Every time we imagine a sort of 'off-season' for free games, the web surprises us with more than one offer. This time, Epic is giving away LOVE, a platformer that makes us suffer from start to finish, and Amplitude Studios (now under Sega's wing) has decided to share the base version of Endless Legend, one of the best 4X games of recent years.
Our last installment from the Epic Games Store kept us busy with plenty of exploration, mysteries to uncover, and fierce battles at sea, but if the idea of an 'almost open world' like Sail Forth doesn't convince you, maybe the two free games we have this weekend will hit the mark. The first dates back to 2008, and although it's fair to call it a 'platformer', it actually seems to have the DNA of a 'Souls' game, because it offers no mercy. The second one throws us headfirst into the always addictive 4X genre, under a franchise that has gained traction with different bets.
LOVE, by Fred Wood
From a technical standpoint, LOVE is a precision platformer. Its story tells us that the main character, known only as 'fiveEight', woke up in a strange mechanical world, and has no memory of what happened before, except for the strange feeling that things were better. The player's goal is to help fiveEight escape... but that's much easier said than done.
The standard mode in LOVE grants us a total of one hundred lives to complete all the levels, and when a game makes that decision... it's because we're going to need them. The only advantage is that we can leave shadows that work like checkpoints, but even so, there are levels where we literally have a couple of pixels as margin for error. LOVE has received some updates since its original release in 2008, and the edition Epic is giving away includes the 16 original levels, plus three bonus levels from its sequel. Add to that a speedrun mode for those who become really good at escaping the traps.
Endless Legend
If suffering through ruthless platformers is too much for a weekend, our second option takes us to the realm of Endless Legend. The folks at Amplitude Studios are known for their 'Endless' series, which began in 2012 with Endless Space. Endless Legend is the second installment, and while we can't call it a 'sequel', its essence is similar. The big difference is that we leave outer space to focus on a planet called Auriga. Its introduction is unusual, offering us the perspective of Auriga, who fears for the existence of its 'children' and their tendency toward conflict. In its own words, 'Nothing is immortal, and one day they will have to survive without me…'.
The rest is a solid combination of 4X, strategy, and RPG. We must create cities, manage their growth, develop new technologies, and of course, prepare our combat forces to defend the border, or to wipe out the enemy. Endless Legend also includes secondary quests, minor factions, ruins with rewards, and the ability to customize/upgrade units with more powerful resources. The tutorial alone took me about an hour, so there's a lot to take in here.
Finally, LOVE is already available on the Epic Games Store, but accessing Endless Legend requires a bit more work. First, we need to create an account on Amplitude Studios, then link (for a while) our Steam account to it, and finally go to the Rewards section to request the game. Copies are until supplies run out, but Amplitude assures that there are 'not a few'. Link below!
Endless Legend free: Click here
