Nexus is very similar in playstyle to Genjox, an IGF finalist game I reviewed a while ago. On the one hand, it's kind of depressing to see a true to life example of how little has actually changed in the 12 years between the two games' releases, but on the other hand, if i hadn't known Genjox existed, I would probably look quite favorably upon Nexus.
So, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, Nexus is a top-down tank shooter. It's much simpler than Genjox, as there are only 3 different types of tank to choose from, all with their own weapons. I have to say, while both approaches can be really fun if done well, I like the way Nexus went about things a bit better. Tinkering around with stats until you find something that suits you can be very rewarding, Fight Zone, proves that, but there's something to be said about the streamlined approach Nexus takes that maintains the flow of the game and makes things very simple for the player for fear of sensory overload.
Each of the 3 classes, long range, mid range and short range, are all well balanced and each tank has a fighting change going toe-to-toe with another tank. All too many games with the "3 class" framework play around too much with strengths and weaknesses in order to balance the gameplay, but that just ends up turning the game into glorified Rock, Paper, Scissors. Nexus doesn't do that. The gameplay is constantly entertaining, whether you're a short-range tank going up against a mid-range one or whatever.
My major complaint with the game is that the movement speed is too damn slow. The short range tanks have a dash ability that allows you to get right up in your enemy's face, but to me, the "dash" button is really a "momentarily go the speed you should be going all along" button. The rest of the game seems to be designed around delivering a fast, unhindered gameplay experience, so why would you make the tanks move so damn slowly? If this were a complex game that made me consider a lot of factors before charging into battle, a slow movement speed might be advantageous, but this is a shooter, not an RTS.
All-in-all, I had fun with Nexus and I bet you would too. Check it out if you're bored and just want to make things go boom Unreal Tournament style.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay streamlined.
Links
Next Bus: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26684
