Nuclear Dawn

excellent
key review info
  • Game: Nuclear Dawn
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:

Original designed as a mod, Nuclear Dawn was first announced in 2006 and it was supposed to be an addition to the Source engine. In 2009, InterWave Studios decides to resurrect the project, but this time not as a mod, but as a multiplayer-only game with Source engine still at the heart of it. While in Europe the game is brought to PC and Mac users by Iceberg Interactive, the North-American market has publisher Viva Media LLC to thank for its distribution.

It’s a game set in the future, when a constant battle for survival takes place in a post-apocalyptic scenery. We have two factions fighting to annihilate each other: one is blue and the other one red. I wonder where they got their inspiration from.

Blue vs red, FPS with different classes that wield different weapons, a tad of real-time strategy, lots of turrets... This sounds strikingly similar to TF2, but as you'll see it's that and a bag of chips (quite a large bag, actually).

Story

Believe it or not, multiplayer-only FPS games with strong RTS themes also have their cool stories.

It all started when the Chinese and European governments tried to create and then improve the Nano technology. It was all a big success at first, as humanity started to climb onto unknown stages of evolution.

With time, man's flaws started to make their way to the surface, as greed, religious extremism and even deliberate terrorist acts started to split the world in half. On 22nd of January 2040, a war starts, a war that would bring an end to tens of millions of civilian lives. Troubled times last until 2045, when the Nuclear Dawn unleashes on what was the Man's Golden Age.

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Are you wondering how this is going to affect gameplay? Well, it won't, not a single bit. It's just a cool story that explains the origin of the two factions in the game.

The Consortium of Free States or, shortly put, The Consortium, is composed of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. They have to fight The People's Empire or just The Empire, an organization that swore to take revenge on China's old enemies.

Gameplay

After choosing a faction (The Consortium or The Empire), one must select a class. There are four available classes, each having different attributes as well as different weapons and abilities: Stealth, Support, Exo and Assault. There are a total of twelve loadouts, identical in each faction.

The classes seem to be very different, but, in fact, they complete each other. Stealth, for example, has 100 hitpoints, while an Exo soldier has 600. Keep in mind that a single well-placed knife hit from a Stealth can instantly kill an Exo, as easily as a single frag grenade from an Assault unit can kill a Stealth, or a land mine from a Support can take care of an Assault.

Leveling up to a rank of 60 is done through various experience gaining actions like killing opponents, landing headshots, securing resource points, damaging and destroying enemy buildings and even participating in the killing of an opponent. The higher the ranks the more perks you can choose for your weapons.

The third step is choosing the Deployment zone (just like you would in Battlefield) and you're off, after a short delay, of course.

The goal is to conquer or to destroy the other team and you do so through teamwork, tactics, strategy and intelligence. There are three kinds of resource points in the game that have to be conquered. Capturing them is the responsibility of the soldiers; holding them by building well-armed outposts is the Commander's job. As you slowly capture resources and expand your web of structures, you will force the enemy into a more confined space, and, finally, assault and destroy his base. All this must be done within a time frame or the game results in a draw.

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As I previously said, there are two sides to this game: the FPS side that will take you right on to the combat zone (map), while the RTS side will give you a 2.5D view of the entire map.

Since most of the time you'll be fighting as a grunt that has to be forged in the heat of battle, let's go through the gameplay basics. First of all, this is a team game, without team support you won't get too far and you will probably not live to see the time counter reach zero. Servers are usually full, with 32 different blood-thirsty players pitted against each other, so walking in teams can sometimes make things a lot easier. Even so, you'll have to expect a LOT of dying. Basically, after each spawn you kill a couple of enemies and then get yourself blown to pieces. After each death you'll be allowed to choose a different class, change your arsenal or the perks of your weapon.

The commander position is the most desired position in the game and, once at the head of a faction, don't think you cannot be replaced. The Mutiny option allows team players to vote you out if they are not satisfied with your work.

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As the Commander of a faction, you will need to invest those hard worked resources in defenses, power grids, networks and supply points. As most maps are quite large, doing so will require a lot of strategic thinking and planning ahead. Besides securing each captured resource , it's up to you to scout the terrain and try to create choke-points that block incoming attacks.

The commander also researches new technologies that can help turn the balance in his favor. In map view you can see all the enemy units moving in real time, but you won’t be able to see any of the enemy buildings. This way, will have to rely on your troops just as they rely on you.

Achieving experience allows you to equip your weapons with different enhancements (perks), like extra ammo or armor-piercing bullets. The weapons have moderate recoil and are not as futuristic as you'd expect. You'll also find grenades and land mines in the inventory of some classes.

Even if you sometimes feel over-powered and the enemy has constructed turrets just outside your base, you can still turn things around. Exos and support engineers can render a turret to shreds in just a few seconds; so even when everything seems lost, don't give up just yet.

Video and Audio

Being built on Source (the Left 4 Dead 2 engine to be precise), I was expecting the graphical quality to be average and boy was I wrong! Besides the fact that the maps have an impressive detail level (above what I have seen in other Source based multiplayer games), it also gets the job done without any spikes on a constantly shifting and evolving battlefield (even in the fiercest of battles).

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To be honest, the partially destroyed world looks as good as many of the big titles out there and makes for a great battleground. Nuclear Dawn doesn't require the newest PC to run, so it's accessible to most gamers out there

The shooting mechanics are nicely done and the heads-up display will offer all the info you need without sacrificing the much needed space. It also helps the characters immerse into the post-apocalyptic panorama.

The music is dramatic and suited for the role you're playing in this apocalyptic confrontation. The weapons are quite realistic, while all the voices are robotic and directed my train of thoughts to the Westwood's Red Alert series.

Multiplayer

You are now able to test your fighting and commanding skills in six different maps and one game type: Warfare. This will feature two teams, each with a human commander, pitted on each other in various battlefields while struggling for resources. It allows players easy access to research and development of all technologies, structures and vehicles.

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Three of the maps (Metro, Downtown and Silo) were available for trial in the Beta version of the game, while the other three (Hydro, Oasis and Clocktower) have seen the daylight along with the official release of the game.

InterWave promised three additional game types so we're eager to see them. Until then, Warfare will just have to do.

Conclusion

Overall, Nuclear Dawn is the first game that combines real-time strategy and first-person shooter in one great looking multiplayer game. The post-apocalyptic theme seems a bit common nowadays with games like Fallout, Brink and Metro 2033, but still, Nuclear Dawn has remarkable graphics.

Gameplay can get a bit frustrating for some (because of the frequent deaths), but it manages to keep you hanging on. Teamwork and tactics are crucial in order to bring your opponents on their knees, so when you have a lot of beginners in the team, the annoying factor might be amplified.

The very same thing goes for the Commander features. If done correctly, the construction of infrastructure, defense and supply buildings can provide a great advantage to a team. However, when done faulty and hastily, it can prove to be very annoying.

Priced at $24.99, I think Nuclear Dawn is a bargain, even if it only features multiplayer mode. It's like a gem in a pile of glass that needs a bit more polishing. Take out the rough edges and it will shine bright enough to box out many outdated titles.

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story 7
gameplay 10
concept 10
graphics 9
audio 8
multiplayer 9
final rating 9
Editor's review
excellent