Nex Machina is an intense arcade style twin-stick shooter from Housemarque. Taking hints from both Robotron and Smash TV, Nex Machina focuses on pure action, voxel destruction and competition in the distant, cablepunk themed future.
     ▝ Release Date: June 20, 2017
▝▟ Platforms: PS4, PC
▜▞ Price: $19.99/£15.99/€19.99, $15.99 Steam until July 5th, $13.99 on Steam for Outland owners
▖▚ Developer: Housemarque, with collaboration from Eugene Jarvis
In the world of Nex Machina, humans have become so dependent on technology that they cannot avert their eyes from portable devices anymore. Around them, machines have reached consciousness and surpassed human intelligence tenfold. No reasons to be servants now – robots are clearly the superior lifeform. And to make their point, they start eradicating all human life...
Housemarque, the creators of Resogun, and Eugene Jarvis invite you on a trip back to the age of arcades and play Nex Machina, the twinstick shooter of this generation. Destroy the evil robots, free the humans and defeat your friends' high scores along with their dreams of success. Do you have what it takes to make it to the top?
▚▜▘Features ▞▟▘
            ▘Explosive twin-stick arcade shooter gaming at its finest
       ▝▘Over 100+ challenging levels in 5+ different intense worlds
  ▝▝▘Secret paths, levels and humans
▘▘▘▘Local cooperative multiplayer
▝▝▘▘Compete against other players in competitive multiplayer modes
▘▘▝▘Deep scoring system, rich metagame and replayability
▝▘▝▘Specially tailored feats and achievements
▘▝▘▘Community and friend leaderboards
▝▘▘▘Unlockables and player profiles
  ▝▘▘Next gen signed distance field (SDF) ray-tracing and morphing tech
      ▘Voxel driven, significantly reworked version of the Housemarque engine
▞▞▘Season Structure ▙▚▘
Lasting a specific duration, like weeks or months, gain Ranks, Experience Points and Season Coins to compete against your friends or the people on top of the leaderboards. Seasons also have their own set of different challenges, making the gameplay experience a lot more skill-based and long-lasting.
▜▚▘Challenges ▞▚▙
All of the key-defining parameters for the gameplay are basically listed in these so called game rules, which are then mixed and matched to create slightly different game experiences. For example, the game speed can be adjusted to be twice as fast, or enemy revenge bullets can spawn, adding a new layer of reactive gameplay.
▚▛▖Replay Mode ▛▞▘
Replay mode has been built into the game for the community. See other players' runs, which techniques they use, how they approach and address difficult but rewarding situations, and what makes them so good. All of the leaderboard entries are effectively recorded which makes it possible to enter the leaderboards and select an entry to watch the replay. There are a lot of secrets, a lot of things to uncover, and a lot of depth in the scoring system. Because of all of these layers, players can end up with a lot of unanswered questions. Instead of having to search answers elsewhere, that extension of the experience is integrated right into the game.
Eugene Jarvis is a legendary game designer, known primarily for his work on pinball machines, various arcade games in the early 80s, and the Cruis'n racing series in the 90s. Games like Defender, Robotron: 2084, and Smash TV were huge inspirations to Housemarque's previous titles. Not long after Resogun launched with the PS4 – basically as a ”spiritual successor" to Defender – Housemarque and Eugene collided at DICE Summit 2014. From there, a collaboration tentatively titled "The Jarvis Project" was born.
”When I saw RESOGUN I couldn't believe how these Housemarque guys took Defender to a new level. I wondered... what would happen if we teamed up? Mash up old school arcade with mad voxel tech and crazed nouveau Helsinki gamers... All I know now is that it is going to be explosive." - Eugene Jarvis
▛▞▟▘ Launch Trailer
▟▞▞▘ Co-op Trailer
▚▜▞▖ PC Announcement Trailer
▜▟▞▘ PSX 2016 Announcement Trailer
▚▜▙▘ Behind the Scenes: Humans and Weapons
▙▜▚▘ Behind the Scenes: Fluid System and Tech
▞▙▜▖ Behind the Scenes: Level Design
▞▞▙▘ PlayStation Store Page
▙▟▞▖ Steam Page
▞▞▜▘ GOG Page
▜▜▞▘ Official Website
▞▟▙▘ Housemarque Twitter Page
▟▟▞▖ Nex Machina Twitter Page
▟▞▞▘ Housemarque Facebook Page
▞▚▛▖ "The Name of the Game" Companion Documentary Website (Release TBA)
▙▙▚▘ "The Name of the Game" Twitter Page
▟▛▞▖ "The Name of the Game" 17 Minute Featurette Chronicling The PSX Announcement
▛▙▛▘ Discord Channel
▚▚▙▘ Soundtrack Website
▚▜▙▘ Review Thread
"It isn't just one of year's best games, Nex Machina is an instant classic that deserves to sit right alongside Robotron: 2084 and Smash TV as some of the arcade shooter genre's best." Dualshockers 9.5/10 ▞▜▞▘
"Nex Machina is everything that an arcade game should be: addictive and accessible yet bursting with hidden depth. Housemarque continues to be the master of the dual-joystick shooter with a sublime effort that harks back to the coin-op glory days of yesteryear." - Push Square 9/10 ▟▚▟▖
"Housemarque are the kings of the shoot-em-up genre and Nex Machina is perhaps the brightest jewel in their crown." - God Is A Geek 9/10 ▛▜▚▖
"Eugene Jarvis and Housemarque have come together to create one of the best playing twin-stick shooters ever made... I'll still be learning the intricacies for several months to come." - PlayStation LifeStyle 8.5/10 ▟▚▜▖
[Ask a question for your chance at a spot on the FAQ leaderboard]
Is there online co-op as well? - PTD
- No, only local co-op.
Has anyone found the Easter Egg here? - WOZ
- Not that I know of yet.
HDR? - DTM
- Yes on PS4. On PC, via the latest patch: HDR support for Nvidia GPUs.
Are there any PS4 Pro upgrades? - XRX
- Nex Machina offers a good presentation as well. Running at 60 frames per second on both the PS4 and PS4 Pro is great. The frame rate never drops even for a second. Which is a must for any twin stick shooter that needs precise controls. I played Nex Machina on the PS4 Pro and the picture quality is very good and sharp. On the regular Playstation 4 you get a 900p or 1600×900 resolution. On the Playstation 4 Pro you get a native 1080p image if you are using an 1080p set. If you're a 4K TV owner you get a nice boost with Nex Machina, running at 3360×1890. Not quite Native 4K but the game still looks amazingly sharp on a 4K screen. (from p4gamers ▜▛▞▘)
Housemarque is doing Matterfall as well right? - BOK
- ...
Matterfall is a side-scrolling platformer shooter. Play as Avalon Darrow who has the ability to control Blue Matter. Create platforms, energy shields, and different weapons in a world corrupted by Smart Matter.
E3 2017 Trailer
IGN: 10 Minutes of Matterfall Gameplay in 4K 60fps
Available August 15th, 2017
