I used up play a ton of Doom mods years ago and a lot of the TCs were fun but lacked substance beyond the surface. Some of the new ones are cool but overly complex. (The Sonic cart game has an hour long tutorial before you start). I was a big fan of Simon’s Destiny, the Castlevania mod for Doom.
Basically I’m looking to see suggestions for free games or total conversions that are worth playing. Before I go spending money onSteam releases, I wanna check out what I might have missed the last few years.
If you haven’t already played it, DOOM: The Golden Souls is probably the best total conversion you can find. Just S tier all around. Adventures of Square is also pretty good despite looking a bit simple.
If you’re looking for free games in general, might I recommend Megaman Maker? There’s an absolutely insane amount of content, and the level editor itself is very fun to use.
Beyond All Reason is an open source RTS similar to Total War. Here is their website.
BAR is awesome, but it’s nothing like Total war, it’s similar to Supreme commander or total annihilation.
Enderal, a total conversion mod for Skyrim. Free, just requires ownership of the skyrim base game or special edition (there’s a version for either).
Has a whole new map, reworked classes, changes to combat, banger OST (here’s my favorite, hits incredibly hard when you’re listening to it in-game at a tavern) and the story is just incredible. I still think about it, and the choices I made, years later. Dozens of hours long, moreso if you are a completionist.
Mount and Blade: Warband has multiple incredible total conversions. I’ve dumped a lot of time into Prophecy of Pendor and The Last Days, probably more than the base game.
For actually free games there are so many options that it really comes down to taste. Unciv is a fantastic reimplementation of Civ 5. Super Auto Pets is a fun casual auto battler. HoloCure is a really good Vampire Survivors-style game themed after Hololive vtubers. There are tons of MMOs and shooters that are F2P and good, but I know most of those from hearsay rather than experience.
It’s been a long time but one of my favorites was the Star Control 2 remake Ur-Quan Masters. I believe there is a free HD version out there, too. Plus if you like it, the OG creators have current projects you can support (they left that IP after 2).
Not sure what genre it is; certainly not action packed like your examples but those space battles were fun.
https://uqm-mods.sourceforge.net/Download – Best version to play today (free)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2645580/Free_Stars_The_UrQuan_Masters/ – Steam download of the “no frills” version (also free)
