Nex Machina is the type of game that grabs you by the coin yelling "Lets hit the Arcade!".
This game brings you front and center (top side down to be exact) in an action-packed twin-stick shooter... that does a visually stunning job with voxels. I'm in awe when I play it. Now that they've made the game playable on older PCs... I've had the opportunity to play it on my older (but much stronger desktop) and surround sound. I've played it on a laptop using the HyperX Cloud Stinger headset... and I only wanted to play with the headset on. The Sentey Harmoniq Pro do a bang up job also, but when using the surround sound in the office... that takes the cake (it just feels right).
I won't tell you to go into Nex Machina... expecting depth. Only go in expecting arcade action that gives you plenty to enjoy as you take down enemies, rescue survivors, find hidden ones, and then some as you avoid dying to build up that almighty score. They threw in a little story there, but (meh)... doesn't really matter... it's sort of just there to give you a reason why the worlds exist. When you jump in, if you know what you're doing and aren't just dodging with no plan of killing the enemies stalking you... the game will go on and on like that theme song from Lamb Chops Play-Along. Other than that you fly from one area to the next taking down enemies, switching weapons, dashing, (possibly) uncovering secrets and taking on the bosses from each world.
Modes include:
Arcade - Which is the basic game from start to finish and you can go at it easy with infinite continues or challenge yourself to beat it with the basics.
Online Arena – Is the mode that delivers the biggest amount of replay value. Basically, you start off at the initial stage and work on racking up the biggest score possible... before you bite the digital dust to see how you match up against other gamers. Use secrets to your advantage, along with score multipliers and that should help set you apart, but it can be tricky... because even if you know where all the secrets are... if you die easily... it won't matter.
Single World – (Not to be confused with a dating show) That allows you to play any world you've unlocked in Arcade.
Local Co-Op – Which I haven't had the chance to enjoy yet (and hope they deliver an online co-op).
You also get... not 10, not 20, not even 50... 221 in-game achievements to accomplish & 39 Steam achievements... so achievement hunters looking to invest some hours into a game, this is chock full of em'.
Price wise... at $19.99, it's on point. The praise would probably be increased at $14.99 (because then it would be a steal), but nearly everyone that has played the game... thoroughly enjoys the award-winning experience at the retail price which has great value.
Online co-op would've been wonderful, but the Local co-op & Online Arena makes up for it.
Overall, if you remember the days where most gamers were about the highest score and being the local, regional or world top scorer in a really challenging arcade game... then this one is for you. If you're even curious about it, check it out... its a change of pace and worthy of being added to your library if you like these sorts of games.
Fun factor: 5
Visually: 5
Replay value: 5
Price: 5
Visually: 5
Replay value: 5
Price: 5
“5 / 5 Cool Points”
Brought to you by the... Baby Fu Clothing Co.
