1999 was a special year. In the aftermath of the original Half-Life, Minh ‘Gooseman’ Le and Jess Cliffe created the initial version of Counter-Strike, which Valve would purchase and launch independently less than 12 months later. Elsewhere, Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament were transforming the PC into the home for competitive FPS games. But from this era emerged another classic shooter, often forgotten, but now back with a vengeance. After 25 years, it’s finally on Steam and available to play for absolutely nothing.
FreeInfantry is a relaunched and resurrected version of Infantry Online, originally launched all the way back in 1999 by the now long-defunct Harmless Games. Contrary to the FPS games that predominated the age, Infantry was – is – an isometric shooter with a focus on scale rather than slick visuals. It was Battlefield before Battlefield, a massively-multiplayer deathmatch with hundreds of players. After passing through the hands of various owners, Infantry Online was officially shut down in 2012. Since then, a fan-maintained free version has kept the fire burning via a dedicated website, but now it’s finally made the move to Steam.
Available to play completely free, with no microtransactions, FreeInfantry boasts several game types. You’ve got the standard skirmish and capture-the-flag modes. You can also play co-op against swarms of CPU bugs or zombies. FreeInfantry also carries a range of custom, player-based modes that include customizable classes, upgrades, and variations on base building and extraction shooters.
On the surface, this is pure nostalgia, and a relic of the PC’s golden age. But put the time into FreeInfantry, and it’s a deep and imaginative online shooter with a seriously dedicated community. You can try it for yourself right here.
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