This reminds me there’s yet another giveaway on Amazon right now that looks kind of interesting. Captain Blood is a pirate themed hack’n’slash game that’s been in development hell for 20 years I think. There’s no dynamic shadows or volumetric lightning, but the graphics are well designed, controls are simple and the villains twirl their mustaches with great enthusiasm.
WAS in development hell, I mean. Link
That game looks FUN. That is also in my GOG library now. 
I saw it compared to God of War in terms of gameplay.
Epic this week:
Cozy Grove, life sim about camping on a haunted ever-changing island.
Isonzon, WWI set tactical FPS.
Epic this week (yawn):
Electrician Simulator, self-explanatory. Also a repeat.
World of Warships — Epic Anniversary Tachibana Pack, normally paid expansion for a freemium base game. (Requires base game.)
World of Warships is the only freemium game I play and it is a really, really fun game. And you can play it for free but while it is not pay-to-win (exactly) it is pay to progress faster as many such games are. They certainly make it hard enough to not pay that you want to, that’s the hook.
I think it is worth a try for free and get a sense of it then decide how much you want to pay, if any. Honestly though, you can have fun at most levels and for free. It is our desire to progress they prey upon to get the next bigger thing. If you can be content with a slow progression then it is cheap.
It looks way better than you might think. Ship models are superb. There is a learning curve to be sure. You will suck when you start. Heck…I’ve played a lot and I still suck (that’s just me though). There is depth there but it is more work than you’d think underlying it all.
Prime subscribers can now get one of @Atamasama ‘s favorites for free. On the main claims page you can also get Rome TW 2.
I don’t have Prime, but I just checked Steam, and it has a 90% off promotion for Rebel Galaxy until March 26, making it $1.99. At that price, I think I’m going to pick it up for sure.
So, @Atamasama or whoever else would like to answer, what exactly is the gameplay for Rebel Galaxy? I’ve read the Steam info and watched the preview. I’m gathering it’s not a FPS, you control a spaceship and battle other ships. FSS (‘First Spaceship Shooter’)? I’ve heard it compared to ‘pirate ships in space’ battling each other with cannon broadsides and such, and the preview video seems to bear that out. Is that a pretty good description of the actual gameplay, or are there FPS elements as well?
Just as an FYI to everyone:
This free game is a code for GOG (aka Good Old Games). You need an account with GOG to redeem that coupon. GOG is great so well worth doing if you do not already have an account there.
Re: World of Warships
I had quite a few hours in their earlier game World of Tanks. If you have ever played WoT, can you compare the gameplay fun quotient? As an elder, at some point my reflexes hampered my kill:death ratio.
I only barely tried WoT. I MUCH prefer World of Warships. I like the ships a lot better than the tanks and the pace of the game is slower (or more measured?). Some ships can fire quite rapidly but most take many seconds…as much as 30 seconds, between shots. And instead of dodging from hedge-to-hedge for cover you are spending minutes (maybe) sailing out in the open. Positioning and range are the thing in WoWs.
That is not to say there is nothing to do…there is plenty to keep you busy and on your toes.
And they do a magnificent job on the ship models.
Since it is a freemium game I’d give it a shot. Of course, you start at the lowest level and do not see tons of things you can do but gives you a sense of it. Worth a couple hours I think to see if you like it.
Or watch some YouTube videos.
I bought it from GOG for USD 0.75, so far I like it very much.
It’s very much like pirate ships in space, for better and worse. Even though you are in space so movement is fully 3-dimensional, movement and orientation is mostly 2-dimensional, with only slight movement in the Z-axis. Ships are slow (though some are faster than others) and designed in such a way that most of your firepower will be sideways, so it really does give the feeling of being in a sailing ship fighting other ships. But taking that gameplay and putting it in space, with all the flashing lasers and everything, really makes a difference.
I think it’s probably better to think of it like a cross between Star Trek and pirate ship combat. The reason why I bring up Star Trek is because that’s a franchise featuring large, lumbering ships with a ton of weapons slowly moving around and blasting each other. Take that sort of combat, and then make it feel closer to a sailing ship, and there you have it.
So, it’s not a fast-paced dogfight, but still a real-time action flight simulator game where you are navigating around, getting into and out of shooting range, lining up shots, etc.
Outside of combat, you’re flying around, exploring, solving missions, earning money, buying upgrades, earning bigger ships, customizing ships, buying and selling goods, all the usual space privateer gameplay from similar games. And the atmosphere is very much “grubby outlaw”, like a mix of Firefly and a biker gang show.
Thanks! I actually went ahead and grabbed it, and started playing. Got the initial whiskey run job from Orzo (Orzu? Orzo is a type of pasta, I think). That first training wheel job was easy, but the second job Orzu gave me, with actual combat, I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, and eventually got blowed up. But that’s fine, just have to figure out the mechanics of the gameplay.
I know it’s not that retro of a game-- released the same year as Fallout 4; but it kind of has the feel of some old-school arcade games I used to play-- in a good way! A bit of Asteroids, bit of Defender. Much more advanced and in 3D though.
I only played the game long enough to get a taste of it, but only because I’m currently playing Atomfall and am kind of immersed right now. I can see having a blast with RG when I get back to it!
I’ve been traveling the trade routes and making serious money, buying in one station (Igotai or something like that) and selling it in nearby Rust City and viceversa.
I think the stations are randomized for each game, so this advice probably will not be very helpful.
Careful, that way lies Spaceships and Spreadsheets… Oh, wait, I mean Eve Online.
Better than my being a moisture farmer in Fallout 4 I suppose (overproducing purified water and selling it at every settlement until you buy out the game).
Ha! I spent several years in EVE Online. And yeah…I had spreadsheets (actually helped me in my job…kidjannot).
I recently downloaded the game but it is so daunting I am not sure I want to even try to get back in to it.
I only spent a year at it, and the nickname was perfectly appropriate for my playstyle. But it does take away a lot of the beauty of the game and left you plenty of grind. And no, I haven’t had any temptation to go back. I’m still doing the same thing in World of Warcraft and countless solo games.
At least, the ones where you can partially buy your way to victory!
I already tried to do it in Eve Online 
, but there was not enough info on prices, and what it was was misleading, for example I read some fluff in the game about being a shortage of item X in planet Y, I bought a lot of X, went to Y… and it was in vain because the fluff text did not affect the actual prices.
Plus they wanted me to pay real money to continue playing so I stopped.