Nex Machina

The best twin stick shooter ever, with fantastic atmosphere and an excellent challenge for rookies as well as veterans. If you miss this one, you're missing a major one.

It might be a good game, but it auto turns on hdr when you boot it up and my pc refuses to keep it off once you go back to the game even in windowed mode, making the game very very dark even on my monitor's highest brightness (and i have a PG27UQR so it isn't a cheap monitor) and this game offers no brightness or contrast settings. for a game like this fast movements seeing everything is critical

Tightly designed, brutally challenging, neon-infused time attack arcade cocaine. The only problem is that it forces you to be good. The game is merciless with failures, and getting a continue usually means being sent tumbling down a slope with no chance of recovery, unless you already know how to play the game very well. Practice on the easiest difficulty. Climb the ladder. Get completely addicted as you have epileptic seizures. Realize that every game should be an adrenaline bomb that can be consumed in just 30 minutes or less. Repeat until you die.

Sparatutto twin-stick degli Housemarque, che appena 4 anni dopo questo gioco faranno il botto con l’eccellente Returnal (anche grazie al budget Sony ovviamente con molti più zeri) che consiglio a tutti di giocare. Comunque, qui siamo un omino che attraversa una mezza dozzina di cubettosi livelli fantascientifici divisi in schermate con vista dall’alto, nelle quali si devono uccidere tutti i nemici robot e possibilmente salvare gli umani sparsi in giro a farsi i fatti loro. La trama… c’è una trama? Non è importante, probabilmente il mondo è stato sopraffatto dalle IA o qualcosa del genere, non viene specificato, noi dobbiamo distruggere tutto e basta. Diverse idee di Returnal si vedono già qui: oltre allo sparo base potenziabile, ci sono diverse altre armi speciali da poter equipaggiare (una per volta) tra cui spada, lanciarazzi eccetera, e per evitare i colpi si può eseguire una schivata – che ha però qualche istante di recupero, non si può spammare. Restare in movimento e padroneggiare i comandi sarà fondamentale, perché essendo un bullet hell ci sarà sempre un casino a schermo tra proiettili, laser e cerchi letali. Ci sono diversi livelli di difficoltà, alcuni sbloccabili finendo i precedenti, in cui tutto si muove più veloce, si hanno meno Continue e così via. La Campagna/Arcade dura una mezz’oretta e non si può salvare, ma si possono sempre riprovare i singoli livelli a piacere, per fare pratica coi nemici e coi boss. Il gioco praticamente è tutto qui, e la rigiocabilità è data dalla ricerca di tutti i segreti nei vari livelli e dal voler soddisfare i requisiti per le centinaia di imprese che ci sono (“trova tutti i x nel livello”, “uccidi xx nemici con l’arma y”, e così via), oltre a più interessanti sfide a punti con regole apposite. Alla difficoltà media non è così impossibile, dopo qualche run probabilmente riuscirete ad arrivare in fondo quasi senza usare Continue. Il gioco è abbastanza generoso con le vite extra e non è eccessivamente punitivo, tranne alle difficoltà più elevate. Molto bello e frenetico, anche per me che ai bullet hell normalmente faccio schifo.

the game is a decent arcade game... there really isnt a lot here. but its flashy and fast. perfect to pick up and start blasting on the steam deck very quickly like an arcade game should be, really. the draw back is the price tag.. get this on a deep deep sale.

Pushes up aviator sunglasses over a wicked grin “I think you mean SEX MACHINA.” My back hurts and my hands are shaking. Nex Machina, a very “me” coded title by the way, was an ordeal. I had a single memory of playing this game back in 2019, I didn’t make it very far honestly. I maybe put in like twenty minutes of casual effort then became too miffed when the hell in “bullet hell” proved to be too much for my 22 year old patience. It withered in my backlog for six years until I decided to make a “backlog” challenge, where I go through games I never formally finished, ones that I kept my eye on years later. Nex Machina made the cut. Back then, “Housemarque” meant nothing to me. But when I launched the game and the big bold “Housemarque” logo showed up, I instantly thought “Oh. Oh no.” I’ve actually been fiending to get into Returnal and the upcoming Saros, so I thought this would be a good introduction to both of those games. The “introduction” hit like a boxing glove to the jaw. Nex Machina, as mentioned, is a twin stick bullet hell. You’re moving, you’re shooting, you’re collecting power ups and dashing. Gameplay is simple in concept and extremely difficult to master. I actually had to tone down the difficulty from experienced to rookie just to get through the fourth world’s final boss. It’s tough, dying consecutively is a major punishment as you drop a power up if you die, then completely lose that power up if you don’t grab it in time, or die again, oh, and you'll drop another power up if you die. So you’re expected to get through the rest of the world trying to get your powers back in time for the boss level. I’m fine with all of this, by the way, my time with rogue-likes actually helped here as the game is adjacent to the rogue-like genre. There’s a lot of trial and error, you die in one hit, unless you pick up a shield, and the game is constantly introducing new enemies for you to fight, so it never gets too samey. From beginning to end, this game will keep you on your toes. Alongside that very engaging gameplay, you get the typical bright neon colors of the cyberpunk genre, and visual clarity here is only decent. I can tell when the enemies shoot something at me, you know, the most important thing about the bullet hell genre, being able to see the bullets. Other than that though, it can get messy and chaotic very quickly, and not in a way that feels conducive to your gameplay experience. But that’s what you’re here to do, shoot and survive. The story is nearly non-existent, there isn’t even any flavor text or background world-building going on here. You’re freeing humanity by collecting humans who are being eaten by the machines, sure. Once you’re done with the story, you can try it again on harder difficulties, or get into the arcade. Doing the arcade will net you points to lightly customize your character with and unlock more levels to play, plus it adds to the replay value through the classic act of beating your personal record. The music though? Come onnnnnn babyyyyyy. I’m genuinely shocked that this wasn’t done by Carpenter Brut or Makeup and Vanity Kit, the composers of this game; Ari Pulkkinen, Tuomas Nikkinen, and Harry Krueger managed to capture the essence of the cyberpunk genre while still making it their own. Overall, I’m glad I came back to this game and gave it a fair shot, and I love the way the bullet hell made me feel, but I just felt that something was lacking. Maybe the fact that there’s no story outside of two cutscenes? I completed the story mode, messed around a little in the arcade, and felt my motivation to continue playing evaporate in real time. Maybe it’s my lack of familiarity with the genre, maybe I just need story or story elements to keep going ala roguelikes. I saw most of what the game had to offer in under two hours, and enjoyed that brief time with it. If anything, I’m glad I played this before I started Returnal. It’s a 2 out 5 for me, but I’ll still give it a thumbs up because it’s a decent product, just one that I can’t really latch on to.

Fun gameplay but you'll play through all the levels in about two hours. So unless you really want to play the same levels over over again (which is fine - some people enjoy high-score chasing), wait until it goes on sales.