Free Game of the Week 8 - Team Fortress 2

April 7, 2016

Cartoonish Chaos...

It’s Red vs. Blue in this week’s free game Team Fortress 2, developed by Valve, and originally released in October of 2007 as part of the Orange Box set. It wasn’t until June of 2011 that Valve announced Team Fortress 2 would be free to play. With about 83,000 players daily, Team Fortress 2 is the second most popular free game on stream. Team Fortress 2 is a comic book style FPS (first person shooter) in which two teams battle it out in a variety of objectives.

Games Games Games!

Team Fortress 2 offers fourteen unique game modes across 86 official maps. Including Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, Payload, Mann vs. Machine, and many more. Capture the Flag is just like what we played as kids, where each team has a flag and the objective is to take the enemy flag and return it to your base. The second game mode is King of the Hill. Much to its namesake, players receive points by controlling a specified point or “hill” on the map. Payload is a unique game mode to Team Fortress 2 in which the blue team must escort a bomb on a cart towards the red team base. Blue team wins if they push it into the red base. However, they have a time limit, and if they fail to meet it than red team wins. Another truly unique game mode is Team Fortress 2’s Mann vs. machine. In this game mode players work together to stop the onslaught waves of robots as they march their way into your base.

Back to Class

Aside from the many different game modes and maps, players also have the option of choosing between nine very unique classes.

The Scout: Faster and more agile than the other classes. Perfect for anyone who wants to run around their enemies and scout out the enemy base and positions.
The Soldier: The average run-of-the-mill character, equipped with a rocket launcher to make short work of enemies.
The Pyro: Much to the name the Pyro is ready to burn anyone and everything in his path.
Demoman: Like explosions? Well this class if for you! Equipped with a grenade launcher, these characters like to make things go boom!
The Heavy: Big and strong, carries a machine gun. While slower than most, he makes up for it in raw power.
Engineer: Nothing special as far as weapons go however the engineer can set up turrets to do his dirty work, as well as teleporters to help the team!
The Medic: Equipped with a ray-gun of healing, the medic is ready to save the day!
The Sniper: Ready to take action from a distance, and if you see him….it’s already too late.
The Spy: Truly unique to Team Fortress 2, the spy sneaks around enemy lines with invisibility or the ability to disguise himself as the enemy.

Each class has its own qualities, and are both the best and worst choice in each scenario, so the only way to find out is to try it yourself!

Community and Transactions

The Team Fortress 2 community is both alive and well, with the many tools given by valve, players can both create maps as well as items for the characters and some of them even are added to the game! As far as spending money goes, players can spend money on items that not only change the way it looks, but also makes a small difference on each character. While transactions do not have a significant impact on the game, it is a big portion, with the most expensive item being about four THOUSAND dollars, some people also make a living by buying and selling cosmetic items!

Overall

If you choose to play all the classes and modes or master just one, you’re sure to spend many hours doing so. Also if you’re a creative type, take a chance, and become a content creator for the community! Whatever you decide to do, you’ll spend hours having fun with this game. So team up with some friends or go solo in this week’s free game Team Fortress 2, available on Steam.

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Ben Tuchenhagen, based out of Austin, Texas.

Free Game of the Week 7 - Unturned

April 2, 2016

You won’t be able to turn away, with Unturned!

Minecraft meets DayZ in this week’s game, Unturned. Developed by Smartly Dressed Games, Unturned was officially released in July of 2014. A blocky, cartoonish-styled game, Unturned is a sandbox game in the multiplayer apocalypse survival genre. Unlike most games of the genre, it provides players with an easy to learn interface to sit down and survive the apocalypse with their friends. In an average adventure, players will spend countless hours fortifying locations, scavenging for supplies, farming, and of course fending off hordes of the living dead.

How do I play?

When the game starts you must first pick a map to spawn onto, and you have a choice of one of three basic maps. The first map is called PEI (Prince Edward Island), which resembles the real life location. The second map is called Washington, which is a map similar to Seattle and its surrounding areas. The third map called Yukon is a snowy map similar to the region in Canada where is draws its name. Once you choose the map you are then thrust into the harsh post-zombie-apocalyptic world of Unturned. Once in, you are free to do whatever you’d like, but be cautious though, as players do require food and water.

What is there to do?

Unturned offers a variety of activities to improve your life in the zombie apocalypse, the biggest being crafting. You can craft almost anything, from boats to fertilizer, and even vehicles… Unturned has it all. Unturned also allows players to gain and use experience points. Whether you choose to spend those points to make food more effective or make you stronger, Unturned will leave you full of choices. With so much to see and so much to do, you may even forget about zombies!

Community

Unturned is made by the community FOR the community. With popular suggestions being implemented into the game, the Unturned community is very alive and thriving. But that’s not all. With the addition of the Steam workshop, players can now choose from THOUSANDS of mods to help improve the already amazing game. Mods such as different maps and more vehicles are just the tip of the iceberg. Also as far as paying goes, the only things you can spend money on are purely cosmetic, meaning what you pay will have no effect on the gameplay.

Overall

Whether you choose to live as a peaceful farmer out in the woods, or scavenge the cities for supplies, player are sure to spend hours on whatever it is they choose. And with the great addition of the Steam workshop players now have thousands of more options. So grab your friends and get ready for the zombie apocalypse in this week's free game Unturned, available on Steam!

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Ben Tuchenhagen, based out of Austin, Texas.

Free Game of the Week 6 - Smite: Battle of the Gods

March 25, 2016

Pay tribute or be smitten in this week's free game, Smite!

Smite is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) unlike any other. Where similar games such as Dota 2 and League of Legends have the top down view of the game, Smite takes it into a completely different direction with an over the shoulder style third person view. Developed by Hi-Rez Studios, Smite is not only on PC, but PS4 and Xbox One as well. Much to its namesake Smite is a battle of the gods. With 5 different game modes to choose from, they all follow the same basic directive: Destroy the “Titan,” or enemy base. In order to destroy the enemy you need gold and experience points. Gold and experience is earned in several ways; assisting or killing an enemy player or enemy minions, destroying enemy objectives such as towers, or passively earned periodically as time goes on.

Game modes

Source: Hi-Rez Studios via http://www.wwgdb.com/

As mentioned before currently there are 5 different game modes to choose from. Each of these game modes can either be done with real players or computer players.

Conquest: The typical MOBA map where two teams of 5 battle it out in a three lane style map
Joust: 3v3 map with two lanes
Siege: 4v4 map with two lanes
Assault: 5v5 map with only one lane, and an all-out battle royal
Arena: 5v5 but different from the normal modes. In this mode players battle it out for points, a minion kill is one point where as killing an enemy player grants 5 points.

Characters

Source: Hi-Rez Stuidos via http://www.kevinbargeron.com/

Players have the option to choose from several pantheons of gods and goddesses including Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and even Mayan. With 74 gods to play and master, players will be sure to spend hours on each god or goddess. Characters are later broken down into a specific role or type, each with its own unique skills, weaknesses, and greatness. The roles are

Hunters: Mostly ranged, they utilize physical power to overcome enemies.
Guardians: The support style character, utilizes spells to help the team
Mages: Utilize spells and magical power to thwart their enemies.
Warrior: Strong “tanky” characters that use raw power to overthrow enemies
Assassins: Quick and agile characters that rely on great mobility to defeat opponents

Store

Smite does offer an in-game store, in which players can purchase an assortment of items. The store uses two currencies: Gems and Favor. Gems can only be purchased with actual money. However favor can be acquired in multiple ways. The main way is by playing the game. You receive favor for each game you play. You can also complete quests (such as win 4 games, etc..) or you can spend real money. The main thing people buy at the store are the gods and goddesses. Gods and goddesses are in a free rotation but in order to keep them permanently you’ll have to purchase them. The store also offers several cosmetic items for each god and goddess, as well as ward skins and icons. The store has it all!

Overall

Whether you choose to play as a powerful mage or a cunning assassin, you’re sure to spend countless hours mastering each role and character. And if you choose to spend money, it’ll be money well worth it! So grab some friends, plan some strategies, and prepare for a fantastic time with the great free game Smite.

Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Ben Tuchenhagen, based out of Austin, Texas.