R&R On Me
by Gerrit Dalman
Well, I've had a lot of fun the last couple of years writing reviews of expensive commercial games for the Group. There's no denying that World of Warcraft or Homeworld 2 are a blast - why else would we pay $50 per copy and up?! But no matter how many pricey games come out, I'll never forget that some of the most fun to be had on a Mac can be had for free.
There are a lot of games that can be called "free" and they come from all over. The annual uDevGames contest even challenges programmers to see who can pull them together fastest. And some of the entries are really cool!
My personal favorite is SolarQuest. It's a mix between Lunar Lander and Choplifter with awesome OpenGL graphics for such a short development cycle.
There's also a smattering of old shareware games that have transitioned to freeware in their old age. The old standby time-wasting favorite Maelstrom was the definitive Asteroids rehash of it's time. The new OS X version delivers the same quirky sense of humor and classic gameplay of the original!
Speaking of classics, few games hold a candle to Bungie's Marathon in the annals of Mac gaming. Not just the predecessor to Halo, Marathon was the first Mac-only title that Windows users drooled over and it brought a whole new life to plot-based first person shooters.
Best of all, Marathon is now a great example of what can happen when big games get old and the publishers feel philanthropic. Bungie open-sourced the game! As a result, all three Marathon titles, updated Mac OS X versions with lots of modern new features, and plenty of extras are available completely free online. This shows free games aren't just for casual gamers. Marathon is every bit as serious as it always was.
Of course "free" doesn't always mean free. One of my favorite "freebies" is Alchemy. This relaxing yet vexing puzzle game hasn't left my hard drive since I first downloaded it as a benefit of my .Mac membership two years ago. It's those little extras that remove any doubt I ever had that .Mac service is well worth the modest price.
Still, it's nice to know there are truly free services out there. If you're an online gamer, one of the most important is Game Ranger. Game Ranger fosters a thriving community and helps you find online opponents for a wide variety of the most popular Mac games.
Of course if you play enough to seek out other players, chances are you're in the market for an off-the-shelf game of one sort or another. So, I strongly encourage you to support the developers who work hard to bring the best games to the Mac by going out and buying a title once in a while. But don't forget the unpriced heroes either.
Remember... Free doesn't always mean cheap!