sudo apt-get install wesnoth

AssaultCube
Being based on the Cube engine, AssaultCube is a very fast-paced first-person shooter with a gameplay that changes from mode to mode. There are the usual TDM or CTF modes, but also TOSOK (Team One Shot One Kill), KTF (Keep the Flag), OSOK, LSS (Last Swiss Standing) or even PF (Pistol Frenzy). It doesn’t have high system requirements and the online servers are most of the time filled with players.

sudo apt-get install assaultcube

Neverball
Neverball is a 3D action where you control a ball and you have to collect coins. You can start with a beginner level and advance to more advanced levels. Although the concept seems pretty simple, the game is not easy to master and it becomes addictive even in the first minutes of playing. Neverball allows configuration of sound, resolution, graphics details. It can be played in fullscreen mode too, and you can choose from various ball models.

sudo apt-get install neverball

Xonotic
Xonotic is based on Nexuiz, the result of a fork which aims to keep it free and open-source. Xonotic is a shooter with a fast game style, single player and multiplayer modes, lots of maps, models and weapons to choose from.

Download

Hedgewars
This is a Worms-like game, completely free and open-source, which keeps the funny atmosphere the original Worms had. Players control the so-called “hedgehogs”, which take turns, and they have entire arsenals at their disposal to blow their enemies off the orbit. A very funny and addictive game.

sudo apt-get install hedgewars

Warzone 2100
Warzone 2100 is a real time strategy game set in a future, apocalyptic universe, and it provides single player mode, multiplayer, campaigns and lots of maps. The true thing that sets Warzone 2100 apart is the unit/building tech tree, which can be upgraded differently using over 400 technologies.

sudo apt-get install warzone2100

AssaultCube takes place on realistic maps and includes 12 multiplayer game modes, including the classic DM, TDM, CTF or Survival, 24 maps (and more available to download), 8 weapons to choose from and various pickup items. The game doesn’t offer a storyline (and I believe most multiplayer shooter don’t even need one), and it offers two different teams, the so-called Cubers Liberations Army (CLA) and the Rabid Viper Special Forces (RVSF).

The interface of the game is a little unintuitive and it lacks several features which would be more user-friendly (e.g. menus accessible only from the keyboard, or the online server which can drive away a first-time player until he can actually select a game to play on). But once the settings are applied and you’re connected to the game, the fun begins.

AssaultCube offers a fast-paced experience at a low amount of resources (as low as Pentium III and above according to the homepage) and there are enough busy servers to choose from online.

The weapon range varies from the classical knife (and by the way, a knife kill counts two frags) to sniper rifle, shotgun, pistol or grenade. The recoil for all the guns is pretty high, so short, controlled bursts is the way to go. Just as with the knife, a headshot from the sniper rifle will also count two frangs instead of one.

There are 12 multiplayer game modes. Here is a brief description for each of them:

• Deathmatch – the classic FFA (free for all)
• Survivor – round-based FFA
• Pistol Frenzy – FFA mode with only pistols, knifes and grenades
• Last Swiss Standing – round-based FFA with only knifes and grenades
• One Shot, One Kill – as the name suggests, one shot is enough to kill the opponent; FFA with 1 HP for each player, a sniper rifle, knife and no pickups
• Team Deathmatch – two teams which fight each other, the winning team is the one with most frags at the end of the game
• Team Survivor – just like TDM, only round-based
• Team One Shot, One Kill – two teams, each player starts with 1 HP, sniper rifle, knife and no pickups
• Hunt the Flag – two flag bearers, the team which frags the enemy flag bearer and collects the flag scores, your own flag must have a bearer
• Team Keep the Flag – one flag, grab and keep the flag for 15 seconds for your team to score
• Keep the Flag – one flag, FFA, grab and keep the flag for 15 seconds to score
• Capture the Flag – the classic CTF, collect the enemy flag and bring it to your base to score; your own flag must be in your base

Except for these, there is one multiplayer cooperative mode and three singleplayer modes against the AI (Bot Team Deathmatch, Bot Deathmatch and Bot One Shot, One Kill).

AssaultCube is a great game, and very addictive. Its strengths are the vast amount of gaming modes and the fast-paced rhythm. The only problem I could find annoying was navigating through menus and the server browser, which makes it very hard to choose a game due to a pretty uninspired color scheme.

To install, you will need SDL 1.2, SDL_image 1.2, OpenAL, SDL_ttf 2.0. On a Debian/Ubuntu system, these should be fetched by issuing the following command in a terminal:

apt-get install libsdl1.2debian libsdl-image1.2 libsdl-ttf2.0-0 libopenal1

Official website

Game introduction

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