Natural Selection 2‘s intense multiplayer sci-fi corridor-combat has given me odd dreams. I am not sure why that’s relevant, but I wanted to mention it.

Unknown Worlds’ long-awaited sequel (since 2002!) to the original hybrid mega-mod has been out for a while now, and I’ve been snapping my giant, slavering jaws on the live servers during that time. I believe this means I am ready to send you an encoded transmission that tells you wot I think.> (more…)

Natural Selection 2 is out. You can buy it right now. Given that it’s actually possible both purchase and play (!) a great many games, that might not seem like such a huge deal to you. But make no mistake: Unknown Worlds’ RTS/FPS buildy-chompy-shooty hybrid could’ve easily died on the vine. And it nearly did – over and over and over, for pretty much the entirety of its development cycle. Fortunately, the NS2 team has always had a secret weapon on its side: a community that is – by most definitions of the word – completely and rather terrifyingly insane. This is their story>.

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Imagine all the things you could do with seven hours. You could have a somewhat unsatisfying sleep. You could go on a plane flight that wouldn’t quite get you to America. You could complete Dishonored fifteen times. You could clean up your Goddamn house.

One thing you don’t have to do with seven hours is spend them impatiently waiting for Natural Selection 2, which after years of development has had its release date moved forward ever so slightly. (more…)

Unknown Worlds have sent word that their hybird FPS/RTS Natural Selection 2 will finally be released on October 31st. Natural Selection 2 is a sequel to the famed and enormously popular Half-Life mod, which was one of the most ambitious attempts to shake up the “Fortress” formula, introducing a top-down commander to bring a tactical-oversight aspect to the usual team-based combat. It was also, brilliantly, asymmetrical, with space marine types fighting a varied team of aliens. Natural Selection 2 is a complete rebuild of that concept, and frankly it looks astonishing. I can’t wait to get stuck in to the finished game. Trailer belooooow. (more…)