Top 5 Linux Games for 2009
February 7, 2009 by ArthurM
Filed under Video Games
As we go about “realizing” our New Year’s resolutions were maybe just a bit too stringent, I’m going review the top five games in Linux. Once the great downfall of the platform, gaming can now only be considered a strength, in the hopes you take up this guilty pleasure and wait for 2010 before you give up on gaming. May I present the premier Linux gaming software with the best from each genre.
Tremulous (Shooter)
This FPS (first-person shooter) game is portable on all main operating systems (Linux, Windows, Mac) and is built using the Quake engine.
Players choose between two races: aliens and humans. Both have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and both are opposing teams on the same map. Whilst uncommon for an FPS, Tremulous allows you to build working structures that serve many functions, the most important being “respawning,” whereby if a player is killed, he reappears at a respawn site. Kills for your race earn you credits. For humans, this means better weapons or upgrades; for aliens, kills enable them to evolve into more powerful beings, the most powerful being the “Tyrant”. The objective behind the game is to not only kill all players of the opposing team (i.e. race) but also to destroy their “respawning” site(s), so that they can’t reappear. With an average of 400 users online at a time, there won’t be a moment left in the day to regret the amount of time you spent playing.
According to SourceForge statistics the game has been downloaded over 1,000,000 times as of 16/10/2008. It was also voted Player’s Choice Standalone Game Of The Year in the Mod Of The Year 2006 competition.
Like all great software, it’s open source and can be readily made available to you from the follow link: http://tremulous.net/
Sauerbraten (Shooter)
Meaning “roast meat” in German, this C++ written FPS runs on the main operating systems (Windows, Macs and Linux) and is built using the rendering engine Cube 2, for those of you who aren’t keen followers of the Quake movement (as with Tremulous). The main distinction to make between Tremulous and Sauerbraten is the ability to edit the geometry of the map ingame. Coupled with an emphasis on 6-directional gameplay, this dynamic is going to keep you hooked. It supports both Singleplayer and Multiplayer modes, and the latter of the two offers three possible gameplays: Deathmatch, Last Man Standing, and Capture (whereby teams fight over certain areas of the map). For the Singleplayer mode, there is plenty to keep you busy, unlike in Tremulous. You have the option to play scenarios split into episodes, Deathmatches with bots ganging up on you, and the game even goes so far as to provide levels where you can fight in slow-motion.
MacWorld UK gave it four out of five stars, whereas Games For Windows: The Official Magazine mentioned it in Issue 3 with the reference “perfect for both stingy and creative gamers alike.” But now for an organization whose opinion matters… Phoronix, a purely Linux-orientated hardware and software reviews gave it a positive rating due to “several enchancements to its underlying “Cube 2″ engine”.
Like all great software, it’s open source and can be readily made available to you from the follow link: http://sauerbraten.org/
Warzone 2100 (Strategy)
If you liked StarCraft, you’ll love this. The “3-D cross-platform real-time strategy” denotation doesn’t do justice to this once-proprietary program. This game is highly customizable, allowing everything from a wide array of camera angles, to the ability to customize drive systems (e.g. wheels/track) of your units. Warzone 2100 follows an episodic gameplay structure, following a sequence of scenerios whereby you have a time limit to complete the objectives stated using construction, upgrading, recruitment, etc. for the availability of the manpower required for the task. The latest stable version was released January 12, 2009.
Warzone 2100, once developed for the PlayStation (rating of 76%) and Windows, is now praised by the likes of IGN and Gamespot, which had the following to say about the game:
“Warzone 2100′s highly navigatable 3D engine, unique campaign structure, and multiplayer gameplay should please most real-time strategy fans”.
Like all great software, it’s open source and can be readily made available to you from the follow link: http://wz2100.net/
Glest (Strategy)
This Spanish game, developed using Glest Advanced Engine, is basically a cross between Tremulous and Warzone 2100. It imitates the 3-D, real-time strategy idea of Warzone 2100 but with a medieval theme. It mimics Tremulous in that there are two opposing factions, Magic and Tech, both with their own strengths and weaknesses, both fighting each other on the same map. The Tech team is composed of conventional warriors with medieval weapons at their disposals, with their own unique set of units, buildings and upgrades. The Magic team is targeted at more experienced users where most of their army is “morphed” or “summoned.” Whilst lacking close combat skill, it makes up for it in brute power and versatility. For those of you who loved StarCraft on Windows – this is the game for you.
Like all great software, it’s open source and can be readily made available to you from the follow link: http://glest.wikia.com/wiki/GetGlest
SuperTux (Retro)
For those among us who miss hearing the upbeat music of Level 1 SuperMario, may I present SuperTux. It’s the classic side-scrolling adventure game we all played in our childhood, only now, instead of Mario you have “Tux”, the penguin mascot of Linux. With “Penny” captured by bad guys, it’s up to Tux to rescue her.
Receiving Game Of The Month award by HappyPenguin.Org when it first came out, SuperTux went on to celebrate eight version updates and the SuperTux Development Team and Blizzard Entertainment are eagerly working to bring you Supertux 2. The beta release reiteration of SuperTux really brings back memories of SuperMario with multiple “Worlds”, a variety of monsters and a complimentary, childlike plot.
http://supertux.lethargik.org/
I hope these referrals introduce more users to the variety of games on the Linux platform. While much remains to be accomplished, we can at least revel in the progress made up to 2009, and look forward to what this year will bring for us.
By Mihai Marcas
Stumble It!
possible248 on Sat, 7th Feb 2009 2:04 pm
Also, don’t forget about BZFlag.
BZFLag is a 3D multiplayer tank warfare game, and it is quite addicting. It is available for a variety of platforms besides Linux, including Windows.
http://bzflag.org
Top titles on Linux: One gamer’s view | The Game Guy | STLtoday on Sat, 7th Feb 2009 8:13 pm
[...] similarly inclined to open-mindedness. In the meantime, Arthur M over at zMogo has cobbled together a list of the five games he says really rock with the penguin, including one that appears to be a throwback knock-off of Super Mario [...]
evilgold on Sat, 7th Feb 2009 10:19 pm
nice idea, but none of these games came out in 2009 so its sort of missleading.
Diginess on Sat, 7th Feb 2009 10:51 pm
Please stop it with BZFlag. I couldn’t stand that game, it sucks. Everytime someone posts interesting games for Linux, some jerk posts about BZFlag.
Johnny Five on Sat, 7th Feb 2009 10:57 pm
OMGosh I love that little penguin dude!
RT
http://www.online-anonymity.at.tc
RoboTron on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 2:21 am
It needs to be mentioned that Tremulous runs on the Quake 3 engine that was first released for Windows. Many years after the excitement died down, the source code was generously released by ID Software.
Darius on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 5:49 am
you forgot about nexuiz
Sammy Six on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 6:21 am
Now all they have to do is make a sixth game and we can have a top 6 list!
possible248 on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 7:26 am
My apologies, but could you please specifically note what issues you had with BZFlag?
Kengu_456 on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 7:54 am
Uhm.. World of Goo is announced for 2009 release on linux. Although not a open source game it IS for linux, perhaps review this list as a open source games list, not _all_ games…
shadedmagus on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 7:56 am
Why is it when I see these lists, no one mentions games made for Windows that can run on Linux? I’m saving up to build my next gaming rig, and it’s going to be Linux-only. Am I worried? Not really, since most of the games I want to play have been verified to run either under Wine, or through Cedega. Make sure to let gamers know about that if you’re trying to lure them away from Windows!
Keep in mind, it might take a bit of tweaking to get the games to work, but if it means I can give up my XP habit for good, it’s worth it!
m.marcas on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 2:06 pm
@ shadedmagus
By installing VirtualBox then running the .iso of e.g. Windows 7, you can play all Windows-platform games far better than you would under Wine or through Cedega.
Julien on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 2:33 pm
Just because its “verified” to run with Cedega doesn’t mean that it’ll actually work *well*. Even something as simple as the Steam 2D client interface is buggy on Linux.
Mad props to Cedega/Wine for giving these games some level of functionality… but it’s still a long ways off. And I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point where it runs just as well, given that Windows is evolving as well. It’s inherently a catch-up game, and one which is getting more and more complex. And don’t expect developers to start pumping out Linux clients. UT2k4… and um… yeah… game(s) like that are extremely *rare* exceptions, not the norm. Nor will it ever be, as Linux support would be financial suicide. The PC is a dying platform, so who would want to put a bunch of money in a market with even less of an audience?
And shouldn’t all of these games be considered Retro? The most graphically advanced game on this list looks about on par with what was around for the PC in 1999/2000. Truth hurts.
Gaming on Linux is an illusion, perpetuated by blind zealots.
dakira on Sun, 8th Feb 2009 10:28 pm
There is not a single game on this list for 2009. They’re all old.
Let me give you just one example for a great Linux game to wait for in 2009.
World of Goo
It is a puzzle/action/building game with perfect sound- and game-design. Created by a team of two indie developers who met at Electronic Arts this masterpiece achieved highscores with every major game magazine. When you play it you just can’t believe the amount of detail Kyle and Ron put in every area of the game. You will think “this is how games should be made”.
There’s a great review on eurogamer (search for it). If you want to check out the game there is a demo with chapter one (of five) fully playable. Currently the demo is only available for win and mac (win version of demo and full release work perfect in wine) but the Linux betatesting just finished and their Linux dev did a great job porting the game (even improved it over the Windows version). When you buy the game ($20/€15) you get all three versions.
The Linux version will be out very soon and all people who previously bought the game will get a download link for the Linux version as soon as it is out.
Cantormath on Mon, 9th Feb 2009 4:41 pm
Of 2009?!!
first off, 2009 just started. Second, these games are not from 2009. This is misleading.
Prootwadl on Mon, 9th Feb 2009 5:06 pm
Uh… You included something like SuperTux but forgot immensely popular games like Spring? Actually something like CA or XTA might be more appropriate, since Spring itself is just the base RTS engine. Open source, cross platform, single- and multi-player, eye candy, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(computer_game)
Lysdestic on Mon, 9th Feb 2009 5:44 pm
How about FoFiX, the fork of Frets on Fire? (http://fofix.googlecode.com)
Excellent game, in my opinion. Plus, since it was forked recently, it comes closer to 2009 than anything else listed here. xD
DeX on Mon, 9th Feb 2009 6:26 pm
As soon as I saw the headline on Digg I started thinking, “Top 5? Damnit…I bet it’s Tremulous, Sauerbraten, BZFlag, Warzone, Glest, and Flight Gear!” I was wrong about Flight Gear. In it’s place you put a crappy side scroller that might be kinda fun, but certainly isn’t a great game! What a crappy list. As a Linux user, I think it’s time we smash this list with some new, REAL games!
Stefano F. (tacone) on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 3:33 am
Also, Teeworlds rocks big time.
http://www.teeworlds.com
somerandombystander on Thu, 12th Feb 2009 6:54 am
Wow, for all of you who think this is from 2009 or made in 2009 or anything, read the title! Top 5 Linux Games FOR 2009. As in games FOR you to play in 2009, not games FROM 2009…geez.
Anyways, rant over! I love Sauerbraten! It’s fast paced which is perfect for me. Nexuiz sounds fun, thanks Darius.
Rob on Fri, 13th Feb 2009 9:29 pm
It is misleading to call this the top 5 Linux games for 2009, that implies that these games weren’t available in 2008 or 2007. That said, even under the assumption that these are the best games available in 2009, not the best games released in 2009, this list fails. No Savage 2? No ET:Quake Wars? Even UT 2004 is better than Tremulous.
If these were the best games available for Linux, I would stop using Linux.
matt on Sat, 14th Feb 2009 7:28 pm
As soon as I saw the headline on Digg I started thinking, “Top 5? Damnit…I bet it’s Tremulous, Sauerbraten, BZFlag, Warzone, Glest, and Flight Gear!â€Â
Dex, that would sound a lot more intelligent had you not listed six games as what you thought would be on the “Top 5″
Scott on Sat, 28th Feb 2009 8:40 pm
What about Regnum Online? It’s a 3D MMORPG that I’ve been playing for a while now an I find it quite addictive. I have it running in both Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS.
Jonesy on Thu, 2nd Apr 2009 8:47 pm
Must have linux FPS’s:
Urban Terror (fps)
http://www.urbanterror.net
Warsow (fps)
http://www.warsow.net
theEDUCATOR on Thu, 7th May 2009 8:41 pm
What about World of Padman? It’s still one of the best. http://padworld.myexp.de/index.php?files=movies
ThegreatFucker on Thu, 28th May 2009 7:42 pm
Hell , If you wanna play just get your self a PS3 ! Something which is made *for* gaming ! I only appreciate that those games are open source , so I can change them and hack them the way I want .And even change chars , maps , sound , ANYTHING ! Hell I can even turn an FPS into an RPG !! and that is ladies and gets , THE FUN !
quartermeat on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 10:00 am
So I didn’t see anything about S2 Games! Savage 2 is now completely free and available for linux. Also, there is a closed beta for a new game based on DotA mod for Warcraft 3. Looks amazing. Definitely some innovative, and commercial quality material that is available for linux. Check it out.
Jonny2Shoes on Wed, 4th Nov 2009 3:21 am
Aren’t these the same games that were best in 2008 some probably even 2007? Seems we just juggle them around a little :/
Rob on Tue, 24th Nov 2009 9:21 pm
I know many of these games have been out for awhile. But, they have matured, and these are some good solid contenders for “free” as in beer(and libre) games.
Tremulous is a very interesting take on a FPS, and I almost started to say that Sauerbraten should take the top position; but, after a bit of consideration, I think the 1, and 2 positions are well placed. Tremulous gives that rare opportunity to play “the bad guy”, thats right folks, you get to be an insect, including the ability to walk on the walls and ceiling(some restrictions apply in the name of balanced play), its absolutely cool to play a game that has something that so many other games don’t have.
Sauerbraten, what can you say, it’s a nicely polished in your face first person shooter based on the Cube2 engine. No namby pamby vehicles, just you, a few weapons, and the rest of the world to conquer. Enjoy, I play the hell outta this title; I dunno, something about good old fashioned down and dirty fragging just never gets old with me.
Let the games continue.