Nex Machina

Nex Machina is quick, challenging, and exactly what the arcade shooter genre needed. The team at Housemarque has clearly taken a lot of influence from shooters of the past while still knowing how to add their own special spice to the mix. With enough content to keep you busy for months and a high level of difficulty, Nex Machina is a game that you will return to time and time again. It isn’t just ...

It takes a special type of high-score game for me to want to actually stick with it and start rivalries on the leaderboards. Pac-Man Championship Edition was one such game. Trials HD was another. Now, Nex Machina is my new obsession.

It’s safe to say that the developers at Housemarque love making twin-stick shooters. Between Super Stardust, Alienation, and Resogun, it’s hard not see them as the top dogs in their niche, crafting and iterating upon genre masterpieces that actually get better with age. It should come as no surprise then that their latest entry, Nex Machina is an utter delight. It surpasses their previous efforts ...

Twin stick shooter purists will love Nex Machina for its fast paced action and incredible presentation, but this is a game that's clearly been designed to keep you coming back for more.

Nex Machina: Death Machine takes twin stick shooting gameplay to the next level with non-stop shooting action from the moment you pick up the controller until you put it down. The greatest weaknesses for the game is that it lacks both online multiplayer modes and has a small number of levels. Yet, the game is full of secret areas, optional things to destroy and challenges that should keep one help...

Easily one of the best homages to old-school arcade gaming in quite some time. Easy to pick up, hard to master, but damn if you won’t have fun along the way. With some fast-energy tunes, a gorgeous looking world and plenty of frantic action, Nex Machina has me wishing the days of arcade gaming weren’t over. The only thing that would make this game even better is the addition of an online co-op mod...

Focused, intense and hugely replayable, Nex Machina is the best twin-stick shooter in ages.

Nex Machina is a pure mechanics game, one that pushes you harder and harder to shoot for that high score. People looking for just a campaign will be done after an hour, but everyone else should find plenty of reasons to play.

A fantastic twin stick shooter with tight gameplay, great visuals, and an awesome soundtrack

Despite the frustrations its upgrade system often caused me, I had a good time navigating Nex Machina’s array of twin-stick shooter challenges. The appealing art, energetic soundtrack, and pixel-perfect gamepad controls made me own every failure and look forward to whatever might come next. Arena mode seems to be where most of the lifespan on this one will come from, and I look forward to seeing p...

There will be more twin-stick shooters, probably excellent ones, but if time stopped and all we were left with was Nex Machina, then that wouldn’t be such a terrible thing. Housemarque and Eugene Jarvis have created something very special, and I suspect, enduring.

Between the nonstop action and the overall aesthetics, Nex Machina is the most video game-like title you'll play this year. The overall design can get somewhat repetitive, and the odds are often not the most fair, but those looking for a challenge have found their latest addiction.