Nuclear Option

Not too arcade-ey as Ace Combat (No hard feelings I love Ace Combat) Not too complicate and spec demanding as DCS Not too time-consuming and $$$ hungry as War Thunder. This game strikes a perfect balance between AC's arcade-ey and DCS realism. And the dev has been very active on keeping the game updates with new contents.

[h3]quick preamble[/h3] you know how many people have an abusive relationship with War Thunder because it requires you to pour at least half your paycheck into it? well Nuclear Option will have an abusive relationship with you aswell. Only this time it's because you're not giving it enough attention. full stop, Nuclear Option is not super beginner friendly. you will probably not enjoy it until you've got the mechanics and controls figured out. you will be punished if you do not have at least a basic understanding of the game's mechanics. the game will try to teach you the basics but you will be on your own to figure out the finer details. and you will most likely need to [url=nuclearoption.wiki.gg/]read the wiki.[/url] [h3]so what is Nuclear Option? what's it like to play?[/h3] unless you're going in blind, you'll already know that alot of people like to compare this game to Ace Combat, War Thunder, VTOL VR and DCS. personally though, i prefer to compare this game to a MOBA, as you'll find quite a few similarities to that genre of videogame. each team (the BDF and the PALA) will typically have one or a few airfields, structures and IR & RADAR SAM defenses scattered around their respective halves of the map. AI controlled air, ground & sea assets (the latter 2 following predetermined paths, although they can be commanded to go anywhere) act as each team's "minions" and as a money source for the players of the opposing teams. consequently, the players themselves get to control the various airframes, each with their own unique traits and quirks. make no mistake, however - all of them are kept to a degree of realism. it can only takes one missile to down all of them. depending on the selected mission, a match can last anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. the gameplay complexity also hinges off of this. for example, an Altercation mission is the least intensive one among the base-game missions, with the only threats to your aircraft being IR missiles, AA artillery and your own flying skills. next in line, Confrontation, throws RADAR missiles and naval assets into the fray, whilst adding strategic (250kt) yield nuclear bombs to your arsenal. the final in line, Escalation, being last in line, shows off everything else this game has to offer. nuclear launch sites, bomber aircraft with access to nuclear ballistic missiles, frigates, destroyers & carriers which act as the strongest units in the game, etc. the gameplay itself is too nuanced to properly to do justice to in a steam review. each target and vehicle will more often than not force you to play by their rules. IR SAMs will rapid fire missiles at you until they run our munitions or you run out of flares. RADAR SAMs will force you into notching position or behind terrain cover, SPAAGs will deny you from flying up close outright, HEL/LADS will burn your rockets, missiles and small bombs out of the skies, and CRAMs will annihilate heavy munitions. more often than not, you will have to deal with these air defense systems in various combinations, requiring that you wear them down first before being able to deliver heavier ordnance. as for aerial targets, you'll have to get crafty, especially if you're not using an air-to-air loadout. what i've covered above is merely a surface level overview that only scratches the surface of the various interactions you can have ingame. the reality is, each munition has it's own distinct purpose, strengths and weaknesses. each aircraft is geared towards it's own niche or role. each skirmish has thousands of possibilities. it's up to you as to how you play your cards. [h3]did i mention the nukes? the nukes.[/h3] it's in the title. you have the nuclear option right off the bat (almost, that is when the game deploys said nukes). and not only do you have the nukes, but nuclear explosions directly interact with the environment. they raze down structures. their shockwaves can easily damage your aircraft. they're just a ton of fun to watch. and they come in various yields and sizes. just make sure not to let the hostile AA intercept it, or that'll be millions and millions gone. [h3]everything other than gameplay[/h3] the visuals are nice, however be prepared to see a bunch of low quality textures on the ground. it is a flight game, after all. the soundtrack is a nice listen, having a theme for each and every aircraft, as well as some tracks relating to the game state (such as when nukes become available for player use). sound design is pretty neat-o! my only real gripe here is that the UI is kind of archaic and visually unappealing. although i'd imagine that's one of the low things on the developers' checklist. oh well. (as of the time of writing this) the entire game is a little over 2 gigabytes, and can probably run on low-end computers (although don't be surprised when your framerate starts dropping once the nukes launch.) [h3]i d on't know how to wrap up these thin gs[/h3] all in all, even though it's in early access, the game offers a sturdy core gameplay loop. i'm sure as more additions and content gets packaged into the game it will get more and more fun, but we'll only know for sure in the future. if you're starved for content, there's a small community-run modding scene, (modding this game is [url=github.com/Combat787/NOMM/]super easy![/url]) although i personally avoid modding my game. war is bad. but planes are rad. and this game certainly does not think war is bad.

This game feels like those old near-future RTS games that never quite had enough polish to be good. Except, Nuclear Option does have that polish, and it has a ton of it. The filesize is miniscule compared to the depth of simulation and the amount of content this game provides, and the price is even better. Escalation might be one of the most fun things I've ever experienced in a game. Running lone-wolf covert missions down a coastline and past radar stations in a ground attack plane to turn the tide of a stalemate by destroying an enemy's factories? Glorious. Delivering repair vehicles to destroyed airbases to give your side the fighting edge? Not much action, but very fun. Launching the last fighter from the deck of your burning aircraft carrier full of anti-ship missiles to finally destroy the enemy ships that wiped out your fleet? Cinematic. This game is very, very good, and I'm glad I finally made the decision to buy it.

A perfect game for those who don’t want to spend hours reading DCS aircraft manuals, spend money on aircraft controls, while also avoiding the arcade style of the Ace Combat series. Shockwave has carved out their spot in digital combat, right in the middle of realism and arcade. I’ve spent dozens of hours playing this game and less time watching tutorials on YouTube how to play. The variety of aircraft you get to play makes the game even more intriguing.

Great simulation with easy to learn controls from keyboard to HOTAS. Decent performance, nice soundtrack, frequent content and QoL updates. Worth the price.

АБСОЛЮТНЫЙ ПИК геймдева. Эта игра совсем недооценена и встречается тонной критики "улиточными". Буквально та самая хорошая реализация игры про авиацию, в которой не нужно дрючить сотни часов чтобы полетать на чём то. Что же игра предлагает? АДЕКВАТНЫЙ геймплей в котором игрок за несколько часов научится нормальной игре и познает немало хороших аспектов игры. Игроку предлагается целая вариация самых разных видов авиации под контроль, + управление союзными наземными силами ПРЯМО КАК В RTS! К ещё большему удивлению, в игру не надо задрачиваться как на работу чтобы спустя сотню и более часов полетать на чём то реактивном, правда улитки?)))))) У игры ОГРОМНЫЙ потенциал и мне абсолютно нравится подход разработчиков к игре. Нравится и оптимизация игры, хотя она и далека от идеала. Разработчики решили устроить все аспекты тотальной ядерной войны с огромными картами, модульными повреждениями и хорошим геймплеем в несколько гигабайт. Увы, пока хромает сама работа железа. ребята жалуются на раскалённые ПК, да и честно говоря сам испытываю с этим трудности. Но искренне жду дальнейшей полировки оптимизации для ПК разных сортов. спасибо разрабам, прекрасная игра.

This game has been the perfect balance between arcade and sim. I don't have to worry about using a Hotas setup nor any form of microtransactions. This is probably Warthunder's worst nightmare. If you do choose to pick this game, join the Boscali Defense Force!

its peak. need i say more?

Great physics and mechanics I just had a few personal problems with it so I refunded it. Overall it is very fun if you like action flight sims like dcs or war thunder (this has no in-game purchases other than soundtrack). The multiplayer was pretty active when I played it (middle of weekday). I have no idea about how well it runs on low-end specs as I was playing on geforce now. Would recommend.

pay $20 for the game one time and you can just fly the ****ing planes with no grind or microtransactions. Somehow, this concept is unheard of in the flight sim genre.