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So Natural Selection 1 (herein referred to as NS1) has been called the greatest Half-Life mod of all time. It is still being played several years later, and it is free as long as you have Half-life 1 installed on your computer. It is an RTS (real-time strategery) game where you either play in first person view as a marine or an alien (kharaa). The marines have a commander (the aliens also have a commander in Natural Selection 2 beta). So basically it is an RTS/FPS hybrid game. Killing is not everything in this game, and lots of fun is normally had by all. Games (rounds) can last as long as 1-2 hours (theoretically as long as possible) or as short as 1 minute.
Natural Selection 2 is currently in production and they have released a Beta available for purchase (I think it is like $35). The development "team" for this is really just six people (hence I put the word "team" in quotation marks). They are quite talented and are making a game with more playable value than a lot of the big studios. I have played NS1 a LOT (like seriously months of playing hours probably). I have played Natural Selection 2 Beta for about 80 hours. It is seriously addicting once you get the hang of it. You start to live for playing in those great matches with both teams playing well and working together.
The game is about intelligently controlling strategic points on the map using resources and structures as well as upgrades and different alien lifeforms. There are different classes of aliens and marines have a wide variety of weapons and upgrades such as jetpacks or grenade launchers, even flamethrowers.
Natural Selection 2 beta is already quite different from NS1 but the overall gameplay is still similar which is great because NS1 had great gameplay. THe learning curve for this game is STEEP especially if you are learning how to be a Marine or Alien commander (they command from an overhead view of the entire map, it is a really nice interface). The game is still in "early" Beta production and should be very nice once complete. I am writing this as an unaffiliated fan of NS1 and NS2, and after reading the review of the Battlefield 3 game posted just before this one, I think some people might find that this game offers much more value and fun than BF3 ever will. The amazing thing is that NS1 is just as fun and is FREE.
NS1 is available for free on Steam (Half-life 1 required) and NS2 is downloaded and played via Steam but you have to purchase it from their website. This gives you access to the NS2 Beta and the final finished NS2 once released.
It is a great example of a game created by gamers instead of a massive studio looking for money and spending more money on MARKETING instead of PROGRAMMING (LOOKING AT YOU EA)
Pictures:
An Alien hive:
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:37 am
berzerker
A Winner is me!
Joined: Nov 01, 2006
Posts: 2350
This is a multiplayer-only game I presume?
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 5:17 pm
Fallout4
Ubertard
Joined: Nov 14, 2011
Posts: 125
berzerker wrote:
This is a multiplayer-only game I presume?
Yea its multiplayer only. Once you launch the game you refresh the server list and you just choose a server and join in. I expect that in NS2 as things start progressing more towards the final product, there will be some really good community made maps and modified game modes (as was the case with NS1).
The first picture I posted shows the view from marines (without the HUD). The two aliens coming at the marines are part of the other team, and they have their own HUD and weapons. Those aliens are called Skulks, and are the basic lifeform. As an alien, you can evolve into 5 classes of lifeforms, each with their own uses and when a team has a good number of each class they really can work together well. For example, a Gorge primarily builds defenses or expands territory, can heal teammates, and has a VERY strong attack against marine structures. However, it is fat and slow and weak otherwise. So if you can sneak a gorge into a vent near marine base, you can catch them off guard and destroy their base and win the game. This does not happen very often as marines have countermeasures but it can be done. So as you can see there are many ways to win a game, most of which require teamwork and coordination.
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