Military Madness: Nectaris Coming to PSN

Hello, Playstation Blog!

I am extremely excited to be here today to re-announce Military Madness: Nectaris to the world! I say “re-announce” because the game was first brought to the public eye several months ago, but at the time, the game could only be talked about in terms of bullet points. Now, I’m the lucky guy that gets to blow the lid off of the latest incarnation of the greatest turn-based strategy franchise of all time.

Believe it or not, the original Military Madness (called Nectaris in Japan) was released all the way back in 1989 for a magical little system called the TurboGrafx-16. While the system wasn’t all that successful, the game itself became a cult hit. Why? Not only did it introduce gamers in the States to the exciting turn-based strategy genre… but it was both really fun and really deep (and thus ends our three sentence history lesson).

As mentioned above, Military Madness is a turn-based strategy game. This means you and your opponent(s) take turns moving your squads around the battlefield and having them attack each other. There are over 20 different types of units that can make up your squads, each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. Also, there are over a half-dozen different terrain types, which can drastically alter a squad’s defensive properties and mobility. So, knowing the terrain is just as important as knowing your troops.

In Military Madness, there is no economic system. No money. No unit production. You can capture factories to steal squads and use those same factories to repair damaged squads, but should a squad be completely destroyed… it’s gone for good. Military Madness isn’t about resource management. It’s about tactics. It’s about decisive military action. It’s about making smart decisions and punishing your opponent for making careless ones.

Another thing Military Madness: Nectaris is all about: value! We’ve got tons of content that should keep you busy for dozens of hours. In fact, it’s like you get two games worth of content in one!

First off: the single player experience. The game comes with all 32 classic missions from the original TurboGrafx-16 version of the game (that’s 16 missions for the normal campaign and another 16 for the advanced campaign). The single player component of the game is essentially a remake of the spectacular original game. Of course, we’ve got the prerequisite spiffy new graphics and built-from-the-ground-up AI. While the first missions will go quickly, I feel comfortable saying that you can expect to spend 20 to 30 hours in the single player campaign alone.

And then there’s the multiplayer! I wish I could go into more detail about this here… but there’s just no room (in this post, anyway). For now, you’ll have to settle for a quick overview. We support (deep breath): online and local play (where players can share a single controller or use separate controllers) for up to four players!; 10 original multiplayer maps, designed specifically for either 2, 3, or 4 players; AI-controlled opponents; scoreboard matches with competitive settings; 10 Vehicle Upgrades and 10 Support Abilities for the brand-new and highly versatile Commander squad; free-for-alls and team games; and all the other bells and whistles you’d expect from a modern online game (voice chat, invites, etc.). Even after putting well over 100 hours into the multiplayer game, I’m still having tons of fun with it and I can’t wait to test my skills online against all of you!

Finally, we’ve got the most comprehensive manual you’ll find on a downloadable title that will help you understand all the ins and outs of the game. And, of course, trophies (yay)!

While I’ve covered a lot of ground here, there’s plenty more to talk about. But I want to make sure I’m talking about what you want to hear! Leave your questions in the comment section! Next post, ever-lovable Jeff Rubenstein will be asking me your questions over the wondrous Playstation Eye… and I’ll be on the other end answering them.

Hasta la vista, dear readers…