Nightside
- April 2, 2015
- OMNIDREAM CREATIONS
Get on Steam"Nightside is a 2-player Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy game with single-player, co-op, and multi-player options. The story-driven campaign follows a human explorer on a dark planet with four distinct alien races and mobile bases. With no fog of war, fast-paced combat, and an intuitive interface, Nightside offers a balance of micro and macro management on 18 maps."
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- Clever lighting effects create a unique atmosphere, enhancing the gameplay experience.
- The game features well-balanced mechanics and diverse factions, each with unique abilities and playstyles.
- At a low price point, the game offers a fun and nostalgic RTS experience reminiscent of classic titles.
- The game lacks content and feels unfinished, with many players noting a need for more polish and features.
- Gameplay is often described as slow and tedious, making it less engaging for those used to faster-paced RTS games.
- The user interface and tutorial are poorly designed, leading to confusion and frustration for new players.
- story42 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 79 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story features a unique organic-alien vibe and revolves around a character's crash on a planet and their interactions with alien factions, but it suffers from shallow execution and minimal depth, primarily conveyed through basic text logs and cutscenes. While the campaign consists of fourteen missions across four races, many players find the mission design lacking and the narrative unengaging, leading to a mixed reception regarding its overall storytelling quality. Despite some potential, the story is often described as confusing and poorly presented, leaving players wanting more depth and clarity.
“The story revolves around you crashing on this planet, getting in contact with aliens and stumbling upon their age-old conflict.”
“The story is told through small in-game cutscenes and text logs of the central character before each mission.”
“The game also features a very in-depth storyline that makes extraordinary use of camera angles to provide a low-budget, cinematic experience.”
“The story/dialogue between missions is very basic.”
“The 'story' mode is a mixture of extremely ugly 90s era render videos and tells you literally nothing.”
“As it stands, it's a mundane RTS with annoyingly dark areas, no voiceovers, and a poor story.”
- gameplay25 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by classic RTS mechanics that are both intuitive and distinct across the four factions, offering a fresh take on elements like fog of war and building mechanics. However, players have noted a lack of comprehensive explanations for these systems, leading to a sense of confusion, and some have criticized the slow pace and limited control options, which detract from the overall experience. While the game pays homage to beloved titles like Command and Conquer and Starcraft, its mechanical simplicity and technical issues have left some players feeling disappointed.
“Happy because the four factions are visually and mechanically distinct, but are all very intuitive to use!”
“Mechanically, the game is very solid and the four playable races are varied and interesting.”
“This game clearly pays homage to Command and Conquer and Starcraft with its faster-paced gameplay and overall RTS mechanics, and that faithfulness to RTSs of yore pays off with a fun and addicting strategy game.”
“The moving buildings are quite slow and add little to the gameplay, because it's often needed to turtle up and build up.”
“Really slow gameplay.”
“Not about the gameplay, but the controls make the game unplayable: you can't do queued actions, you can't select multiple buildings, and the campaign assumes you already know the game's mechanics.”
- graphics19 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the unique organic-alien aesthetic, atmospheric lighting, and overall charm, while others criticize the graphical style as lacking depth and clarity, particularly in distinguishing units. Many appreciate the art direction and sound design, noting that it contributes to an engaging sci-fi atmosphere, but there are significant complaints about the initial graphical quality and gameplay experience. Overall, the visuals are seen as decent to impressive by some, but disappointing to others, leading to a polarized reception.
“The game is well thought out, well balanced, and has quite interesting visuals and a story with a unique organic-alien vibe.”
“They did such a great job on creating a sci-fi atmosphere, full of sound effects, incredible graphics (the lighting in this game is amazing), animations, and such a cool art style.”
“Nightside has a lot of charm underneath its dark aesthetic; the units and buildings themselves brighten up the areas around them, an interesting way of creating 'fog of war'.”
“I hate the graphical style and the game is just completely devoid of depth.”
“It's just not appealing, in my opinion, neither in the sound department nor in the graphics department.”
“I regretted this game so much. I don't care if you mock the graphics thing; that's how games are sold these days. Good graphics and gameplay make for a highly successful game, but this had none of those two aspects, so for me, it crashed and burned.”
- music11 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising it as the standout feature, describing it as catchy, fitting, and relaxing, while others find it distracting and of poor quality. Notably, the soundtrack enhances the game's atmosphere, particularly in specific levels, but opinions vary significantly on its overall effectiveness.
“The music is great and also quite relaxing.”
“Music: this is actually the best part.”
“The music and sounds for the game help immerse you into its theme.”
“Even though Larian's legendary composer, Kirill Pokrovsky, who later composed everybody's favorite soundtracks for Divinity games, made an appearance there (the same way Frank Klepacki did in Command & Conquer: Red Alert), it was a very poor C&C clone.”
“This game is seriously not worth £10, more like £2. It's copied Starcraft and failed; the music is horrible and distracting, and the game just looks bad in general.”
“Thought it looked good at first, but after a while, it got boring and the music is almost all I hear.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its foreboding and immersive qualities, enhanced by stunning visuals, effective sound design, and a captivating soundtrack. Players appreciate the dark, isolated setting that complements the sci-fi theme, creating a relaxing yet intense experience. Overall, the combination of graphics, lighting, and audio contributes to a compelling and atmospheric RTS environment.
“- fantastic atmosphere: the game is completely dark outside of units' lights, which gives a huge sense of outlandish isolation.”
“They did such a great job on creating a sci-fi atmosphere, full of sound effects, incredible graphics (the lighting in this game is amazing), animations, and such a cool art style.”
“Atmosphere: actually decent.”
“Happy because the foreboding atmosphere from the visuals, sound, and UI is perfect!”
“Music is incredible; all tracks are catchy and fitting to the atmosphere.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is lacking, particularly during large-scale battles where framerate drops are common, even on lower-end PCs. While the gameplay is enjoyable and features unique unit mechanics, players are advised to consider more polished RTS options if optimization is a priority.
“Overall, it is a fun game and has some interesting twists for units, but unless you really need a new RTS, stick to something tested and optimized.”
“Optimization isn't really there: when huge armies fight, the framerate drops constantly, even though my PC is rather outdated.”
“The coding is not optimized, leading to slow gameplay issues.”
“Overall, it is a fun game with some interesting twists for units, but unless you really need a new RTS, stick to something that is tested and optimized.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users found that the game lacked emotional engagement, which detracted from their overall enjoyment of the gameplay experience.
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, being described as buggy and poorly constructed, which detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, the limited options for units and technology further exacerbate these stability concerns.
“This game is buggy, poorly made, and has few expansive options for units and tech.”
