not for Those Who Want: A harmonious whole. The framing story of Assassin's Creed is the franchise's biggest problem. The present-day world that ordinary dude Desmond Miles walks through just isn't as lushly imagined as those that his hooded predecessors prowled. The pieces of the game don't sync up in terms of appeal and you might start getting involuntarily annoyed when you start to hear Desmond actor Nolan North's voice again.

 #2  Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare             

 The game that started Call of Duty on the road to becoming record-breaking phenomenon took players by surprise when Activision first unveiled it in 2007. Infinity Ward's recipe for high-speed action changed perceptions of what a contemporary shooter could feel like and fostered a new generation of rabid competitors as a result.

A Good Match for: Fans of taut military thrillers. Later installments of Modern Warfare never reached the heights of COD 4's surprising events and Modern Warfare's narrative—while still very popcorn—seems more focused than the games that followed.

Not for Those Who Want: Robust online multiplayer. The COD community tends to migrate to each new entry in the series, so you may not find a huge population playing this four-year-old game.

 #3  Demon's Souls            

In an era when even the biggest, most bad-ass games hint and handhold you to death, From Software developed an unlikely hit by making a hostile, figure-it-yourself RPG where other players could pop into your game and make you miserable.

A Good Match for: Masochists. You can almost hear the developer's gleeful snickers at how helpless they render you. But when you crack the rules—especially if it's via the message left by a poor sod (some other real PS3 player) who died before you—and craft a winning strategy to take down a big bad, the satisfaction's like nothing else in video games at the moment.

Not for Those Who Want: To feel powerful. You know that thing where, about two-thirds of the way through a game, you feel like you can kick anything's ass? Don't go looking for that in Demon's Souls, where you feel like the runt of the video game hero litter the entire game.

 #4  Heavy Rain              

Quantic Dream's cinematic experiment evolves the adventure genre, starting off with an everyday reality that gets warped through an eerie lens. Depending on how you progress, the thriller's story and point-of-view bifurcates into divergent tangents, pointing out a provocative new path for an entire genre.

A Good Match for: Indie film buffs. Heavy Rain's gameplay is a kind of active watching—the opposite of mindless button-mashing—that should prove inviting to cineastes curious about gaming.

Not for Those Who Want: Combat. You'll do lots of unique quick-time events to get through Heavy Rain's chapters but cravers of intense action won't find what they want here.

 #5 Journey         

How do you top the beautiful, poetic experience that was ThatGameCompany's Flower? Easy, just make a game that strips away everything annoying of maddening modern online gameplay and set it inside a lush gameworld that looks like a living painting. The travels that you undertake in Journey culminate in an incredibly touching moment. It's not just one of the best PS3 games. It's one of the best games ever, period.

A Good Match for: Shy people. Just like Flower before it, Journey is a wordless experience. The limited set of gestures you use to communicate means you won't have to worry about embarrassing yourself by saying something awkward.

Not for Those Who Want: Conversation. If you spent a big chunk of time sand-surfing with another person, you'll probably want to learn a bit more about him or her. Journey never lets you do that, though, and that enforced silence makes up much of its impact.

 #6  LittleBigPlanet 2              

Video games often glorify a player's reflexes but LittleBigPlanet 2 stands apart by energizing an individual's creativity, too. Media Molecule's hit PS3 exclusive bundles a whimsical first-rate platformer with the world-building toolset to make games just like it. The sequel includes the ability to make more different types of games and to share them socially with other player/creators.

A Good Match for: Artsy craftsy types/Lego fanatics. If you like building stuff that can take on a life of its own, no console game presents as lively a tableau as LittleBigPlanet 2. With miniature avatar-bots with assignable attitudes to a huge palette of visual treatments and textures, crafting a level in LBP2 feels like making a living, playable microcosm of your own.

Not for Those Who Want: Sharp precision platforming. Like its burlap protagonist Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet 2's physics are warm and fuzzy. Its floaty jumps will prove maddening to anyone craving the ice-cold precision of, say, a Super Mario game.



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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Top 10 Game Websites

2:25 AM  Unknown  No comments


Here are the top 10 most popular game websites based on a combination of Alexa Rank, content richness, users’ reviews and freshness. It would be great if you could add your favorite game sites to the list or write some reviews of them.

1. GameSpot
GameSpot is the world’s largest game site for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, GameCube, PSP, DS, GBA, PS2, PlayStation as well as a huge source to downloads games.
One of the largest games websites for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS, PSP & iPhone games with codes, reviews, previews, features, releases, hardware, and a gamestore for console and PC games.
One of the greatest online game sites to play free online games, download games and win huge prizes.
Offering over 40000 video game FAQs, Guides and Walkthroughs, more than 250000 cheat codes, over 100000 reviews and more.
One of the most popular games websites providing Free Online Games, action games, massive multiplayer games, sports games, funny games, flash games and more.
Contains arcade games, board games, card games, puzzle games and more. You can also download the games to your computer.
Best and Official site of PlayStation, delivers game news, info, message boards, hints, articles, cheats and much more.
Leading website for Xbox and Xbox 360. Offering news updates, previews, game trailers, screens, strategy and more.
One of the best and largest game websites which contains over 3000 free online games, including arcade, puzzle, action, funny, sports, strategy, shooting, and more! My favorite game site.
A game site on which you can watch new video game trailers, read reviews and previews of upcoming video games.
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