Military Madness: Nectaris Review
Military Madness: Nectaris is an old series. The first game came out way back in 1989, and previous to the newest download available on PSN, the last game was on original Playstation. I have to say, that’s exactly where it belongs. Though the game has been ‘totally remade’ with new graphics, the realization that this was just an old game polished to look brand-new kicked in almost immediately.
First off, let me say that I had genuine fun playing it (for about 10 minutes). That being said, I was not impressed at all by this game. I wasn’t thrilled by the novelty of playing a game with more repeated cut scenes than Starfox Adventures. It seemed like it would have done well years ago, maybe even many years ago, but now it looks incomplete and generally lame.
The story has something to do with colonization of the moon, revolution, and a threat to society… again – nothing new. Now I know that I’ve already stated that this is nothing new about forty times, but if a game is remade, I expect some reason to stop playing the version I have and shell out the money for the remake.
The game-play is a classic hexagon-grid style, turn-based RTS. You control a series of units and wipe out your enemies. You get bonuses and penalties based on the terrain you attack from, how much you surround your enemies or how much they surround you. These bonuses can change everything. In one battle, I attacked from flat ground and got my ass kicked, but I moved over one hexagon, to some hills and rained down mayhem and destruction. You move your troops, attack if possible, and then your opponent takes their turn. Over and over and over again. If you’re one of those people who gets off on monotony, you’ll love this game.
The graphics leave a lot to be desired. I said before that the last Military Madness game came out on original Playstation. The graphics which were “amazingly redone” seem gloriously last-gen. Also, be prepared to see the same exact cut scenes over and over. Every time you attack someone, you see the same little scene of your troops preparing their guns, and firing. After about second time, I was a little surprised to see the same exact scene. After about the fortieth time, I was more than ready to just turn the game off; and I did.
The sound sucks. It’s cheaply done, and it definitely shows. That’s all I’m going to say about it.
The controls aren’t great, and there were many times that I was pressing buttons that I felt I shouldn’t have needed to. The button scheme was overly complicated and annoying. My fingers could barely stand it after only a few matches.
Overall, I wasn’t impressed by anything in this game. In writing this, I have repeated myself many times, much like the pointless cut scenes and boring game-play of this game. If you were a big fan of the original games, and were thinking of getting this remake, save yourself the trouble and money. Play the original copy you have stored away somewhere. If you don’t have a copy and are feeling super nostalgic, just play the demo of this crappy remake and watch those feelings scurry away.
1 Comment
This sounds bad.