Nuclear Dawn

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 127 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 127
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 127
  3. Negative: 19 out of 127
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  1. HendrixPrime
    Feb 23, 2012
    0
    First there is the troll community as others referred to. Then there is the company of employees who appear to be forum trolls turned employee - and that's just the community. Then there are the maps, filled with eye candy but so imbalanced that the game is decided in the first 10 minutes and the rest of the time is spent with one team ending up farming the losing team for kills. ThenFirst there is the troll community as others referred to. Then there is the company of employees who appear to be forum trolls turned employee - and that's just the community. Then there are the maps, filled with eye candy but so imbalanced that the game is decided in the first 10 minutes and the rest of the time is spent with one team ending up farming the losing team for kills. Then there are the framerates - an old source engine with lots of eye candy and total disregard for the Valve hardware survey - this game is designed to be bad for most Steam users, not some, most. The concept is good, but then ripping of the Empires Mod to make a commercial game just shows that the Empires Mod people had a good idea… Expand
  2. cdr_virus
    Feb 11, 2012
    2
    PLAIN AND SIMPLE, this game looks awesome on the basics of its game-play. The classes are set up to evenly distribute the players, yet the lag is so overpowering that to enjoy the game is impossible. The idea of having commander control units and build defenses is feat in itself, but not having the ability to play because cumbersome lag is annoying as it gets. Good aspect on game-play,PLAIN AND SIMPLE, this game looks awesome on the basics of its game-play. The classes are set up to evenly distribute the players, yet the lag is so overpowering that to enjoy the game is impossible. The idea of having commander control units and build defenses is feat in itself, but not having the ability to play because cumbersome lag is annoying as it gets. Good aspect on game-play, weapons are strange in their variation, some are quite horrible at accuracy even in point blank range. Graphics are poor for the generation, yet if you don't care about graphics then their decent. I lag was just so bad, thats really the let down. With 25 meg internet, I got jumping frames all over the map, and 4870 graphics card pushing my computer with 4 cores. I could only stand to play it by turning down all the video settings. Good luck whoever buys this laggy game.… Expand
  3. Dethstar
    Oct 12, 2011
    3
    This game was a pointless waste of time and money for me. So basic I couldnt quite work out why anyone would want to play it. Would be the sort of thing I would expect to see on one of those mega cheap single game console toys they sell in supermarkets for young children and people with no money / or the novelty value. Novel? only if you havent owned a new game since the doom.
  4. webtiger
    Mar 10, 2013
    0
    well mi last post was erased so here comes a new one,the game is not bad but is so dead that i have to give a 0 because i dont want people buying this dead game and wasting money.
  5. SittingInACornr
    Dec 6, 2011
    2
    I love the concept and stile of this game... but it is literally the WORST game I have ever played. Its amazingly buggy laggy as all hell and if your commander sucks then the hole 30 minute game is a slaughter fest of your team until you finally collapse under the pressure. I'v had the game since beta but stopped playing during the period of time when the game would crash everything youI love the concept and stile of this game... but it is literally the WORST game I have ever played. Its amazingly buggy laggy as all hell and if your commander sucks then the hole 30 minute game is a slaughter fest of your team until you finally collapse under the pressure. I'v had the game since beta but stopped playing during the period of time when the game would crash everything you started a game, i had forgotten about in until a few days ago. So I started it up expecting a polished and really epic game but instead found a horrible monstrosity with at most 3 servers running at once and all with ping over 100... great, then as I began to play I was surprised to find that the game is actually worse no than it was in beta. SERIOUSLY DON'T BUY THIS GAME (all though I do really think if the developers of this game weren't restarted it would have been a good game) also map design is ok.… Expand
  6. UnclearImage
    Sep 27, 2011
    1
    SAVE YOUR MONEY. (Put in caps for people who are in a rush)
    Good, now that we're done with that, this game is terrible. I played it and I had fun for about 5 minutes, played it for about 2 hours. First off it's apparently running HL2 source engine which is fantastic if you hate accuracy or don't like delays in your games, because the source engine delivers- you will notice. There is no    SAVE YOUR MONEY. (Put in caps for people who are in a rush)
    Good, now that we're done with that, this game is terrible. I played it and I had fun for about 5 minutes, played it for about 2 hours. First off it's apparently running HL2 source engine which is fantastic if you hate accuracy or don't like delays in your games, because the source engine delivers- you will notice. There is no realism, players run around sprinting the entire time regardless of whats happening and your player will be dead on the ground long before you notice it, because of how fast paced this game tries to achieve.
    The entire experience is nothing short of unbearable, and for them to release it as a seemly new game with such an outdated engine for FPS is- in my mind a rip off. The RTS/ FPS idea seems great until you realize the entire game rests solely on your commander, if he fails you're at a huge disadvantage. You have newbie weapons (The commander can upgrade you to flamethrowers/ grenade launchers/ and "siege weapons") you have no forward re-spawns, no resupply points, no defenses to protect you from these pixie stick snorting enemies. If you have a lot of money and adore Half Life 2 mods, then this might be for you. If you appreciate technological advances and want something that resembles a decent game engine- run away, run far away from this next gen Command and Conquer Renegade clone.    … Expand
  7. dNide
    Oct 18, 2011
    2
    Nuclear Dawn fall short of expectations due to many reasons. The game is riddled with bug that cause random crashes or multiplier exploit issues that makes an already unbalanced game even more frustrating. The game also has almost no useful instructions which contribute to a steep learning curve. You can not simply jump in a game and start enjoying the game, it will take hours and thoseNuclear Dawn fall short of expectations due to many reasons. The game is riddled with bug that cause random crashes or multiplier exploit issues that makes an already unbalanced game even more frustrating. The game also has almost no useful instructions which contribute to a steep learning curve. You can not simply jump in a game and start enjoying the game, it will take hours and those hours will not be that enjoyable.
    I would rather play Threewave CTF or Gloom than this game.
    Wait for this game to offer a free weekend or until it goes on sale, it isn't worth more than $5.    … Expand
  8. DarkFire
    Oct 10, 2011
    4
    Having been an avid online gamer since the early days of Quake, Unreal Tournament & Starsiege Tribes, I was quite looking forwards to having a go at Nuclear Dawn. Things didn't start well when it took me around 10-12 attempts to actually connect to even a previously empty game to see what things were about.

    Having played for a few hours I have to say that I'm seriously struggling to be    Having been an avid online gamer since the early days of Quake, Unreal Tournament & Starsiege Tribes, I was quite looking forwards to having a go at Nuclear Dawn. Things didn't start well when it took me around 10-12 attempts to actually connect to even a previously empty game to see what things were about.

    Having played for a few hours I have to say that I'm seriously struggling to be impressed by Nuclear Dawn. The graphics, while functional, appear to be circa 2007 and are nothing special at all. The sound is admittedly reasonably good, though I eventually found the music to be annoying. The controls are acceptable and follow the standard setup for games based on the source engine.

    My main issue with Nuclear Dawn is the game play mechanic. The game play is a mixture of RTS and FPS. This is a fairly rare hybrid and there's a good reason why that is the case - the success of your team is extremely heavily dependant on the skill of the "commander" player. A poor commander results in frustrating annihilation for your team.

    I could accept the decidedly mediocre graphics if the game play was hugely engaging. Unfortunately it isn't. I was expecting something akin to the original tribes, however there's just too much missing to make Nuclear Dawn a compelling experience. You're unable to adjust your loadout until you die. You can't re-arm. In a couple of games I ran out of ammunition for my primary weapon, forcing me to carry out a pointless suicide charge at the enemy base.

    There exists a fair number of available upgrades, however their availability is dependant on research that comes from buildings created by the Commander (RTS) player. Again, a poor commander results in pointless and frustrating death after death due to being faced by foes equipped with vastly superior weapons & equipment. If I wanted to play a mindless twitch FPS then I'd load up Unreal Tournament 3 with it's glorious Unreal powered graphics and sound. If I want to play something somewhat more sophisticated then ARMA 2 fits the bill quite nicely. There's a reason why the original Tribes was so popular for years after it was released, despite it's game engine becoming utterly obsolete - the game play offered such a variety of tactics and strategies that it was hugely engaging. Unfortunately Nuclear Dawn offers no such variety and quickly devolves to a repetitive and frankly uninspiring point-capture game.

    I have to say that for the most part the level design is also uninspiring. Yes, there are a fair few levels and each offers a very different environment, but again that which is available is sadly limited by what is by now an old game engine. I was expecting more of a brand new game. Much more.

    I hope that Nuclear Dawn is a success for the developers because it's quite an achievement for an indie outfit. Unfortunately in a very crowded genre there just isn't enough on offer at the moment to make it worthy of a serious investment of play time. I may give this another look in 6 months, but for now it just didn't capture my interest well enough given the simplistic game play and mediocre graphics.    … Expand
  9. volumass35
    Jul 13, 2019
    0
    A fresh idea, but an amateur collection of bugs. Boring maps, crappy UI, average gameplay. It seems like a small DLC rather than a "game". Or maybe a demo.

Awards & Rankings

78
#78 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. Computer Games Online RO
    Mar 8, 2012
    73
    So in the post-Call of Duty/Battlefield/Team Fortress 2 world of today, Nuclear Dawn will not have an easy time finding a safe place, not only because of the risk it has taken as a genre combination, but mainly because of the work that the FPS side still needs.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 20, 2012
    70
    Attractive combination of first person shooter with real time strategy delivers balanced action and tactical parts and offers a good alternative to other shooters. [Dec 2011]
  3. Bit-Gamer
    Nov 27, 2011
    65
    It's unfortunate to see Nuclear Dawn suffer from such simple errors, as underneath these tiny flaws is an above-average game with some new, interesting ideas at its core. If you're playing with friends or get lucky with a random server, it can be a lot of fun - but often that's not the case and as a result Nuclear Dawn doesn't quite earn the recommendation it's otherwise capable of receiving.
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