The game’s complex mechanics combine to create both strategy and story detail at the same time. But when you’ve got the rules down and the randomness comes together, the result is a joy, an ever-escalating excitement machine that builds toward a crunchy conclusion. It’s hard to maintain the tension and the story when you’re stopping every few minutes to double-check something in the rulebook. And the games’ complexity can work against the excitement it wants to generate. However, it has to be said that other games provide great drama and narrative at a fraction of the overhead Nemesis: Lockdown requires. Another may be a violent shootout where you arm up and tangle repeatedly with alien horrors before trying to lock yourselves in an isolation chamber. One game may see you starting a blaze in the alien’s nest to burn the eggs, then desperately firefighting to stop the whole complex going up in smoke. Random rooms and events set the seeds of variety but the sheer, mind-boggling array of different things to do in the game ensures every story it tells is different and rich with narrative detail. They interweave to create a sandbox of sci-fi drama in which no two games play out remotely the same. Getting out of this one probably won't be easy (Image credit: Future / Matt Thrower)Īll that complexity and randomness do have a big payoff, though. Tactics, such as they are, are mainly about risk mitigation, and it’s hard to escape a sense that the intricacies of the rules are obscuring a paucity of meaningful decisions for players to make.
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Even when the game flow is understood, the game is full of things that can kill you - and occasionally end the entire game - entirely randomly. That makes it tough to get to grips with the strategy, making it hard to win. The rules are very complex and presented in an obtuse rulebook rife with minuscule fonts, confusing cross-references, and mislabelling. Nemesis: Lockdown is a hard game in every sense of the word. The escape routes themselves, via randomly discharging escape pods or out onto the planet’s toxic surface, are filled with peril.
To win, you must not only fulfil your objective but escape. As such, a key part of the game is players co-operating - or otherwise - to pin down what this is. There’s also a hidden contingency which the arriving corporate suits put into action at the conclusion to try and contain the aliens, and this will kill players who haven’t fulfilled its criteria. Each player has a hidden objective, some of which involve killing other players. Particularly when you reach the game's end. Speaking of which, there are a lot of ways to die in Nemesis: Lockdown.
You may be infected, in which case your character is fated to die when the game concludes.Įach player has a hidden objective, some of which involve killing other players
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Worse, each has a hidden code printed on it which can be revealed by placing it into a neat 'scanner' component which resolves the image into letters via a sheet of red plastic. These can’t be played or discarded and so clog up your hand (luckily, some rooms and actions can help you clear them). When players encounter aliens, they often end up having contamination cards in their action deck. Of particular note is the infection system. Aliens can be researched and probed for weaknesses. Items can be scavenged or crafted into more powerful combinations. Powered-up computer terminals can be accessed for various effects. Power fluctuates throughout the station, leading to lights going on and off (this is not a place you want to be in the darkness). Some rooms start on fire, and too much fire will destroy the complex. To make matters worse, escaping isn't even the end of your problems - you’ll also face a dangerous event card draw.Īround this basic framework, there’s a jaw-dropping tangle of additional rules and effects. The foes you'll face in Nemesis: Lockdown are truly horrific (Image credit: Future / Matt Thrower)
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