Four Modern Internet Games That Can be Played on an Old Dinosaur CPU

I'm one of those people that have a CPU on their computer that predates George Bush's tenure as president of the United States. I've also never really felt that good about making a purchase from a game (yes, I'm still treating games as an art form). As they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, so I've managed to discover (what I believe are) some of the greatest free games, ever, on the internet.

I've deliberately avoided such classics as Pacman and Pong and instead focused on the more recent side of online games.

Bowmaster Prelude

Bowmaster prelude is a masterpiece of the Flash Timewaster genre. It is a brushed up version of the original Bowmaster game, and, as the name indicates, it's a sort of taster for Bowmaster II. Jason Reinsveld's website has other examples of his work, as well as news and his devlog.

The game provides you with a plethora of different arrows and units (all of which upgrade through dealing/healing damage, depending on their purpose) which, coupled with the fact you get different terrain for each of the 30 levels, allows for an endless amount of different tactics to be utilised.

This game continues the age old tradition of the enemy getting cooler, stronger and… dragony-er units than you do, but you still somehow manage to get one over the Trev'Gahr, as they attempt to take over your home. However, there is a statement in the in-game help, that new units do become available through the course of the game, I haven't (yet!) been able to find any.

Each level is won by either getting your units to take the opposition flag and making it back to your base, or defeating every last one of the advancing army.

You fire your arrows by either pointing and clicking, or “pulling” back a string to define the direction and power. I prefer the pull string method, although it is perfectly fine to use point and click until you understand how the games work and then switch over to pull string. You can change preferences using the “Options” menu.

Every ten levels a large boss appears. Fell him by hitting him in the face with a bomb arrow after he removes his helmet! The guys a toughie, so unless you're very patient, I'd recommend nipping in with some fast cavalry to take their flag and return to your base!

All of the opponents units have some kind of weakness. Some are more apparent than others (Ice dragons are weak against fire? Who'd've guessed!), so have fun working them all out!

Mechquest

This game, produced by Artix Entertainment, creators of Adventure Quest and Dragon Fable, is basically a Mecha game, with magic. Yes, I know, it doesn't sound like it makes sense. Don't let that put you off, as AE always figure out some kind of way to get their amusing and deep plots to come off!

The game has a similar play style to some previous AE gems, except that instead of Health Points and Mana, you get Hit Points and Energy. While the game remains in Alpha/Beta (or Gamma, as they term it) the polish on the game is extraordinary. You start off as a Mecha Fighter Pilot in training, on the space ship to take you to Gears University, where you succeed (despite all logic pointing to the contrary)in surviving the gruelling entrance exam, with an oft joked upon mortality rate. So far only the Energy Blade fighting (fighting outside your Mech with a laser sword!) and the Mecha Fighting 101 classes are yet open, but you can take a job as a pizza delivery boy (fight off rival Pizza delivery services!), which, when levelled up (by the way, how many other games allow you to become a Deep Dish Commander?) gives you access to an astonishing array of pizza based weaponry for your mech, as well as a new mech to ride around in!

You can also be a sleuth in an engaging detective quest series, where you hunt down a werewolf biker gang and infiltrate their headquarters, to attempt to sabotage their plans of creating erm… pies… that turn people into werewolves! This quest chain also gives you access to more Mechs and weaponry, as well as the Tech's Mech's (Puns like that are positively LITTERED through this game) shop. The game is has a few little minigames, like one where you pilot a helicopter, shooting down enemy Shadowscythe units and rescuing doctors.

It's things like these that turn this game into the light-hearted, exciting game it is.

It also has a PvP feature that allows you to play (AI controlled) versions of your friends mechs, for bragging rights.