With the release of Natural Selection 3.0, my world is complete…
This is a modification to Half-Life (which makes it a bargain), and what a modification. I’ve been playing this game since it’s first incarnations, and I’ve been hooked almost as long. The basic concept is that there are two teams with very very different technologies and abilities (marines use guns, aliens mostly use meele attacks). The marines have an RTS-style commander with a top-down view of the battle. The aliens are less organized, more organic. Both are competing for resources and key territory on sprawling, complex maps (thank goodness for the minimaps) and some of the best artwork in any HL mod. While the engine is way outdated, the game still looks and plays great, and its the unique gameplay that really does it for me.
I’m not a huge fan of FPS Deathmatch style games, and while NS certainly demands some chops and rewards high-levels of skill, the team element is key. Higher alien lifeforms (which lower ones can evolve into when they get enough resources) are slice and dice lone marines easily, which discourages “ramboing.” If you suck in battle, you can always back your team up by building structures, gathering intel, or just jumping down bottomless pits.
When I say that the game is a complex RTS-hybrid, I mean it too. Aliens and marines both have their own tech trees, which work very differently and yet still provide effective counters to each other. While the learning curve is steep, it’s also very rewarding, and the game has a great community full of in-jokes, classic legends (hovars without flapping!), and secrets to explore.
I highly encourage any dopers who are into online gaming to check it out post haste now that the final version is out (next step is porting the game over to the HL2 engine, Source). In addition to the classic RTS style of play, there’s a more RPG-like mode called combat which is also popular and is a good way to learn some of the tech tree and practice all the new styles of play (anyone who thinks they are good with pistols might enjoy the change of now having to play as a giant Rhino-sized beast that can gore people to death, devour and slowly digest enemy players, as well as freeze people in their tracks with stomps).
Ohnoes!