Blizzard's 16-bit platformer Blackthorne is now available as free download

Blizzard have just added a new game to Battle.net - and it's available to download for free. That's where I'd stop if I was going for a cruel, misleading opening, but luckily for you I have far too much integrity for that. (I also haven't received by weekly bung, of 250 doritopoints, yet.) It's their old (read: classic) platformer Blackthorne! Read on to hear how I totally didn't confuse it with the cider.

Blizzard released Blackthorne way back in 1994, which if you don't remember was a mystical, magical time where every game ever took the form of a platformer (today, you may have noticed that every game ever released is a first-person shooter). I haven't played Blackthorne, but it looks a bit like Prince of Persia/Flashback - and hey, it's now free to download. To find it, log in to your Battle.net account and head to the newly minted Classic Games section. You'll find the Windows version there, all on its lonesome.

Does this mean we can expect free copies of Blizzard's Lost Vikings games down the line? I certainly hope so. In the meantime, here's what Blackthorne looks like (the game, not the alcoholic drink I singlehandedly kept in business back when I was student):

(Thanks to WoW Insider )

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.