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Years ago a friend recommended Resogun to me. I played the PlayStation 4 version and really enjoyed it. It draws heavily from the classic arcade game Defender and I found it so enjoyable that I made sure to keep my eye on the developer, Housemarque. They have made multiple shooters including Resogun, Super Stardust, Dead Nation, and Alienation. They’re also responsible for Returnal. I consider several of their games to be arcade-style shooters complete with scoring systems and all. Among them is Nex Machina and I remember jumping on it as soon as it released. Developed and published by Housemarque, Nex Machina was released for PlayStation 4 and PC in June, 2017. For this review, I played the PC version. My research tells me Eugene Jarvis served as a creative consultant during development. Jarvis is responsible for several classic arcade games including Defender, Robotron: 2084, NARC, and Smash TV among others.
There’s not much in the way of plot in-game. There’s no exposition and few cut scenes but there is some kind of story or at least backstory which, I admit, I only know about because of the synopsis on the game’s Steam page; “Humans have become so dependent on technology that they cannot avert their eyes from portable devices anymore. Around them, machines have reached consciousness and surpassed human intelligence tenfold. No reasons to be servants now – robots are clearly the superior lifeform. And to make their point, they start eradicating all human life…”. And there you have it. I can tell you it’s a fun arcade-style twin-stick shooter with a dark cyberpunk kind of style. In fact, I’ve read the developers dubbed it cablepunk and it runs on an enhanced version of the voxel-based engine that powers Resogun. What does that mean, you ask? It means it features a blend of polygonal models with voxel meshes and things explode into voxel particles and it all looks cool. The game can be enjoyed cooperatively and comes with multiple game modes including Arcade, Single World, and Online Arena.
Nex Machina is a game that’s easy to pick up and play but tough to master. I played with an Xbox Series controller and the controls are simple to grasp. You move around the environments shooting foes and evading attacks and projectiles, and there is a dash mechanic that allows you to move through certain projectiles and hazards. Pickups including secondary weapons, score multiplier tokens, and power-ups can be acquired throughout the levels and death will result in dropping a pickup. But it can be retrieved from the location of death. Unless you acquired the shield power-up, one hit is all it takes to die and death does reset the current level so you’ll be forced to start it over from the beginning. During boss fights, however, the player can continue the fight after death but only until all lives are lost. If you choose to consume a continue, you must start the fight over.
The game features six worlds and each one consists of numerous levels or stages. Once you defeat all the enemies in the current stage, you automatically move to the next stage. Rinse and repeat until you reach the end where you face a boss. As you kill enemies and destroy things, you increase your score and can raise your score multiplier, and killing specific enemies will award you bonus points. Throughout the levels are humans that can be rescued and they are a crucial part of scoring. Every time you save a human, you raise your Human Combo and if another human is saved before the timer runs out, the combo is maintained. Because of the timer, it’s wise to space out saving the humans to get the combo as high as possible and keep it maintained. The humans are basically the game’s way of encouraging you to take risks and be aggressive in order to achieve high scores. The highest value of a human bonus will depend on the difficulty.
Nex Machina comes with multiple difficulty levels, some of which need to be unlocked. The Arcade mode will have you progressing through the worlds back-to-back and I would recommend starting on the lowest difficulty, Rookie. This isn’t a long game and you can get through each world in a single sitting. However, it is a game designed to be replayed. The difficulty determines the amount of continues you get, the amount of enemies and humans, and the speed of enemy movement and attacks. Rookie is pretty easy but it allows you to get used to the controls and mechanics because mastery of them and a proper understanding of the scoring system is crucial for higher difficulties and the Online Arena game mode. The Single World mode allows you to pick and choose what worlds you want to play through, great for practicing.
This is definitely a game for those that like to chase high scores and it’s also a game that will make you work for them. The score multiplier and human combo are important aspects. However, those who are just looking to enjoy a fun twin stick shooter will also find a lot to love here and there are plenty of challenges to overcome. The gameplay can get tough on higher difficulties and in the Online Arena mode. Online Arena offers multiple challenges to test your skills including setting high scores, playing through a world with increased enemy speed, surviving faster enemy bullets and spawns, everything moves faster, and score only accumulates under a human combo bonus. Each challenge offers medals that can be earned and completing them will increase your profile rank. Online Arena is the only mode where you can earn coins. The medal you earn will also determine how many coins you earn as a reward but additional coins can be acquired throughout the levels during the challenges. Coins can be spent to unlock additional challenges and character customization options which are all cosmetic.
Each world has its own theme and style and each level within a world is like a small arena of sorts. As you blow away foes, more enemies will spawn in until all are defeated. There are things that can be destroyed and secrets to find including secret humans and secret levels and you can also find and destroy beacons for bonus points. The worlds are straightforward and you simply go from level to level but exploration will lead you to secrets and pickups including extra lives so it’s always wise to look around and destroy whatever you can.
The game showcases a gorgeous presentation. With a dark and slick art style mixed with pretty neon colors and voxels, it’s a cool feast for the eyes. Explosions look beautiful mainly because of the voxel particles, each world looks and feels distinct making for good environmental variety, and the texture work and lighting look great. Things can get intense and the screen can get busy but luckily all the important things like your character, enemies, and projectiles are clearly identifiable, at least when playing solo. The action is backed by a wonderful soundtrack consisting of a ton of catchy synth tunes and on the technical side, I encountered no major issues.
Nex Machina is an incredible game and one of my favorite twin-stick shooters. It’s easy to jump into, looks great, and the gameplay is addictive. It can be fast-paced and intense and will require practice, memorization, and quick reflexes at times to truly master. And watching things explode into voxel particles is always a treat. You can get through all the worlds in a single sitting, and easily on the Rookie difficulty, but it’s a game designed to be replayed and higher difficulties will really put your skills to the test. It comes with plenty of challenges to overcome and will make you work for high scores. Death can come pretty easy so unless you get good quickly or are just lucky, you should plan for repeated attempts. Nex Machina may not be for those that can’t take too much punishment or dying repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong, it is an accessible game but once you up the difficulty and enter the Online Arena mode, the gameplay can be very challenging, especially if you’re not properly prepared.
I absolutely recommend Nex Machina. If twin-stick shooters are not your cup of tea, I don’t think this will turn anything around for you but if you are a fan of the genre, Nex Machina is one of the best the genre has to offer. In my opinion, it’s easily one of the best modern twin-stick shooters available. It’s accessible but also challenging and most importantly, fun. Definitely check it out.