Nex Machina

It takes a special game to receive a 100% score in Retro Gamer and Nex Machina is truly deserving of that accolade. Darran Jones explains how fortuitous timing led to gaming’s best modern shooter.

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THE BACKGROUND

All games begin somewhere, and for Nex Machina that somewhere happened to be in the illuminated lobby of the Hard Rock Cafe at 4AM in the morning. Harri Tikkanen and Ilari Kuittinen, the cofounders of Housemarque, had been drinking and noticed Eugene Jarvis, who had recently won the Pioneer Award at the DICE Awards event they had attended. The pair’s game, Resogun had been up for the award of best action game, but had ultimately lost out to Bioshock: Infinite. Despite losing out on an award, the nomination still proved important, as it put them within handshaking distance of one of the most revered designers of the Eighties arcade scene.

According to an interview in Engadget the pair walked up to Eugene Jarvis and said, “Hey, congratulations! We ripped off Defender – do you want to make a new game with us?” The ballsy ice breaker made quite the impression on Eugene and he went home and purchased a PlayStation 4 along with a copy of Resogun. After a few further discussions with Harri and Ilari about what Nex Machina could potentially be, Eugene excited the pair with the following simple email – “I’m very impressed. Let’s fucking do it.” And fucking do it they did…

THE GAME

From the moment you start playing Nex Machina Eugene Jarvis’ influence becomes completely obvious. As you mow down countless waves of enemies, whilst expertly dodging through curtains of luminous bullets, you can almost feel his tangible presence in the game’s design, as if he’s personally willing you on to clear that next difficult stage.

Of course, Housemarque is no stranger to making acclaimed twin-stick shooters, having created the likes of Super Stardust