Would you like to take a step back in time into the Late 90s early 2000s when online gaming born. When instead of dozens of online shooters to choose from there where only a hand full? When gamers were so passionate for their game they played it for years (some still do to this day) optimizing their skill set and pushing the limits of the game engine. I’m happy to say that many of these games are still around and have a small community and on top of that you can get the games for free!

I’m going to get right to it and give you all the information you need to get started playing these classic titles today!

1. Quake

Quake is a first-person shooter video game that was released by id Software on June 22, 1996. It was the first game in the popular Quake series of video games.

Community:

http://quakeone.com/

Download Quake 1

2. Quake 2

Quake II, released on December 9, 1997, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by id Software and distributed by Activision.

Community:

http://q2scene.net/scene/

http://tastyspleen.net/

Download Quake 2

3. QuakeLive

A free web client version of Quake Arena (or Quake III Arena), where players can log on and engage in combat right on their PC systems over a standard web browser.

Community:

http://www.quakelive.com/forum/

http://www.holysh1t.net/

http://www.quake-live.tv/

Play QuakeLive Now

4. Tribes

Starsiege: Tribes is a sci-fi first-person shooter video game. It is the first of the Tribes video game series and follows the story from Earthsiege and Starsiege. It was developed by Dynamix and published by the company now known as Sierra Entertainment in 1998.

Community:

http://www.tribesone.com

Download Tribes

5. Tribes 2

Tribes 2 (commonly abbreviated to T2)  As the name indicates it is the second game in the Tribes franchise, following Starsiege: Tribes.

Community:

http://www.tribesnext.com

Download Tribes 2

6. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Community:

http://www.splashdamage.com/content/wolfenstein-enemy-territory-barracks

Download Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Other Free Note Worthy Modern Games

Warsow

Battlefield Heroes

Americas Army 3

There’s a new podcast i’m excited to talka bout called Ready Up Radio. This podcast features some respectable deathmatch player names like; apheleon, lsv and nineX. The first two podcasts featured discussions about Duke Nukem Forever, Quakelive, apheleon’s unemployement (get this guy a job!) and more. My favorite discussion was in the second episode about how Quakelive should think about a LAN client for other’s to host Quakelive LAN tournaments. Make sure to subscrive to their podcast RSS at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/ReadyUpRadio

Videos:

• Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Beginner Tutorial
• Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Intermediate Tutorial
• Super Street fighter 2 Turbo Advanced Tutorial
• Street Fighter 4 Reviewed By Pros
• Ultimate Street Fighter 4 Gameplay Review

Articles:

• A Beginners Guide to Street Fighter IV
• Advanced Street Fighter 4 Strategy Guide
• Generic Fighting Game Guide
• Understanding Why You Lost
• shoryuken Wiki – By the Street Fighter Community
• Street Fighter 4 Walkthrough – 1up

News & Community Sources:

• Gootecks Street Fighter Blog & Podcast
• Shoryken.com – Street Fighter Community
• eventhubs.com – Another Good Community Site
• evo2k.com – Fighting Tournaments
• Capcom Unity – Official Capcom Community Site

Please make your own suggestions.

First off the whole feeling of the game screams arcade. From the way the menu feels to the online play. The coolest feature is to allow other players to challenge you while you’re playing single player arcade mode. This is like when you are at an arcade and another player walks up while you’re playing and puts in a quarter. This really adds to the whole arcade feel.

I haven’t had this great of an arcade experience from home since the golden area of the dreamcast. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has been a fan of the series or anyone interested in competitive fighting games in general.

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I hope we continue to see interest levels in Quake Live grown and I feel that when this title launches, as long as things are running smoothly it should be a great success.

More Information on Quake Live:

Quake Live’s official website

1up.com preview of Quake Live