AFireInAsa
#1
Here's the offical overview http://www.naturalselection2.com/
My overview:
- RTS-FPS hyrbrid that really works.
- Based on very popular Half-Life mod that came out in 2002. Pretty true to its original (a lot of vets even say its superior).
- Requires some SERIOUS aim.
- Pretty *dancing* hardcore with a hardcore crowd of above average gamers.
- Aliens vs. Marines: Fast paced melee-ranged vs. Slow(er), more tactical mid to close-range based.
- Fairly well balanced. You don't always get good games, of course, but they are usually better than something like League of Legends or *Tribes: Ass-End*.
- One commander per team. Commander is RTS style. I've played 30 for hours so far and never had to do this. They are mostly in charge of building things and allowing you to get upgrades. They can be ejected but I haven't seen this yet and they are usually okay.
- Non-commanding plays a lot more like an FPS, though has a RTS touch to it that adds to the experience rather than takes away from it.
- Player-dedicated servers determine team sizes, but you see everything from like... 5v5 to 12v12.
- (Seemingly) Good lag compensation (your ping doesn't matter)!
- My biggest complaint is that some of the servers have stutter and performance issues, but they are the minority.
- RTS-like upgrades based on resources you get from planting and holding resource nodes at certain map points... and from just plain-old killing things.
- Marine upgrades include five types of ammo-based weapons (well designed and purposed), jetpacks, mech suits and more. http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Frontiersmen#Weapons
- Alien upgrades are mostly based around five different species that play differently. Most are SUPER fast paced. http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Kharaa
- Pub play requires a lot of coordination. There's a lot of mic talk (in game VOIP), more than any other game I've ever played.
- Competitive side. Seems like it'd take a lot of work to get into, though. Pubs competitive enough though, imo.
- I recommend having/using a mic, though you don't need to (there's some basic sort of [VGS] system I haven't figured out yet).
- Average games between 15-30 minutes. Longest I've played was 80mins (GREAT game, though!)
- Modding.
- Map making (seems very hard, though).
- Buy it now for $25 on steam. 4 pack for less.
- You should have a good processor to play it since it's very CPU extensive. Mid-tier graphics card more than enough.
- No free-to-play bullshit. No grinding bullshit. No out-of-game advancement bullshit.
- Crazy fun and totally worth the cash.
