Cube 2: Sauerbraten

Ah, Quake 3 Arena. The good ol' days. Back when things were just about blasting everything in your path, and not having to worry about whiny bitches or campers. Oh, if only I could go back to those days. Man, if only I could make my own maps also. If only I could play something like Quake 3, but different. New. Oh, if only...

SHUT THE FUCK UP!

No more if onlys, Quake 3 fanatics are treated to a special treat in the form of a free game known only as Cube 2: Sauerbraten (or just Sauerbraten), a fun, frantic, fast-paced shooting game that runs under the Cube Engine, a lightweight game engine which focuses more on performance than graphics. Call of Duty junkies can  get out right now. If you need a game to at least have realistic graphics or whatever, just get out right now. This is for the old schoolers who appreciated when shooting games were more enjoyable. Anyhoo, Sauerbraten is essentially Quake 3 Arena, but with goblins and orcs instead of people. Consider it Quake 3 but with slightly less weapons, better graphics, and a full, IN-GAME, map creator, for creating your own maps. Fans of Quake 3 should have no problem adjusting to the game and playing it. Fans of Call of Duty might enjoy this, or might be turned off by the game's blazingly fast gameplay. Whichever way, there's a game for everybody. Essentially, you run, jump, shoot, and blow people to bits. Your fast movement speed, aiming, and high jumping make for some quick, lightweight, pick-up-and-play fun that will cater to even the most hardcore FPS fans. It's all here.

Fast movement makes for quick gameplay in this game inspired by Quake 3 Arena.

The game also has an ENORMOUS amount of multiplayer gamemodes, ranging from your standard fare Team Battle, Free-For-All, and Instagib modes to some creative ones like Tactics (players spawn with a random weapon), Efficiency (players are given ALL weapons upon spawning), and Point Capture, along with singleplayer bot matches and 3 campaign modes. Can you say ENDLESS REPLAY VALUE?

HAHAH Of course you can. 

The multiplayer community is especially strong, as there are tons of servers online every day, and people have already set up clans and groups and all sorts of fun stuff to enhance the experience. 

But we're not here to talk about the gameplay. We are here to talk about the main highlight of this damn game, the badass map editor! This is by far the easiest mapmaking system I've seen. Walls and floors can be constructed with ease, as a  scroll down of the mouse wheel pulls blocks towards you, while a push of the mouse wheel pushes them in. It's quite easy and inuitive, as a pool of lava for your lava map can be made in seconds. Everything is made up of Cubes (hence the name, "Cube 2") but they can later be pushed and angled and adjusted to make more complex shapes, adding for a lot of different possibilities.

This isn't even 0.01% of what you can do with the amazing map editor.

Working with the editor for a while, I found myself easily crafting up a little map, taking place in the sewers, with water at your feet. This was definitely designed for ease of access, I can say that. In fact, the 20+ maps that come with it were made with the in-game editor. Hard to believe they started as cubes! To top it all off, you and a friend can start up "Coop Edit" mode, and work on maps together. The most intricate of mapmakers will have a blast with this, as you could form a little group and do a collaboration map, then switch out of edit mode and blast each other with it! It doesn't get any easier than that. The game's graphics aren't exactly Call of Duty level, but they're not balls of polygons either. The lightning engine looks simply AMAZING, and in quite a few maps, it really shines. No bugs have been encountered yet, which is great for such a little game. A lovely little game for those fans of classic arena shooters. With so many features and an astounding map editor, there's no excuse NOT to try it out. It's free, after all!

Score Card

Gameplay: 9.5/10 Smooth, frantic action which is hard to break free from.

Sound: 3/10 There is no music withing the game, and the sounds aren't great.

Graphics: 6/10 Not the best, but graphics don't make the game.

Polish: 7/10 Well polished, but just doesn't feel like a legit game.

Replay Value: 10/10 Use the map editor, play multiplayer, or campaign.

Final Score: 7.1

Must Play, Must Avoid, or Try It?

Must Play