The Best Free Multiplayer Online Games

Are you looking for a list of high-quality, immersive and free online games you can play with your friends? Look no further! After having scoured the web, I've come up with a solid list of games that offer the multi-player goodness you've been looking for. 

You've heard enough of me talking, let's get on with it.

I could barely contain my excitement in 2008 when I learned that one of my favorite lan-session games was being ported to a browser with multi-player support. It was bound to be an awkward, choppy ride--right? Wrong!

Not only is Quake live every bit as engaging and fluid as the epic Quake III was, it has improved slightly (such as the new id Tech 3 engine's ability to perform bloom).

Registering an account is simple and free, and while you're busy downloading the game you can start a brief game with Quakelive's friendly bot Crash, who'll gage your skill level in a fun duel. By the time you're done getting fragged by the bot, you'll be ready to jump into the real -- and immensely bloodthirsty -- world of Quakelive.

For those of you who are new to Quake, the game is very fast paced and fluid, even on very modest gaming rigs. You will be able to engage in death-matches, duels, team death-matches, capture the flag and bombing runs. As well as frag your friends thanks to the friend list's ability to auto-invite.

Which leads me to my one grip about ID's otherwise marvelous venture into the world of online browser-based gaming. My one peeve is that playing with your friends is not quite as easy as it should be. The auto-invite feature works well, but is awkward when there are more than two of you. Added to which, finding an empty server can be irritating and time consuming since there is no option to create private, password-protected servers.

Nothing prepared me for the mind-numbing slaughter that Soldat provides. Nothing.

Soldat is a lightweight 2D platform shooter that has grown into an immensely popular online venue over the years. Why? Well, it's simple:

• Unparalleled gore and wanton slaughter
• The ability to host private servers
• Adjustable bots
• Numerous game-modes
• Ahnold references
• Big Guns
• Free (paying for a pro subscriptions gives you a few customization options -- but who cares?)

Ok. So Defcon isn't fully free, and yet I felt compelled to add it to the list because it is just that awesome. The bottomline is that downloading the demo will allow you to play online if the player you play against has the full version. Not only is this worth it as is, you will also be able to engage in thermo-nuclear warfare with a computer opponent, which is priceless.

Why do I love Defcon so much? The game has managed to assure some lasting memories amongst my friends. So much so that almost all of us felt inclined to support Introversion by buying the full version (although it wasn't needed) for £10.

The game makes you the dictator with his hand taped to the big red button. The initial part of the game involves setting up your defenses, airfields, nukes and deploying your fleets. But once the timer hits Defcon 1, the world as you know it ceases to exist. Although to be fair, in some games players attempt to establish a NAT (non aggression treaty), which lasts laughably little in the dense environment of distrust and trigger-happiness.

This game brings a whole new meaning to the notorious gaming phrase, "launch detected". See for yourself!

My favorite free online MMO by a mile. Atlantica features a unique blend of turn-based strategy (ala Final Fantasy) and traditional MMORPG elements, which work surprisingly well.

AO supports itself by offering a cash-shop full of upgrades, but honestly, the leveling process is so long and addictive you won't feel like "ubering" out very quickly. Instead, I found AO (I no longer play it) to be a fun experience, but I don't know how great it would have been had I played it solo (I played exclusively with friends). I will go as far as saying that engaging on a personal leveling crusade, without the moderating influence of a social-life will result in a severe case of carpal-tunnel.

As far as free-mmo's are concerned, I found this to be the most enjoyable. But for those of you who have tried this, a worthy contender is certainly Runes of Magic, although I couldn't stand how overtly it manifested it's WoW clone motif (albeit with a fancy duel-class system).