Does the idea of a free to download and play game, for as long as you want, sound appealing? Well that is exactly what the well-established company by the name of 'Goa' are going to be offering very shortly. As a publisher of some very popular MMOs (Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Dark Age of Camelot), goa.com are trying to establish their already successful online gaming services among European gamers via the new goa.com portal.

The service is slated to launch this month with two releases available from the off. These two titles are called 'Pangya' and 'Gunbound'. The first being a sim mixed with magical elements and the latter being a 'Worms' style turn-based battle game. Later on in the year a third game will be available to download called eXtreme Soccer (while we also hear rumblings of a in the future). One of the main focuses for the company is to create online games that people from across can enjoy free of charge, albeit with the addition of paying for added extras like the ability to change the look of your character or buy new weapons and items. Goa states that these purchases will in no way give people with lots of disposable income an unfair advantage, but it does give the player a cooler avatar to jump into the games with.

Pangya seems to be a very accomplished Golf title that really tries to add some sparkle to what can be a tedious affair. An addition to the traditional swing and hit of the real world game is the ability to cast spells and level-up your character to achieve new powers. Included is the ability to hold massive online tournaments with up to 30 competitors, also is the bonus of being able to play part of a tournament with friends even when they are offline, presumably updating everyone with the scores the next time they log in. Sound wise the can get a bit tedious, but that is easily sorted out by turning the music volume down and running an MP3 in the background. The graphics are very nice, it's fully and quite cutesy, but really you have to remember that the game is free and as such they really have done a very good job on the game's presentation.

Gunbound is in the same vein as the classic 'Worms'. This time around the game is a 2D affair, but once again it has a very polished feel to it and you would be forgiven for forgetting that it is totally free to duke out with your friends. You can fight one on one if you wish, or you can join teams of up to four to vie for control of the battlefield with some outlandish creatures overloaded with insane weaponry. These items can all be spruced up using the purchasing system, once again however you won't receive any vast advantage for doing so, and the changes are mainly aesthetical. The turn-based gameplay is fast and fun, while playing you will have the chance to upgrade your skills like attack, health regeneration, defence and power.

All of the games offered up on the Goa service will have full leaderboards and online rankings allowing you to check your mastery of the titles. There also promises to be regular organised events and tournaments for the player to take part in, these hopefully will be more reliable than user made tournaments attracting players that actually play through to the end of the session. As games are run on a central server, connection should not be a problem, also the games seem to run fast and without much lag which is always a good thing in my book (perhaps a helping hands here from one of goa.com's backers, France Telecom).

Payment to gain access to these extra items can be made via a bank card or even by text. The latter option is quite obviously targeting the younger gamer, or at least letting them have the choice of sprucing up their character via a readily available option. This type of purchasing resembles the current craze in mobile phone customisation which shows no sign of slowing down (thanks Crazy Frog, no really, thanks), and seeing as services such as this have gone down so well in the US, Korea and then maybe this system of free games with paid extras really does have legs.

In retrospect if you want some free and fun games to play online with some of your friends you really can't go far wrong by downloading these addictive games to your and trying them out for yourself. All that is left for you to do is visit www.goa.com and sign up when the service officially opens its doors to the masses. A public beta should be commencing today...

By Thomas Ryan