Valve has announced that they will be rolling out yet another free update to the free-to-play first person shooter, Team Fortress 2.  In case you’ve been living under a rock, this is the deal with TF2 – the game was originally released in 2007  as part of the original Orange Box, which also included titles like Half-Life 2 and the first Portal game.  Since then, TF2 has gone free-to-play, presumably completely supported by the item shop which sells in-game items for real cash.  So, five years after its original release, this free game is still pumping out massive content.

Continue Reading

Theres a new Humble Bundle going on right now, but this one is a bit different – its a Mojam.  Mojang, developer of the cube-tastic hit Minecraft, and their friends at Oxeye Game Studio and Wolfire Games are developing games over the weekend for the cause.  The added bonus is that you can watch them build the games live – I was just watching someone at Mojang making a spinning coin animation.

If you don’t already know, the Humble Bundle is a pay-what-you-want bundle of indie games raising money for charity.  The charities the bundle is raising money for right now are Child’s Play, charity:water, American Red Cross, and Electronic Frontier Foundation.  And if for some reason you don’t like one of the charities, don’t let that stop you from picking up a Humble Bundle, they let you choose how much of your money goes to each charity.

Early this month DC Universe made good on its promise to become a free to play game and as one would expect, there have been a few growing pains.  In this situation, it is hard to judge exactly how angry one should be for server sluggishness, long log in queues, and blatant bugs resulting in booting you from the game.  It is free after all.

What should we expect for none of our money? Also, should the people who are still paying money for a more…luxurious…game be upset?  I do not think anyone who considered playing DCUO did not figure that there would be some problems at the beginning.  It is an mmorpg and it is DC Comics; there are going to be a couple of people who want to try it out.  The question is how long will it take to recover from what is reportedly a 6000% increase in player population?

If what I have seen becomes a trend, I think things are going to work out fine.  The server seems to be moving towards stabilization and queues have eased in the last few days.  Time will tell though.  I will be doing a more thorough overview soon but I am curious about what others think in terms of what a player has a right to expect out of a free to play game.  Please write your comments below.

DM
All Geeks Considered

Since Steam has been kind enough to celebrate my favorite holiday, I will be happy to let those of you who have not partaken in said sale know and give some brief reviews of some of the games I have played off the sale list.

• F.E.A.R. Collection: Let us start with the scariest game I have ever played. The Original F.E.A.R. was an awesome game that I heartily enjoyed.  I will not play this game in the dark.  I will not play this game before bed.  If you like spooky supernatural effects, then this might be a pack to pick up. For $6.79, you get the first two games and all the second games add-ons.
• Left for Dead 2: I was not a huge fan of this game but according to my friends, I am in the minority.  A nice zombie hunt co-op game for almost a quarter of normal cost.
• Borderlands add-on “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned”: This one was not scary by any means but it was full of what makes Borderlands great; Good Hokey fun.
• Bioshock and Bioshock 2: Both Games are available for good sale prices and if you have not played these games then you must not like video games.  So why are you reading this then?
• Cthulhu Saves the World: This is a game that the sale got me to by and for 2 dollars, I really do not regret it.  A nice short and simple game ala Final Fantasy 1 or Dragon Warrior that adds a good bit of cheesy humor to the mix. Have fun playing as Cthulhu as you try to unlock your evil powers to destroy the world by becoming a true hero.
• Plants versus Zombies: I got tired of the repetition but again I seem to be in the minority.  Hack away at zombies with plants that have murder in the hearts.

And so many more games that look to be worth a try. Any games on the list that you have played? Tell me about them in the comments below while there is still time to get them on sale!

DM
All Geeks Considered

Steam Sale Page