Here's something that nearly slipped unnoticed from our news noose. Fistful of Frags, the Wild West Source engine mod first released in 2007, recently relaunched as a free standalone game. It was hardly a trial to play before—thanks to the free-to-play Team Fortress 2 providing the SDK base required to get it working. Now it's even easier: just head to its Steam page to download the back-to-basics deathmatch shooter.
It's an unapologetically old-school FPS, with the slight twist that your weapons are mostly terrible. The antiquated guns are powerful but inaccurate, meaning that to effectively aim, you need to stand still—Deus Ex style—so that your targeting reticule can stabilise.
The standalone version technically contains less maps and features than the mod, but only because it's getting a complete overhaul to its level design and balance. The developers say that more maps are a high priority, and that any levels suited to deathmatch will eventually be ported from the mod.
It's worth checking out, if just for the fast and silly FPS action. It's pretty janky in places—with one of the most bizarre feeling kick moves I've experienced in some time—but the risk/reward of when to take a shot makes for some interesting encounters.
