NOTE: Video overview and review attached, the following is a general syonpsis of the game.
Alright, I'm going to do my part to help promote what I think is an awesome game. Natural Selection 2 came out on steam just recently and it's a FPS game that has an RTS twist. There don't seem to be enough games out there that try to pull this off and the best part is that NS2 does it while giving the asymmetrical style of Aliens Vs Predator.
In this game, marines are standard fare. Rifles, pistols, hatchets, and welders. With enough tech they can eventually get not only flame throwers and grenade launchers, but jetpacks and power armor as well. One Marine can be the Commander who can see everything in RTS style, build buildings, give order, and create custom robots that he can control manually. Think Battlefield 2's commander mode but only better. Why BF3 decided to remove all commander tools I don't know...
The aliens will seem pretty familiar at first if you played AvP. They can run on the walls and are melee only. Aliens can eventually evolve into other life forms that have new amazing powers. Gorges can build and heal. Lerks can fly and create clouds of spores to damage anything that comes into contact with them as well as clouds that can absorb incoming bullets. Fades have the ability to phase in and out of existence giving them the ability to appear nearly out of nowhere to strike from the shadows. Lastly the massive Onos is a huge hulking beast that can take a ton of damage as well as making any hapless marine to get nearby a tasty snack.
Unlike Natural Selection 1, this game gives the aliens a commander as well. They can see things in the sky in RTS style much like the marines but the tech is quite different. The commander is in charge of picking what evolution abilities the aliens get. In order for Fades to be able to blink out of existence, for example, the commander has to spend resources to buy that evolution. Commanders also spread the alien Infestation (or 'creep') and can put down "buildings" that cloak, heal, or give energy to nearby aliens.
There's a delicate balance due to the difference between ranged combat (marines) and melee (aliens) but it works out well. Teamwork and taking advantage of the unique features your alien life form or available weapons will help you grasp victory. A marine team that can keep the aliens at range will have an easier time than trying to go lone wolf. Alines have an easier time operating independantly, however a coordinated team on the aliens side is still the best counter to a organized marine team. Because communication is so key in this game, a voice chat system was integrated and the codec is quite nice. It provides very clear chat and it can be mapped to any key you want to use.
They used a proprietary engine that they made from scratch in order to get this infestation working they way they wanted and it's fairly impressive. It's no CryEngine, Frostbite, or Source, but it's still really well done especially considering how small the development team is. The artwork is good and the only thing I can really fault are the model animations, they appear stiff at times, but the game play more than makes up for this.
If you're interested, pick it up on steam for $25. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Alright, I'm going to do my part to help promote what I think is an awesome game. Natural Selection 2 came out on steam just recently and it's a FPS game that has an RTS twist. There don't seem to be enough games out there that try to pull this off and the best part is that NS2 does it while giving the asymmetrical style of Aliens Vs Predator.
In this game, marines are standard fare. Rifles, pistols, hatchets, and welders. With enough tech they can eventually get not only flame throwers and grenade launchers, but jetpacks and power armor as well. One Marine can be the Commander who can see everything in RTS style, build buildings, give order, and create custom robots that he can control manually. Think Battlefield 2's commander mode but only better. Why BF3 decided to remove all commander tools I don't know...
The aliens will seem pretty familiar at first if you played AvP. They can run on the walls and are melee only. Aliens can eventually evolve into other life forms that have new amazing powers. Gorges can build and heal. Lerks can fly and create clouds of spores to damage anything that comes into contact with them as well as clouds that can absorb incoming bullets. Fades have the ability to phase in and out of existence giving them the ability to appear nearly out of nowhere to strike from the shadows. Lastly the massive Onos is a huge hulking beast that can take a ton of damage as well as making any hapless marine to get nearby a tasty snack.
Unlike Natural Selection 1, this game gives the aliens a commander as well. They can see things in the sky in RTS style much like the marines but the tech is quite different. The commander is in charge of picking what evolution abilities the aliens get. In order for Fades to be able to blink out of existence, for example, the commander has to spend resources to buy that evolution. Commanders also spread the alien Infestation (or 'creep') and can put down "buildings" that cloak, heal, or give energy to nearby aliens.
There's a delicate balance due to the difference between ranged combat (marines) and melee (aliens) but it works out well. Teamwork and taking advantage of the unique features your alien life form or available weapons will help you grasp victory. A marine team that can keep the aliens at range will have an easier time than trying to go lone wolf. Alines have an easier time operating independantly, however a coordinated team on the aliens side is still the best counter to a organized marine team. Because communication is so key in this game, a voice chat system was integrated and the codec is quite nice. It provides very clear chat and it can be mapped to any key you want to use.
They used a proprietary engine that they made from scratch in order to get this infestation working they way they wanted and it's fairly impressive. It's no CryEngine, Frostbite, or Source, but it's still really well done especially considering how small the development team is. The artwork is good and the only thing I can really fault are the model animations, they appear stiff at times, but the game play more than makes up for this.
If you're interested, pick it up on steam for $25. I don't think you'll be disappointed.