Nexus: The Jupiter Incident: Difference between revisions

''Nexus: The Jupiter Incident'' is a [[Real Time Tactics]], developed in 2004 by the Hungary-based Mithis Entertainment. The game spent most of its life in [[Development Hell]]. It started as ''[[Imperium Galactica]] III: Genesis'', being developed by Digital Reality. However, the publisher GT Interactive went bankrupt, and the title was "borrowed" by Philos Laboratories. When their lease expired, the project was renamed to ''Galaxy Andromeda''. Then Philos Laboratories went bankrupt, and Mithis Entertainment picked up the development, resulting in ''Nexus: The Jupiter Incident''. While the game in its current state has nothing to do with the ''Imperium Galactica'' series, its storyline remained largely unchanged from the original project, becoming the [[Spiritual Successor|unofficial prequel]] to the series.

 

 

During the campaign, the player controls a small flotilla of ships (can range from 1 to 10), with one ship (''Stiletto'' or ''Angelwing'') being the main one. If that ship is destroyed or damaged beyond repair, the [[Nonstandard Game Over|game is over]]. The game allows the player two main forms of controlling movement: direct ''[[Homeworld]]''-style orders and simply issuing various orders and selecting targets from the list. In practice, the first method is usually ignored by most players, as gameplay dynamics make it a must to give control of most of the movement to the computer. The player is left managing tactics, weapons, energy distribution, and repair, which usually turns out to be a handful during heated battles. In-between missions, the player is given a certain number of points to spend on repairing and upgrading the flotilla. There usually aren't enough points to spend on all the "goodies", so the player is required to carefully manage his or her spending (unspent points don't carry over to the next mission). Also, the mission briefings do not always give the best idea of what awaits the player, so a playthrough may be required to determine the best loadout.

Weapons are divided into several groups: anti-armor ([[Magnetic Weapons|railgun]]s, effective at destroying the hull; largely ineffective against shields), energy shells (overload enemy [[Deflector Shields]]; no effect on armor), [[Frickin' Laser Beams|lasers]] (anti-hardpoint weapons; damage specific devices; very little hull/shield damage), flak (automated anti-fighter and anti-missile laser grid), missiles/torpedoes (limited-supply guided area-effect weapons), and special (various unique weapons). Ships can also carry wings of fighters/bombers, although they generally prove to be nothing more than a nuisance, especially if the enemy is equipped with an advanced flak grid or has his own fighter complement. Shuttles can be used to capture ships, although the enemy flak systems need to be disabled first and fighters destroyed. Other systems include power generators (main and weapons), engines (main, secondary, and combat), sensors, [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|interplanetary drives]] (used to exit the mission), and special devices.

 

 

The game's main character, Marcus Cromwell, is the son of Richard Cromwell, the first human born in space and the captain of the ill-fated ''Noah's Ark''. His ISA ship is shot down by corporate forces near Phobos and is left drifting for nearly ten years as a [[Human Popsicle]]. After the war, he is found, revived, and hailed as a war hero, despite his side losing. He receives an offer from SpaceTech to take command of one of their corvettes, the ''Stiletto''. His first mission takes him to Jupiter, where he saves an old ISA friend from OSEC (a rival corporation) forces. Later, Cromwell is ordered to intercept a freighter belonging to Kissaki Syndicate. During the encounter, the ''Stiletto'' crew witnesses a large ship of alien design meeting with the freighter. After locating and infiltrating the major Kissaki research center, an asteroid-based station named ''Shukenja'', Cromwell finds the alien cruiser seen before inside the base. After commandeering the ''Angelwing'' (name of the cruiser), SpaceTech scientists discover the location of another base near Pluto. Since the ''Stiletto'' would take years to reach Pluto, Cromwell takes command of the ''Angelwing'' and uses its advanced interplanetary drive to reach the base in just several weeks. While scanning the base, an illegal AI uploads itself to the ''Angelwing'' and urges Cromwell to take the ship through a nearby wormhole in order to escape a malevolent alien entity attacking the ship.

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=== The game contains examples of the following tropes: ===

** Ironically subverted by the game itself: it's smarter to focus on the smaller details and let the game handle maneuvering.

* [[The Battlestar|Battlestar, The]]: Most warships are able to launch at least one wing of fighters/bombers. However, their main strength still lies with their own weapons.

* [[Energy Weapon]]: Energy shells, lasers (offensive and flak), and energy skeeters.

* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: Lasers are used both to disable/destroy enemy ship systems and to defend against fighters and missiles. Shown as bright beams of varying colors and thickness. Travel instantly to target. Also see [[Wave Motion Gun]].

* [[Horde of Alien Locusts]]: The Locust.

* [[Humans Are Warriors]]: The Vardrag allied with the Noah colony in exchange for their superior war-making skills.

* [[Space Whale]]: The Locust queen.

* [[Technical Pacifist]]: The Vardrag have no stomach for war. However, their weapons are extremely powerful, and they will not hesitate to use them for defense.

* [[That One Level]]: The stealth mission, and the mission after it which also requires some stealth.

* [[The Virus]]: The Mechanoids, a hybrid of computer virus and something like the Replicators.