Nuclear Throne

The base on which Nuclear Throne is based is simple, it kills everything that moves , as if it were a shooter that is controlled by two sticks (because it is). Little else is needed to know (in addition to the keyboard and mouse it is also controlled wonderfully), since the refinement of the title comes through the inclusion of new elements, which wash the face of Vlambeer's proposal, but his concept of The game is simple and clear: survive as long as you can, with what you find along the way, and beat each level until you reach the Nuclear Throne. Of course, it is not satisfied with just that, although the 'it' begins with a perfectly polished control system and a devilish , but fair difficulty (in the sense that the game will not cheat so that we do not advance).

To support the Nuclear Throne proposal, it would be necessary to add the 12 characters (only 5 are available from the first moment), each with its own characteristics. There are them resistant and with ability to stop shots, others can immobilize, others are capable of carrying two weapons at the same time ... The variety is very high and the unlocks of each of them come at just the right time to renew the gameplay a so much. Because the title at hand entertains and engages, but it is repeated more than garlic ... things of exacerbated difficulty and having only one life. Random scenarios, tons of weapons and the appearance of new enemies after a certain number of games help, although it is true that after a handful of hours, we will begin to feel that we need a renewal.

At that time we will have learned the routines of most enemies and reached the nuclear throne perhaps sometime, allowing us to master the gameplay at least in part, for its simplicity, but also despite its level of demand. It is at that moment that Nuclear Throne really stands out among its rivals, since its almost retro arcade nature (kill-die-repeat) manages to renew itself by including customization elements and daily challenges that seek to keep us playing beyond the original challenge. . In this way, a simple but perfectly made game is configured, which manages to hook due to its arcade nature, but with greater depth than this type of games hid inside. To this should be added the tons of secrets it hides and the possibility of playing cooperatively with a friend. The result is that we will end up spending more hours glued to this 'minor' title, which costs only a dozen euros, than to other titles with a much greater pedigree.

Technically we are not exactly facing a demanding game, but neither is it sloppy . Its fist-like pixels hide excellent animation work and an extremely high fluidity of movement even when dozens of on-screen enemies gather, bullets and explosions of all kinds. On the other hand, it is not needed any more, although it would not have hurt to adapt the screen to the most current formats, or to be able to apply some filter, as the old recreational adaptations now do. The sound part follows a similar scheme, being sparing and even repetitive in terms of melodies, although the latter comes for the tens (or hundreds) of times that we will go through each one of them. The sound effects deliver and even indulge in some luxury here and there. Good job, again, in this regard.

It is clear that NuclearThrone is not 'that' game capable of dazzling all kinds of audiences. Its difficulty and its audiovisual aspect will throw back more than one. However, those who do not dare to sink their teeth into this proposal will miss one of the brightest games that the indie scene has given in recent times. A great mix of shooter and roguelike, capable of delaying even the publication of its analysis for taking 'one more game and now'.

Analysis equipment: Toshiba Qosmio X70-B-110, 4th generation Intel Core i7-4720HQ processor with Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, Toshiba TrueBrite® Full HD widescreen (16: 9) high-brightness LED backlit, HDD 1TB HDD + 8GB SSD Hybrid disk, 16 (8 + 8) GB DDR3L RAM (1,600 MHz), AMD Radeon ™ R9 M265X graphics (4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory) with AMD Enduro ™ technology