J. Phan 2007-10-05
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
At first glance, the game looks like some nasty oldie from the 90s that never got anywhere because no one liked or bought it. But, it isn't. Definitely not. When I first opened the box I found bright neon colored plastic pieces in bags- and they looked very good, adding to the alien feel of the game. However, older adults may find it hard to decipher the difference between the 5 alien species available in the game (particularly the Fungoids and Crystallines). Also, instead of a plastic tray to keep the 4 multicolored armies separated, it only comes with a punch-out cardboard divider that is OK, but a plastic tray would be best. The gameplay itself excels over these flaws. In the game, you must occupy mines in order to order to make rubium (the monetary unit of the game) to buy better units to do battle. There are in total 6 different types of units. The three weaker and less combat-ready ones are essential in order to gain economy while the three stronger and expensive ones won't be making you any money. Gameplay is smooth and a few turns into the game and you'll be slugging it out on a gameboard that will never be the same- that is, the game is made of individual hexagonal tiles that make sure no game will have a similarly configured board. There are different types of terrain that will give bonuses in battle or that some units cannot set foot on. The game especially shines through with 3 or 4 players, when everyone's just slugging it out for control of the mines and the monolith- which grants you the right to draw two battle-boosting cards per turn. Games last about an hour or longer, and the rules are simple enough to learn yet complex enough to keep the game fresh and you thinking. The lowdown:
PROS
-GAMEPLAY- very smooth and balanced for all players- if you lose a battle you get to draw a card that will help you in battle later. Though Nexus Ops will not provide an hours-long epic it will easily kill an hour or two of your time. There is actually a variant where you can play with yourself that is quite a challenge (not in the manual, but on the Internet).
-VARIETY- with six different units you'll never be defeating your opponents in the same way. As always dice-rolling determines the victor and loser. The game board is also randomly configured each game.
-SETUP- unlike Risk, it takes only a few minutes.
-delves a little bit into managing money effectively: since buying units is virtually the only way to obtain any, your child will learn that just massing rubium dragons and lava leapers (the two strongest units in the game) will not win game.
CONS
-the box should come with a plastic divider tray rather than a punch-out cardboard divider
-the monolith, a raised piece in the center of the board, won't last too long being made of flimsy cardboard, and also obscures the view of the hexagons around it. However, don't worry; the rest of the game is made from thick, durable cardboard.
-as I have mentioned before, the map is different each time you play. However, this changes absolutely nothing gameplay-wise. So the game may get repetitive map-wise.
-the plastic playing pieces are rather small, and adults may have difficulty distinguishing between some alien races (especially two particular ones; the rest are easily distinguishable).
-the game must be played on a level surface, maybe only at home rather than on a plane or monorail. Since the tiles and therefore the board is not all in one piece, they can easily slide away from each other.
-others have complained about the stench, and so shall I. The inside of the box smelled like old cardboard (like the toilet paper tubes), but nothing so overwhelming that you'll want to quarantine it. The pieces also smell like new plastic, but this scent was more subtle.
