Written by Laird Allen
Nuclear Throne
4 Stars
Mad Max Meets Gauntlet
“Nuclear Throne” is an above-view, roguelike game currently in development with game studio Vlambeer through Steam Early Access. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with a distinctive cel-shaded aesthetic, “Nuclear Throne” gives you a choice of distinctive characters, some game-modifying choices (called Crowns), and throws you into the wasteland to kill your way to the throne or die (and die, and die, and die) trying.
The core of the gameplay is a classic above-view roguelike, where your character wanders through a series of procedurally generated mazes killing all they come across with a series of progressively better weapons. In “Nuclear Throne,” there’s a slight variation of the classic formula in that the maps are bundled into short stylistic and graphical environment sets. The first one is desert, consisting of up to three levels of sandy hellscape, followed by the obligatory sewer level, followed by blasted trenches and crystal caverns full of gigantic faceted ants. Each series is capped by a boss but is otherwise distinct on each playthrough, with chests containing ammo, health, and weapons on a sliding scale from shovels and shotguns to lightning cannons and poison gas crossbows. The enemies start off relatively standard—your classic wasteland bandits, giant scorpions, and so on—and progress to more interesting fare, such as man-raven snipers, fur-clad robot barbarians, and a Cerberosian pitbull.
The game also offers some interesting choices of advancement. Rather than the traditional incremental leveling system, the game offers you a choice of mutations between levels, and these mutations greatly change the way you play the game. Some give you the ability to regain health or ammo from kills, have more health, or resist fire and explosions. Some give you more esoteric rewards, such as longer arms (for better range with melee weapons, you see) or forcing the enemy to shoot more slowly. Since you get a choice of four—randomly selected—between levels, you can plan a course of upgrades, but there’s no guarantee of the game complying. It can also tempt you away with a rare opportunity, leaving you to tough out the next few levels with mismatched mutations. The game offers choices like this, and often, they are particularly cruel to gamers who can become attached to characters. But restart is only a key away, and every time you die, it’s a clean slate.
All of these taken together could make a compelling game, even if it was a well-trodden road it would be treading. Where “Nuclear Throne” rises above the pack is in the writing and music, both of which are sparse but fascinating. The characters you choose between have different special abilities (often to the point of totally altering the tactical picture the game presents), but more interestingly, they seem to imply a story without telling it. One is a giant, carnivorous plant who can shoot seeds to entangle enemies. Another is a robot who dines on firearms to gain ammo and health. A third is a chicken with a katana and a certain fierce reluctance to die. These are apparently characters from earlier Vlambeer titles, but reflection on a world where all these things make sense leads one down strange pathways. On a much larger scale, this was something the Bungie’s recent “Destiny” did, but where the implied storytelling in “Destiny” covered a massive quantity of backstory, Vlambeer’s stylistic choices hide what is either a massive quantity of backstory or simply a massively stylish shaggy dog story. The writing—usually a bare minimum of game backstory or tips and tricks, occasionally interspersed with comments like “the wind hurts” and “if only you could talk to the monsters”—add a fragile layer of humanity to what is essentially a randomly generated shoot-and-loot meatgrinder.
The music does its part as well. Vlambeer has never shied away from good composition—for example, see the military-gone-mad 8-bit brilliance of the Luftrauser soundtrack. Composer Kozilek does an excellent job with “Nuclear Throne,” providing some thrilling rock and roll, some mournful electronic dirges to accompany the bleaker components of a bleak dead world, and some good old fashioned boss themes. The grungy, blaring, lonesome sound combines with the gruesome cartoon feel of the game itself to create a world all its own.
There are of course drawbacks to “Nuclear Throne.” People looking for a strategic experience or reliable builds, advice, or game-breaking tactics will be singularly disappointed. “Binding of Isaac” fans in particular may find the game frustratingly simple and reliant on twitch muscle and bloodymindedness over clever mechanical expertise. And of course, it’s a game in Early Access, so some changes could happen in the time left for its development. As of right now, it’s a very difficult and occasionally incomplete charge to the finish.
But also as of right now, “Nuclear Throne” is a charming and atmospheric title, an entry in the roguelike genre that eschews mechanical complexity and simplistic graphics for stylistic charm and a sort of brutalist quarter-scarfing twitch gameplay that is keenly engrossing without ever becoming less frustrating.
“Nuclear Throne” is by Vlambeer, and is available through Steam Early Access, the Humble Store, and Twitch for $12.99 on Mac, PC, and Linux. It is appropriate for mature gamers, owing to persistent low-grade violence.
