Nexuiz exists in various versions, and now various platforms. Originally on PC, gamers can now pick up a remade-version of the title for Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Obviously, the move to have the title as a commercially viable downloadable game means it’s no longer just leveraging off an old Quake engine…but the game’s roots are still easily identifiable.
Let’s get straight to the point. This game would have been perfect in the 1990s. It’s everything a classic LAN party used to be, and is quite polished at that. Unfortunately, a classic LAN experience isn’t what it used to be…especially over a service like Xbox Live.
The game has several generic maps, and you run around in teams trying to kill one another. Several powerups exist that basically change the map’s laws of physics…and yep, it’s everything that Quake used to be. It’s hard to be excited about the title when multiplayer is now a standard component of must full-release games. Frankly, most retail game multiplayer modes offer more variety than Nexuiz does.
I don’t care about randoms over Xbox Live, and that’s what made LAN parties fun: I was able to frag competitors that I knew, and could trash talk (not in a crude way, mind you) them because they were right beside me. Playing the “single player campaign” against a bunch of bots isn’t any more fun. Or, any fun, really.
Nexuiz is polished, but is a bit soulless. If you’re a huge fan of the genre, go and grab it. If you’re not, it’s definitely one to miss.
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