If you don’t like browser based games but you like free games please check this older post with free mmorpgs here.

Runescape

Runescape is a pretty popular game and it’s around for quite a few years  (it was released in 2001). It’s a 3d java based MMORPG set in the fantasy world named Gielinor . The controls are the classic point and click and the view is isometric. Many say this is the best browser based MMO out there and I don’t blame them, the numbers speak for themselves; over 10 million active accounts. It is recognize by the Guinness World Records as the most popular free MMORPG.     

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Might and Magic Heroes Kingdoms

If you played Heroes of Might and Magic, especially the 5th installment the game will feel very familiar. It is a browser based (go figure it out ), turned based strategy. The game features 4 town types : Heaven, Academy, Necropolis and Inferno with their specific unit types (from Heroes 5), resources and schools of magic.
The goal of the game is to get into alliances with other players and with your powers combined to obtain  Tears of Asha, which will allow the building of tear structures. There are 3 ways to obtain a Tear of Asha.
1. The Domination path: Explore the map to find the obelisk that provides the location

2. Wealth path: Build an oven that melts a lot of resources to create the Tear.

3. Honor path: Fight the NPC’s with army restrictions on yourself .

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Ikariam

I’m actually playing this game and I’m enjoying it a lot. It reminds me of the Civilization series . You start with one city on your little island, your citizens are sun bathing, you’re under the protection of the Gods, so everything is nice and dandy, but we can’t let it like this, can we? Well you can but it will be very boring . The goal is to expand your cities, build your armies and make other players life miserable and why not, take over the world.

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Travian

Who hasn’t heard of Travian ? This is one of the biggest and most popular strategy BBG. The game was developed by the German software company Travian games. It was translated into over 40 languages, and has about 5 million players on over 300 servers, so it’s big.  The players can chose between 3 factions: the Romans, the Gauls and the Teutons each with their own characteristics.  When you enter for the first time in the world of Travian you start as the leader of  a  small village with a population of 2 people. I guess they have a lot of  “work” to do for populating your village . This game actually has an end game, which happens every 300 days. The ultimate goal is to build and upgrade a Wonder of the World to level 100.

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Lords online

This game stands out of the crowd with its high quality graphics. It is a strategic game based on the AD&D rules. Being a strategy game it involves war of course, because things tend to get boring without some action.  The gameplay is based around the hero, which is a little different from most bbs strategy games. The player will construct buildings, train troupes, recruit heroes and gather resources. The troupes are led in combat by the hero who appears on the adventure map. If you played Evony online the game will seem familiar. Put in the equation, the hero based gameplay from Gaya and you have Lords online.  You should try the game. it really has potential.

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OGame

OGame is a strategy game set in space,  where no man has gone before.  The Sci Fi setting is not very popular like the medieval fantasy one so the few games set in the future have their loyal players.  The game began in the year 2000 and has about 2 million accounts by now. The new players start with one planet at a random location. The players can expand up to 9 planets from where they can launch missions, build constructions or make researches. The planets are gathered in 499 systems which form a galaxy. All universes in the game have 9 galaxies. I almost forgot, one system consists of 15 planets.   

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The West

If you miss the old western movies, you should try The West, but that’s not the only reason . The game has clean nice graphics, very good interface which is friendly with new players.  This game takes a different approach from the classic recipe: build a town, recruit your army and kick someone’s ass, it give you control of just one character, which you evolve, and then you can kick some ass . The town plays a central role in the game, it’s like your alliance. All players can contribute  to build buildings which give everybody bonuses. You can get items, jobs , or can duel other players in towns.  Although you can’t customize the appearance of your character you can customize the skills and attribute points.  With all this and a unique combat system this is a nice game and you won’t feel like you waste your time playing it.

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Here are the steps you should follow:

• first of all make some demos. I usually record all my games, you never know when you’ll do a cool move. To record a demo you have to enter this 2 commands: “g_syncronousClients 1″ and “record demoname”. demoname should be an intuitive unique name. To stop a demo you type “stoprecord”. You should bind these commands

bind F1 “g_syncronousClients 1;record”
bind F2 “stoprecord; g_syncronousClients 0″

• To playback your demos use Seismovision. You just double click the demo and it starts Quake. It has a cool config specially made to record videos “OJs Movie Config.cfg” Use it. Open the file in a text editor and see the key binds for record and other useful commands. I usually do some twicking like frame rate or video resolution and quality. You want to get the best looking demo, right? Adjust these settings in the config according to your system specs. Just hit the record key, the game will not run smooth when you record but that’s not a problem. Now for some theoretical stuff. You can skip these if you whant. Quake 3 has a real useful command for recording videos “cl_avidemo”. Although there is another way to record… using Fraps, I recommend “cl_avidemo” . This command writes TGA files in your screenshots folder. If you use “cl_avidemo 30” like I do, it will write 30 files/second on your HDD so you need loots of free space. This means your video will have 30 fps, which is great for action sequences. Most movies on TV have only 24 fps. Now for the resolution… DVD quality means 768×576 resolution. I recommend 800*600 or higher. The bigger the resolution is the more free space you need. You should use a wide resolution, it’s cooler. I use 1280*800 (16:10 aspect ratio).
• After you have your screenshots you have to transform them in a video. I use Virtual Dub, but there are other alternatives like Bmp2Avi. Just chose Open video file and chose Image sequence from file types just like in the picture.

• Now open the first screenshot. Save your file with File/Save as AVI option. By default VD saves an uncompressed avi file so  again you’ll be  needing a lot of HDD free space. You can chose to compress the file using a codec installed on your system like Xvid. Go to Video/Compression.. and chose your favorite codec like in the picture. Don’t forget to set the framerate from Video/Framerate.. (CTRL + R).

• Finally you have a video file with your quake moves. Now it’s time to edit this video files with your favorite video editing tool. You can use anything between Windows Movie Maker to Adobe Premier. It’s up to you. It really depends on your video editing skills and the complexity you want the video to have.
• Optional: You can record the in game sound and synchronize it with your video. I find that to time consuming with all the synchronizing so I don’t record the in-game sound, I’m happy just with the soundtrack.
• It’s time to publish your video. Youtube is the easiest way to go. If you have a web site and you want to publish your video there just convert your movie in a streaming format like flash.

When my masterpiece is ready I will show it to you and you’ll have the chance to criticize it all you want .

1. Better performance
When it comes to framerate the PC is no doubt the king and I’m not talking about the Xtrem rigs that cost a lot of money, the average gaming pc does the job well too.

2. Better control
No doubt the mouse+keyboard combination is the best way of control for a lot of genders out there: FPSs,RTSs,MMOs and more.

3. Better graphics
The PC always had the better hardware which means better looking graphics.
4. Cheaper games
PC games are much cheaper than console games so you’ll play more titles…and don’t forget the free games out there.

5. Professional Gaming
Quake anyoane? or should I say Starcraft…or maybe Counter Strike. You should know that Starcraft is the no 2 most whatched “sport” in South Korea just after football.

6. MMOs
Probably if I mention World of Warcraft is enough

7. Free mods
PC gamers have been making mods such as add-ons, total conversions, unofficial levels and all manner of other content for… well, pretty much forever…and it’s all free of course.

8. Abandonware
A lot off classic pc games are distributed for free or at very low prices with extra content and updated for the latest hardware and O.S. Just see GoG.com.

9. PCs are becoming less needy of upgrades
In last 1-2 years the hardware evolved faster than usual so it is ahead of software…with a few exceptions (see Crysis..bleah). This means you won’t have to upgrade your rig too often.

10. PC is the favorite  platform  for development
It’s easier to develop a game for PC than consoles with all the hardware combination out there …and trust me I know what I’m talking about. The PC is Heaven for Indie gaming since it’s cheap and big enough for the small developers to make a profit without the need to pay big checks to Sony, Nintedo and others.

11. Versatility
This is not a mistake..it’s my bonus reason why I chose the PC, … Versatility. If you don’t like the mouse and keyboard you can always use a controller for gaming. If you’re tired of playing you always have a million choices on the PC…hell you can make your own game…if you’re up to it.

Title:Runes of Magic
Website: Visit
If you played WoW this game will seem very familiar…but this isn’t a bad thing. The game has many new features to make it interesting…and the best part is that it is free. Currently the game is in open beta stage and already is fantastic. This only means is only room for improvement. In the first day of open beta 190.000 players joined the world of Taborea…this says a lot.

Title:9 Dragons
Website: Visit
This game is more for hardcore players then casual ones. It has a lot to offer if you give it a chance and you don’t uninstall it after the first hour of play. The game is about martial arts,it takes place in ancient China during the Ming dynasty the 9 Dragons era. It gathers many chines myths and legends so you could say it has a seed of truth in it. It’s more about the art in martial arts then the violent part like most games. Your goal is to become immortal, but not necessarily through blood and through meditation as well, so you have to learn something about the eastern philosophy so the game will make some sense. It has lots of minuses too, like the simple old looking graphics and animation or the control. It’s up to you to decide if is worth your time or not.

Title:Dofus
Website: Visit
Dofus is a Browser based MMORPG made in Flash, developed and published by Ankama Games, a French computer game manufacturer. It’s graphics is cartoon like and the combat is turn based, so there is a little tactics involved, but not too much to scare away casual players. Basically is a Pay to Play game, but it still also offers a limited amount of free content. Dofus is set in the world of Amakna (Ankama spelled backwards). As the Dofus community continues to grow, new areas and add-ons are added. The developers continually add new content as well as balance items/classes.

Title:Tabula Rasa
Website: Visit
Tabula Rasa is a MMORPG game that takes you, the player, into lush forest planets, volcanic moons, and exotic alien civilisations. Face off against powerful alien soldiers, armoured mechanoids and vicious creatures… so as you can see is…a 3′rd person SF game. Heavy ArmourUse a wide range of weapons and unique alien powers to help the Allied Free Sentients (AFS) in their desperate fight against extinction. Tabula Rasa combines a vast, persistent game world and ongoing storyline with fast-paced action, resulting in a striking new approach to the design of multiplayer online games.

Title:Dungeon Runners
Website: Visit
Dungeon Runners- The mother of all RPGS- like they say on the official site, is a fast paced, action RPG experience where you take on the role of a brave hero and explore dangerous dungeons, battle ferocious monsters, and discover unique items! Your hero can adventure alone or team with a party to hunt terrible monsters and reap fantastic rewards.

Title:Anarchy Online
Website: Visit
Anarchy Online is the first science fiction-based massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (Sci-fi MMORPG). Thousands of players world-wide can compete and cooperate simultaneously in a rich, futuristic world. The graphics, at today’s standards is kind of simple snd … ugly, but if you can past that is worth checking it out.   The sound, brought to you by the award-winning developers of The Longest Journey, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Speed Freaks, Championship Motorcross, and Pocahontas is doing a good job. Maybe for some of you the game is too complex…so the best thing you can do is try it out.

Title:Hero
Website: Visit
Hero Online is a masterpiece created by three generations of distinguished martial art novelists. The storyline is written by first generation martial arts novelist, Kum Kang, who utilizes a complex combination of story content and plot twists, free from prearranged paths, that brings a whole new gaming experience. The controls are not that good in this game either.

Title:Mu Online
Website: Visit
MU Online is a 3D MMORPG that takes you, the player, into a fantasy world full of excitement, adventure and monsters. It’s around for quite a while so you’ve probabily seen it…so you know what to expect. I really liked the events in game but after some time it becomes boring, there aren’t too many quests so all you do is hack and slash, slash and hack.

Title:Perfet World
Website: Visit
WanMei or Perfect World is one of the hottest and most played MMORPGs of this genre. Featuring a full 3-Dimensional environment with excellent environmental effects, graphics and gameplay, it is set to bring online gaming to the next level. Based upon a collection of ancient Chinese mythology, culture and history, the world of WanMei is a blend of fantasy and adventure. I didn’t quite liked the control but maybe it was from the lag. If you can get past the first half an hour then this is the game for you.

Title:Entropia Universe
Website: Visit
The Entropia Universe is more than a game. The Entropia Universe is for real. Real people, real activities and a Real Cash Economy in a massive online universe. You can buy everything in game with real money like land, houses and items.

Title:Requiem: Bloodymare
Website: Visit
Requiem: Bloodymare is a MMO for mature audiences that will immerse you into a dark world of bloodshed devastated by generations of scientific and magical abuse. You’ll need to fight against the grotesque monsters that stalk the cursed land, and band together with your allies to survive against the stronger, bloodthirsty creatures that only prowl at night. If you’re tired of MMOs without blood, this is the place where you should be.

Title: SilkRoad
Website: Visit
The online game SilkRoad is a 3′rd persson MMORPG which targets the unceasingly active world other than the existing online games which the has built the entrenched world. On the specious Silk Road, the merchants constantly moves for trading and burglars who intend to strip them of goods. In addition, there are hunters who specialize in removing such burglars. On the Silk Road which seems to be static, the hostility and secret strife in which various groups continuously engage for the benefit of their own groups inform the Silk Road world with new life.

Of course Blizzard comes out with all sorts of reasons for this kind of decision, but for me one thing is clear…their priority is to milk these very famous franchises the best way they can, and not important gameplay elements like they claim. Even so I’m sure the games will break a lot of sale records, but I’m afraid Blizzard will step on a lot of gamers tails if they don’t change their priorities. It looks like all the millions they made with WoW went to their heads.

September

Lego Batman. After Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones it’s Batman’s turn to blend with Lego. This game has a big potential because there are a lot of different and interesting characters in Batman’s universe compared to Indiana Jones.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angels. Sacred was a good game. Let’s hope Sacred 2 won’t disappoint the fans. This will make the long, long wait for Diablo 3 more bearable .

Silent Hill: Homecoming. Yes, it’s coming on the PC too. Silent Hill is one of the scariest games ever. Superb atmosphere, grotesque monsters…what can I say…I can’t wait to be scared.

October

Battlefield Heroes. The new shooter from the creators of the Battlefield series is expected to be released this month. The cartoon style graphics looks great, …and the best part of this game is that….it’s FREE.

Quake Live. Quake 3 is reborn in Quake Live, the new shooter from ID Software. It will run in your browser, it has better graphics, very good multiplayer support….it’s going to be GREAT…if they would just release it already.

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway. What I liked in the first game was that all the locations were made after real maps and photos. This time it will be better and more realistic.

21-28 October. This is a nice week indeed. Long awaited games will finally be in the hands of gamers everywhere. Tuesday 21 October, Far Cry 2 will be released. I can’t wait to see Africa created with the Dunia engine.

26 October. The new Guitar Hero: World Tour will introduce the drums and mike to create a more complete experience. This time you will be able to record your own songs using the instruments…sweet.

28 October, a sweet day …I can taste it. 2 Uber Games will be released in the same day. The long awaited postapocalyptic role-playing game, Fallout 3 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.

November

11 Nov. Call of Duty: World at War. The producers take the franchise back to World War II. I have no doubt that this is a must have. Who has played Call of Duty 4 knows what I’m talking about.

11 Nov. Mirror’s Edge. This first person parkour (free running) action adventure game seems real nice. It’s a breath of fresh air, has a realistic, brightly-colored style and the girl on the cover is cute…so keep an eye out.

13 Nov. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. The new expansion for the behemoth that is World of Warcraft opens the frozen Northrend to players.

17 Nov. Need for Speed Undercover. It’s November so it’s inevitable that a new NFS will eat some GB’s on our hard disks,…or not. I hope all the fun ingredients of the NFS series will be back..

18 Nov. Grand Theft Auto IV. It’s not a new game, but for most PC users who hate consoles it is. We will see GTA IV unleashed (better graphic that will run over 25-30 fps like on PS3 or Xbox360 ). Liberty City here I come.

18 Nov. Tomb Raider Underworld. The last 2 Tomb Raider games were pretty good and all the signs point that Underworld won’t disappoint, and I’m not going to miss the chance to see Lara in her new wet suit.

December

The new Prince of Persia will make his appearance this December…but I have my doubts .

2007 was declared the best year for new releases ever. We’ll live and see if 2008 will be the new no 1. Either way I like where this is going.