By Phill Cameron on October 15th, 2010.
Land Of The Free is an ongoing series looking at free to play games. This week we dip into the ongoing Company of Heroes Online beta.
Coming back to Company of Heroes, after all this time, feels somewhat akin to returning to your parents house. It’s the same place, and you spent a lot of time here, but somehow, something is different. And that something is you.
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By Phill Cameron on October 1st, 2010.
Land Of The Free is an ongoing look at the state of free-to-play gaming.
It begins with the crackle of gravel as the tracks roll onward, running over that initial, hesitant silence. The sound slows, before stopping completely, and that’s when the low whine of the servos in the turret start to sing. There’s a clunk as it stops to regard its target. The pause, here, would seem be to provide space for a pithy action one-liner, and it lets you be the one to come up with one: “Tanks for the memories!” Then there’s a sound like broken thunder as it sends a shell towards whatever unfortunate was under the barrel of that particularly wide gun. The explosion, then, is distant. It sounds somewhat anti-climactic. If you’re where the tank is. Alternatively, if you’re where the shell is, I think that’s going to be a little more climactic. A little more final.
That’s a tank, to me. But that’s not a tank to World of Tanks.
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By Phill Cameron on September 17th, 2010.
This article is the first in an ongoing safari through a range of free-to-play games of all genres.
Relax. It’s ok. There’s nothing to worry about. Just take a seat, get acclimatised, perhaps browse the store for a little bit, we’ve got this. We’ll take care of everything, and the thing you’ve got to bear in mind is that this is about you; we’re here to make your life easier in every way, because hey, you’re the one playing the game, after all.
That’s League of Legends’ UI, talking to me in the sultry tones of an air stewardess that’s been in the job enough to learn how to get you comfortable, but not long enough to stop caring and grow embittered and cruel. More legroom, sir? Indeed. Except League of Legends, despite being Free to Play, isn’t the Easy Jet or Ryanair of DOTA clones. This is the premium service, right here, and it starts from the moment you first load the game up. All of the superfluous garbage has been torn away and rolled up into a ball, before being tossed into an bin, leaving you with a stripped down, super efficient experience that lets you just get on with playing the game.
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