Alan Wake - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Alan Wake is an action adventure thriller with elements of supernatural horror. What begins as a relaxing vacation turns into a frantic nightmare as you (playing as the titular Mr. Wake) are attacked by shadows and your wife goes missing. Things get even weirder when your search for her yields pages to a horror story that's unfolding right before your eyes.

Some have called this game a masterpiece, and by what I've played of it, I can see why. It has an excellent atmosphere that is great at building tension and dread when combined with its encounters and mechanics. The forest is appropriately dark and foreboding at night, with just enough ambient rustling to keep your guard up. Discovering pages to the mysterious novel often provide additional (and unsettling) context or eerie foreshadowing of terrors lying just ahead. Supplies can be scarce in some locations, meaning you'll have to consider when to fight and when to flee (if you can flee).

Alan Wake is worth picking up at its current price, so obtaining it free is quite the deal!

MilMo - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

MilMo is an MMORPG that's been around over nine years, but slipped under my radar until recently. I quickly learned the game originally appeared on Facebook, which explains how I didn't know of it for so long. Anyway, MilMo is now available on Steam. You can find my thoughts on the game at 4:12:48 in the video above.

Bonus Game - Little Red Riding Hood

During last week's stream, I also got to play Little Red Riding Hood, the first game made by Noblesix117 (Tyler Addison). Disclaimer: I am friends with the developer, but have tried to remain as unbiased as possible.

You can watch the entire playthrough and my thoughts of the game here. While the game is short (initially designed under limited time for a recent Game Jam), Noblesix117 has expressed interest in developing the title further. You can see some of his animation tests and other videos on YouTube and Twitter.

Defiance 2050 - Better Than Warframe, Fight Me! - MMOMG

After a brief (and mostly regrettable) stint in Worlds Adrift, I was ready to try just about any MMO to fill out the rest of July. It so happened that Defiance 2050 had just went live, and several of my regular viewers suggested I give it a go. At first glace, the game didn't look like something I'd really enjoy, but it turns out that looks can sometimes be deceiving. Unfortunately, the game's future is currently somewhat up in the air due to Gamingo's recent buyout of Trion Worlds properties... though I'll get into the details of that later on. First, let's talk about the game itself.

Worlds Adrift - Prepare to Be Bored, Dead! - MMOMG

I began writing up this post by detailing my short time in Worlds Adrift back in early July. I fully intended to drop a laundry list of complaints I had with the game, complete with links to forum threads showing how many others were aggravated by the same things. Upon browsing the Worlds Adrift site and forums, I realized that its developer (Bossa Studios) recently addressed a number of issues I had... though others have cropped up in the meantime and some of the larger problems still exist. As usual, I'm getting ahead of myself again - let's get the basics out of the way first!

Cuisine Royale - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

For a battle royale parody, Cuisine Royale is actually pretty good! At the time I played this, it was already running smoother than PUBG ever did. My thoughts on the game can be found in the video at 2:29:26.

MMOMG Replacement - Defiance 2050

I really didn't think I'd need a replacement title for this month's MMOMG, especially since the first time I've ever needed a substitution was just the month prior... but apparently lighting can strike twice (at least figuratively speaking).

Worlds Adrift is being replaced by Defiance 2050, a Syfy MMOTPS (third person shooter). I'll be detailing my thoughts on both games in later posts, though I have Tale of Toast and several Friday games to get to first!

The Way of Cinnamon - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Return to the days of early 3D platformers!

The Way of Cinnamon is a 3D platformer with elements of exploration and puzzle solving. Armed with a magical shield, you play as Cinnamon, who sets out to rescue his red panda family from a gang of snow leopards.

Streaming Next Month - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time!

I'll be streaming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in April! I originally wanted to stream some of the Tomb Raider games, but I'm having trouble getting them to work the way I want to for streaming.

As it stands, I could stream most of them if I wanted to use a controller... which I really don't like. I may still attempt it sometime (perhaps even later in the month after finishing PoP), but I'd much rather use keyboard and mouse controls. We'll see. Part of the fun of the non-MMOMG months is playing it by ear and trying different things.

Join me Sundays - Wednesdays starting at 9pm ET on Twitch, YouTube, Mixer or Smashcast to watch me play live! Hope to see you there!

Crossout - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Build vehicles and battle other players in this post-apocalyptic shooter!

Mass Effect 2 - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

This critically-acclaimed BioWare title is available free for a limited time on Origin!

Man, have we been spoiled these last few months. Between all the Uplay 30th anniversary freebies, Origin's offerings and some of the goodies available via Steam, about half the titles of this series (based on free games) have been blockbusters. This week is no exception, as Origin brings us Mass Effect 2 free for a limited time.

I'm a bit pressed for time and more than enough has already been written about this game, so I'll keep it brief. If you like BioWare titles (Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age) this is perhaps one of the most polished of the bunch. It blends third-person action/shooting with RPG elements and gives you the ability to use cover and direct your squad members. As someone who was actually somewhat disappointed with KOTOR, I find this title a huge improvement both in pacing and playability. There's less character options than in KOTOR, but Mass Effect 2 feels more streamlined (and a lot less clunky) as a result.

Assassin's Creed III - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Experience action, stealth and intrigue in the New World!

There's probably nothing I can say about Assassin's Creed that hasn't already been said. The franchise is so huge that a film is about to release in theaters as I write this. What I can do is express my first impressions of the title from the standpoint of someone new to the series, but not to gaming.

Beyond Good & Evil - The Friday FREE GAME Feature!

Photograph wildlife and fight aliens amidst an intergalactic war... you gotta pay the bills somehow!

Beyond Good & Evil is an adventure with a lot of charm, polish and action. Set several hundred years in the future, your planet becomes the target of alien attack just as the power company shuts off your service (which includes your home's force field). Thankfully, you quickly find work taking photographs for scientific research as well as a covert mission offered by a mysterious and wealthy man.

In short, I have a lot of praise for this title. The photography element (which serves as an income source and map acquisition) encourages exploration and makes for a fun way to collect images of your travels. The cast of characters are all well-written and entertaining, and the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes feel fairly natural. Playing as the duo of Jade and Pey'j provides a co-op feel to both combat and puzzle-solving, complete with an ample dose of buddy-banter.

I highly recommend you snag this title ASAP while it's still free on Uplay (which won't be for long).

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep73: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Time to get sneaky doing covert ops in this stealth action game!

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is the first in the Splinter Cell series of stealth games by Ubisoft Montreal. You play as agent Sam Fisher, using your stealth skills to complete covert ops missions.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep48: Cornerstone, The Song of Tyrim

Legend of Zelda Windwaker meets Dark Souls in this action adventure game!

Cornerstone, The Song of Tyrim is an epic adventure of exploration, combat and crafting. You begin on the docks of a small island with no real idea of what you're supposed to do. The game provides you with some tutorial popups to teach you the necessary controls, and you're left to explore as you wish.

The game makes use of some physics, allowing you to pickup and throw objects, break things into crafting materials, or use them to interact with the environment (such as placing mines or setting things on fire with a torch). You can even use the environment to kill enemies - I shot the ballista on my ship to take out a guard and kited other guards into some laser-shooting flowers! I felt like a number of strategies were available for getting through an area, which was awesome. Additionally, the island is packed with little hidden areas and shortcuts along with a number of puzzle-type obstacles to get from point A to B.

For the most part, the controls were fairly tight for keyboard and mouse. Controller support exists, but you have to map the buttons before launching the game. Being that this is a demo, I can excuse that. It's just nice to see that the game's challenge isn't about fighting with the controls. The art style is cartoony, bright and whimsical, obviously inspired by the LoZ series. I'm not sure if there's really a story in the demo, but I feel that it was intentionally focusing on decent gameplay instead of throwing lore and background in your face (perhaps taking a cue from Dark Souls here as well).

I was a bit skeptical when I saw the claims of Windwaker meets Dark Souls, but having tried the demo I have to say they're going in the right direction. Sure, the demo is unpolished (it crashed a few times and there were a few other glitches) but overall I was impressed. I'll be keeping an eye out for Cornerstone, The Song of Tyrim to see where it goes once it releases on Steam.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep47: The Old Tree

An atmospheric adventure made in Flash

The Old Tree is a point-and-click adventure puzzler made in Flash. You assume the role of a creature that reminds me somewhat of a wacky wall crawler toy, and your job is to solve puzzles to get the little guy to the next screen.

This game has a great deal of atmosphere, with a dark but relaxing art style and music to match. Unlike many titles of the genre, you don't actually control the main character - instead you clear the way for him to continue his journey. This was kind of a nice change because you could focus more on the environment than where your character was positioned to solve the puzzles.

Sadly, the game lacks a lot of substance. The puzzles aren't terribly difficult and there seemed to be no penalty for failure - you just keep trying things until you sort it out. There's no replay value, unless you want to see the levels again (which admittedly look very nice). There doesn't seem to be a story, save for whatever you make up in your head as you go. It's also an incredibly short title, as you can finish the entire thing in less than 15 minutes.

If you're more about the journey than the destination, perhaps The Old Tree may be worth checking out.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep45: Jade Empire Special Edition

Classic martial arts action available free for a limited time on Origin!

Jade Empire is one of those classic BioWare titles that has a special place in my heart. I remember originally playing it on the XBox many years ago while attending college. I never found the time to actually finish the title and eventually sold the game and console, so I'm really happy to have picked it up again.

This game is a special blend of action and roleplaying, with that familiar BioWare design of story-rich dialogue, character options and solid combat. On the PC, you can choose to play using either a controller or keyboard and mouse. I fumbled a lot using the controller during the episode, way more than I recall doing when playing it originally, so I think I'll go the KBM route when I decide to play this proper. Understand that the controller seemed fine, I'm pretty certain it was just operator error! I did find a few of the standard controls a bit unintuitive though - I kept wanting to use the right analog stick to look around, only to find camera rotation handled via L2 and R2.

My ineptitude aside, Jade Empire is an amazing game that you should go grab on Origin's "On The House" now while it's free!

On a much sadder note, this episode is dedicated to James "AngerPuppet" Boley, who passed away last week. He was one of the best friends a person could ever have - funny, clever, generous and inspiring. If it wasn't for James, this series (and probably most of what I've done in the last two years) wouldn't exist. I miss him every day, and likely will for a long time to come.

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep44: Enviro-Bear 2010

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I bring you a game about rushing around, stuffing your face and taking long naps... and a driving bear!

Enviro-Bear 2010 is a driving game with good doses of both physics and humor. You play as a bear preparing for hibernation, filling its belly with fish and berries before winter hits... all while driving a car.

Absurd? Yes. Fun? Also yes! The controls are easy to learn and difficult to master. Click-and-drag is pretty much all you need to do, but getting the car in gear, hitting the gas and steering all have to be done separately. In addition to foraging, you have to maneuver around trees and rocks. Failure to do so often throws extra stuff in your car that gets in the way - from leaves and rocks to bees and badgers!

Physics also play a pretty significant role, as items can get stuck under your pedals or push them down (if heavy enough). It's actually a fair tactic to set the egg timer found in the car on the gas pedal if you need to gun it!

You only have a few minutes to find that much-needed food and shelter before winter sets in, and things get slightly more difficult each year (level). Later on, simply having to take a moment to toss an angry badger out the window may prove lethal.

In all, Enviro-Bear 2010 is a silly and entertaining title that hasn't got the fame it really deserves. It should be right up there alongside the Flappy and Angry Bird titles dominating the handheld market.

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin currently FREE

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Hitman series, Square-Enix is giving away Hitman 2: Silent Assassin for a limited time!

Create an account, put the game in your cart, add the promo code FreeSilentAssassin and there ya go! NA users get a Steam key, while some other areas are reporting only a download. In any case it's still free, so enjoy!

Click here to go to the game's store page!

The Friday FREE GAME Feature! Ep34: Tankya's Adventures

Shoot cannonballs at monkeys on a tropical island in this 3D platformer!

Tankya's Adventures - The Curse of Zoltar is a 3D platformer reminiscent of the PS2 era. You play as the feisty Tankya, who enjoys brawling, drinking and relaxing at her island home. The monkeys of the island have seemingly been hypnotized and are out to capture Tankya. Your job is to free the monkeys of the curse (apparently by beating some sense into them) and locating the source of the trouble.

The art style is colorful and cartoony, and overall the game has a quirky charm about it. Unfortunately, this title suffers from horrible controls that will frustrate you to no end. Tankya often enters a "combat stance" that prevents her from sprinting (and sometimes jumping or moving at all). I couldn't find a reliable way to leave the stance via keyboard/mouse - a button press on the controller seemed to toggle it, but then she couldn't move. When you die, the game remembers your last input and respawns you doing whatever that was, meaning you might just walk backwards off a cliff with no control over it. 

The boss at the end of level 2 was actually pretty cool from a design perspective, and I imagine the rest of the game features more interesting characters/bosses... if you can access it. After the second level, I couldn't figure out how to go any farther. The map had a large blacked-out area that never opened up, so I assume this might be a demo of some type. If so, then in a weird way I'm kind of grateful as this is one game you'd definitely want to try before purchasing.

To sum it up, Tankya's Adventure is full of charm and potential, but it's wasted due to terrible controls and horrible bugs.