In April 2021, the beloved Ludum Dare game jam was held with the theme of “Deeper and Deeper”. The participants spent his 48 hours creating the game, and Sebastien Benard, known for Dead Cells, decided to make a firefighting game called Nuclear Blaze. After the competition ended, Benard wanted to expand on the idea and release it properly, which led to his Nuclear Blaze today. It still feels a bit oversimplified, but it’s a great bite-sized take on the action-platform genre.
Nuclear Blaze puts you in the role of a firefighter tasked with a crew to put out a wildfire that has spiraled out of control. After the worst is over, you stumble upon a secret research black site in the woods. again Go inside and investigate before it traps you inside and cuts off communication with your team. Left with no other choice, he digs deeper into the facility to put out the fire and collect documents that will give us a better idea of what happened to the numerous researchers who died there.
Nuclear Blaze isn’t a story-driven game, but I appreciate the atmosphere it creates.The facilities you explore borrow heavily from mythology SCP Foundation Project, a collaborative fiction documenting the notes and Kafka-esque bureaucracy of paranormal research and investigative organizations. Many of the redacted dossiers you collect offer fleeting glimpses of the weirdness contained within, but you don’t really come across much of it. spooky There’s still a lot of charm in the quiet sense of dread that comes when you step into darkness alone. something went out of control.
Gameplay unfolds in a level-based 2D action structure, kicking doors, using keycards to grant access to new areas, saving cats, and more. many fire. Your trusty hose and water tank are your best friends here, but water is limited and can only be refilled in a few places. Therefore, you need to plan your movements in each level to some extent, because any fire that is not completely extinguished will quickly flare up again, undoing all your hard work.If you happen to touch fire one time (on the base difficulty), you die instantly and are sent back to the final checkpoint.
To keep things fresh, you’ll occasionally unlock new abilities or stumble upon new level gimmicks that introduce much-needed variety. While it extends to relatively minor things like the ability to shoot, level gimmicks introduce things like valves that you have to find and turn to activate sprinklers and enemies that harass you when you try to extinguish them. flame. It only takes about 5 minutes to complete each level, but if you search for secrets and find the hidden cat in that level, it might take a little longer.
This leads to what might be Nuclear Blaze’s biggest drawback, which is its short length. There was no. TRUE Take your time. You can extend this a little further by playing again in a New Game+ called “Hold My Beer Mode” that offers new rooms and challenging abilities, but this is certainly not a game that lasts longer than an afternoon. Or two.short length not necessarily problem—The short game is more welcome than ever these days—but it’s worth mentioning for those who might have wished for something longer. It’s just a cute little game that lightly explores some ideas before finishing.
Those who suffer from a rather severe basic difficulty will be pleased to know that there are various accessibility options. This allows everyone to play at their skill level and see everything without compromising the core gameplay. You can adjust things like how much damage you take (if any) and how long it takes to run out of water. There is also a ‘kid mode’ which features fairly easy levels alongside many trucks and helicopters.
Its visuals reminded me a bit of Atooi’s Xeodrifter, with Nuclear Blaze’s simple retro art style and small protagonist. The spritework here is generally well done, if not a little exceptional, and I appreciate the use of a surprisingly diverse color palette. It may seem daunting, but notice the many examples where different shades of blue, green, and red created cool contrasts and were used to make the levels more visually appealing. Did.
All this is matched by Pentadrangle’s soundtrack, which borrows a little from Metroid’s playbook, presenting players with a slightly menacing collection of songs with an atmosphere that adds to the sense of isolation and curiosity. There’s a few chiptunes thrown in there as well, and while the selection of tracks isn’t huge, the soundtrack feels like it fits the tone that Nuclear Blaze is clearly aiming for.
Conclusion
It may not last long, but Nuclear Blaze is a cool action-platformer that does a good job of exploring its core idea of prioritizing fighting fire over fighting enemies. Things like Hold My Beer Mode and all the hidden cats help give it a little more replayability, but the strong level design and tight gameplay make the moment-to-moment action rewarding. At $15, the Nuclear Blaze feels like it just Well worth the price of admission, especially if you’re a fan of 2D action games. I recommend you give it a try.
