Title:
Cube Authors: Wouter van Oortmerssen
Game Specifications: fps
RRP: $0.0 US, $0.0 CA, £0.0 UK
Rating:
We all know that Linux has gotten to the point where it's a viable desktop solution. The host of office suites available for Linux make it the perfect solution to any home or office environment, the available publishing software make it enticing to any publishing center and it's multimedia capabilities offer up Linux as a multimedia hub. With all these options, it's no wonder that so many homes and business are turning their attention to Linux.
But the one area that Linux seems to be coming up short in is games. Let's face it, most, if not all, games out there are marketed towards Microsoft. How many times have you heard your local Linux guru tell you the only reason he or she duel boots is to play games? Sure, Wine can handle some, and Cedega's even better, but wouldn't it be great if there were native Linux games with OpenSource Licenses? Well, now there is!
Screen shot of Cube
Cube is Doom/Quake-style multiplayer and singleplayer first person shooter written by Wouter van Oortmerssen using OpenGL and C++. It is released under the OpenSource Zlib Licenses. The Cube engine is small, super-fast and runs on Linux, Mac and PC. The entire game comes in one download; no further dependencies or installations are required, provided you have OpenGL support and 3D acceleration already working on your system. Included in the download are a working Cube engine, the ability to connect to multiple servers for multiplayer mode (within minutes of downloading the game, I was getting my butt kicked in an on-line arena) and dozens of levels to play in first person mode. You can even design and built your own levels and arenas or host your own on-line arena.
Game play in Cube is smooth and natural. If you've ever played an fps, you'll feel right at home in the Cube world. Almost every aspect of the game is configurable, right down to the gore level and the cell shading (just make sure you've given yourself write permissions so that your configuration changes and game saves remain in effect the next time you start it!) In mulitplayer mode, the arena's are huge and expansive, but not so formidable that a new comer would be lost. Single player mode offers two styles of play, the typical random goon spawn in an arena, for multilayer practice, and a more traditional single player style where you have to shoot your through to the end of the level.
Cube does lack the nifty extras that come with commercial games. There's zero story line in single player mode. It's up to you and your imagination to wonder why you've decided to enter this strange world and need to kill all the demons that inhabit it. There's no animated cuts between levels; once you beat a level, you simply move on the next. Which leads to the next little issue, the levels are not sequential. It's up to the player to decide which to play next. The levels are of varying difficulty, but you can choose to play them out of order. Have no fear, however, as the game is OpenSource, I'm sure someone out there will be willing to add those in!
Cube takes advantage of it's small size, speed and portability to provide one the best, if not the best, from-scratch, OpenSource, FPS game out there. If you've ever felt Linux lacks in it's gaming abilities, it's time to take a look at Cube. It's an excellent game with a lot to offer and I think Cube will only get better with time.
Linear Mode
