NEX MACHINA
There’s no rest in this wicked, laser-focused arcade shooter
“Hakuna matata.” It’s a wonderful phrase… and evidently one Resogun and Super Stardust developer Housemarque’s never heard in its life. “No worries!” is the exact antithesis of its deliciously anxious arcade shoot-’em-ups. And now – under the guidance of legendary Atari game designer Eugene Jarvis, no less – there’s a new, neurotic kid on the block. We’re dropped into the midst of the first brightlycoloured stage of the twin-stick shooter. Our Mega Man-esque hero is already auto-spewing blue bolts as rings of light appear on the moss-soaked tiles around him. No time to explain – but also no need. As crab-like machines teleport out of the sky and thunder after us like children towards a mildly terrified birthday cake, the objective is clear: shoot the childr- er, robots, and stay the hell alive.
The claustrophobia is palpable. Peril closes in. Invincibility frames on our teal-trailed dashes let us race right through a wave unscathed, and we push our right stick left to direct fire back at befuddled foes. When the last enemy falls in an ultra-fine shower of voxels, several things occur at once: a 10,000-point “No Death” bonus flashes before our eyes, what sounds like GlaDOS’s standoffish cousin announces “Multiplier Up,” and the whole world flips round as we’re automatically boosted to the next area.
PRESSURE ADVANTAGE
Purple lasers baby-gate us in with certain doom. (Even the camera joins in, swooping from top-down view to an inescapably tense third-person angle.) Rather than work within the parameters, we think logically, shooting their sources – and Nex Machina’s destruction engine rewards us. Finally, we’ve room to breathe, strafe and prioritise power-ups such as triple-shot guns and overshields.
And then a curious thing happens. When the electro music thuds into a higher gear and we face boss Beamtron, we’re not intimidated – we’re salivating. With a flow this fluid and precise to control, being caged in with danger is a reason to celebrate because escaping’s so much fun.
“ROBOTS THUNDER AFTER US LIKE KIDS TOWARDS A MILDLY TERRIFIED BIRTHDAY CAKE.”