Skulking Around In: Natural Selection 2

It's getting close to its release now, so I thought I'd do a write up on the sequel to a well-loved Half-Life mod that I've had an absolute blast/shoot/chop/stomp with.

First, a little glimpse into the history of Natural Selection (NS1). It blended the genres of FPS and RTS, giving players the goal of destroying the enemy base, much in the same way as Savage. However, Savage didn't come up with the concept to begin with; it only gave a commander to both sides. The commander controls the base-building and team-support mechanics of the game. He also has exclusive access to certain NPC units that simply do his/her bidding and nothing else. He issues orders to his team mates, and they can choose which goals to prioritise. Giving the foot-soldiers creative freedom gives the game an interesting dynamic. Instead of giving a specific order of <Attack Target> and then <Wait for Further Instruction>, the commander can explain using voice chat the over-arching goal he wants his team or specific marines to accomplish. Imagine, for a moment, that a Zealot from Starcraft could intelligently assess the situation and edit the commands given to him to best suit the situation.
'No, high templar, it would be better for me to protect our ramp's choke point to prevent any zergling run-bys!'
Ace.
This is, however, a double-edged sword. A new (or less cooperative) player could completely disregard the commander's orders, and the disorganised confusion would likely give the other team a few windows of opportunity to destroy resource towers and take more bases.

NS2 develops on the first game by allowing both teams to have a commander. Previously, the aliens would share the duties of a commander by assigning each other tasks over the mic, but now the process is streamlined with their newly dedicated boss-skulk. It allows for the better allocation of the alien team's brain-power. One player handles placing down structures, ordering upgrades and general care-taking, the rest of the team can focus purely on bringing down the enemy marines and resource towers.

It'll take more than bleach to get rid of that stuff

All of the classic units and upgrades remain; including the:

• Skulk: The aliens' base-unit. It has a melee-range bite, can run on walls and ceilings, has enough movement speed to make Greyhounds wish they could run on walls.
• Gorge: The aliens' builder unit. It's sort of like a deep-fried piglet that vomits healing acid. it can also build 'clogs,' which block movement through tight corridors, and Hydras, which are miniature turrets, which can net you a view kills from careless marines.
• Lerk: A pterodactyl which sprays toxic gas in its wake. This makes it difficult for marines to push locations without flame-throwers to systematically burn away the fumes. It can also be upgraded to shoot spikes from glands protruding from its body, which make it great for harassing at range.
• Fade: With blades for hands, the fade is a real nuisance for marine players. Its teleportation and phasing-out-of-reality capabilities, coupled with its beastly melee damage will often force marines to use shotguns to bring it down quickly.
• Onos: An Incredible Hulk of flesh and chitin that can break doors and stomp to knock down nearby marines. They can't digest a single target any more, however.
• Jetpack: A late-game changer. Marines will rejoice to get these, finally able to match the mobility of the alien units in open areas. They are an expensive upgrade however, and they're lost on death.
• Exo-Skeletons: A huge bulk of metal and gunnery is exactly what the doctor ordered to clear out those pesky alien entrenchments. They're also the marines' salvation against the infamous Onos.

The power mechanic has proven itself as a system that induces genuine fear in NS2's players. Once the power node in a sector is destroyed, marines lose a huge visibility advantage while having to contend with the aliens' infa-red alternative. It will also power down all structures in the vicinity. If the power goes down in your main base, as the marines you'd best have some repair tools to hand to patch it up quick, or GG's will fill your chat-log. It serves as a good real-life reminder that you should stay on top of your electricity bill.

The Crevice... Where Lerks and Jetpacks reign

Graphics technology has taken leaps and bounds since the original mod, and NS2 looks incredible. The lighting effects and shadows are spot-on. Not only do they look impressive, but they can conceal skulks in the shadows without the need for intentionally not rendering something to preserve the stealth mechanic. The HUD is sleek, and stylised to which team you're on. It's a beautiful game, but that does mean that it might have trouble running on a number of machines. If you're thinking of buying it, make sure to compare system specs and requirements, and note that optimisation is still improving going forward.

It would be great to see this game do well, as the development team is very well involved with the player base. So far, we haven't seen a precise release date, but its coming this summer. If you can run it, I'd thoroughly recommend giving this gem a shot.