Nexus: The Jupiter Incident

Difficult, rewarding and awesome. Most "space combat command simulators" (SCCS) fall flat both in story and in gaming experience. Not this one. The mechanics of combat are very logical. "Realistic" would be difficult since it takes place in the future. It is very challenging, you don't get any victories for free. But every mission can be won so once you do win there's a strong feeling of accomplishment.

This game could compare to Homeworld 1 or 2, but with less ships and maybe a bit more story. Either way, if you like the Homeworld series in space, you would probably enjoy this product. I played this game with just the focus of completing the single-player campaign, so I did not take any part with the multi-player aspect. In my perspective, since I bought this game on sale, it proved well worth the price. First, it does not allow you to accelerate the game speed, but you can pause the game for tactical moments. You can also send spare power to the engines, so that helps a bit. As the game progresses, eventually each ship has the resources of shields and hull. The weapons you can choose to equip individually for each ship sort of do a "rock, papers, and scissors" approach, and some of those weapons apply an entire affect to a relatively large area. Certain stuff, like missiles, require massing in case enemy flak blows some away. Even if only one hits, it can relatively spark huge damage. The readable "logs" add to the back-story. The music, while not wide in selection, performs well for the provided aria. The meteors could possess more beauty, but it remains understandable for the game's age. Overall, the game acts well on maximum settings. My only major complaint stands with the speed of a ship's reaction. A few times, a single ship may need separate commands for decent reactions. When put into fleets later in the game with CTRL + 1 and such, they seems like trying to command giant snails in the emptiness of space as they try to invent their own special way to bunny hop in a ballet. Of course, this goes with them forgetting to shoot anything, even when set to "Aggressive". Unfortunately, I think "Special Engines" add to that, since they help a ship constantly spin, again, like a ballet. TLDR: Good game, especially on sale, if you like stuff related to Homeworld in space.

First off therefore you can sort in my comment or rating: I am playing round based games. From time to time I am trying real-time games only to discover (again) that I despise them. In all those years there were only 2 real-time games I really started to like: X-Wing and lately... Nexus. The game is not perfect, the way you have to give orders is sometimes almost a hindrance but you can get around that rather easily and couldn't stop me from giving 5 stars. I've never really given anything about graphics but in this game often enough I was zooiming in and out to get a better view (not for tactical reasons but just for view). There is a real story and you feel how iit immerses you into the game. About the actual game play: well, just try it out yourself. The game is usually amazingly cheap. Instead of praise let me phrase it this way: For weeks after I finished Nexus I was looking wether there might be any mods or sequels allowing me to play a bit more Nexus... yes but sadly all not finished or not of noteworthy quality. Since month I am looking wether there are any similar games out there... mmh, perhaps similar but it seems different enough that it does not give the same immersion, the same game feeling. There is a manual but it is not really helping you much when it comes to choosing weapons and devices or how to bring down shields, so before you get frustrated, here some helpful sites (there isn't only 1 way to do things but always several): Forums: https://www.gog.com/forum/nexus_the_jupiter_incident#1450831075 http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=264 walkthroughs: http://www.ign.com/faqs/2005/nexus-the-jupiter-incident-walkthrough-587655 http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/525559-nexus-the-jupiter-incident/faqs/40842 http://www.neoseeker.com/nexus-jupiter-incident/faqs/127477-nexus-tji.html walkthrough professional level: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/525559-nexus-the-jupiter-incident/faqs/33476

Classic indie old school sci-fi game!

so after investing 6-7 hours into this game and getting relatively far into it here are my impressions, as I have come to both love and hate this game. PRO 1. good ascetic 2. gives you none combat task, makes you feel like your really there. 3. in-depth ship control CON 1. tutorial doesn't cover everything. 2. story is a little all over the place. 3. combat mechanics SUCK, it's difficult to know if your ships is doing what you want it to do or if it's even having an effect on the enemy. 4. ships are to durable, you can actually get into stalemates with the enemy were neither of you can penetrate each other's shields. (it's actually happened to me) 5. battle's take slightly more time then I would like. While I have come to love certain aspects of this game, like how it immerses you into the world, I have come to hate the combat mechanics of the game. This is because for the first 4-5 hours of the game you will destroy 1-2 ships this is mostly because it's literally impossible to pearse the enemies shields, yet they to will lack the ability to pears your shields which then make's the game feel almost like a cinematic since you spend 15-20 minutes trying to beat an enemy and not making any progress. In conclusion this game will seriously drive you to the brink of insanity, as you wonder if your doing something incorrectly or if in fact the enemy is using some sort of impenetrable shield technology given to them by Jesus himself.