Project Nomads Review

This year will be marked as an immense FPS and RTS overflow. Most of these games have highlighted and interpreted ideas that were already exploited in novels, movies, and comic books. Other games have just relied on facts and events that occurred in actuality. Project Nomads exceeds today's gaming standards by engrossing players deep into a novel world of floating islands, bizarre aircrafts, and weird-looking characters. Also, the developers (Radon Labs) have prepared a constructive gameplay mixture, emphasizing 3rd person action and combining it with interesting RTS elements. Therefore, it was no mere coincidence that Project Nomads received the Best PC Game of the Show award, during last year's ECTS in London.

That plain is yours for the taking. Just try not to hit any seagulls on your way to glory.

A nice display of minced insect meat.

The game follows the lives of three different heroes. Susie, John, and Goliath (I easily could go along with "John" and "Goliath," but Susie seems somehow out of place - it's like saying Aragorn, Elrond, and Lizie, it just doesn't work). Anyhoo, the story takes you to the planet of Nomads. After a huge explosion, this great world was separated into tiny hovering islands, leaving only a few survivors to drift through space and time on isolated stony isles. Essentially, your characters are going to have to face a most vital task, which was placed before them by some weird Magician-dude. You have to find the villains responsible for the horrifying destruction of the Nomad world, and put a stop to the pirates who keep plundering the few remaining settlements. At the very beginning, you must stop these baddies, the so-called Sentinels, before they strengthen their fleet and take over all energy resources and residual islands. It won't be a simple endeavor, because their fleet is rather huge, so it's gonna take you a while to hunt them down. As fate would have it, you will find many cool items that will help you build and equip your very own battle-island.

Once you choose a character, you will have to go through a tutorial. It's brief, but very helpful. It introduces you to the basic controls and simple character movement. The game also offers an intuitive interface and inventory system. It would be pertinent to mention that this basic character movement and combat was already seen is games like MDK and Sacrifice. At any rate, you shouldn't have any trouble getting use to them. In addition, assembling various useful structures won't be a problem even for the most inexperienced player. Construction is carried out via unusual magic artifacts, which can be obtained at the so-called Grey Market (between the missions), or can sometimes be found hidden within the nooks and crannies of the floating islands. It's quite simple really. The moment you discover an artifact, you can take it to your island and start building away. Activating the building's functions is of great importance to the player's survival. For example, when your island is attacked by enemy air-units, you'll have to mount your gun turrets and retaliate with precise AA fire. Of course, you can sometimes upgrade the turrets and give them the ability to defend your base automatically. At the same time you have to make sure all your buildings stay in tact (they can be repaired or re-erected with artifacts that are left behind when the buildings are destroyed). The best part is when you get your paws on the "Hangar" artifact. The "Hangar" allows you to create airplanes and take control of them if you wish to explore or engage in dogfights with enemy aircrafts. You can fly from island to island, explore the strange floating rock formations, and look for many alternative ways to improve your island structures. On the other hand, if you're too busy tending to your base, the AI-controlled plane can provide sufficient cover fire. The enemy AI doesn't display anything out of the ordinary. Both land and air units seem to act intelligently and according to the battle situation.

All of these features may seem like a lot to tangle with. It's true that the game will keep you busy as a beaver throughout every mission. But, thanks to the straightforward inventory and interface system, you'll be able to carry out your work swiftly and without any worries. Sorry to say though, that there are some thwarting gameplay weaknesses. It may sound a bit odd, but in spite of the wide-ranging mission assignments the gameplay depth is relatively thin, leaving very little variety, except for the old seek-and-destroy routine. Strategy elements are pretty minimal. And, even for those of you who prefer intense action, it's safe to say you may get bored after some hours.

Looks a little bit like the womb.

Your engine's leaking... Ha, ha gotcha!

Aside from the original game premise, the game carries a great deal of exceptional artwork. The levels, character models, vehicles, and various odd-looking structures have been assembled in a surprisingly appealing fictional world. When we first tested Project Nomads, the high-res models and vivid environment managed to catch our eye almost immediately. The game gives you a complete freedom of moving about in fully-rendered 3D surroundings. Some islands are furnished with what seems to be relics of a once rich and furtive world of flora and fauna. Strong gusts of high-altitude wind trigger a beautiful animation of leaves and tree-branches swinging back and forth. A most delightful display of colors is depicted throughout the day and night cycles - objects will get a nice crimson shade from the afternoon sun, and your character projects real-time shadows that change their shape according to the landscape. When the goin' gets tough, and you start using heavier artillery, you'll get a chance to see cool explosions and particle effects. Detonated dynamite sticks, for instance, present a very interesting and extremely effective combination of animation and particle effects.

The surroundings in Project Nomads will be shifting through three completely different worlds; or levels more precisely. After you've made considerable progress in a certain section, your character will gain a powerful artifact called a "Level Drive" that allows your island to ascend to a higher and more dangerous world.

Another compliment should be paid to the effort of the sound design team... All in-game sounds have a special charm about them. The music themes sound great and they change as the action on the screen intensifies. On the technical side, there's a number of deficiencies in the game's sound engine. That is to say, some dialogs and mission briefings are occasionally interrupted with persistent game crashes. This screw up sorta takes the fun aspect out of the story, since you're gonna have to skip these dialogs in order to continue playing. So, basically, that just omits the whole plotline and downgrades the overall quality of the game.

Lacking crucial buff ups in terms of gameplay and sounds, Project Nomads can become repetitive and even tedious at times. Fundamentally, there's no gameplay depth whatsoever. You're just gonna be building stuff, some of which you never get to find out the purpose to, and a majority of missions won't differ from the standard shoot-'em-all-down scheme. Other than that, this title represents a refreshing boost of creativity to the gaming industry we know today, relatively speaking of course. Just for that, and for a fine display of visual effects, Project Nomads deserves acclaim and is undeniably worth your attention.