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FREEWARE GAME REVIEWS

Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games

• The White Chamber - a chilling sci-fi horror game, and unusual take on the genre with very classy execution. Even more impressive considering it's Studio Trophos' debut game. This is one of the most atmospheric adventure games I've ever played, freeware or commercial.
• Beneath a Steel Sky - a former commercial release by Revolution (creators of the Broken Sword games), this cyberpunk game takes you into a dystopean future where your fate is, quite literally, in your own hands. You'll need SCUMM Virtual Machine to play this game. Despite its age it's well worth playing today.
• Eye of the Kraken - another former commercial release, this very odd French game is a great combination of a Jules Verne novel and Agatha Christie novel - all inside the world of a very playable adventure game! Quirky graphics style and music complete the slightly surreal, but very enjoyable, gaming experience. And odd. Very odd. ... did I mention that it's odd?!?
• Ten Magical Amulets - a real fairy tale plot brought to life with an imaginative storyline, great visuals, and nicely balanced puzzles. Read the review here. The outakes you can see once you've completed the game are qutie funny, too.
• Prodigal - a spooky horror-style game with some of the best graphics ever to grace an AGS game. Unravel a sinister plot the your brother has become embroiled in, or the whole world just might regret it... (this game is not recommended for younger children) The programmer of this game is working on a sequel that he hopes to get released commercially - it will certainly be one to look out for.
• Nick Bounty - "The Goat in the Grey Fedora" - Pinhead Games second Nick Bounty games (the first being A Case of the Crabs, this one's gone 3D with some impressive visuals, nice music, fully voice-acted adn a great noir plot. There's also a Apple Mac version and an online version of the game. Pinhead Games are fast establishing themselves as one of the prominent freeware game design teams.
• Purity of the Surf - the genius of AGS maestro Dave Gilbert soared in this, my all-time favourite RON (Reality On the Norm) game. Play Josh the surfer dude on a mission to... er... find his surfboard, initially, but loads more afterwards! Very funny and very playable.
• The Uncertainty Machine - an excellent game in the style of the first two Broken Sword games, with you playing the role of a reporter who gets involved in a plot that the Wachowski brothers may well make into a film one day. But is Schroedinger's cat dead or alive?!? Does even the cat know?
• Kings Quest II remake - Tierra Entertainment brought the old Sierra classic up to date with not only improved graphics, music, and sound effects but about 50% extra storyline! The fact that I love this one is a huge testimony to the game as I'm not a huge fan of Sierra's "get it wrong and get killed" style - I grew up with LucasArts' "you can never actually die" philospohy and much prefer that as a rule!
• Out of Order - will probably always remain my absolute favourite freeware adventure game because of its excellent graphics and storyline - and the fact that the auther, Tim Furnish, actually wrote his own game engine to run it! (The same game engine powers some other great adventure games like The Game That Takes Place On A Cruise Ship and Frasse and the Peas of Kejick.) Great graphics and sound, too.

An old version of my Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games can be found here on Epinions, but I doubt if I'll ever update that one again. Some of the games differ between the new and old lists.

This top ten list in a slightly different format can also be found on Epinions - CaptainD's PC Gaming Blog