If you are fond of strategy game, Zero-K should be in your playlist. Inspired by Total Annihilation strategy game, Zero-K makes it more interesting to play in real-time. The game released under GPL v2. Artwork of the game comes with different licenses. However, Zero-K is not a simple clone. Lots of features added to the game to make it thrilling.
Game Info
- Developer(s): See full Credit here
- Genre: Real-time Strategy
- Initial Release: Â v1.0/October 1, 2010
- Stable Release: v1.6.7.3/July 30, 2018
- Compatibility: Linux(X86, X86-64)
- License: GPLv2 (unless otherwise specified, e.g., artwork)
- Website: zero-k.info
System Requirements
- OS: Multi-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows)
- Processor: 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU
- Storage: 6 GB available space
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 512 MB graphics card. It needs OpenGL 3 support. The integrated cards may not work.
Gameplay
Unlike other RTS and total Annihilation game, here resources are a constant flow. If you do not use it, you can lose. There are two types of resources: metal and energy. You can obtain power by building solar panels or wind turbines. You must get the metal by an extractor construction on metal mines. These mines are spread all over the map. And they are the ones that give the whole strategic dimension. Whoever controls the metal mines will win the game.
This game allows you to control hundreds of armies. It continues to humanoids, tanks, planes, ships, spiders, giant robots, and nuclear missiles in epic battles full of explosions. Each unit forms into a group and stays in a factory. You can set the output of the factory.
Zero-K Game Interface
In Zero-K, the construction queue is infinite. You can also say that add this unit to the beginning of the queue because I need it now.
There are many small and practical functions. It is quite impossible to list them all. Regarding the movement of units, there is everything: movement, attack, guard, and patrol.
But above all, something I had never seen before. For example, if you select a group of units and draw a line with the mouse, they will continue to follow on that line. You can deploy the units in large areas. You can also place rows of buildings in the same way.
Regarding the orders of the units, you can chain them. However, you can also press space to add the order to the beginning of the queue. You can also do the same thing to add it to the center of the line. It will automatically in the place where the unit will have to walk less to perform this task also.
There are dozens of keyboard shortcuts to direct the slope as you wish. Choose the altitude according to the altitude of the terrain of your choice. Follow straight or free lines and many other things.
Graphics
Concerning graphics quality, don’t expect too much. The graphics is a little bit clumsy. You won’t find too many details in the graphics. From model to texture, all are little bit blurry or low quality. On the contrary, you get the benefit if you have a less powerful graphics card.
Pros
- Good strategy game.
- Addictive game. You won’t know how the time has passed.
- The Chicken game mode makes it interesting.
Cons
- Some levels are very hard to complete.
- Not all the levels are equally plotted.
Download & Play
If you want to play this amazing game, I recommend you to follow the official how-to guide for playing Zero-K games in Linux.
Conclusion
Building your town and troops is way much interesting. Putting aside the graphics quality, it is a good strategy game. You can play it online, 1 to 1, as a team and even FFA style battles.  You can also play cooperatively against bot, chickens or in a campaign.
Is this Linux steam games enjoyable? If you like it, please share this game with your friends and family who really like to play games on Linux.
