Natural Selection 2

PC review by James Dewitt on 15th February 2013

Natural Selection was among the mods for the original Half-Life to become so popular it took on a life of its own, emboldening its creators to form their own studio and release a sequel ten years later. Since that time, there hasn’t been a gaming experience quite like it: a fusion of real-time strategy with the traditional trappings of a team-based, online shooter. Natural Selection 2 by Unknown Worlds Entertainment may be sporting a new engine, but it aims to deliver the same tactical gameplay that made the first a success.

The central idea of Natural Selection 2 isn’t a complex one, even if the mechanics are. Takings its cues from Aliens and the RTS elements of Starcraft, it pits human marines versus the Kharaa—nasty aliens capable of evolving into even deadlier species. Both teams struggle for dominance of the map in a brutal tug-of-war that attempts to balance the trigger-happiness of a first-person shooter with the resource management and complexity found in an RTS.

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Each team is led by a commander, shifting the game to an overhead perspective and giving a complete view of the map. It’s up to the commander to organize their team members as best they can while giving orders and researching new tech/biological weapons to give their team the edge. Marines rely on electricity to power their resources, and nodes need to be erected in order to do that. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Kharaa use infestation—a green glop that gradually takes over the map aided by cysts.

Once things are researched properly on the marines side, items like jetpacks, exo-suits, automated turrets, and additional weaponry become available along with better armor. Things are a bit more complicated for the Kharaa as they can evolve to have better traits and into different creatures. This requires a small amount of uninterrupted time while they incubate in an egg, vulnerable to any gunfire, so it’s best to find a quiet area first.

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Each creature is designed for a specific purpose, but everyone starts out as a Skulk. They’re little dog-like beasts that can cling to walls and travel through vents, though they can’t take much damage. Gorges are fat hippos that can clog up entryways while Fades are essentially the Kharaa’s assassins. Rounding out the Kharaa are flying Lerks and massive Onos: the most damaging species there is. There’s a huge amount of variety in using the Kharaa, but one significant disadvantage is that they primarily deal in melee damage, which is something of limited usefulness against armed marines.

With so much to learn, it’s impossible to just jump into a game and start learning the basics. Training consists of Youtube videos serving as in-depth tutorials, and the only hands-on learning is a free mode where players can toy around with each faction. They help to some degree, but the videos are information overload and free mode isn’t good for much else besides getting a feel for the controls.

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This is Natural Selection 2’s greatest strength and weakness. With no shortage of depth and variety of strategy, it’s imperative that a game have a room full of people who know exactly what they’re doing and work in tandem. Anyone who isn’t a seasoned pro is going to lose the game, simple as that. Success hinges on juggling resources, pushing into enemy territory, and undermining the other team wherever possible.

Unfortunately, playing Natural Selection 2 itself is spent mostly repairing resources and/or taking swipes at them. Killing opposing players serves little purpose unless they’re working on something. Typically, most of the matches are spent developing resources until a final push can be made with heavy weaponry or deadlier species. The shooting and strategy don’t entirely mesh, and as it stands each aspect feels watered-down to accommodate the other.

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Natural Selection 2 is unquestionably a unique title, but its bar to entry is incredibly high for the average FPS player. For the hardcore strategist, it has its appeal, but its complexity severely limits the enjoyment in matches that aren’t significantly populated by experts at the game.

Six out of ten

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About the author

James Dewitt is a Senior Staff Writer at Thunderbolt, having joined in March 2010.

Comments

Niklas
16th February 2013

Oh come on, Natural Selection 2 is a great game, the entire industry is full of easy multiplayer games, but once one with a high skill ceiling comes along we it gets criticized for exactly that.
Niklas
16th February 2013

cut the we, should have spell checked.
Hans
16th February 2013

6/10 is way too low for this game. It is difficult to get into but thats normal for a game that created a completely new genre.
If you want to play dull capture the flag, deathmatch or collect hats, stick to those games, where the only the weapons are different between each game. But if you want to try something new and unique with a high skill ceiling ns2 is the way to go.
Brandon
16th February 2013

The fact that this games gets a 6 out of 10 for being difficult to master as soon as you join the game is a sad reflection of what’s expected of games today. It’s the only multiplayer fps that I’ve had tons of fun with going back to 2002.
Buhehe
16th February 2013

So, if a game is just a bit more complicated than the average CoD BF dumbshooters it gets downrated?

As a new player, I simply read the NS2wiki and, after knowing the basics, I tried practice mode to see what comms can do.
Then I joined a rookie server and I did good, kept on learning over time, and now I’ve become good at it.

Is this a game for lazy players, who can’t even use Google/wiki/forums? No.
But whose fault is it? The game’s or the players’ ?
Com
16th February 2013

It’s lucky to get a 60. Haters gonna hate, but the review seems accurate to me, the only thing being it didn’t mention the absolutely horrendous performance. Based on that along it should be 50 or below.
Jethro
16th February 2013

Having bought the game at Christmas, I think the review is pretty accurate. The game is hellish to learn, and the players in the game aren’t very helpful to new players since it only takes a small mistake to lose the game. Marines seem to lose all the time for some reason, balance is way off. They have these power things in the marine base, and all it takes is to attack that and it disables all marine buildings. So marines lose all the time not because of a massive alien attack, but because some skulk thing spent 10 seconds chewing on the power. That’s balance?

My biggest disappointment were the mechs. When I saw it I was really looking forward to getting into one. When I was finally in a game where marines survived long enough to research it, after I bought one I was killed by one of those skulk things in 5 seconds since muzzle flash makes it nearly impossible to see anything. Really? Mechs are this fragile? I thought they would be as tough as those Ohnos on the alien team, I was wrong. So yeah, color me unimpressed.

Lack of training really kills this game though. Unless you are a hard core gamer that picks things up instantly, best not to spend much money on this. Had I not gotten it during the Christmas sale I would have been a lot more annoyed since I hardly play it anymore.
Vlada
16th February 2013

I’m a Natural selection 2 player for about 5 months. So I can say although it’s true the learning curve is steep, the gameplay is rewarding after you get over the basics. There is a modding community that makes new maps, including new skins and models. All updates for NS2 are free. We are expecting a big one this month. What I wan’t to say is that this game is probably not a 10/10, but is surely deserves at least 7,5/10.
Res
16th February 2013

For anyone that is thinking about buying this game should realize that this review is a load of bull.

NS2 isn’t anymore complex than say Team Fortress 2. There is only ONE aspect that is more complex and takes time to learn and that is commanding. Everything else about the game is fairly easy to pick up if you spend more than 30 minutes to 1 hour playing each side.

If you have a good commander, they will be telling you where to go in a map to help out… how much simpler could that be? Also, the fact that you can just follow other people like a good teammate!

This review says that the RTS strategy and FPS aspect don’t mesh well together without giving ANY reason to support such a claim. In fact, those aspects actually work REALLY WELL together. Better than any other game that has ever tried to do it.

With that said, it is likely that this reviewer had bad experiences because he had bad commanders. If you have a good commander and good communications, then this game is better than every FPS game out there, on the flip side, if you have a bad commander and little communication it is not as fun.
Melatonin
16th February 2013

I’ve played this game for +750 hours, and while it’s true that the bad games can be frustrating, and occasionally you get someone unhelpfully expressing that frustration in chat… when you get a well balanced game, or play with a good team, or even just fight the good fight to the bitter inevitable end, it’s one of the best games I’ve played.

The community is on the whole awesome, and welcoming if you ask for advice, but the basics aren’t so hard to grasp, from there on it’s all down to personal preference, and your style/ strategy.

There is a pro scene, or impromptu gathers if you want that next level of competitive play, personally I just play pubs, and find that if you use your mic (you do want a mic), most public players will be up for cooperating on attacks.

it’s a fast paced game though each round, and you have to keep your mind on what is happening overall. Balance wise, the devs are still working post launch to tweak the mechanics (and add new features) so the metagame has a bit of drift to keep up with. I find the challenge to be fun, and the time I’ve put into getting better with one particular lifeform feels like it’s paid off
Sedek
17th February 2013

Despite some of the other comments, the reviewer is accurate. This game does not tolerate new players well, and the game itself doesn’t do a good job of introducing you to the game. How do I come to that conclusion? Because I just bought the game three days ago. It’s probably fun, I might never find out. I’m not interested in playing pincushion. The vets here are eager to defend their game in the comments, but they’re not eager to teach people how to play in game, even on their so called “rookie” servers.
Jack
17th February 2013

It seems that the newer generation of gamers can’t apprecciate deepness in games. They are all into unlocking achievements and weapons etc.
Most of the ns2 gamerbase is very mature which is quite a rarity for an fps game.
Res
18th February 2013

“but they’re not eager to teach people how to play in game, even on their so called “rookie” servers.”

You must be a part of the ADHD generation that can’t learn a game for themselves. Also, in most servers, people will gladly tell you about a mechanic of the game if you ask a question. However, they are not going to HOLD YOUR HAND and tell you how to play.

I swear this ADHD generation can’t get into any FPS game that isn’t exactly, or close to, the same as their other FPS games so that they know most of the aspects of the game already.

As I said before, this game isn’t anymore difficult than TF2… and if you feel the same way about TF2 than I just don’t know what to say… you should probably just stick to simple minded games.
Steven An
28th February 2013

Dev here. I just wanna say that all of the points you make are fair. We realize that our learning curve is pretty steep, and it’s something we want to get better about in the future. We will continue to update NS2 and improve this aspect of it, so I hope people that are turned off by the learning curve right now will keep us in mind and try the game again after future updates.
Steven An
28th February 2013

And, this is not to say that we will dumb down the game or that we think all games should require zero player effort. But these things are all a matter of degree, and I think right now, it’s fair to say that NS2 errs a bit too much on the “trial by fire” side of that spectrum.