Genre(s): Action/3rd Person
Massively Multiplayer (MMO)

Metacritic User Score: 6.22 (out of 10)

PCGamer UK awarded Gunz the Duel a 55% (out of 100%) score in December 2005.

Price: Free

Link(s): http://ava.ijji.com/

In Quest mode, players, in a group of up to 4 members, go through parts of a map for a certain number of stages, which are determined by the quest level. In each stage, players are required to kill masses of creatures, and the game ends when every member of the player team dies or completes all of the stages. Quests can take place in the Prison, Mansion, or Dungeon map.

Players can make the quests tougher and more profitable by using special quest items to increase the quest level that can be bought from the in-game store or obtained during a quest. Quest items in-game are stored in glowing chests randomly placed around the map; certain items may be dropped depending on the monster killed. Players run through these to obtain an item randomly selected from the possibilities of that

A significant and unique part of the gameplay is the movement system. Players can run on walls, perform flips off of them, and do quick mid-air dodges in any direction. Advanced movement and combat techniques are commonly referred to as “K-Style” or Korean style; a variety of techniques fall under this category. These usually exploit the game’s animation and weapon switch systems through a series of animation cancellations to allow the player to perform another action rapidly after the first. One example is the wall cancel; unlike the normal slow method of running on walls, the player can simply jump, dash mid-air in the direction of the wall, and upon hitting it slash or stab with their melee weapon.

GunZ’s networking system in most parts of the game is peer to peer. Players connect to other players through their client, instead of through a central server.

Publisher: MAIET Entertainment/Ijji

Developer: MAIET Entertainment/Ijji

Release Date: June 2005

Players: Massively multiplayer online

ERSB: N/A, but likely “M” due to it’s warfare-like violence.

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Genre(s): Action/Platform,
Casual/Arcade & Pinball

3rd Party Rating: None found.

Price: Free

Link(s): http://dobermannsoftware.net/games/halozero/

OR

http://halo-zero.en.softonic.com/

The game takes place during the Battle of Reach. John-117 fights his way through waves of Covenant forces invading the “Complex”. At the end he is picked up by a Pelican, but later shot down. After wandering through a forest, he finds a Warthog. At the end of the ride he gets out and stops a Covenant bomb from destroying a generator. Once the bomb is disarmed, Vice Admiral Whitcomb sends the Chief a transmission saying he’s a prisoner on a Covenant ship. Once the Admiral is rescued, the Master Chief goes to Castle Base and saves Sergeant Johnson, who stole an artifact. Together, Johnson and the Chief fight against the Covenant forces until a Pelican arrives to pick them up, carrying them to safety.

Throughout the game all characters call the Covenant “Covenants”. The Covenant ship featured in the game was referred to as the “Truth and Reconciliation”.

The game has a campaign mode and multiplayer mode. Campaign mode has five difficulty settings, Easy, Normal, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic. Mythic difficulty would be unlocked by finishing the game on all difficulties.

The keyboard arrow keys are used for movement, and the mouse acts as a free look, while the left mouse button and the right mouse button shoot and throw grenades, respectively. While all other functions such as melee, switch weapon and jump are subject to be changed by the user, the mouse controls are unchangeable.

Multiplayer maps are based off of existing Halo multiplayer maps such as Zanzibar and Blood Gulch.

Publisher: Dobermann Software

Developer: Dobermann

Release Date: December 12, 2005

Players: Single and Multiplayer

ERSB: N/A.

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Genre(s): Casual/Arcade,
Kids

3rd Party Rating: None found.

Price: Free

Link(s): http://www.lucaelia.com/games.php

This game is an arcade game. Outside of playing the original Marble Madness on an actual arcade machine or within MAME, this is the best game out there to capture that same frantic arcade action. It can be controlled with a keyboard but both mouse and trackball are better controllers for this game.

For further “Marble Madness” gameplay experience, we at Cheapskategamer.com suggest you also look at Neverball, or Trackballs to be listed on this website in the coming weeks. Both are also FREE. The original Marble Madness can be played via MAME. Click here to visit a nice fan page for Marble Madnes with MAME support.

Publisher: LucaElia.com

Developer: LucaElia.com

Release Date: May 15, 2005

Players: Single Player

ERSB: N/A, but likely “E” for everyone.

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

The current offering is Botanicula, Machinarium, Samorost 2, Kooky (movie) and Windosill (with above average purchase price). Typically other surprise additions are thrown in at a later date.

Also a great way to support charity. But hurry, the sooner you bid the better if you want the bonus games.

Link: http://www.humblebundle.com

Humble Bundle video:

Genre(s): Adventure/Point and Click,
Massively Multiplayer

Metacritic Rating: 77 (out of 100)

Price: Free

Link(s): http://mystonline.com/en/

Myst Online: Uru Live (or MO:UL for short) is the latest incarnation of Uru, a series of amazing adventures starting with Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and spanning Uru: To D’ni and Uru: The Path Of The Shell. It’s a continuation of the critically acclaimed games Myst and Riven; and the Myst novels.

For the first time, you are the storyteller. What happens next is up to you. Embark on an amazing, never-ending adventure filled with wondrous new worlds to explore and captivating puzzles to solve. Myst Online: Uru Live expands and evolves on a daily basis. The game and story continually expand and adapt as you and other players make choices and take actions, so you never know what tomorrow will bring. Join in the next evolution of the Myst franchise and help forge an all-new Myst story: yours.

Developer: Cyan Worlds, Inc.

Release Date: February 08, 2010

Players: Massively multiplayer online

ERSB: N/A

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Genre(s): Action/Platform,
Casual/Arcade

3rd Party Rating: None found.

Price: Free

Link(s): http://stealthbastard.com/

Stealth games are awesome. Hiding from The Man, skulking in shadows, the thrill of the unseen infiltration. But why do they have to be so… slow? Introducing Stealth Bastard: stealth, with a great big kick up the arse. A fast-paced, frenetic, one-step-away-from-chunky-death melange of sneaking, platforming, hacking and cursing. A whole lot of fun. It’s like Metal Gear Solid and Super Meat Boy had a baby out of wedlock. Semi-literally. Jump, sneak, and be horribly dismembered through 28 levels hand-crafted by our crack team of in-house design geniuses, some of the same folk behind the critically-acclaimed Fluidity/Hydroventure, and the retro-styled PSN platformer Explodemon!. And once you’re done with those? Fear not – Stealth Bastard includes a FULL in-game level editor.

Endless fun. Zero cost. What are you waiting for?

Publisher: Curve Studios

Developer: Curve Studios

Release Date: 2011

Players: Single Player

ERSB: N/A

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Genre(s): Strategy/RTS (Real Time Strategy)

Acid-Play Rating: 4.7 (out of 5)

Price: Free

Link(s): http://glest.org/en/index.php

Publisher: Glest Team

Developer: Glest Team

Release Date: December 24, 2004

Players: Single player, Multiplayer

ERSB: N/A

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Genre(s): Massively Multiplayer, Simulation/Life

3rd Party Rating: None found.

Price: Free

Link(s): http://www.swcombine.com/

Description:
Star Wars Combine is a free massively multiplayer online role-playing simulation game based on the Star Wars Universe, developed by amateurs in their spare time. Combine is not licensed by Lucas Arts, but is permitted to use the setting.

The Star Wars Combine is an online game. Its purpose is to bring fun to the players by offering them a universe that they may immerse themselves in and forget, for a while, their real lives.

The Star Wars Combine is about role-playing. When playing the Combine, the end-users are not only playing an avatar inside the universe; but also they are investing a part of themselves into what they would dream to be if they were living in the Star Wars universe.

The Star Wars Combine is a simulation. A simulation is the partial implementation of existing mechanisms, from physics to economy, including politics, engineering, logic, and even socialization.

The Combine is about Star Wars. The Combine is developed by Star Wars fans, for Star Wars fans. The purpose is to provide a Star Wars universe where fans may dream.

Whilst performing rather common tasks (many of which could take hours, days or even weeks depending on complexity and type) players interact in their forums and chatrooms, planning the next operation, role-playing their character, trading in the open market or in the black market and organizing events.
As Josh Augustine states in his article: “The amount of free spontaneous creativity within this game is mind-numbing, dwarfing even the machinations behind EVE Online.”

The purpose of this slower, real-time pace (in comparison to other simulations) is also devised in order to allow players –- who are spread all over the world and covering all time zones—to have the time to respond to events happening around them while being offline.

The player’s character is present in the game regardless of the player being online or offline. Therefore, actions such as being killed are always possible, and again unlike many other simulations, a players death is permanent. However, players can create a new character after a short waiting period and begin again, minus all prior possessions, positions and other things.

Publisher: Combine Team

Developer: Various Developers/Designers/Programmers

Release Date: December 1998

Players: Massively multiplayer online

ERSB: N/A

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Genre(s): MMO,
RPG/MMORPG
Simulation/Combat

Gamespot Rating: 7.2 (out of 10)

Price: Free

Link(s): http://www.darkspace.net/

Players begin by selecting one of three factions. Two factions are human: the United Galactic Trade Organization (UGTO) with sleek and well-rounded ships, and the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) with good long-range capabilities. Players can also choose the alien K’Luth, who pilot fast organic ships and are masters of hit and run tactics. DarkSpace also contains several non-player factions to interact with, such as the Machine Intelligence (MI) race, opportunistic space Pirates, and several other rare and bizarre alien entities.

Players then choose a starship. DarkSpace has several types of ships, such as battleships, troop transports, supply vessels, and engineering ships. Each ship type has different capabilities and plays a unique role in the game. Scout ships, for example, can reveal enemy positions, while heavy cruisers are built for attacking other ships. Players are not limited to a single ship that they “own”; they can return to a shipyard or home gate at any time and select a new ship. Players can also store modified ship layouts in a personal storage “garage”.

New players start with the rank of ‘midshipman’, and are restricted to the smallest ship types. To control larger ships the player must earn higher rankings by accumulating “Prestige Points”, which are awarded for various tasks such as damaging enemy ships, bombing and capturing planets, building planetary structures, and repairing the ships of teammates. Most ships not only require a minimum rank but also one or more specific “badges” before they can be piloted. To fly a larger combat ship, for example, a player has to achieve the “Bronze Combat” badge by inflicting 50 points of damage to enemy ships.

Although the game takes place in space and uses a 3D graphics engine, gameplay is restricted to a 2D dimensional plane.

Publisher: Palestar, Got Game Entertainment

Developer: Palestar/Richard “Faustus” Lyle

Initial Release Date: December 21, 2001

Players: Massively multiplayer online

ERSB: T (Teen)

Sample Gameplay Video(s):

Pay-what-you-want to get Zen Bound 2, Canabalt, Cogs, and Avadon: The Black Fortress (tablets only). And if you pay more than the average price, you’ll also get the vibrant, side-scrolling strategy game Swords & Soldiers.

Customers will also receive digital audio for each game with an official soundtrack.

This is a great chance Cheapskate gamers to pick up some great indie games on the cheap.

Link: http://www.humblebundle.com

Humble Bundle video: