In the past I looked at two other free games available on Steam for Linux, namely No More Room in Hell and Cannons Lasers Rockets. Currently, there are about seven free games on Steam which run on Linux too, and Star Conflict is one of them.

Star Conflict is a massive multiplayer online interplanetary combat simulation, where you control a ship and need to perform various tasks. Although free to play, the game provides the option to buy additional customization items from the Steam store.

The first thing you need to complete is the tutorial, which teaches you the basic movement techniques, acceleration, rotating your ship, as well as shooting at enemies and capturing beacons.

Starting up – the tutorial guides you through the basics of controlling your ship and shooting:

Upon completing the tutorial, you will be able to choose to work for one of the three factions available: Empire, Federation or Jericho. Each faction has its own traits and specifics. You can change your contract at any time.

Choosing a faction:

You can customize your ship, and then proceed on choosing a game type. PvP mode is available, as well as custom online games or campaigns.

Choosing an online custom battle:

The settings window allows you to change the keyboard bindings, customize graphics, audio, game settings, HUD, Oculus Rift settings, notifications and chat/voice options.

Pressing F11 will show the current FPS, while F12 will take a screenshot and save it as JPG. You also have the possibility to cap the framer per second at any value as low as 30 FPS.

Changing graphics settings:

The game provides leaderboards and detailed player statistics and profile information.

Three paid add-on packs are available to buy via Steam as well, with prices ranging from 7.49€ to 29.99€.

You can also buy the so-called “galactic standards” at the Steam shop, which in turn allow you to buy in-game items like customization flags etc.

Overall, Star Conflict a nice experience, especially if you’re into the space battles genre. It’s graphics intensive, offers great online playing modes.