Probably, the developers of indie lives well. Sit yourself calmly, make your favorite toy, putting your soul into it and original ideas. The publisher does not press the deadlines and does not climb with unnecessary tips, investors do not recall constantly about invested finances and the need for solid sales. Beauty…

Of course, in fact, not everything is so rosy among independent developers, but creators Natural Selection 2, Apparently, the process of working on its own project, which began back in 2006, was accurately fell in love. Despite the long development period, jokes did not compose jokes about the protracted output of the second part of the “natural selection” and did not work regularly with the ubiquitous “?!”, Unlike Duke Nukem Forever and all other” stalkers “. All because the original Natural Selection was “widely known in narrow circles”, especially among domestic players – for many reasons.

Release NS2 It also did without unnecessary noise, which, however, did not stop her from immediately taking the leading position in the top sales top Steam. It’s not bad for an independent studio for which this is the third project. The rest is a computer version of the desktop fun Sudoku and a modification for Half-Life, with which it all started.

Yes, the first Natural Selection created on the basis of a hit from Valve, But she had nothing to do with the ancestor, with the exception of the game engine. Modify so modify – the guys from the team decided Unknown Worlds And they created an unlike network militant for anything. And if the entourage clearly resembled a series Starcraft, then the ideas on which the gameplay was built, before that there were only in the Command multiplayer & Conquer: Renegade.

Marines, or, as they are called here, Frontiersmen, and the bad aliens Kharaa did not share their living space and entered a series of long battles until the complete destruction of one of the parties. The main difference from ordinary multiplayer shooters was a considerable strategic component. For victory, you need to not only fight, but also to extract resources, build buildings, study new equipment and weapons – just like in RTS. Actually, one person from the team of marines, who took the place of the commander, plays such a strategy – only instead of “units” he has the same as he himself. The “strangers” commander does not have a collective mind after all, but the construction of buildings and the study of improvements did not disappear. But each kharaa can mutate in one of the stronger monsters – there would be enough resources.

It is clear that such conditions turned the game into a very original action. And to be NS The most successful mod for Half-Life, if not for the great and terrible Counter-Strike. However, the developers were not particularly upset about this, but decided to thoroughly engage in the creation of the second part – already as a full -fledged game.

This is not to say that NS2 became the usual remake of the original in modern design-that it was once just a mod for Half-Life, and you will not guess. Unknown Worlds I decided to abandon the use of the Source engine, creating my own, with shaders and physics (however, old Gabe was not at all offended by giving Steam as a platform for the spread of the second part). “Aliens” now also have a commander, which significantly influenced the balance, new buildings and arena for battles appeared;Finally, the most important thing – the developers kept their promise to make a game absolutely open to create user modifications. Already on the page Natural Selection 2 In Steam Workshop you can find a lot of work of fans: from new maps and models of fighters to changes in the interface and weapon textures. Of course, the support of mods of innovations are not limited, there are enough other, not so obvious. But the change in several units of the amount of resources necessary for a certain improvement is perhaps only “fathers” of the first part. All other fans of “natural selection” are not up to this – they prefer to the forum disputes to the struggle for life in virtual battles.

The struggle for survival

The game for the warring parties differs as much as “strangers” and people are not like each other. In the role of Marine, at first glance, nothing complicated – there is an assault rifle, a gun, an ax and there is an enemy who must be destroyed. Shoot on the walls jumping on the walls and ceiling and look that there is one of your own nearby-the loner will not survive for a long time. Immediately remember the multiplayer aliens vs. Predator – only a movement sensor in the corner of the screen is not enough. Despite the apparent simplicity, for victory it is necessary not only to shoot aptly, but also to fulfill the orders of the commander – to build buildings and turrets, to protect the base, even if no one has yet attacked it. All the charms of the life of a tin soldier from RTS are obvious, but to get acquainted with the game FrontierSmen are better than their alien neighbors.

Kharaa are trying to act in groups. Skulk, the first individual in the evolutionary chain of aliens is very weak, in battle one -on -one, even if the enemy is an ordinary infantryman with a machine gun, not to mention the “pumped” and more serious warrior. But three or four such “dogs” (as they called Skulk for a characteristic manner of movement and appearance) can also break the hefty EXOSUIT-the most powerful fighter of people. Any Marine becomes a little uneasy when in the darkness of the room left without light suddenly a barely audible cod of the claws of these small creatures is heard. In addition, Skulk knows how to run along the walls and ceiling, as well as use narrow ventilation moves for sudden appearance where they are not waiting for it at all. It is necessary to save resources for mutation in someone more disgusting, so most of the rounds “strangers” play “dogs”. But in the end, when the time of a decisive assault comes, huge ONOS enters the battle, blowing everything in their path.

Despite the indigenous differences between opponents, the balance of balance in one direction or another was not noticed. At first, it may seem that Kharaa is defeated more often, but the statistics collected by the developers say that the forces are approximately equal. The outcome of the fight does not depend on which side to play, and not on the personal “skill” of individual fighters. Experienced commander and discipline – the key to victory in the round.

Orders are not discussed

Having put on virtual shoulders virtual shoulder straps, you get a completely different game. The camera freezes over the battlefield, the interface takes a typical type for the strategy-a list of improvements, the choice of buildings, indication on a mini-card … directly Starcraft Someone-only grains and terrane look a little different. You can even circle with the “frame” of all your fighters and throw them into the suicidal “rash” at the enemy base. It’s funny, but, as a rule, orders are carried out implicitly – “from the trench” the plan of the command is not always visible, therefore, by default, it is assumed that he knows what to do in this situation. It seems to be nothing new, but you look at the long-habitual process of controlling the detachment and the rebuilding of the fortifications in a completely different way-the same players, not computer soldiers, are controlled!

You should not get carried away with the revealed opportunities for training subordinates, and, in general, it is better to leave the commander’s place for the most experienced fighter – there is little in which team network game the outcome of the battle so depends on one person. Every second on the account, the situation changes very quickly and has to quickly respond to changes in the situation, otherwise not to win. It is difficult to be the most important, but interesting.

Sometimes it is lucky to meet a close -knit team, whose members constantly communicate on voice communications, they obey the commander in everything, do not climb into the wolf and try to act together. Inorganized enemy, such a military unit (otherwise you can’t call) simply sweeps away from the card. And if there are two such detachments in the battle, then the battle is interesting to even just observe, without taking part in it. The strongest wins – natural selection as it is.

Oddly enough, Natural Selection 2 there’s simply nothing to scold for, even if I suddenly wanted to. The SPARK game engine turned out to be extremely successful: the graphics are pleasing with saturated colors and the absence of “brakes”, there are acceptable physics and several original ideas like gradual infection of the map with some alien mold, completely changing the appearance of the location. As for the gameplay itself, then there is absolutely nothing to complain about – in six years of development Unknown Worlds I polished the original ideas of mixing strategy and action movie to shine. The authors fully coped with their task, taking care of those who have their own view of how the natural selection in the conditions of the enmity of two completely alien species should look like,

https://brentecvaccine.com/2022/01/21/restaurant-mobile-app-development-from-a-to-z/

as already mentioned, NS2 fully open for modifications.

All this allows us to hope that Natural Selection 2 A large e -sports future – if only the difficulty of coordinated work in the team does not scare away those who still doubt whether to try their forces in the struggle for survival.

Pros: pleasant and undemanding graphics to the gland;The original idea of ​​mixing a militant and strategy;rich tactical possibilities;Depending on the chosen side, the game process is greatly changing.
Cons: A few “bugs”.