Review For: Armagetron (PC) (Runs on Linux too:-) Date Written: January 19, 2004 Download Link: http://armagetron.sourceforge.net/  Rating:

Out of all the free games out there, this one has to be one of the best.  Armagetron features wonderful 3D graphics (for a free game) and very addicting game play.  The game is based on the old movie called Tron (a very good movie too) where they race in these car like vehicles.  It is basically a very slim motorcycle with a cover all around it (like a car) that leaves a trail behind it wherever it goes.  Using this trail you can make other “enemies” crash into it and win points.  Now that you have an idea of what the game is like, lets talk a little about the game play and features it offers…

Game play is relatively simple. You use only 3 different keys to control your "motorcycle".  Two of the keys turn your "motorcycle" left or right and the 3^rd key either slows you down or makes you go really fast (this depends on server settings and or your personal settings).  The object of the game is to get people out by creating “tracks” behind you and having people run into them and to not crash into anyone else’s (or your own) track.  The game play may seem simple, but if you try playing this game I can almost guarantee you will end up playing this game for hours on end and not even realize it.  Now I will talk about the features it offers…

There are 2 basic modes of playing.  You can either play a local game against computer opponents or play a network game.  The local mode is pretty much self-explainable, but the network mode has a little more detail to it.  Once you select “Network Game” you will be presented with several options.  The ones we will be talking about are “LAN Game” and “Internet Game”.  I will first start off with the “Internet Game” option…

The “Internet Game” option allows you to connect to one of the many online servers and play against people all over the world.  You basically just select “Internet Game” while you are connected, wait until all the text goes away off your screen (this is just the loading process to connect to the servers), select a server, and play!  When you are playing an online game you are also able to talk with other people playing on the same server as you by pressing your “s” key and typing your message.  You can even talk and drive at the same time (not that any of you really care about talking and driving at the same time).  Now lets talk about the “LAN Game” option.

This option basically allows you to host a private game off your computer to people on your own private home network or anyone around the world.  So you could set up a game where all your friends could play at the same time:-) Oh, just so you know this is not the same as hosting an Internet game.  An Internet game is public to all people while a LAN game is only available to people who know the name of your server and the password (if you provided one).  I can’t say too much more about this option, because I haven’t really tried it out, but maybe when Cybernet Resources gets a little more popular I will host a game off my computer:-)

So, in conclusion, if you are like me and like free (hey that rimes) you should at least go and check this game out.  It’s only like a 5MB download and it has stunning 3D graphics.  I would have to say this is one of the ultimate “time wasters” on the PC that you can get for free and also to make it even better it is open source!