GarageGames wants to persuade you that browser games can aspire to more than MMO Java drudgery or Flash-based frippery. Its argument rests on the success of InstantAction, a web portal that makes relatively high-spec gaming accessible through the browser, for free.

The jewel in its crown is Fallen Empire: Legions. Currently in open beta, Legions is a fast paced, tightly balanced multiplayer affair that bears more than a slight resemblance to the team-based sci-fi franchise Tribes – a series on which GarageGames’ founders worked.

The merits of the game aside, the method of delivery is certainly slick, even if it is not quite as instant as the portal’s name implies. Signing-up to the site prompts you to download a miniscule plug-in that enables DirectX to run within the browser window. The first time you go to play a game, there is another installation, though not the kind which has you fussing around with licence agreements, directories or menu shortcuts; a small loading graphic fills up in the browser window and it is done. As with Steam, what it installs and where are details with which the player need not concern themselves, but InstantAction goes a step further by making it all part of a seamless browsing experience.

Legions should also work on most PCs bought since 2002 – and once you get over the phenomenon of it running in your browser window, you have to admit that it looks a little like a game from that period. But even if Legions sacrifices visual standards for accessibility, and even if the content at this stage of beta is slim, the game at its core is sharply put together.

The two huge open levels currently released lend themselves to capture-the-flag gametypes and surprisingly rapid play. The jetpack reduces travel time across these expanses, and the choice to make movement this fast, and potentially vertical, adds an unusual dynamic to combat; there’s a slight delay on weapon fire, making leading shots all the more tricky to pull off, and, with a smaller prospect of landing a midair shot, battles often come down to jet-powered leap-frogging duels, each combatant trying to land a rocket or grenade at his opponent’s feet when they touch down. As the duels wear on, more players join the fray, creating snowballing battles which can then suddenly disperse: the speed at which you can move means it’s relatively easy for players to flee in moments.

The openness of the terrain enforces few specific tactics, and although the peculiarities of motion and the balance of the weaponry create eddies and flows, there is a risk that the game may feel a little shallow. There is also the possibility that a team shooter’s potential market is already absorbed by other boxed titles – ones with higher poly counts and more elaborate lighting. But then few of those games can be played in the office with quite the same furtive ease as Legions – and, if Scrabulous has taught us anything, it would unwise to underestimate the audience for that.