SPOnG stands by its decision to have a non-strategy gamer review Nexus. The development team made it clear that the target audience was light strategists, or those new to the area so we picked up the gauntlet as laid down for us, resulting in the genre and modus ludendi being as significant a point as the game itself, a situation mirrored by potential Nexus adopters.
So the point soon becomes clear. Listen to the little man in the corner. He tells you what to do. Then you have a space fight. You have a space fight like this: You are given access to certain spaceships, increasingly more impressive as the game proceeds. You arrange them, then tell them what to do, all via the magic of the mouse click. When entering the options page to change something, an event that happens every minute or so, the game action freezes. Aside from this negating the argument that your strategising in conducted in real-time, SPOnG felt it took the edge off proceedings somewhat.
We were actually rather excited at the prospect of organising our fleet whilst it was under attack. This would surely add that element of action gameplay we craved, as well as perhaps giving us just a slight hint at what it must be like for al those space adventurers that have gone before us. Alas, we were denied.
The main reason to play Nexus, at least as far as SPOnG can tell, is to simply look at it. It looks delicious throughout, with the developers really taking pains over the crafting of a stellar war and the resulting lightshow. Indeed, you could look at Nexus as an opportunity to play a giant 3D space-themed Fantavision, with the player simply arranging the action for the most aesthetically impressive outcome.
SPOnG rating: B-
There's nothing at all wrong with Nexus. It's actually a highly polished, beautiful offering from a dedicated and passionate studio. SPOnG merely stuggles to understand its place in today's market and more importantly, where the consumer base for lite strategy gaming is...
So the point soon becomes clear. Listen to the little man in the corner. He tells you what to do. Then you have a space fight. You have a space fight like this: You are given access to certain spaceships, increasingly more impressive as the game proceeds. You arrange them, then tell them what to do, all via the magic of the mouse click. When entering the options page to change something, an event that happens every minute or so, the game action freezes. Aside from this negating the argument that your strategising in conducted in real-time, SPOnG felt it took the edge off proceedings somewhat.
We were actually rather excited at the prospect of organising our fleet whilst it was under attack. This would surely add that element of action gameplay we craved, as well as perhaps giving us just a slight hint at what it must be like for al those space adventurers that have gone before us. Alas, we were denied.
The main reason to play Nexus, at least as far as SPOnG can tell, is to simply look at it. It looks delicious throughout, with the developers really taking pains over the crafting of a stellar war and the resulting lightshow. Indeed, you could look at Nexus as an opportunity to play a giant 3D space-themed Fantavision, with the player simply arranging the action for the most aesthetically impressive outcome.
SPOnG rating: B-
There's nothing at all wrong with Nexus. It's actually a highly polished, beautiful offering from a dedicated and passionate studio. SPOnG merely stuggles to understand its place in today's market and more importantly, where the consumer base for lite strategy gaming is...
