Written by Patrick Orquia
Developer: GameTomo
Publisher: GameTomo
Genre: action adventure, arcade
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 16 May 2019
Price: $19.99
Also Available On: Steam
Gigantic robots that soars to the sky and move like gravity doesn’t work on them are a steeple part of sci-fi. I’m not a fan of such robots, or any robots in general, but they do look cool and, once in a while, I like to leave my brain at the door and enter a world of such ridiculousness because, hey, real life sucks. Watching gravity-defying killing machines is one thing, controlling them is another, and through video games is the best way to do it.
Enter Project Nimbus: Complete Edition. This game came out a few years ago and now, like many others before it, has been ported to the Nintendo Switch. This complete edition features the original game plus new modes exclusive to the system. I have never played the original so I can’t really compare this version of the game to that, but I must say that the game was quite fun especially in small doses.
The game’s presentation is quite remarkable, as the makers made an quite an effort to provide the background story to the player with voice-acted cutscenes, from the intro to the end, most of them presented as audio recording bits shown in between levels, so that you would know what it is that you are even playing about, if you are interested with such. In the game, the much of the world has been devastated following World War III. Most countries are already in ruins, but a few cities have been remade into floating ones up in the sky. Two main factions are still on war (US-led CFN and Russia-UCN), though, and you get the chance to play either so that you can see the continuous fighting through their points of view. Anyway, the story itself, as a whole, is quite bland and very forgettable, and fortunately, the many recording presentations between levels can be canceled if you want to just jump into the action right away.
The gameplay is where this game shines the most. You play as a young ace pilot who get to control giant mechs, referred in-game as “battle frames”. If you are familiar with the Gundam series, the battle frames look very similar to them, although probably not as interesting. Each battle frame usually has similar weaponry, like rapid-fire guns, missiles, drones, and rail guns. These weapons have varying reload times, encouraging you to switch between them or risk being open to enemy attacks. In the story mode, you are provided with the battle frame to use for the level that you’re going to play, and unfortunately, you can’t level up or enhance them. Each level in the story mode usually feature a goal, most of them just requiring you to eliminate all enemies, but in latter levels, the goals vary more, making them a bit harder to complete.
Controlling your battle frame is not too complicated but also could be overwhelming at times. You get to move around in all direction, dash, go up or down, and lock on to enemy targets. The enemies could be hard to see at times and if not for the directional arrows that point to enemy location, it's hard to pinpoint which enemy is shooting at you. But if you manage to lock on to a target and you don't suddenly go to another direction, shooting at them is fun. You get to choose which weapon to fire and switching between them is a breeze, though it could be quite tricky if you are also trying to do some intricate maneuverings to avoid enemy fire.
Other modes in the game are the Survival mode and the Warfront mode. In the Survival mode, you can choose from any of the available battle frames in the game and the goal is to survive waves upon waves of enemies with increasing volume until you yourself are defeated. In Warfront mode, you get to choose which side to play as, and you complete levels by achieving goals indicated at the start. You gain XP and resources that you can use to either upgrade your current battle frame or unlock new ones. This mode is suited for those who like some RPG elements and may keep them playing some more hours, but there really isn't much content in this mode to get fully immersed in.
Overall, Project Nimbus: Complete Edition is not a bad game to try especially for those who are aching for some mech action on their Switch. At $20, you get good game with loads of content and game modes to try. The game also looks really nice, with a solid framerate and an engaging soundtrack to accompany it. The level design and enemy variety could me much better, though, and the gameplay could get very repetitive, but at the price point that it is in, it is not a bad pick at all, especially since you play this game anywhere you go. Perfect for playing a level or two, just to scratch that mech itch. Do suit up, soar to the sky, and aim for an awesome robotic adventure.
REPLAY VALUE: Medium
PROS
- Decent art style that doesn’t stray away far from the usual mech looks in other media
- Engaging soundtrack that makes battles more fun
- Good amount of content and play modes for its price point
- Consistent framerate
CONS
- Bland story
- Enemies lack variety
- No online multiplayer mode
- Highly repetitive gameplay
- Battle frames look and play very similar with one another, making switching with another pretty much unnecessary
RATING: 3.5/5 High-speed mech maneuverings
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