Nuclear Throne

Nuclear Throne is a no-nonsense top-down shooter with plenty of variety. It reminded me of old-school shooters, except for using the keyboard to move and the mouse to aim.

Pros

There are plenty of Weapons and they pack a big bang. Even the lowly pistol sounds powerful and works. Not as good as the more powerful guns, but they do work fine. For those that prefer being up close and personal, there are melee weapons as well with different damage and range.

The procedurally generated levels make for a fun and varied play through each time. I cannot play continuously for an hour, but I keep coming back for short stints of shooting fun.

The different characters have different abilities that encourages different styles of play. It sure adds to the variety. Only two characters are available at the start and the rest must be unlocked.

There is a tutorial even though the game really does not need it. It is simple enough to learn by looking at the keys and trying stuff out.

The enemies are interesting and varied.

Cons

There are no save games. I don’t mind the whole permadeath mechanism, but I do wish I could save my current progress just in case I need to quit in a hurry. Each play through is not that long, but I still wish I could save part-way.

The Epic Games Store version of Nuclear Throne is missing the daily and weekly challenges.

Other Points

Nuclear Throne is a very difficult game and there are no settings for easy, medium or hard. No matter what I do, I still cannot reach the Nuclear Throne.

The graphics are pixelated and not bad, but I did not like it. I wished it was clearer to see.

Like the classic arcade shooters of days gone by, once you are dead, you are dead. Unlike the classic arcade shooters of days gone by, there is no putting in more credits to continue.

Nuclear Throne is available DRM-free from GOG.com.

Biases

I love top-shooters, but I cannot remember the last game played in this genre.

Although they are not top-down shooters, I did really like the Zombie/Alien Shooter series.

I got Nuclear Throne for free thanks to Epic’s weekly freebies.

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