Free For All #003

In this Free For All the focus is on Adventure Gaming. Once a major PC genre with beloved games like Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, the Monkey Island series and the Space Quest series in its ranks, it’s now mostly limited to budgetware Nancy Drew and C.S.I. Titles aimed at the every-day Wal-Mart shopper. With the exception of Tell Tale’s very well done episodic approach to the genre it has otherwise been stagnant. Because of this I’ve decided to point you toward four classics that have been gussied up with redrawn graphics and updated user interfaces and released online as freeware.

The two studios bringing you these revamps are AGD Interactive and Infamous Adventures, both of which obviously have a genuine interest in the genre. All four games have completely redrawn artwork and new user interfaces that no longer require you to type in actions and control more like LucasArts adventure titles that many people are familiar with. In addition, voice and music packs are also included which further enhance the experience compared to the originals.

Warzone 2100: Resurrection

Warzone 2100 is a real-time strategy game developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Sony Playstation the game received mostly positive reviews from critics, although none of them were fawning over it. It was simply a good strategy title for the time, and one of the first RTS games I had played back in a time when I was new to the PC as a gaming platform. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t much of a commercial success, hence the lack of a sequel and the fact that the developer was shut down only a year after Warzone released.