If you missed Bioware's classic action RPG Jade Empire when it came out, you can now grab the special edition for the martial arts game set in a Chinese Imperial world for free on Origin. Jade Empire joins the ranks of such games as Dead Space, Battlefield 3, Dragon Age: Origins and Peggle in EA's 'On the House' program.

There is no catch to getting the game. The only thing you need is an Origin account - you should have one if you've played any of EA's titles online - and once you've claimed the game, it's yours forever. If you want to get the game, you'd better be quick. This offer is only available for a limited time.

Jade Empire first came out on the original Xbox as an exclusive and sets players on the path to find the master of a martial arts school. Players get to choose which class they want to play and which of the two major playstyles (the way of the open palm or the way of the closed fist) to adopt on their quest to find their long lost master. The game was released on the Xbox 360, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows and garnered very positive reviews on release.

If you're interested in giving the game a go (and why wouldn't you?), you can do so here.

Quick Take

I've never had the pleasure of playing the original game because I never owned an Xbox. By the time Jade Empire saw its release on the PC, I was probably too busy playing Warcraft so I didn't have a lot of time to devote to anything else. It's all a bit hazy. I did, however, take advantage of EA's 'On the House' program before and it seems like their habit of giving away great games for free is great for their public image, but even greater for players like you and me.