Recent reviews by Dark Web Lesbian Razgriz

Nuclear Option is one of the best combat flight simlites made in the last 20 years. It manages to nail the perfect control scheme and flight dynamics that enable it to be easy for anyone with any experience with fighter jets or helicopters to grasp, regardless of the simulation detail they may be familiar with(Ace Combat/Project Wingman, War Thunder, DCS, BMS, etc). And yet, the flight dynamics have a surprisingly deep crunch if you're willing to sink your teeth in and focus on being a better pilot. But really, thats not the best part of the game.

The best part of Nuclear Option is, that it understands that it is a game, not a cockpit simulator, and has gone out of its way to create a challenging, engaging experience that demands you understand and utilize all of the capabilities afforded by its near-future machines and weapons, and respect the many threats you face. Because of that, it moves to a depth beyond your arcade-y Ace Combat-likes and which demands competence and punishes brainless aggression. Each aircraft and each weapon has a crucial role that you will need to exploit, which means that no one playstyle or jet is "OP."

Nuclear Option wisely settled into the near-future setting as a means to intentionally game-ify the mechanics and avoid the spectre of "realism." Missiles are unrealistically easy to dodge - this is a GOOD thing. Mechanics like notching missiles, and the high efficacy of flares and radar jamming force fights into close range dogfights which is simply more interesting and fun to play. If Nuclear Option tried to model these weapons as their equivalents would be in real life, they would be so deadly and effective at such a long range that the game as envisioned would be impossible, and what would remain would be frustrating, boring, and unfun.

The mission editor is great, the planeset is unique, visually gorgeous, and highly varied, and there is a clear vision at work for what this game should be and how it should play. Content rolls out steadily and thus far as of November 2024, I can't say this game has had anything less than an excellent update. Frankly, I think this is a game for almost anyone even remotely interesting in combat aviation. It is, first and foremost, a GOOD, FUN GAME, and its flight mechanics are pretty solid to boot. If this game even slightly piqued your interest, you should play it.

This is so far my GOTY for 2024. It is not an exaggeration to say this game reinvents the tactical squad genre and it is simply sublime. The art style, characters, narrative, and dialogue are immensely charming and well-written. In terms of gameplay, it seriously plays somewhat like a puzzle game. Because the game gives you infinite re-dos per turn, it is able to make each encounter, on its face, incredibly difficult. As such, finding an optimal solution, combined with the optional objectives, provides the exact same "Aha!" moment you get when solving a puzzle in a dedicated puzzle game.

However, unlike a traditional puzzle game, as a tactical squad game, you have so many unique and interesting abilities, which improve and unlock new methods of attack, reposition, and general utility, that any one encounter has so many solutions. This only elevates that Eureka! moment, because you didn't find THE solution, you found YOUR solution, which is even more rewarding.

The game naturally progresses the complexity and difficulty in every encounter as the game goes on, but ALWAYS gives you more tools to conquer those challenges. The core gameplay loop literally never got stale, because right up until the very end of the game, I was STILL getting used to new abilities I had just gotten access to.

The UI and UX are basically perfect, I can't recall a moment where I was ever confused about something or had any issues with the interface. This is also helped, again, because if you dont understand how something works, you can just try it, without any risk whatsoever. I also dont recall encountering any bugs. The game is exceptionally polished.

I really cannot overstate how good of a game this is. I haven't felt as captured by a game since probably Portal 2. I caught myself staying up way, way, WAY too late because I just got engrossed in the game and couldnt put it down. Everyone should play this game. Full stop.

All those things people hate about Melee and Smash 4? Boring, campy defensive play and jank? Horrible balance issues? Not being designed with the competitive community in mind? Indifferent developers?

Yeah this game doesnt have all that stuff.

Buy this game. Support the developer.