![]() Even on the hardest difficulty, bots rarely nab flags or do any significant damage to the player. There's a bot practice mode, but it holds no longevity. And if you enter a lobby queued as the seventh or eighth player in an ongoing match of six, you won't even see a counter for how long you'll until the next match starts. ![]() This means that the delicate stability of a four on four match can shatter if someone loses their connection, and a team of four can obliterate the lesser side. This is fine when it comes to balance, but once in battle, players can drop out and the match won't auto-balance teams or even let in queued players. But once in a lobby, a match can't start until either six or eight players are present. It takes three button-presses from loading up Nexuiz to get into a quick online match, another straight-to-the-point element of design. ![]() By providing a singular goal for each arena, the hallways, stairways, and corridors play to each map's strength, so there's no way to stray from the directive. The Capture the Flag maps utilize excellent mirrored layouts, and the deathmatch arena designs encourage constant interaction (and bloodshed). Objectives aren't shoehorned into maps rather, levels are designed specifically for each game type. The speed of combat and chaotic nature of Mutators help diversify these typical modes. ![]() Nexuiz's design again shows simplicity through the inclusion of just two classic modes: Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch. Each gun gets its own gloss, and watching the effects of Mutators drain color from the screen, pop the perspective into third-person, or add sombreros to players adds a playfulness to the already good-looking universe. As you fire bullets in ancient ruins, mountainside paths, futuristic cities, and colorful cathedral-style maps, the vistas and atmosphere look impressive throughout. It's the first downloadable game utilizing CryEngine 3 (Crysis 2's engine). But their availability and duration make them a fair pickup, giving everyone the chance to gain benefits. On paper, the sheer variety of Mutators, and their ability to influence both one's own team and the enemy, sounds like a huge shift in balance. The chaotic and kooky nature of the Mutators really make Nexuiz fun, as they can help and hinder the best or worst player in the fight - and unleashing an "invert controls" Mutator is a mean (yet fair) way to get the jump on the enemy. There are dozens of Mutators, and by assigning points to different tiers, you can actually increase the likelihood you'll spawn a particular favorite - an interesting way to put earned points to use. Mutators include helpful team boosts like regeneration and jetpacks, to silly fart-noise sound effects and monochrome overlays where it's difficult to discern who the enemy is. Through pickups, killing sprees, flag deliveries, and other battlefield feats, players get their pick of these augmentations. Mutators add extra layers of complexity to this run-and-gun experience. Shoot first, ask questions if you want to. Every pickup, each with a secondary fire option, helps contribute to a match's balance, making any given firearm feel fair. The addition of rapid-fire guns, high-power sniper rifles, mortars, and pistols keep players from sticking to a single choice. While the more attractive rocket launcher looks appealing, the simple shotgun can tear apart enemies like paper. Nexuiz's starting gun, the shotgun, might just be the best starting weapon a shooter has since the original Quake. Good then, that the action is consistently fun, with a great balance of weapons and Mutators. An intro movie sets the stage, some loading text explains arena history - but that's it. Nexuiz thrives on its action-oriented focus as opposed to a plot-driven campaign. There's a story surrounding this setup, where two ancient species battle for the entertainment of the universe, but it's largely irrelevant. Nexuiz has nine maps, nine weapons, and pits two teams of four against each other. Like other arena shooters, Nexuiz focuses on small levels with accelerated rates of life and death.
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