I'm the tech columnist for my school's newspaper and I wanted to include Cortex Command. Any suggestions?
Best Free 2-D Physics Shooter Game: Cortex Command
(http://www.datarealms.com)
Now, technically, this game doesn’t really belong here, because it’s not going to be free. It’s in beta testing right now and things are a little shaky, but the latest build (Build 13) is pretty darn nice for a beta, and it’s free.
Anyways: Cortex Command is a little like this: take Metal Slug, add some realistic physics, mix a little bit of RTS (that’s Real Time Strategy, like Warcraft, Starcraft, Age of Empires) in there, and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. The “player” is a disembodied brain (apparently what we are all in the future) that controls brainless clones and robots in an attempt to mine the planet you are on for gold, and defend your base from the onslaught of incoming attackers. The clones will automatically defend your base, but you can take direct control of them (hence the name) and make them walk around, mine and shoot (and you’ll probably want to: the artificial intelligence isn’t entirely developed yet). The point of the game is to mine gold, buy new clones with better weapons and better defend your base. There is no time limit, so the game will go on until an enemy destroys your brain.
Currently, there are 5 different clones, 4 of which have a jetpack (the fifth, the skeleton, is extremely cheap and good for swamping a base in), around 10 weapons (sub-machine gun, shotgun, grenade,), 4 tools (diggers and a concrete gun), and 2 transportation vehicles (the Dropship and Rocket).
The physics is still in development (trying to jump onto moving objects is not possible, you just slide through), but pretty advanced. Instead of making “static” weapons, nearly everything is controlled by the physics engine. Most sidescroller games today have weapons that do a set amount of damage (see Metal Slug, Super Smash Bros., Super Mario Brothers, etc.), but Cortex Command actually takes this a step further. Bullets have mass and acceleration and fall to the earth. Guns have recoil and affect your weight if you have too many of them. Things don’t die from set damage, they die from where they are being broken and pierced and how hard they are being broken or pierced, kinda like a ragdoll.
One might say: “Look how few weapons and clones it has! It’s gonna get boring quick.” This, is where you would be wrong, my fellow. The game's modding system is fairly easy to learn and the modding community of Cortex Command produces several mods a week (I would estimate about 950 mods have been made). Even in its beta state I weekly get new and unique weapons to play around with. Every sort of thing imaginable has been made, from nuclear grenades to Super Soaker guns, not to mention the new maps that are released on a monthly basis. There is even a Halo mod in the works! Any and all mods can be downloaded at the official forums for the game (a link is on the datarealms.com page).
The real fun in Cortex Command is not the single player mode, but the multiplayer mode, which supports up to 4 players. Trying to defend your base from the enemies is a lot more fun when you’re doing it with 3 other thinking players. Or you could play a 2 on 2 game.
All in all, this game in beta is pretty darn fun, and you should get it while you can. The game is violent, so I would not suggest playing it with younger siblings, but it’s no less violent than anything I’ve read this year (Odysseus with an arrow to the jugular anyone?).

Test build 13, not 14.

Also, paragraphs?

Your school newspaper rocks.

EDIT: Recoil, not knockback.

EDIT2: And uh also, you do have a set amount of damage. It's actor specific, dependent on the wounds, unless it's a blunt force type thing.

If a player takes a bullet to the head from anything, and it completely passes through, standard actors will always have 10 health and then proceed to bleed to death.

Paragraphs are probably a good idea . I didn't really intend it to be this long.

Posted after 6 minutes 49 seconds:


What I mean is that, in Metal Slug you shoot, the enemy dies. In Jazz Jackrabbit 2, you get shot, you lose 1 heart. In Super Smash Bros., you get hit by a ray gun, it does X amount of damage, no matter where you hit, etc. I'm fairly certain that damage is based on speed and sharpness and the mass of the particle, so if I got hit from close, it would do more damage than if I were hit from far away, when the particle has had time to slow down.

The real damage factor is what body part it hits you on, and if it fully penetrates that part or not.

OK...
In any case, the point I'm trying to get across is that the damage is more dynamic and random that most sidescrollers on the market today.

Happy?

Maybe that?

Reworded for epic-plagiarism

Clones and robots don’t die from set damage, damage is calculated from the spot they are hit at, how hard they are hit, and how long they bleed for.

Sorry, just had to edit it again, you can use that if you want to.

Man, if I tried to do this with my schools newspaper, they'd have me arrested for a terrorist plot.

And I'm in Canada.

Anyways, It needs some work, so it was a good idea to post it here first.

I just hope your school doesn't bring a bunch of computer illiterate morons vieing for control of the noob pile.

Like mine would. >: (

Hold up... What's all this about "It's not going to be free"?

Oh, and Super Mario Brothers doesn't have weapons... ^_^

Please make sure you have someome proofread that first. Someone who is not you. There are a bunch of inconsistencies in grammar and style. It reads more like an op-ed piece than a piece of research journalism. It doesn't have a professional feel at all.

If you'd like, I'll give it a run-through. Provide me in PM with a decently formatted copy and I'll see if I can help.

And SMB does have weapons. At a bare minimum, they all have fireballs. Lets not begin toforget the squirrel tail. Sure, they aren't firearms, but they're just as much of weapons as a sticks and rocks.

talk about some mods!like the shlogo clones,ropefaces pirates,Dicky bs well anything of his. and the crobos they kick ass.

looks good, me sa lieks. Also school newspaper?

</grammarslashspellingnazi>
It's a SCHOOL newspaper. Nobody gives a piece of dump as long as they get their content. Believe me, my pieces are actually the best grammatically and spelling wise. *shudders* Our "editor" isn't doing her work.

Posted after 38 seconds:


Everyone knows its not going to be free. Data said it in a post, but I can't remember where. I know, it's sad.

Posted after 1 minute 38 seconds:


Now this is what I was afraid of. I'm kinda on the see-saw on whether I should put this in, at the risk of promoting violence and killing with guns, especially after VirginaTech. I'm probably not going to publish this after your comment Dauss.