FOSSPicks
Another strategy game
0 A.D.
If the pseudo-two-dimensional bitmaps of Widelands aren't your thing, but you still enjoy strategy games, then 0 A.D. is a must-play. Thanks to being a commercial game that was later released as open source in 2009, the game is amazingly polished, even in its current state of development. The audio, graphics, and presentation are exactly as you'd expect had you bought the game, and the 3D game engine runs brilliantly. The music is also wonderful for setting each scene. Gameplay is similar to other strategy games, in that you have your locations and resources, which you need to use to your advantage by building bases, creating an army, and researching new items to give you leverage over your competition. The landscapes are beautiful and wonderfully navigable in 3D, letting you move down hillsides, rotate views, and easily select the asset you want to control.
Unlike Widelands, the campaign mode isn't finished, and there are no single-player scenarios to dive into. New players will either have to play each other or the AI on a new map, but most of the hard work needed for these modes are complete, as many other aspects of the game have the depth of a fully fleshed out title. There are 12 ancient civilizations to choose between, for example, from the Athenians to the Mauryans and even the Britons. These can be selected when you start a new match, complete with many different kinds of maps for all different kinds of gameplay – straight out battle, for instance, or strategic defense. Each civilization has its own technologies, territory, buildings, and units, and a game will often evolve like a carefully played game of chess. Even without the campaign modes and missions, the game feels complete when playing other people or the AI, and it's a great testament to the hundreds of developers, designers, and artists that have poured their efforts into the title after it became open source.
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