It’s rare that I find a game that I really really like, so when I sat down and played Natural Selection 2, I was very pleased. I had not played the first one, so I assumed this game would be another painted FPS, recycled and reused, how wrong I was.
What I noticed while watching was the major flaw in Shellshock 2, the lack of recoil in any gun. (Aside from the other “major flaws” in Shellshock 2). However, when I sat down and played the game the lack of recoil actually became noticeable, this is likely because I still did burst firing, due to the agile aliens.
The game adds a special something by having a commander who directs the players and acts as a tactical advisor. It’s up to them to buy upgrades, give movement orders and help the team in various other ways. (We don’t want to spoil it too much!).
The game boasts a large range of weapons, shotgun, pistol, assault rifle, grenade launcher, flame thrower, mines, and a welder, you can buy different weapons via the commander. But no matter what weapon you have, you still get the feeling of being outmatched.
The game has a very colonial marines feel to it – but Natural Selection came first, obviously. But when I mentioned this, they said that they had been inspired by Aliens. Just a quick note, this is something to be proud of, not ashamed about. You can see the long corridors that are familiar in the Aliens franchise, as well as the marines sense of struggle. And, again, sticking together is key here.
Despite the feeling of being out matched, the game is very balanced, and it’s tough no matter which side you’re on, however if you go 1 on 1 with an alien, chances are you’ll lose. Unless you’re very tactful.
Playing as the aliens is great fun too, you start off with a sense of utter failure as the marines bash you around, but you can slowly build up and become bigger, unlocking various forms for your services of mauling marines. All of the aliens are really fun, even the small squishy ones. But obviously, there’s little that compares to bashing a marines head against the wall as a huge rhino thing. The ability to transform anywhere on the field can be a real game changer, it takes a max of 30 seconds.
The game openly encourages people to mod it, and comes with a developer kit, but wait – last time we mentioned this, it was OUYA. and a very “lovely” reader managed to find me, and e-mail me about why allowing players to mod is lazy and companies shouldn’t encourage it.
Well guess what, this time I’m prepared! “They’re not doing work for us, we give them the tools and encourage it but we don’t take profit from it. It’s great for us, and our game. But we don’t take any profit, in fact we have hired some modders and we often pay modders for their services.” Said Charlie Flayra Cleveland
This game is due out sometime this month (October) for £18.99, you don’t want to miss it.
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