For a very long time I wanted an FPS that manages to blend seamlessly the FPS and RTS genre, and this is how I got into Natural Selection 2. This is a multiplayer oriented game where you can take the role of either humans or aliens as you try to survive and lead your race to victory.
Natural Selection 2 comes with a simplistic, yet highly appealing story. The premise in this game is that you and your team of elite marine Frontiersmen have been struggling to find a habitable planet. The one you manage to settle upon is populated by the alien race Kharaa, and you will have to battle them for the complete control over the planet. In Natural Selection 2, players will have the opportunity to choose either one of the two races, and use all the resources at your disposal in order to eliminate the enemy threat.
Gameplay
As you start the game, you will have the opportunity to either be the commander or a soldier in your team. Commanders are very important for Natural Selection 2 as this is where its strategy element comes into play. As a commander, you will select what items to build, what resources need to be collected and what buildings need to be placed in the game world. If you are a marine commander, you need to create sentries to protect yourself while you are pitted in the commander module, while also placing buildings that will help your team get better equipment. However, the buildings won’t be created automatically after the commander places them, instead the other players in the team need to go to them and build manually. This can be quite dangerous, as the enemy can immediately attack and kill that particular unit.
On the alien side however, the commander doesn’t need the help of its troops in order to build things, but instead he needs to keep spreading the infestation as close as possible to the marine team headquarters. His troops however need to protect the infestation zones, something that can also be hard to do while the enemies are constantly attacking!
While the marines have a single unit type, the aliens in Natural Selection 2 are a lot more diverse, as they can enter the bodies of a Lerk, Fade, Onos and Gorge. In order to create these units however, the commander needs a lot of resources that can be gathered during the gameplay sessions.
I particularly like the fact that each faction is quite different, so there’s always an incentive to try out and play as either an alien or marine, since you feel that you are playing two different games. Marines rely mostly on guns, while aliens are melee-oriented, and this helps create a unique, pleasant gaming experience.
The thing that we like the most in Natural Selection 2 is definitely the way FPS and strategy blends together in order to form a cohesive, fun, interactive game experience. This game does a great job in allowing players to take the role of an alien, while also showcasing the scary moments that a marine goes through while he explores the dark hallways. These are amazing moments that can only be lived while playing Natural Selection 2, and this is what makes such a pleasant game!
Performance
Natural Selection 2 is heavily optimized to run as good as possible on Linux, and you can immediately see that right from the start when you enter a game. During all my game sessions I failed to encounter any glitches, instead everything worked as seamlessly as expected. I do have to say that you need quite a powerful computer in order to run Natural Selection 2, but as long as you have that, you won’t encounter any problems from the operating system.
Graphics and sounds
From a graphical standpoint, Natural Selection 2 definitely shines. It’s a great looking game, and its level design does manage to instill fear, thanks to the numerous dark corridors and the great character design. Animations are a little stiff from time to time, but that’s not affecting the gameplay at all, which is great. The sounds also compliment the game quite nicely, since they provide that sense of scare that you would expect. Also, the soundtrack is quite nice as well, and it brings a great set of background tunes for the game.
How much does it costs and Where you can get it
Usually Natural selection 2 costs € 22,99, but right now there is a special Holiday Sale on Steam (this will end on the 2 of January), so you can save 75% of the total cost and pay it less than 6 €
Link to natural selection 2 on Steam
Conclusion
Natural Selection 2 is a wonderful, action packed and sometimes scary game experience. It’s filled with interesting gameplay choices, fun decisions and a ton of value. It’s available only on Steam, so you do need to purchase and play it there, but it offers an incredible value for your money. This is a great game that’s well worth your time, so check it out!
9/10
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