With free and subscription content so intertwined at Shockwave, you might get a "bait and switch" feeling, and truly free game offerings are limited. But the games that are free are simply fantastic, because they're produced using the newest version of the Shockwave player. In-game interfaces and graphics really make these titles stand out, and the animation is exceptional. Games that on other sites are typically multiplayer-only—such as Reversi, backgammon, and mah-jongg—can be played against the computer on a variety of difficulty settings. Shockwave.com is also linked with the rest of the AtomShockwave site, and the downloadable Shockwave player, required to play the games, also lets you view free Atom films.

In terms of free play, though, the site suffers from a lack of variety; there simply aren't enough free games, and too often you're pointed toward the premium game service, GameBlast. GameBlast's fee ($9.95 per month or $19.95 every 3 months) is a bit higher than those of competitors, but the service offers unlimited game-play levels, full-screen play (which is missing from the free titles), and extra difficulty settings. GameBlast also boasts that it's free of "irritating advertisements," and Shockwave's ads are actually fairly low-key.