There have been lots of great freeware games in 2005 and I decided to present you the five best ones. The games include strategy games, action games, ego shooters and adventures. Should be something for every taste. The freeware scene has developed in the last years producing bigger and better looking games that can sometimes even be compared to commercial products that have been released this year.
Do you remember the game Battle Isle ? It was a great hit on the Amiga Computer and could be described as one of the first turn based hex-strategy games. Advanced Strategic Command uses a similar mechanism, its a turn based strategy game. You play against humans in multiplayer or against the computer in a single player campaign or on single maps. You have different types of troops like soldiers and tanks and factories that produce new units.
The graphics are a bit outdated and there is no tutorial whatsoever but everyone should get the hang of the game pretty fast. Motivation and fun are what makes this a great game.
First, there was Maniac Mansion, then there was Zak McKracken. Those have been the first two adventures by Lucasarts that used the SCUMM technology and a point and click interface which revolutionized the adventure genre. Zak McKracken 2 is a fan project that looks and feels like the orginal.
It has everything that most adventures of today are missing. Funny dialogs, great interface that is easy to use and riddles that feel like riddles. Remember when you found a chainsaw in Maniac Mansion but no fuel and Fuel in Zak McKracken but no chainsaw ? Its the same type of humor, definitely recommended.
3. Warrock
Warrock is a Battlefield like game, the only difference that warrock is free while battlefield is not. Warrock uses the same principles, you have to capture flags to gain points for your team and reduce the points of the other team. To do this you can use vehicles and one of five classes that have different weapons and skills in the game.
You could choose to play as a sniper, engineer, medic, heavy weapons guy and assault soldier. Everyone is able to enter vehicles like tanks and recon to move faster and gain extra firepower. Graphics are great only some animations have to be worked on to make the game look more professional.
GunZ the Duell is a massivly multiplayer game from Korea. You start by creating a character. You can change his appearance and class at the beginning. After that you see the main server window where you select a server to play on. The character starts at level 1 and gets experience and money from killing other players and objectives in the game. Game modes include Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch as well as some others like Gladiator.
Every character has a primary fireweapon, a secondary fireweapon and a blade or knife. You can also equip armor and grenades. Every weapon and armor can be upgraded by purchasing new ones from the shop. The game itself is much more action than roleplaying game, you can perform lots of special moves that look like they came right of the matrix movie trilogy. Walljumps and running along walls are two of the moves. It takes some time to get the hang for the moves but once you understand them they are essential for your ingame performance.
1. Mono
Mono is a fantastic simple game. Your objective is to change the color of the screen to the opposite color. The player starts with a white or black background and has to change it to black or white by shooting at colored balls that explode into halves and leave traces of their color on the background. You get extras like additional firepower which you need badly later in the game.
I hope that you enjoy at least one of the games listed here.
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70 Responses to “5 Best Freeware Games of 2005”
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[...] gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 – Free games that look interesting. One works on a Mac and the others look like it’s windows only. [...]
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Die fünf besten Freeware-Spiele 2005
Wer kein Hardcore-Gamer ist aber dennoch ab und zu ein Spielchen wagen möchte aber nichts dafür ausgeben will, der sollte sich mal diese Spiele ansehen.
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Top free games in 2005
List creator says: «The games include strategy games, action games, ego shooters and adventures. Should be something for every taste. The freeware scene has developed in the last years producing bigger and better looking games that can sometimes…
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[...] Best Freeware Games of 2005 permalink daily archives info This entry is called gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005, and is part of mikeschramm.com, a collection of writings and errata by Mike Schramm. The previousentry is Wired News: 2005 Foot-in-Mouth Awards, and the next entry is . pinged! If any other sites have linked to this entry, they’ll be listed here. Probably. I think it’s broken right now. schrammiest That’s what we call our most popular writings, according to links and views. [...]
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Software 2.0
La web 2.0 llega para quedarse y lo mas innovador son aquellas aplicaciones que se ejecutan desde la red, por ejemplo, si necesitas escribir un texto puedes tener un pc cargado con Writer de OpenOffice, pero si trabajas en va …
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[...] Aquà podrán encontrar los 5 mejores juegos freeware del 2005. Interesante top five, sobre todo para los gamers. Hey, cualquier juego gratis (léase: no pirata), vale la pena. [...]
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[...] read more | digg story [...]
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Los 5 mejores juegos gratuitos del año 2005
Siguiendo con las listas del año 2005 les dejo los 5 mejores juegos Freeware de este año según GHacks, pero como en gustos se rompen géneros no me culpen si son malos
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[...] 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 (gHacks) – via Kotaku [...]
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[...] keine schlechte Top 5 – Liste bei gHacks [...]
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[...] gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 [...]
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[...] Ecco una lista dei 5 giochi freeware più belli del 2005… Buon divertimento Five best freeware games of 2005 [...]
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[...] it, well, who cares, it was free. Filed under: LD Daily — Jonas, Review Editor @ 11:40 am Comments (0) Comments» [...]
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[...] VÃa | gHacks y VidaExtra Filed under: General and PC Comments: [...]
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[...] gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 [...]
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[...] people5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 by amiantos on 12/31/2005 5:40 AM [...]
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[...] gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 [...]
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[...] gHacks 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 [...]
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[...] Considerado um dos 5 melhores freeware de 2005! [...]
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[...] Si el único problema que tienes es el de la pasta y tiempo te sobra a raudales, en gHacks han hecho una lista de los cinco mejores juegos freeware del 2005. Tienes de todos los estilos: estrategia, aventura clásica, captura la bandera, lógica… Muy recomendable. [...]
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[...] Over at gHacks blog you can find great descriptions (and download links) for the best freeware games from last year. [...]
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[...] Los cinco mejores juegos gratuitos del 2005. [...]
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[...] Well, it’s 2006 already, but this is a good list of the 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005. I’ve tried Mono, and it’s kewl. [...]
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[...] Los 5 mejores juegos gratuitos del 2005 Los chicos de GHacks presentan los 5 mejores juegos gratis, licenciados con una licencia Freeware, del año. Comentarios (0) [...]
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[...] gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 (tags: 2005 Download Entertainment Free Gaming Software Windows) [...]
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[...] gHacks » 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 GunZ the Duell is a massivly multiplayer game from Korea. You start by creating a character. You can change his appearance and class at the beginning. After that you see the main server window where you select a server to play on. The character starts at level 1 and gets experience and money from killing other players and objectives in the game. Game modes include Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch as well as some others like Gladiator. [...]
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[...] Top 5 juegos gratis Traducción de los mejores 5 juegos gratuitos, publicado por ghacks [...]
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[...] Then for a bit more fun, the 5 Best Freeware games of 2005. There are two great looking games with flashy graphics. So I might be convinced to try some free games. [...]
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[...] Los chicos de GHacks presentan los 5 mejores juegos gratis, licenciados con una licencia Freeware, del año. [...]
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[...] Aquà podrán encontrar los 5 mejores juegos freeware del 2005. Interesante top five, sobre todo para los gamers. Hey, cualquier juego gratis (léase: no pirata), vale la pena. [...]
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[...] Lists the five best freeware games of the year that include a battlefield 2 like shooter, zak mckracken 2 the successor of zak mckracken and other great games.read more | digg story [...]
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[...] 5 Best Freeware Games of 2005 [...]
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[...] read more | digg story « Alcohol 52% DVD/CD emulation software goes freeware Over 400 Free Mac Apps: The Best Freeware Site For Mac I Have Found So Far. » [...]
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[...] read more | digg story « Fun Little Physics Game – Sumo Robots [...]
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[...] [Via gHacks] [...]
Hey you should try http://www.darkthrone.com, the best text based online games.
Muy buena lista!
No te olvides del Icy Tower: http://www.freelunchdesign.com/games.php
pretty lame games for the best of ‘05…
I like the play the game that the Gunbound team made called “Rakion”
It is basicaly in a midevil magical era and u lvl up and build your character. It’s an action game so slow computers will cause a lot of lag.
the mono link says: “Bandwidth Limit Exceeded”
too bad
use this mirror from download.com
http://www.download.com/Mono/3640-2099_4-10379806.html?sb=2&v=0
I edited my article as well.
I love to see good work that is free. It is not always about the doller.
Warrock is, I belive, only free while the beta-test.
WAR ROCK is a straight rip and jack of battlefield, they even took sounds from battlefield……. isnt that illegal? Your better off buying battlefield 2 and getting mods then WarROCK
Mono is simply fenomenal logic game, one of the best that ever came out!
I agree with you, Mono is simplistic but makes lots of fun, has great gameplay and a good sound.
Very good selection. I have included this link in FREEWARE_11
is it just me or is Zak2 only in German? Is there an English version?
Brian
There should be an english version because there is an english solution for the game http://www.nikis.de/zak2lsgen.htm
you can download a version with many languages from http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=4361
when you setup the game you can select the games language :)
COR Entertainment’s Code Red Alien Arena should be on that list.
You missed an incredible freeware game:
http://www.wesnoth.org
It really shows the miracle of community development and GPL licensing.
Someone is forgetting about Blockland: http://blockland.us Don’t forget to get the (also free) addon of ‘Return to Blockland’: http://returntoblockland.com
It’s a free 1st/3rd person Lego building game that you do co-operatively with other people online in user-hosted servers. It got a lot of coverage (The Screen Savers) back in February/March. I’ve been addicted to it since then.
I have to give a kudos to a game that’s been in development for many years and was recently completed. Although the game itself is free it runs on the Dungeon Siege engine.
The Ultima V remake done by Lazarus.
AMAZING!!!!
whoops.. forgot to post the site for Ultima V Lazarus.
http://www.u5lazarus.com/
All the best stuff in the world is free. I love you freegame maker guys. Big hug!
Those games are NOT my favorites! My favorite freeware game released in 2005 is Babala, is Babala. It’s very keen, try it.
This is a blatant plug for http://alexadex.com, a free online game where players buy and sell shares in websites. Might make this list next year. ;)
Kingdom of Loathing rocks! The best MMORPG you will find, free to play,
expertly executed and utterly addictive.
dang man………..gunz the duel is a really tight game :)
WAR ROCK is a straight rip and jack of battlefield, they even took sounds from battlefield……. isnt that illegal? Your better off buying battlefield 2 and getting mods then WarROCK
Said by deathneo December 30, 2005 at about 6:28 am
^you sir, are an **** ****, IF you cannot apreciate that people do this stuff
for free you shouldn’t have clicked on this link if the first place, WarRock
IS free and (in the korean version which IS translated) has more features.
Bf2 will st you back when new 40 pounds! thats around 50 Dollars!
Don’t knock FREE games.
yea blockland DEFINETLY rules over all other games
Decent list. Probably wouldn’t have been my choices but still a very interesting read.
Mono is a great game. I like really short games, too busy to play long ones, and a game can be played in approx. 5 – 10 minutes. the first couple of times it is almost like a wild halucination, my chair was even traveling around the desk.
This top five freeware games of ‘05 list isn’t so great, but the comments (and the links) make it worthwhile. Keep post more good stuff everyone !
To all those jackasses who wish to complain about the games, just remember
they are FREEWARE and the host of this site go to a lot of trouble to
bring them to you! I for one am extremely greatful to the host, as I barely
subsist on a disability pension and could never afford to go out and buy
games.
To the host of this site, I say “Thank you!”
Yo estaba buscando una lista de servidores Battlefield2 pirata para jugar,,,, solo queria divertirme un poco… Claro que no sabia que existia un juego Free de esta magnitud y categoria…
I’m just can say THANKs….
get more and better games
Wow! Some real gems here. Most of them look like high-quality games. Really gonna waste some time playing these. Thanks for sharing! :)