I was browsing around GamesPlanet for deals and saw the link for Metaboli so decided to take a look even though i've always been put off by any subscription services in the past. To be honest they have a really nice selection to be honest and for £11 a month you get a hell of a lot of games where you have no restrictions of how many you play and download. Just a few highlights I found are:
- Splinter Cell: Conviction
- Assassins Creed 2
- Tom Clancy's HAWX
- All the PoP's
- Sam & Max seasons 1 & 2
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Dirt 2
Now if I want to buy SC: C it will cost around €25 but thats 2 months of Metaboli already paid for and a whole lot more game for my buck. Furthermore the latest versions of Ubisoft games come with that stupid UbiDRM which is practically renting anyway. The system certainly ain't perfect for example you have to launch the games from your browser even though they are installed and there are zero launch options so I have no idea if Assassins Creed is booting with the DX9 or DX10 exe but for what the service offers I think I can live with it.
So basically has anyone else tried it before and do I have any downsides to look forward to that are not immediately obvious?

it's.. ok.. you'll only sub for a month or so at a time play all they have you want then take a 5-6 month break to build up a new set to play (at least I tend to).
just a few notes there are some problems with a few games that don't like to run without editing on x64 OS's and the sam and max games had a problem where only ep1 would run last time I had my account active.

They seem to have dropped 32-bit support completely now. Every single game they have is 64-bit certified. Hence my interest.

yeah hence why i said some need fixes off the top of my head it's games that use .net launchers and the original programmer didn't think to include the call to the x64 libraries the fix takes like 2 seconds and a copy of a program mentioned on the forums (it effects something like 5 games i think)

Oops, almost missed this one.
I've been using Meta for a while and i like the service as a complement to flat out buying games. I've played quite a few games through Meta that i wouldn't have otherwise because i would never have bough them. There's also quite a few games i ended up buying only after playing them through Meta. Currently i'm playing through some games that are on my wishlist and that i will definitely buy, but since i can play them now i won't commit to a purchase untill a significative price drop comes along for those titles.
Lately the catalogue has been getting some games alot sooner, some very close to release date, instead of many months after the game release, which is cool. Puzzle Quest 2, just to give you an example, was just added as a near day one release.
I never had any problems with the service itself (players, etc) or the games i downloaded, be it when they only suppoerted 32 bit with the Exent player or now that they support both 32 and 64 bit with the Yummy player, but a quick browse through the forums should give you an idea about tech issues. Frankly, i think most problems i see reported indicate that many users really don't know their way around a pc when it comes to troubleshooting issues, i dunno.
Even with the titles that were removed due to compatibility issues when they changed players, their catalogue is huge and keeps increasing at a steady pace.
The obvious drawback is that you need to be online and logged into your account, but then again Meta doesn't pretend that they're selling you stuff, they flat out tell folks that it's a subsricption based service ;)
I like having Meta as a fallback and since i consider the asking price fair i'm not considering letting go of my subscription anytime soon.

I thought I would give it a shot and already i'm enjoying Blazing Angels and X-Blade. The reviews of Blazing Angels were terrible enough to always put me off but it really is a great arcade flight sim. As far as I am concerned I am happy with Metaboli so far.

Ah, you're already putting your subscription to good use then ? That's cool.
If you have bandwith limits keep that under check as usually folks go crazy with downloads in the first few weeks. I know i did ;)

Any restrictions that you know of?

None even the moderators are quite clear that as soon as you sign up you are free to download the 400+ games if you want to. The only downsides I have seen so far:
- Not moddable in any way shape or form.
- Have to launch games from their website using IE or FF (Eugh, Chrome user here).
- Some games have an issue with 32-Bit support as Woodmarach noted but easily fixed with CFF Editor.
And thats about it. Other than that once you are signed up you can download as many games as you like for as long as your sub lasts. AFAIK there doesn't seem to be even any regional restrictions. I signed on with the .co.uk site but it didn't even ask for my address.
I have yet to kick in this ISP's fair use policy so we will have to see how that goes. 11 games and counting.

I mentioned that. I didn't see any and it didn't ask me for an address while signing up.

Sorry, didn't see any mention of that. But bear in mind, it's past 4 am and my reading skill sharply decline around now.

And I am well on my way so happy to repeat myself ;)

Heh. Think I might have a proper look at them when I wake up tomorrow. Might be worth trying for a bit (might even save some cash that way).

They have 2 options £11 a month with a minimum 6 months subscription and £13 a month for no commitment. Might be worth investigating the second option in your case. Also checking the fine print there is a 7 day get out clause which is standard in the UK at least so if you sign up and realize it wont work for you you can cancel it as long as I assume you download nothing.