Nightside

About

"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."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+10

57%

Audience ScoreBased on 82 reviews

gameplay9 positive mentions

stability1 negative mentions

The game features clever lighting effects and a unique dark atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience.
Each of the four factions has distinct mechanics and playstyles, providing variety and depth to the strategy.
Despite its flaws, the game is enjoyable and offers a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic RTS titles.

The game suffers from optimization issues, leading to significant frame drops during gameplay.
Many players find the gameplay slow and lacking in engaging content, with repetitive missions and poor map design.
The absence of multiplayer support and a lack of polish in the UI and mechanics detracts from the overall experience.

story
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
80%
10%
The game's story is described as having potential but ultimately falls short due to its lack of depth and engaging content, relying heavily on brief text messages and rudimentary cutscenes. While the campaign features a variety of missions across four races, many players find the mission design uninspired and the narrative execution lacking, leading to a disjointed and confusing experience. Overall, the story is present but fails to captivate, leaving players wanting more substance and coherence.
- “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.”
- “Follow Adam, a human explorer, as he discovers the secrets of this dark world through a story-driven single-player campaign.”
- “The story is there, and that's it - just some text and a few short crappy clips made with the in-game engine.”
- “The 'story' is played at the start of each mission in very brief, briefs of a few images and a tiny caption at the end.”
- “As it stands, it's a mundane RTS with annoyingly dark areas, no voiceovers (not even interface feedback), and a poor story.”
gameplay
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
64%
9%
The gameplay of the game is generally solid, featuring distinct factions with intuitive mechanics and a nostalgic nod to classic RTS titles like Command and Conquer and Starcraft. However, it suffers from optimization issues, a lack of comprehensive tutorials, and some frustrating control limitations, which detract from the overall experience. While the game introduces some fresh mechanics, it ultimately feels slow and incomplete, leaving players wanting more depth and polish.
- “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 RTS games 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.”
- “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.”
- “Really slow gameplay.”
graphics
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
48%
14%
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 lack of depth and distinguishability among units. Many appreciate the art style and thematic coherence, but some express disappointment in the graphical fidelity, especially considering the game's age. Overall, the visuals are described as decent to good, with a notable divide in player satisfaction.
- “Game is well thought through, well balanced, has quite interesting visuals and story with a unique organic-alien vibe.”
- “I love the dark and glowy art style.”
- “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.”
- “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 gave up entirely when I noticed how horrible the graphics were at the beginning and the price you had to pay. I regretted this game so much. Good graphics and gameplay make for a highly successful game, but this had none of those two aspects.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
29%
21%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising it as the standout feature, describing it as catchy, fitting, and atmospheric. Some users noted its relaxing qualities and retro RTS vibes, while others found it repetitive or distracting. Overall, the soundtrack is highlighted as a significant element that enhances the gaming experience, despite some criticisms regarding its quality in comparison to other titles.
- “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.”
- “Thought it looked good at first, but after a while it got boring and the music is almost all I hear.”
- “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.”
- “Even though Larian's legendary composer, Kirill Pokrovsky, who later composed everybody's favorite soundtracks for Divinity games, made an appearance there, it was a very poor C&C clone.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
13%
38%
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, isolating environment that complements the sci-fi theme, creating a relaxing yet intense experience. Overall, the combination of graphics, lighting, and audio contributes significantly to the game's engaging atmosphere.
- “Happy because the foreboding atmosphere from the visuals, sound, and UI is perfect!”
- “- 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.”
- “The music is incredible; all tracks are catchy and fitting to the atmosphere.”
- “I really like the soundtrack for Nova's levels; they fit well and add to the game's overall atmosphere.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, 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, the lack of proper coding optimization detracts from the overall experience, making it hard to recommend over more polished RTS titles.
- “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.”
- “Gameplay-wise, it's a good game, but I can't recommend it because of optimization issues.”
- “Optimization isn't really there; when huge armies fight, the framerate drops constantly, however, my PC is rather outdated.”
- “Gameplay-wise it's a good game, but I can't recommend it because of optimization issues.”
- “Optimization isn't really there: when huge armies fight, the framerate drops constantly, even though my PC is rather outdated.”
- “Coding is not optimized, leading to slow gameplay issues.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players found that the game lacked emotional engagement, which detracted from their overall enjoyment, despite being actively involved in the gameplay.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
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.”