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Nex Machina

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Nex Machina
Developer(s)Housemarque
Publisher(s)Housemarque
Director(s)Harry Krueger
Producer(s)Jari Kantomaa
Programmer(s)Tero Tarkiainen
Artist(s)Mikko Sinisalo
Composer(s)Ari Pulkkinen
Platform(s)PlayStation 4, Windows
Release20 June 2017
Genre(s)Multi-directional shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Nex Machina is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Housemarque. The game was released in June 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and Windows-based personal computers. Tentatively known as The Jarvis Project during development, veteran arcade game designer Eugene Jarvis served as a creative consultant on the project.

Gameplay

A player fighting off enemies while trying to save a human. Destroyed enemies explode into voxels.

Nex Machina is a twin-stick shoot 'em up video game played from a top-down perspective.[1][2] Players move through rooms shooting waves of enemies while attempting to save humans.[1] Power-ups and weapon upgrades are dispersed throughout levels.[1]

Development

Jarvis in 2016

Nex Machina was developed by Finnish video game studio Housemarque with designer Eugene Jarvis serving as a creative consultant.[3][1] Jarvis is known for his role in designing arcade shoot 'em ups such as Defender (1981), Robotron: 2084 (1982), and Smash TV (1990).[1] At the 2014 D.I.C.E. Awards, Housemarque's founders Ilari Kuittinen and Harri Tikkanen met with Jarvis and asked him if he would be interested in collaborating on a game.[3] Jarvis' games, particularly Defender, was a source of inspiration for Housemarque's 2013 game Resogun.[4] For the design of Nex Machina, they combined elements from Jarvis' previous shoot 'em ups and Resogun.[3][1] The development team experimented with different setups for the game's firing mechanics.[4] They followed a different design philosophy than their 2016 game Alienation by choosing not to incorporate character progression systems in Nex Machina.[4]

Nex Machina is powered by a significantly enhanced version of the game engine and voxel technology that was used for Resogun.[4][3] The inclusion of a volumetric rendering technique known as Signed Distance Fields allows for a smooth transition between complex 3D meshes and voxel particles to give them more flexibility in how objects appear on the screen.[4] The studio dubbed their art style for the game as cablepunk—a darker take on cyberpunk.[3]

Release

Nex Machina was unveiled at the PlayStation Experience in December 2016.[1] Housemarque signed a deal with Sony Interactive Entertainment to bring the game to the PlayStation 4 video game console.[3] In March 2017, Housemarque announced that the game will also be released on Windows-based personal computers.[5] Nex Machina was released on 20 June 2017;[6] it is Housemarque's first self-published game.[3] Housemarque is also considering creating a Nex Machina arcade cabinet with Jarvis' company Raw Thrills.[3]

Reception

The game received generally positive reviews from critics. Metacritic calculated an average score of 88 out of 100 for the PlayStation 4 version based on 45 reviews[8] and 84 out of 100 for the Windows version based on 16 reviews.[7]

Eurogamer ranked the game eighth on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017".[13]

Accolades

The game was nominated for "PlayStation Game of the Year" at the Golden Joystick Awards,[14] for "Best PC Game" in Destructoid's Game of the Year Awards 2017,[15] and for "Best Action Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.[16] It won the award for "Best Indie Action Game" in Game Informer's 2017 Action Game of the Year Awards.[17] It won "Big Screen Game of the Year 2017" and "Finnish Game of the Year 2017" in the Finnish Game Awards 2018,[18] and was also nominated for "Visual Design" and "Music Design" at the 2018 Develop Awards.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g McWhertor, Michael (7 December 2016). "Nex Machina is an explosive spiritual successor to Smash TV and Robotron". Polygon. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  2. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (3 December 2016). "Housemarque and Eugene Jarvis reveal Nex Machina". Eurogamer. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Souppouris, Aaron (3 December 2016). "The follow-up to 'Resogun' is a Hail Mary for arcade shooters". Engadget. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e Maxwell, Ben (2 February 2017). "Voxel Perfect". Edge. No. 302. Future Publishing. pp. 69–75. ISSN 1350-1593.
  5. ^ Orry, James (14 March 2017). "Housemarque's Nex Machina is also coming to PC". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  6. ^ Phillips, Tom (19 May 2017). "Housemarque and Eugene Jarvis' Nex Machina has a release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Nex Mechina: Death Machine for PC". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Nex Mechina: Death Machine for PS4". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. ^ Devore, Jordan (23 June 2017). "Review: Nex Machina". Destructoid. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Nex Machina". Edge. No. 309. Future. September 2017. pp. 104–106. ISSN 1350-1593.
  11. ^ D'Aprile, Jason (21 June 2017). "Nex Machina Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  12. ^ Schilling, Chris (29 June 2017). "Nex Machina Review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  13. ^ Eurogamer staff (30 December 2017). "Eurogamer's Top 50 Games of 2017: 10-1". Eurogamer. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  14. ^ Gaito, Eri (13 November 2017). "Golden Joystick Awards 2017 Nominees". Best in Slot. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  15. ^ Carter, Chris (12 December 2017). "Nominees for Destructoid's Best PC Game of 2017". Destructoid. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  16. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Action Game". IGN. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  17. ^ Miller, Matt (5 January 2018). "2017 Action Game Of The Year Awards (Page 3)". Game Informer. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  18. ^ "The Finnish Game Awards 2018 Winners". Neogames. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  19. ^ MCV staff (21 May 2018). "Announcing the Develop Awards 2018 nominations shortlist". MCV. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
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