Hey there, and welcome to a top 10 that isn’t our usual stuff. Instead of listing our favorite MMOs for the umpteenth time, or the best Battle Royale games in the world (god forbid) we want to tell you about some cool, possibly awesome free games coming later this year or during 2019. You probably know a few of them, but there may be a surprise or two in store for you. Let’s begin with our Top 10 Potentially Awesome Upcoming Free Online Games 2018 and see some of the good stuff that is coming.
10 - SURVIVED BY
Besides Realm of the Mad God, there aren’t many good retro-styled bullet-hell MMOs to sink your teeth into. We may be wrong, but it seems that Human Head Studios clearly took inspiration from that game and added a Dark Souls twist to come up with Survived By.
The bullet-hell part is definitely present in Survived By, with projectiles flying everywhere and incredibly fast reactions required to make any decent progress. And then there’s permadeath, because when you die, it’s game over… for that character, at least. Your now defunct avatar leaves a little gift behind for his descendant, which could turn out to be increased damage, damage reduction or some other buff that will make him just a little bit better. Survived By is shaping up to be a charming, challenging MMO with an original twist, and the developers said that they will “please the community or die trying”, so don’t forget to call them on that.
9 - CONQUEROR'S BLADE
Conqueror’s Blade is a military warfare simulator where armies from medieval West and East meet in an unusual clash of cultures. This is an MMO where you create your army and take it into battle, leading the troops and fighting alongside them in a way that very few games managed to do – there’s Tiger Knight, but that game failed to fulfill its potential.
If done right, Conqueror’s Blade could provide some of the most exhilarating sieges ever this side of the Total War series. Of course, those are strategy games, while this one aims to perfectly blend action, strategy and RPG elements in a daunting yet enticing mix. Here’s hoping that this one doesn’t fall short of its potential.
8 - BREACH
Breach is coming from the talented hands of ex-Bioware devs and seems to have plenty of similarities with the studio’s canceled Shadow Realms. You don’t believe us? Well, just like that game, Breach is a 4v1 dungeon crawler where one player acts as the dungeon master. Called Veil Demon in Breach and looking like the son of the black smoke monster from Lost, this dungeon master can attack players, place traps and fully control creatures.
As for the rest, Breach offers several classes in a world where there is no line dividing fantasy and reality. That is why you’ll be fighting in some real locations that are severely affected by fantasy elements, such as Tokyo, Kiev or the pyramids of Giza, among other places.
With a nice assortment of classes and some frantic combat, Breach could turn out to be an interesting offer in a genre that doesn’t have that many competitors.
7 - DEAD FRONTIER 2
Dead Frontier 2 is the sequel to one of the most beloved low-profile survival MMORPGs ever made. Before the days of DayZ, State of Decay and the millions of clones that followed, there was this simple but clever top-down MMO where you had to survive in a zombie-infested city. Dead Frontier was far from being the most polished game, but it had a community that appreciated every effort that was put into its development.
Now, the aptly-titled Creaky Corpse studio is back with Dead Frontier 2, a sequel that takes the concept to today’s standards, putting the players in a third-person perspective and a city that is so dark that your flashlight is going to be your BFF. There is no doubt that they nailed the atmosphere and if they keep the mechanics that made the first game so popular while adding some spice to it (driving vehicles is planned further down the road, for example), Dead Frontier 2 could be a great sequel.
6 - LET IT DIE
Grasshopper Manufacture is one of those developers that just loves sticking it to the man, so to speak. Games such as No More Heroes, Killer7 and Lollipop Chainsaw speak for themselves, and Let It Die is another violent game that defies conventions. Released late 2016 on PlayStation 4, they didn’t want to let it die there and are now releasing it on PCs.
What is so interesting about this hack and slash game, after all? Apart from the gore and the idea of this brutal action game, there’s this interesting twist that justifies the online play features: when you die – and you will die a lot –, your character data and equipment will be saved and is going to appear as one of the enemies in another player’s game. Don’t feel bad about dying; you can rejoice with the knowledge that your dead avatar is actively screwing someone’s chances of progressing in the game, somewhere in the world.
5 - KURTZPEL
Let’s face it: during some point in your early MMO days, you played or at least heard about this Elsword Online game. Why is it that KOG Studios never tried to create a sequel or some sort of evolution on that simple yet successful concept in so many years?
Well, it looks like it took its time, but the Korean developers are definitely working on what we could label as ‘Elsword 3D’, if we wanted to be a bit lax about it – hey, that’s just how we roll. But nowadays, KurtzPel: Bringer of Chaos could easily be compared to the likes of SoulWorker or Kritika Online – 3D dungeon brawlers with anime visuals. However, we are not blinded by the cute, colorful anime graphics, as we can see that combat is taking quite a skill-based approach, with plenty of ‘left-left-right-left-up’ commands to perform intricate moves. Kurtzpel is clearly one for the PvP crowd, but we’re hoping that the included PvE mode isn’t a simple rehash of the multiplayer arenas and has its own merit.
4 - MAPLESTORY 2
In a day and age where MMORPGs are scarce, MapleStory 2 feels like heaven. Not that it is your classic third-person, World of Warcraft-style MMORPG, but if you can withstand the sugary visuals and the unusual perspective, then there is a lot for you in MapleStory 2.
While this sequel never managed to come even close to the original in terms of player base and success in Korea, it still is a fully-featured game and not a white-washed attempt at cashing in on the series reputation. Well, for that there is Mushking Royale, the Battle Royale mode in MapleStory 2, but this is somewhat fun and considering that every game in the world is trying to do the same, we’ll let this one slip by.
MapleStory 2 has everything that you need to keep busy for ages: an in-depth housing system, tons of quests, boss raids, mini-games and a lot more. Also, poop, if you bought a Founder’s Pack.
3 - DYING LIGHT: BAD BLOOD
Dying Light: Bad Blood is the only Battle Royale game in this list, and we could make dozens of lists featuring Battle Royale games, so there must be some reason for this, right? Of course there is. First of all, Bad Blood builds on the awesome Dying Light game, which you should definitely go buy and play right now if you haven’t already. No, really, we’ll wait…
[40 hours later…]
Done already? So, it was good, wasn’t it? Anyway, a sequel is in development, but Techland decided to make its own spin on the Battle Royale genre with Bad Blood, a free-to-play standalone game featuring all the parkour and first-person melee combat that you know and love from the original. It’s also clever in ways that most games of the genre aren’t, such as placing the 12 contestants in a zone where they must fight each other as they try to collect blood samples, as well as looking out for AI-controlled zombies. So, this is pretty much PvPvE and a far cry from the top dog Fortnite Battle Royale.
Bad Blood looks good, it’s free and is a very confident ‘Brutal Royale’ game, as the developers label it.
2 - TORCHLIGHT FRONTIERS
The two Torchlight games are true gems of the action RPG genre, providing a nice alternative to the popular Diablo series. Now, for the third game, the developers are taking one small but confident step into MMO territory. Or shared-MMO, as they call it.
Torchlight Frontiers has all the base mechanics from the previous games, which means that you will find hub towns and solo dungeons. However, this time you also get larger areas where you can venture with some of your friends, making for the MMO part of the game. While we’re not expecting it to feature dozens of players simultaneously, even if we only get a handful of them this should turn out to be really fun. The character details and animations have clearly improved, so if you’re not afraid of garish colors, this is a great-looking game.
Perfect World isn’t quite sure yet about the business model, so we’re hoping that Torchlight Frontiers is free-to-play… done right.
1 - MOONLIGHT BLADE
This time it’s for real, Moonlight Blade is finally coming to North America and Europe. Well, it wasn’t officially announced at the time of writing, but… you see, Nexon leaked it in their latest financial results, so there’s no way of making this not happen.
Moonlight Blade is a beautiful game and a full-fledged MMORPG, something that you probably know is a very rare beast these days. The Wuxia theme may not be to everyone’s liking, but there’s a lot more to the game than that, such as the interesting combat, the crazy flying skills and the beautiful environments that will make you want to stop and smell the roses. And all other kinds of flowers, as you can see in the video.
Unless Nexon pulls a Bless Online on us – meaning that they could put a price tag on a game that is free in every other region –, Moonlight Blade could be one of the most significant free MMORPGs of 2019, and heavy competition to Blade & Soul and Revelation Online.
In Conclusion
And here it is, our Top 10 Potentially Awesome Upcoming Free Online Games 2018 with some great games for you to try soon or during 2019. As usual, we want to leave other suggestions here that also intrigued us, so go grab a pen and paper, if you still use those: Mad World sounds like a fun cross-platform MMORPG that you probably can run in your toaster, as long as it has a browser; Switchblade feels like the bastard son of Rocket League and Crossout; and City Battle: Virtual Earth could be an interesting take on robot shooting without a Transformer in sight.
Obviously, there is more, but they are either too far away (Peria Chronicles, Lost Ark...) or in need of improvements. Anyway, we hope this list will give you some ideas. Let us know in the comments about some other cool upcoming free games, and as always, have fun!
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