Heroes of Valor

Play it on: Windows (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Play a few more matches and remember better times

You may not remember Battlefield Heroes. It was a silly but well-made free-to-play browser-based third-person shooter that ditched the franchise’s usual realistic visuals for arcadey cartoon fun. It was very good. It might have the best version of the Battlefield theme. And after launching in 2009, it was quietly shut down in 2015, though it had really died years before that due to a lack of updates and players. So why am I talking about a short-lived cartoony BF spin-off game? Well, because a group of game devs who also loved BF Heroes and have created a new game directly inspired by it. Heroes of Valor has the same look and plays a lot like Heroes, but also adds some more modern elements. The end result is a really nice trip down memory lane, to a time when publishers were willing to take more risks and make strange spin-offs to popular franchises. If you want to play Heroes of Valor, just head to the game’s Steam page and ask to join the free playtest. You’ll be instantly invited and can start killing cartoon Nazis and Allies online. — Zack Zwiezen