I recently picked up
Nuclear Dawn through the
Indie Royale bundle. I had heard of this game through a free weekend that it had on Steam a while back. The idea of the game is actually quite brilliant. When I first heard the game had merged FPS and RTS I wasn't really sure how it would work. But what they have done works quite well.
There are two teams Empire and Consortium, each team has a commander which plays in RTS view. As commander you have to use resources to build defences for your base while expanding forward to help your team mates by building forward spawn points and supply depots for them. The resources needed to do this are gained at resource points by the rest of the team who play in FPS view.
As an FPS player you get to choose to play as one of four different classes. Assault, Exo, Stealth or Support. As Assault you get to choose 3 different load outs. Infantry Kit, Grenadier Kit and Marksman Kit.
- Infantry you get you play as Infantry with an assault rifle, a pistol and grenades as your weapon of choice.
- Grenadier you get a grenade launcher, a shotgun, a pistol and grenades, this setup is extremely good if you buddy up with a siege Exo to take down the enemy base.
- Lastly as Marksman you get a sniper rifle, a pistol and anti personnel mines. Also as Assault you get thermal vision which you have regardless of load out. This is essential for taking out those pesky cloaked stealth players. I really hate them they are really annoying for anyone that doesn't play assault.
Next we have the Exo class. Easiest way to explain this class is. Think heavy in Team Fortress. You have lots of health, and a big ass chain gun to start you off. As Exo there are only 2 load outs you get to choose from which are: Suppression Kit and Siege Kit.
- Suppression as you might think is you and your chain gun you also get a pistol for your secondary weapon.
- Then we have the Siege kits which vary a little depending on your team. They both do the same job none the less which is destroy enemy buildings. If you are on the Empire team you get a big chunky rail gun, where as Consortium get a rocket launcher. You also get a pistol as secondary just like the suppression kits.
Stealth is the next choice of class, and how I hate them. Just as I hate spies in TF. The sneaky little bastards. Anyway as Stealth you have 2 load outs. First of which is the more annoying of the two.
- The Assassin kit which includes a sub machine gun, a pistol and depending on team again either Knives (Consortium) or Arm Blades (Empire). Combining your melee weaponry with the sneaking bastardness of the tactical cloak can be quite the annoyance as if you back stab someone it's instant death for the unsuspecting victim.
- Don't want to get up close and personal with the enemy but enjoy the stealth aspect? Not to worry this game has you covered with the Sniper kit. Yes, we already have snipers with the Assault class. However if you are going to go down the sniping road. I would suggest being a stealth sniper. Why? Think about it you have the ability to kill from a distance and if people cotton on to where you are just stealth up and cheese it out of there. Snipers can be difficult to spot on the best of days, so a sniper with cloaking abilities it's a smart move. You do have to watch out for Assault snipers though as they can spot you with their thermal vision.
Last but not least I would say is the most important class of the game. The support class. As support your role is none other than to support (who would have guessed) the rest of the team which you can do in a number of ways depending which of the three load outs you choose.
- First choice is the Medic kit and this doesn't really need an explanation. You play as a medic and help heal team mates when you can. You are equipped with a machine pistol, a regular pistol, med pack and some poison grenades. The poison grenades are quite interesting choice of weaponry. They are handy to deter enemies from capturing resource points.
- Next you can choose the Engineer kit. As an engineer your primary role is to help maintain buildings from enemy siege. They can also help out on offence as well with the EMP grenades in their arsenal which can disable enemy turrets which let the likes for Exos get in and do some serious damage. Along with your EMP grenades and repair tool you are also equipped with a shotgun, a pistol and anti personnel mines.
- Lastly is probably the most annoying of the support class. It is the flamer kit, which as you may have guessed includes a flame thrower, you also get a pistol and both poison and frag grenades. If played right this can be one of the most devastating classes to play with the ability to wipe out an enemy team trying to capture a resource point. As you don't have any long range weapons you have to be a little sneaky and try flank unsuspecting victims flaming them then disappearing again letting them all burn to death.
At the moment the game has a total of six
maps: Clock Tower, Downtown, Hydro, Metro, Oasis and Silo. Interwave have released SDK with the game so no doubt we have a bunch of modders on the case to expand this along with more coming for the developers in the future. It's a fun little game, but does rely on good team work. I have joined many random servers with my team running about all over the place which has lead to the other team who were more organised to kick our ass. Communication between players and the commander is essential for success in this game. I am glad I got this game and for the price I got it for is laughable. I would be more than willing to pay above the going price for it which stands at £14.99 on Steam. I have played a good dozen or so hours so far and will get more than my moneys worth out of this game.
