Hello to all our new readers, and welcome back to those who have been following ZAM's bi-weekly column, The Free Agent. Our mission, as always, is to answer the question "Can gaming REALLY be free?"

The previous episode of the Free Agent got a little buried under all the gaming news coming out of E3 two weeks ago, so if you want to know what free buys you in the new Action RPG Marvel Heroes, be sure to take a gander at Episode 5.

For this week's episode of the Free Agent I dusted off the old PS3, which has been relegated to Netflix duty for the better part of two years. That's right, for one episode only, the Free Agent is going console.

Why you ask? Well it just so happens that our next assignment is the PlayStation exclusive Dust 514, a free-to-play FPS from Icelandic developer/publisher CCP that many are calling the first true MMOFPS. So can console gamers play to their heart's content without spending a cent? Let’s find out.

Hello to all our new readers, and welcome back to those who have been following ZAM's bi-weekly column, The Free Agent. Our mission, as always, is to answer the question "Can gaming REALLY be free?"

Well of course it can. But, as we learned in the last episode of the Free Agent, sometimes free comes at a cost. And in the case of Star Conflict  that cost was both time and content. Be sure to check out Episode 4 if you want to know more.

So as we set aside our pilot’s jump suit for a pair of tights and a mask, will the Free Agent discover the same problem with Gazillion Entertainment's, brand new Marvel Heroes? Or does this super-charged Action RPG MMO deliver as a true free-to-play title?

Hello to all our new readers, and welcome back to those who have been following ZAM's bi-weekly column, the Free Agent. Unlike most free-to-play columns out there, the Free Agent is here not just to review free games, but more importantly, to answer the question "Can gaming REALLY be free?"

Of course the obvious answer is yes. Every developer it seems wants to hop on the free-to-play train these days, so there is no end of titles out there that you can play for free. But the usual outcome is a short lived flurry of binge gaming, followed by either a week of inactivity leading to a quick uninstall, or the spending of "just a meager few dollars" to enhance your gaming experience... every day for a year.

But not the Free Agent I say! We stand for justice and equality, for freedom and something-or-other. Okay maybe we're just cheapskates, but hey we're going to play some games, and give you the real deal on whether or not you can actually enjoy yourself without spending any real money.

Last time we tried out a nifty little 3rd person co-op shooter called Warframe. If you want to read about the Free Agent's thoughts on being a free-to-play space ninja, be sure to check out Episode 3. But this week we're pulling out something for all those under-loved space pilot junkies out there. That's right, Episode 4 of the Free Agent is pleased to bring you Star Conflict, a free-to-play Space Action MMO from StarGem Inc, that puts you in the pilot seat of your very own space ship.

Hello again and welcome to Episode 3 of ZAM's bi-weekly column, the Free Agent. If you missed the previous Episode, be sure to check out the Free Agent's thoughts on just how free-to-play the 3rd person MOBA and battleground of the gods, Smite, really is.

While it may also be played in a 3rd person perspective this episode’s featured game is about as far from hurling lightning bolts and releasing the Kraken as you a can get. We've traded in all those crazy gods for an array of high-tech combat suits worn by a race of ninja-like warriors called the Tenno, in the cooperative free-to-play shooter, Warframe.

Now, after two weeks of intense undercover action as a space ninja, I'm here to let you know if you too can be a space ninja for the cost of nothing but a Steam account.

Welcome back to the Free Agent, ZAM's bi-weekly column that investigates the question, "can gaming really be free?" If you missed Episode 1 it's not too late to catch up on the Free Agent's first impressions of TERA Rising, a free-to-play action/RPG MMO. But as we move on to Episode 2 we're shifting gears over to the free-to-play MOBA market, making our way onto the battleground of the gods with SMITE.

Hi-Rez Studios may have made its way in the world as an FPS developer with the Tribes franchise, but that didn't exclude it from throwing its hat into the every expanding roster of MOBA games we're seeing on the market. For those that aren't entirely clear what a MOBA is, it stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, a fast paced PvP experience best known for games like League of Legends and DOTA2.

But unlike the hordes of MOBA clones slated for release or currently in beta testing, SMITE offers a different perspective on the MOBA genre, quite literally in fact.

The Battle for Helm's Deep is one of the most iconic fantasy battles ever put to paper and has inspired the imagination of generations of avid Middle-Earth fans.

Get ready to take to the ramparts because this fall Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Turbine plan to put you right in the action, with the announcement of the fifth expansion of the Tolkien inspired Free-to-Play MMORPG, The Lord of Rings Online: Helm's Deep.

So what can eager fans expect as they venture into the western plains of Rohan?

Welcome to Episode 1 of The Free Agent. If you’re just joining me and wondering what this new bi-weekly ZAM column is all about, I'd encourage you to have a read through Episode Zero. My mission, as always, is to answer the question, "Can gaming really be free?"

With that, let’s jump right into the first free-to-play title to be featured on The Free Agent, TERA Rising. Developed by Blue Hole Studios and published by En Masse Entertainment, this action/RPG hybrid MMO did away with subscription fees and went free-to-play after only 9 months on the North American market.

Like many other people I was curious about what TERA had to offer and watched it from the side lines throughout its development cycle. But, as the release date came and went, amid so many others, I found that I simply didn't have room in my life for another subscription based MMO. Sadly TERA slipped through the cracks of my gaming repertoire.

However, with the free-to-play rebranding as TERA Rising, my interest was re-ignited and I set out to explore an MMO that I had previously passed over. Was their switch to free-to-play a shallow marketing ploy to get gamers like me interested in the title again? Or does this MMO possess a depth that proves all the free-to-play critics wrong?

To find out read on, as The Free Agent takes on TERA Rising.

It seems that these days everyone wants to jump on the Free-to-Play band wagon, which for all of us gamers should be a good thing. After all, who doesn't like free stuff, right?

So as we head toward this paradise like future where all games are Free-to-Play one can't help but wonder, how is anyone making any money? Could game developers be taking the first steps toward the utopian future predicted by Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchise, where people and corporations (greedy Ferengi aside) have shed the need for personal or monetary gain and, instead, simply work for the betterment of society as a whole?

At the end of December, we learned that En Masse intended to take their action-based MMORPG free-to-play in Korea an Japan. This of course raised speculation on the future of the model in other TERA-tories. Today we learned TERA: Rising will be launching free-to-play this February.

Free-to-Play has yet to launch for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but that isn't stopping BioWare from from making changes to their planned offering.

Last week, BioWare posted a new update to their Public Test Server, and with it converted all accounts on the PTS to Free-to-Play status in order to get feedback from players on the new systems. As a matter of course, feedback came in (very) loud and clear that some of the choices BioWare made weren't turning out to be too popular with players.