Nuclear Throne – Review

Grab that little PSVITA out the drawer A new rogue like shooter is in town and it’s after your thumbs. Nuclear throne has arrived on PS4 & PSVITA and offers a new top down shooter experience. It’s fun, fast, frustratingly hard but you’ll risk every last bit of HP attempting to complete it.

Rogue like games have never really been my thing, I liked Rogue Legacy but never really mastered it to any decent length. Don’t starve was great but again I didn’t bite. So what’s different about Nuclear Throne? For me its simple, the fusion of fast gunplay with short stints of gameplay make this the sort of game you can pick up and love in short bursts.

There’s a few different modes in Nuclear Throne all based around the main game. On PS4 you can experience coach co-op which is fab and I’d highly recommend but don’t blame us for destroying your friendships. All other modes are single player. There’s Normal, Daily and Weekly. Normal is the game as intended you clear each area and progress towards the holy grail that is the nuclear throne. You clear each level by killing every enemy in the area. The daily and weekly modes are essentially more of the same but with a tougher difficulty curve and it offers players a great reason to pick the game up every day.

“there’s hours of replay ability here and the number of unlocks are numerous to say the least”

So getting to the throne is tough, this little pixelated gem may have you thinking this is easy in the first section but it quickly reveals just how tough it can quickly become. Levels for a start are procedurally generated so trial and error is out the window. Instead it’s all about your tactics, mastering the controls and knowing when to go in guns blazing. So whether you’re a player that likes to pick of enemies one by one or go all Rambo Nuclear throne will cater for each approach. I’d advise the slow and steady one certainly until you get familiar with the levels, enemy types and how some of those guns work (some will kill you so beware). Honing your tactics beyond this are enhanced even further with a simple yet engrossing perk system. Each character in the game has its own special ability found by hitting R1 on the PSVITA, when you level up you get the choice between levels of picking a perk. This requires thought as each one has a direct impact on the gameplay, do you risk a perk that offers increased chance of getting more pickups or add in a bump to your HP or accuracy? The perks are also random so you will never know what’s coming up.

Shoot first and loot and do it fast. Playing slow is a wise way to go but picking up the pace is equally rewarding. Shooting enemies leaves little green bits let’s call those green bits XP. Picking up enough of these in each section will see you level up and unlock a new perk to select upon clearing the level. However if your fast on that trigger finger and move to the corpse of that enemy you’ll grab the XP for sure, have a think and admire your work before moving and you will find the XP reward will vanish. It’s a well known mechanic but it works so incredibly well with Nuclear Throne, the allure of a health pickup or stacks of XP is just so addictive.

“The pixelated theme is fantastic and some of the artwork created for Nuclear Throne to support the game is incredible”

One more please sir…. My favourite feature about Nuclear throne is the speed in which you can pick up and play. Game sessions are generally short, well if your As hap hazard as I am playing it but even if you progress through to the seventh level and get to the throne we are talking several minutes per level. It’s entirely possible to complete the game in 15mins for the highly skilled. What will keep you coming back beyond the main completion is the challenge. Can you do it with Eyes or robot or even Chicken? Each character has its own traits to start with and this will heavily influence  your gameplay meaning there’s hours of replay ability here and the number of unlocks are numerous to say the least. The weapon selections are great from pistols, crossbows to grenade launchers and laser guns there’s a whole host of variation. Using these guns is equally enjoyable, aiming is manual by default by venture into the settings there is an aim assist, I gave this a bash notched up to 50% and it wasn’t noticeably different so if aiming is proving a struggle feel free to move it to 100% however manual is what you will need to tackle levels with speed and accuracy.

Performance wise there are some disappointing flaws, on the PSVITA here this game more stable than its PS4 brother I found frame rate issues in the later levels and it took away somewhat from the experience, in fact it slowed down so much I felt I had unlocked another on the cuff perk so not all bad. On the PS4 no such frame rate issues as you would expect given the difference in power but there was frequently errors and crashing occurring. One noticeable instance was completing the daily play through, you should only get one go per 24hours hence the name but upon death on the PS4 version I kept getting an error encountered screen and then the allowance to partake in the daily again. So it’s an error that’s offering me something more but all the same it shouldn’t be there.

The pixelated theme is fantastic and some of the artwork created for Nuclear Throne to support the game is incredible. Playing on either the PSVITA or the PS4 your screen will be boxed of which is a shame certainly on the PS4 version as it could look a bit smoother and really deliver he visual look and feel their artists have built. There are some nice transistors that appear on screen when a boss appears it’s much like how Borderlands does it when a new character is introduced. Boss battles are totally random by the way but this is why you will love it.

So nuclear throne for me is an absolute must by for PS4 and PSVITA owners if you own both you’ll enjoy the benefits of cross buy. It’s frantic fun and challenging gameplay offers the perfect experience for those short on time or wanting to spend 15mins tackling something a bit different. It’s definitely a gam that looks light on the outside but offers heaps of depth and replay value. It’s just outstanding and I’m of to play it now!