Strategy

Waiting around for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight?  EA has released Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun for free now to try to satisfy your thirst till it comes out.  

From the site:

Set in the early 21st century, Tiberian Sun once again pits the Global Defense Initiative against the Brotherhood of Nod in a struggle for control of the planet. With an epic storyline that unfolds as play progresses, players learn the reasons behind the worldwide outbreak of Tiberium and what happened to the notorious Nod leader Kane, who was presumed dead at the end of the first Command & Conquer.

http://www.commandandconquer.com/classic

GamesRadar.com has a list of great commercial games that have been released for free.  Included are some of my favorites like Archlord, Battle Chess, Fallout, and many more. 

From the site:

We like free stuff. That’s why we posted links to download and play 365 free games so you could have a decent game to play for every day of the year, free of charge. Unfortunately, GamesRadar has yet to wrestle the most formidable type of free games into submission so that they can be preserved in their proper list form for eternity. We’re talking about the free games that were good enough to sell, important enough to review, and memorable enough to warrant a second play through years later.

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/30-commercial-games-released-for-free/a-20100202122153157099

Freeciv 2.1.0 has been released after 650 days of development.  Freeciv is a free open-source empire-building strategy game inspired by the history of human civilization. The game commences in prehistory and your mission is to lead your tribe from the stone age to the space age.  It runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OSX.  Changes since 2.09 include:

• Significantly improved features for modmakers.
• New default tileset: Amplio.
• Hex-2 overhead hexagonal tileset.
• Flags rendered from SVG vector images.
• High-res building and wonder icons plus brand new tech icon set.
• New city tab on main map.
• City outlines.
• Added lua as scripting language. New tutorial scenario.
• Many new nations, flags and nation information and options.
• New /surrender command to yield in multiplayer games.
• Score now shown in player dialog.
• Reputation removed from the game.
• New borders rules. Borders are static, fortresses expand borders and cities expand more borders with city size growth.
• New diplomacy rules. Neutral state replaced with Armistice. You now start in War state, and cannot cross borders with military units except in War or Alliance states.
• SDL client much improved and usable.
• GTK+ 1.2 clients removed.
• Votes need over 50% of votes to pass. Voting is now only during game.
• First player to join becomes game organizer and sets all options.
• Many AI changes. Improved AI diplomacy. Novice AI easier to beat.
• Palace has a production bonus of +75% under Despotism and +50% under Monarchy.
• New animated cursors.
• Support for GGZ Gaming Zone.
• Multiple units may be moved at once as a battlegroup.
• Built-in theme support. GTK+ and SDL clients shipped with unique Freeciv themes.
• As usual, tons of changes under the hood.

Freeciv is one of the better, more refined open-source games on the market.  If you need a game with low system requirements or love strategy games, you may consider Freeciv.   It also might be a good history teaching tool for children to have fun and learn at the same time. 

There have been a lot of new demos that have come out in the past week.  In the storm of confusion about The Orange Box, COD4, and Unreal Tournament 3, you may have missed some great game demos that were released in the past few weeks.  

F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate -- The newest update to the F.E.A.R. series.  This game has a great player experience. 

Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties -- One of the best real-time strategy games comes out with another expansion.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.1 -- This demo update brings the ETQW demo up to speed with the game release.

Time Shift -- I've heard great things about this game.  Unlike F.E.A.R. and Max Payne where you slow down time, you can actually stop time in this game to move around. 

Heroes of Might & Magic V Tribes of the East -- One of the best turn-based strategy games releases a new expansion. 

These are all linked to Filefront, so no registration is necessary to download.  

Duels is a PvP strategy game that is completely web-based and free. Your probably thinking in terms of browser-based 3D like Runescape, but this does not require a download or JAVA to play. It is text-based, but a little more graphic than a MUD. They have recently released the game, and have had a good first month:

• 22,400+ Avatars Created
• 15,000+ Messages Posted

Packs opened:

• 250,000 Duels Core Set I (Sold out!)
• 30,000 Noble Set I (Sold out!)
• 253,000+ Duels Core Set II
• 4,800+ Yumeria Rising

Fights:

• 2.8 million duels!
• 3.6 million skirmishes

Lem has posted a quick Duels Walkthrough and Tips article from the things he's learned by playing Duels over the past few weeks. Check it out.