Ancient Domains of Mystery
Ancient Domains of Mystery, ADOM for short, is a roguelike game with a vast outside world and dozens of different dungeons. The Drakalor Chain is being threatened by the forces of chaos. The player must venture into the depths of the dungeons and close the chaos gate. On his way, chaos slowly start corrupting him, giving him various mutations, which can be both beneficial, harmful or both.
With 10 races, ranging from humans to dark elves to drakelings, and 20 professions, ranging from fighters to weaponsmiths to elementalists to mindcrafters, ADOM is easily one of the roguelikes with the most variety in player character choices. Each of the races and classes have their own unique features.
Where ADOM really shines is replayability: all of the dungeons are completely randomly generated, making every game unique.
However, as most roguelike games, ADOM is definitely not for everyone. First of all, the whole interface is based on ASCII characters. This is a mixed blessing: it means you won't get any pretty graphics, but you'll be able to identify what's on the screen quickly and easily. Secondly, the large amount of possible commands may seem overwhelming at first, but of these dozens of commands, only a few are used constantly, so learning them should be not too hard. Also, ADOM can be very difficult in the beginning, until you've managed to learn a few basic tactics. Don't let that discourage you, the game is very enjoyable once you are comfortable with the interface and learned to survive in the beginning.
Version 1.1.1 adds a wealth of new features, including a feat system which allows you to choose some small benefits for your character every second level. Those benefits range from combat boni when using a certain class of weapons to finding more gold in the dungeons or regenerating faster. This adds enough depth to warrant an increased rating for the game.
The download link leads to the DOS version of ADOM. It should run fine on most Windows systems, too. However, if you feel adventurous, you can try a native Windows version (currently in beta) available at adom.de.
Angband
With Angband, you get all the fun of rogue-likes but with the option to replace the ascii with a simple tileset. Quite fun and has many versions.
Beneath a Steel Sky
Recently released as freeware by Revolution Studios, Beneath A Steel Sky is often dubbed as one of the finest point-and-click adventures ever made. Personally, I wouldn't go that far; It's a great game, with a mostly substantial storyline,interesting and consistent characters, and some fine story driven, inventory based puzzles. The puzzles, or rather, the way the puzzles are presented, are certainly the game's strong point. All of the puzzles are intergrated so smoothly into the flow of the story, that it is sometimes hard to actually classify them as 'puzzles'; 'goals' would be more precise.
Not that you can just run through the entire game accomplishing goal after goal. Although BASS (Beneath a Steel Sky) is somewhat easier than most other point-and-clickers of it's era (the King's Quest games and their fantastic remakes, which are available here on Gamehippo; and the other Sierra games of yore, such as Gabriel Knight, the Conquest series, etc.), it still has it's share of mind bending moments that will have some of us (don't be one of those some) looking to Gamefaqs.com for solutions.
The story, as said before, is substantial...but it certainly didn't strike me as particularly amazing. It's told a little shakily, and you often hear something and not realize its complete importance story-wise until later in the game, when someone casually mentions something that could be as big as, say, your characters true indentity. It's not terrible, but there are more dramatic ways to tell a story than this. The story itself isn't really anything new, but it's a tried-and-true utopeian society yarn, with a couple of nice twists along the way.
The art in BASS was drawn by comic book dude Dave Gibbons, and this could be somewhat of a mixed blessing. The enviroments have a very 'realized' and full look, but from a technical standpoint, they are somewhat their point and click contemporaries (KQ6).
The CD version of BASS, which GH links to, has full voice acting, which is surprisingly good; although the voices do have a little bit of a tinny sound. I'd say it's worth the extra download time to experience the game with the full music track (which is also quite good) and voices.
Bottom Line: Beneath a Steel Sky is a good adventure game, which, although not perfect, is fully deserving of it's 10/10 score. Point-and-click fans would do well to check it out, especially now that it's FREE.
This game requires SCUMMVM to run. You can get SCUMMVM here: http://www.scummvm.org/downloads.php . The windows version didn't work for me, but the DOS version worked fine.
Simple instructions on how to load BASS into the program are included in the SCUMMVM download.
GAME AUTHOR Revolution Games REVIEWED BY Evil Boris
STAFF RATING 10/10
USER RATING 8.4/10
FILE SIZE 69.3 MB
FILE DATE Jul 28, 2003
UPLOADED Aug 25, 2003 DEV TOOL unknown
Crazy Life
Although the control system for life leaves something to be desired, the game is fun nonetheless. Using potions (shift+space) and jumping (ctrl), you must maneuver your character to the key and then to the doorway or complete some other task to end the level. The tiles in the game shift based on the rules of life, making it easy to fall into the ground and die. This game even has a boss. It would be rated 10/10 with editor's choice but for the fact that the game is so short.
A download manager (such as the one in the utilities section of GameHippo) is a necessity in order to download this game.
Diver Down
This review was first published at: http://www.epinions.com/content_3914178692
I was going to update it, but I have nothing new of note to say, so the review is as it was.
Diver Down differs from your standard freeware RPG in several ways. Firstly, it�s written with a package called Verge 2 (See the "Developer Tools" section)� the vast majority of freeware RPGs are created with RPGMaker � it doesn�t require hours of repetitive battles to level up enough to beat the harder monsters, there�s a really strong, original storyline � it uses cinematic techniques quite effectively to build up the atmosphere, it�s not a �save the world� or �good vs. evil� quest, and it�s much more puzzle-based than fighting-based. All of which are good things (not to say that RPGMaker games, levelling up, saving the world etc are bad in themselves!), and it�s all put together so well that it culminates to make one of the best freeware gaming experiences you�re ever likely to have.
The game opens with a long cinematic cut sequence, at the end of which you find yourself imprisoned, having lost your memory, not knowing who your friends and enemies are, and having in your possession technology far more advanced than the planet you�re inhabiting has invented yet, but not knowing how to use it � or where you got it. You have some form of electronic journal, but it�s been damaged so you can�t access it at the start of the game.
The plot is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, and there is a real sense of intrigue as the story unravels. There are plenty of surprises along the way and this plot would make a fantastic film (any takers?). The dialogue is generally well thought out, with the insight shown by the author (especially in scenes where the hero of the game, Drek, is trying to make sense of his discoveries) more than making up for some grammatical errors and inconsistency. (There is also a bit of bad language in this game � not a great deal, but really it was unnecessary. There�s not so much that it will ruin the game for you unless you are really sensitive.)
The battle system is a little different from normal in that you can �recharge� � use a turn to build up your stats � as well as the normal �attack � spell� system, and the battles tend to be a little more strategy-based than the normal �just keep pressing the space bar as quickly as possibly�� method.
The puzzles range from dead easy to damn tricky, and I�m afraid I did need to email the author twice in order to complete the game. (Though on both of them I was actually on the right lines already, just not quite all the way there�) Oddly the two mentioned on the game�s homepage I found extremely easy, but just those two really had me baffled for a while.
The music�s very good (adds very significantly to the large download size though) and the sound effects well-chosen. The graphics are pretty basic but in the cut scenes look great � they have a real retro feel to them (reminds me of �Under a Steel Sky� on the Amiga and the intro to �Powermonger� on my old ST). The fact that they�re all hand-drawn, original graphics is a welcome change from all the free games using ripped or universal graphics, too. (Graphics by �Metro� and �Arias�)
The game will probably take you around 15-20 hours to complete, which ain�t bad for a freebie! It�s greatest merit is by far the storyline, which I would say without hesitation is the best, and most original, that I have yet seen � in any RPG, let alone a free one! Very highly recommended.
Final Ratings Graphics: - 8/10 � some cool retro artwork that will bring back happy memories if you ever owned a 16-bit computer, functional in-game graphics
Sound: - 10/10 � some of the most impressive music you�re ever likely to hear in a freeware game, well-chosen sound FX
Playability: - 9/10 � easy to pick up
Longevity: - 8/10 � I wish it could have lasted a bit longer, but considering you�re not spending extra hours levelling up, 15-20 hours is good
Replay Value: - 6/10 � these games never tend to draw you back after you�ve completed them, but this one does slightly more because the storyline is so good.
Overall Rating: - 9/10 � a very worthy freeware RPG, and original through and through � a real rarity!
NO DEMOS 
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ADWARE
EDITOR'S CHOICE
CHILD-SAFE
VIOLENT
SOURCE CODE
SINGLE-PLAYER
MULTI-PLAYER
NETWORK / INTERNET
ASCII/TEXT GAME
