15 years ago I played StarCraft, 12 years ago I played Aliens vs Predator. Now these two games combine to create a spectacular mix of strategy, tactics, teamwork, and FPS. The game sucked me in like no other this year. I recommend it to every fan of the abovementioned titles. Despite some flaws (engine optimalization not at its best, no commander = no fun), Natural Selection 2 merits universal acclaim!… Expand

This is a great game depending on what server you land on. While it is open to modification it is also open to exploits. When you get into an exploit free game the title is simply fantastic. When you are faced with an exploiter or worse a whole server of exploiters the game becomes pointless. The mechanics are great, the atmosphere is intense and while I prefer to play a marine the aliens can be fun as well. If I could split my score I would give the game play, atmosphere, graphics, and melding of first person shooter with strategy a 10 and give the overly open code a 3. However I am forced to give a single score and reluctantly give it a 7.… Expand

Fantastic in every way. Incredibly fun game play as both humans and aliens. It combines the game play of star craft and a FPS. Essentially one person plays as the typical starcraft player, while that person's units are everyone else in the game. Incredibly fun.

NS2 = NS1 on steroids. Just simply an Amazing MP experience. One of the best ever. When you win a round of NS2 (that can take up to an hour or more) you know that everyone on your team was working together and you literally see each others sacrifices result in hard earned area control on the battlefield. The game is balanced on a knife edge, where the thrill in the battle is the unknown of what your enemy is going to bring against you next. Did they upgrade to a shift hive or did they get jetpacks yet? One moment you feel like you are slaughtering the aliens and then a lone alien gets into your base while you're all off establishing a new front, manages to cut the power and suddenly your entire team can't respawn and the race is on to get back there before that bloody Onus arrives and starts mopping up.… Expand

Surpasses the first game in most ways, beautiful visuals and fantastic modding abilities / community. For one of the best Multiplayer games around, its well worth it!

If they hadn't made a free weekend and sale I wouldn't have bought this very cool game it turns out, and no one should complain about having a bad commander, like if your that upset about it train to become one yourself then you can just blame the team and/or yourself but just try to have fun which is suppose to be the main purpose of playing. The maps are well designed and i'm even playing this game on the lowest settings so I don't lag which is going well. I'll be cutting this short, overall their are alot of great things about this game that you must try out especially if your into rts and fps.… Expand

Ok, to all the people saying "it's only fun as marine" watch the tutorial videos and you'll see how to play as an alien because playing s an alien makes it a completely different game from being a marine. A marine plays like A N Other FPS but the aliens require tactics and learning your chosen form. Personally now I've learned it I prefer playing as alien and it really makes the game when you get on a server where people understand how to play as aliens and you end up with a great game.… Expand

Buy this game. Not just because it's a cheap, beautiful, independently developed game, but it because it it so much damn fun. I go into fits of laughter quite often. It's a ****ing hoot.

Incredible game. This is extremely fun and a great way to hang out with people. If you're a fan of the Aliens series or if you like sci-fi horror or team games, check this out.

There are some quirks with balance and such. For example, one side might be able to get a cheesey snipe on important buildings in some areas. Its a multiplayer only game, so success and fun games rely on the competence of players and how well they work together. Speaking of which, the community is super friendly despite the troll era every other game and website is undergoing.

I've played this for over a hundred hours. Never gets old, despite pretty repetitive maps. I do wish, though, that there were some cooler things like sealing off vents. Maybe if they had a spaceship scenario ala Warcraft 3's 'Parasite' where engines, life support, and power can be shut down. That would be a really cool role-play environment.

The RTS element works pretty well, but it takes time to learn and if you do it wrong or in a way people don't like you get a lot of backlash. The success of the marine commander depends so much on his marines that it almost makes the aliens, who don't, imbalanced. But that adds to the onslaught/zerg nature of the aliens.

All in all, its a really good game and its certainly worth it.… Expand

Just bought this and played a quick game. Seems like it has a solid and original concept, what with the commander and all the perks you buy in-game. Seems like a mix between a moba (hon/dota) and a FPS. Shame my framerate was quite low (about 40) I'd imagine if I could get it higher it would be a lot better because the aliens move so fast I barely see... Maybe that's the point. Only problem is the small(ish) player base so it takes a while to find a decent server. This is FPS at its finest though, this is how aliens vs predator game should've been.… Expand

The game itself is like everyone says , fun times but omfg the load screen to join a game is stupid dumb annoying. I literally sit from 5-15mins waiting for it to load then initialize then precache, etc etc etc its **** retarded.

I hate giving a game like this such a low score because you can tell a lot of passion and effort went into making it. I played the old natural selection mod for 1 day but it was still unfinished at the time and I didn't really understand it so my review is not from the perspective of everything in NS2 should be like NS1. Starting with performance, this game is about as bad as they come with optimization. If you're buying this game make sure you have an i5-7 processor or AMD equivalent because from what I've read this game takes all the processing power you can throw at it. My video card is decent enough and plays many games at max settings 1080Hd res but if I go anywhere near mid-max settings on this game the video starts to stutter. According to the forums the problem is caused by my weak processor (8400 wolfdale) and not by my video card so I run the game at very low settings to make it playable. In my non-expert opinion the small dev team should have just licensed some game engine and used that instead of trying to invent their own. Now to the gameplay, this game is treated like a casual fps multiplayer where players can drop in and out of a game and switch teams but this style of matchmaking does not work with the gameplay which is far from casual. I would say 80% of your victory/loss relies on the commander which is a lot of pressure to put on one position that can be taken by simply walking up to the hive and pressing E. I held off on writing this review until I played in some more "advanced" servers but I noticed they behaved in a similar fashion to the "rookie" servers. Lack of commanders and bad commanders doing nothing (no upgrades, no communication). Without upgrades or communication from the comm the game is over yet you have to sit through the whole round unless everybody drops out to the lobby. Why not require a comm to be picked before the round starts and maybe add an ability to vote for comms if multiple people want to command. The current system is just absurd. If your team gets behind because there is no commander or there is a total idiot with no communication skills commanding the round is over. I have yet to see a team recover from such a setback. I have no problem with unforgiving team games (I play a lot of dota2) but at least structure the matchmaking properly with rating systems or voting systems or something. When you break it all down I don't even think voting or ratings would help the game because it is structurally flawed by putting too much responsibility on one position. In the 20 NS2 games I've played, about 1 or 2 were evenly matched. Im not giving up on the game because I think it could offer some unique teamplay aspects but to stay sane I might have to start learning to be a commander when nobody else steps up to the task.… Expand

Please, at least ignore Gamespot's review. I'll do them justice and clean theirs up for them.

The game is amazing. But it is multiplayer only. So if the community dies, you no longer have a way to play. Well, you still do, but awfully. The developers need to keep the game fresh, and that's purely on them.

The learning curve is giant, and it expects you to learn things via youtube videos. Which works, but an actual ingame tutorial works 5000x better. HOWEVER, unlike Gamespot made it out to be, the learning curve is easily learned once you've had the chance to play around as the marines and aliens enough. After about 4-5 hours, I'm pretty confident in my ability on either side. Commander is a totally different field though, and you'd have to watch the videos to understand that, or walk into a room and command without knowing anything.

The game itself is amazing. Just hope that it doesn't lose support anytime soon.… Expand

Very good game, very unique. Has it very own style. I really like it. I hope they bring a demo soon for the undecided buyers among the players. Have fun with that game.

This game is just too damn impressive. Every competitive PC gamer needs to buy this. It can be rough for newbies, but its still super fun even when you're getting your ass handed to you. I love that this is a game where player skill makes a huge difference, unlike all the run and gun stupidity conquering mainstream FPS games. A pair of good players can totally carry a battle... but a good commander leading a squad of newbies can equally carry a victory. And the fact that such a small team designed such a great game engine blows my mind! I just wish all those big budget games would use an engine that looks and plays as smoothly as Unknown Worlds Spark engine. It looks frickin' amazing at 2560x1440 resolution!… Expand

Extremely fun game with some performance issues and a steep learning curve (hence the -1). Otherwise I really cannot find that much at fault with it.

I both love and hate this game. Idea is fun, but implementation is abysmal. Let me list some of the points: Horrible framerates even on lowest settings. On a decent system capable of 1080p @ 60 FPS in last year games I only have single-digit framerates in heated battle scenes in sub-HD display resolution and lowest possible settings. Single digits, in a fast-paced game! Network lags. For me, it is next to impossible to hit faster-moving targets. From time to time I suddently find myself in a different corner of the room. Questionable game mechanics and balance, seemingly changing after every patch. Countless minor issues with user interface and controls. alien vision frequently limits visibility instead of improving it, this doesn't make sense. NO MATCHMAKING. Literally, you can find a seasoned veteran being ordered around by someone who sounds like 12-year old child and has a green rookie nickname. This is fun for a few times, but not sustainable in a long term. No support for russian language despite popularity of this game in Russian-speaking countries. I would accept many of these problems if I didn't buy this game for 20 bucks assuming it's a finished game, not an alpha. 9 for what it tries to be, 1 for implementation quality and misleading self-advertisement.… Expand

There were a number of RTS/FPS mixed games 10+ years ago, but they seem to have died out. Kids these days probably don't remember them :)

It doesn't really add or take away anything from the original, but it doesn't need to. It's still a great game and much better than most big budget FPSs to come out recently.

Very fun game made with lot of effort from the developers. The only problem I have with it is that I find it too difficult. It's probably just me being terrible at every game. Hohoho.

A solid 8, a very good game which i purchased during the steam sale for a good price, i enjoy playing and is a very good combination of FP game play and strategy on the marine sides, i could argue that some of the sides are a bit imbalanced, however on the whole a very good game

A game a long time in the making; originally designed for the source engine but it didn't suit their needs so the devs reaction? write their own engine that did. The result is the source engine which is still under heavy development even after the game has shipped, they are working on improving the engine and working on new content (which will be released free and not drip fed in a never ending torrent of pay for DLC) You get the entire source gameplay source code and all the dev tools to create your own maps and mods (gameplay code is LUA).

The game as it stands on build 228 (version 1.0 on steam) has now had a enough optimisations to dismiss most of the complains the people who only tried it in it's beta (which was a true beta and not a PR demo) and the servers can now support full populations for long term play with lots and lots of building and with no framedrops.

As for the gameplay it's a fantastic asymmetric mix of ranged and melee combat and a fusion of RTS and FPS combat for the most part works really well, overall each team is directed by a commander in RTS style and the rest of the team are playing an FPS game where weapon unlocks and creature evolutions are researched by the commander.
It's by far the most original mix of gameplay elements in many years and will appeal to players of most games apart from modern grey millsim games and chest high walls.… Expand

A truly excellent game. Right up there with StarCraft as one of the best multiplayer RTS games. Make no mistake about it, all but one player on each side uses a FPS point of view, but this is still a strategy game. You win by teamwork, skill and strategy not by FPS skill alone. As an RTS player playing on a decent team, there is a really enjoyable sense of teamwork, aside from the fun FPS elements and the fact the game looks great. As a commander (someone commanding their team, who uses the RTS view of things) you'll spend much of your time issuing orders to your team via voice chat. With a team that has any understanding of strategy (and most do), this almost completely eliminates micromanagement for you, and means you can spend your time developing map control, thinking strategy, and issuing orders like "PlayerOne, harass BaseName. Try to pull as many of them over there to defend it as you can. Everyone else, group up, wait in LocationOne. When you see them move to BaseName to defend it, hit Base2.". Trying to do that in a traditional RTS would be a lot of micromanagement, but in NS2, its simple. There's a lot to be said about NS2 as an RTS game, and this barely scratches the surface. The main thing, though, is that if you are a fan of team-based shooters, OR a fan of strategy games, I would urge you to definitely give this a try. The combination of RTS+FPS might seem odd, but it works well. Really well. Amazingly well, in fact.… Expand

Great game, but for some reason crashes my computer quite frequently (twice in an hour) when BF3 on ultra doesn't. Very fun, very innovative, tons of replay value.

Natural Selection 2 is a game that rewards teamwork and skill with amazing victories and surprising comebacks. A good game can last an hour, or twenty minutes, depending on how well your team bands together to defeat the other team, be it the ranged-combat Marines, or the close combat Kharaa (or Aliens.) Each team has one player that plays from the perspective of an RTS. That player sees the game from a top-down perspective, places structures (which Marines have to build for the Marine team,) and works to guide the team. The main goal is to take out the other team's command station (that is, the Marine's Command Stations or the Alien Hives.) Thus, if the game isn't over quickly due to a Zerg-like rush from the Aliens or a stomping Marine power-play (which is fortunately rarer and rarer,) the game becomes a mix of putting pressure on the other team and capturing resource nodes and tech points. Each team does this quite differently. The Marines get all sorts of technological upgrades, like teleporters, mobile siege turrets, jetpacks, grenade launchers, shotguns, and the amazing Exosuits. The Aliens get biological upgrades, or evolutions, that provide additional abilities to their life forms. Examples of this are Carapace, which gives the aliens additional armor, Leap, which allows Skulks (the base life form that can run on walls.) to leap a good distance, and Stomp, which allows the Onos (the massive Gorilla-meets-Rhinoceros alien) to send a shock-wave through a team of Marines that knocks them down. There are many more than these, but you get the idea.

The graphics are slick, the gameplay is extremely well balance (if you read anything else, they were on a bad team or fighting a bad team. Two competent teams will have a balanced match.) and the teams are fun to play. Shooting is very solid, biting a little, tiny bit less solid, but still good enough on its own. Commanding is a blast once you get the hang of it (I particularly enjoy leading Aliens to victory.) Overall, this game has a little of everything, including unmatchable mod support, and community support. Unknown Worlds Entertainment owe their existence to the community, and they don't forget that.

10/10
Pros: Balance, Aliens are awesome, Marines are awesome, RTS elements are well done, maps are good, graphics are slick, performs fine on an i5-750 @ 3.0 GHz, 4 GB RAM, HD 6970 2GB.
Cons: Load times can be a bit long (should be addressed in a patch this week,) server browser can be laggy, occasional crashing and freezing for some users.… Expand

Very similar to the original Half-Life mod as you might expect, with some nice refinements to visuals and gameplay. The graphic enhancements are the obvious stand out and the changes to gameplay make it feel a little different but I have to say, once I got past my feelings of nostalgia I really felt like they could have pushed the original concept much further. For a small team what's there is quite an achievement, the down side being that you should expect it to come with more flaws than bigger developer titles. There's still a fair bit of room for optimization and more content. Then there's the steep learning curve for fresh players, something I think they should seriously consider providing more help with to encourage a new following.

Overall, it's as fun as it was back then and I'm positive the UWE team have more to come for this title.… Expand

Not enough improvements/additions from the first game to give this anything more than a 7. People new to Natural selection will probably disagree with this review. Natural selection is a very fun game if you're new because it encourages team work even with random people in public servers. But people that played Natural selection 1 heavily will get bored of Natural selection 2 because they are pretty much identical except much laggier.… Expand

It's an excellent game with a fresh combination of First Person Shooter and Real Time Strategy elements. If you look for a new experience, natural selection delivers it!

This game is not Call of Duty and it doesn't want to be like COD. I don't think there is greater praise that can be said about an FPS in such a stagnate modern warefare shooter day and age. My problems with the game comes from the community. It seems like there maybe a few hacks out for the game as I've seen some shady stuff go on in games like being tracked through walls and instagibbed repeatly by a player with 50-2 or a commander having way to much res compared to the amount of resource gathers they have and the amount of game time elapsed.… Expand

Fantastic game with many options for what you can do next and a forgiving community when you gaining your bearings in the rookie servers. Only problem in my opinion is it seems pretty unbalanced with the favor in the marines direction. The jet-pack shotgun combo is way over powered since when it comes to ranged attacks the aliens are lacking and cant match speed and mobility of the jet-pack. Other then balance issues its a fun game with few levels but the pace and tactics make those all that are needed for now.… Expand

Game performs well since latest patch, graphics are ok, audio ok. It's a really neat concept.

The unfortunate part is that the game is tremendously unbalanced. The marines have every advantage and it's only made worse by the fact that Friendly Fire is permanently OFF. This lets the marines spam aoe attacks non-stop. Playing as a marine is limited fun because of how easy it is. Everyone likes to win but when it is made so easy it quickly loses its shine.

With the aliens, the team has gutted their abilities and limited their buildings from the original game.

I think their plan was to make the game only for 'pro' players and expected to only sell to people who would want tournament play. I don't even like to play any longer because it's just not fun being way overpowered or being way underpowered.… Expand

Natural Selection was a fantastic modification for Half-Life, albeit imbalanced in some aspects. I remember when first word of NS2 started to circulate. Then small teasers appeared. NS2 looks great, but it's a shame it has strayed from NS in almost every way. The balance is horrible. The new system with Marines having personal resources is, to be blunt, stupid. This takes away any sort of leverage the commander had to get people to follow orders instead of going CoD-style. The weapons for the Marines is a joke, the only viable weapon is the starting weapon. The shotgun and grenade launcher has been gimped. Skulk is laughable. Fade is ruined. Onos is simply too much. Long story short, NS2 has appearance, the rest is horrible. Word of advice from an NS beta vet, download NS and forget about NS2. NS2 is horrible.… Expand

Very fun RTS/FPS hybrid with what seemed like a very friendly community of players. With a game such as this the player base could easily have been hostile to new players, but that was not the case at all so don't be afraid to give it a try. Inside you'll find an "explorer" mode to walk around the maps at your leisure, helpful popup tips, and plenty of training videos to get you up to speed. As for the gameplay itself; if you are unfamiliar with this genre its basically a first person shooter with a lone player on each side taking on the commander role which involves building up and expanding your base, researching upgrades, and coordinating the players from an overhead camera view (basically your typical real-time strategy gameplay) and I've got to say it works really really well. I've played similar games that have given the commander way too much power with the ability to spam the map with turrets, but not here. Both the commander and the other players seem very much equal in determining the outcome of a match and that's refreshing. For the factions there are two and they offer contrasting styles of gameplay: The Marines and the Aliens. The Marines are definitely the more "jump in and have fun" faction for beginners as their learning curve is small and the gameplay familiarity is very high. Its like playing Doom except the aliens are controlled by human players and even if you don't know what you are doing it can be a lot of fun. The aliens on the flip-side have a brutal learning curve. They are very fragile and you'll mostly be relying on melee attacks. Having to go up against machine gun, grenade launcher, and flame thrower wielding Marines can have you staring at your re-spawn timer quite often until you get the hang of things, which you will find infuriating. But, if you stick with them they can be a very rewarding side to play and in my opinion the more enjoyable as their units encourage a more diverse style of gameplay much like the Scout, Medic, Engineer, Sniper, and Heavy makeup of Team Fortress 2. You'll be sneaking in vents at hyper speed, climbing up on walls and ceilings, lurking in the dark as the power goes out, and pouncing on those poor unsuspecting Marines followed by their agonizing screams as you take a bite out of their backside. The maps are well designed, the gameplay feels balanced, teamwork is highly encouraged, and well... watching the aliens transform the maps and the Marines trying to eradicate them is just plain awesome. So yeah. Check out some gameplay videos and if it looks like fun give it a try.… Expand

The first few game sessions might be a bit confusing, but once you start understanding what is going on the game is gonna become really enjoyable. Here it is all about leadership (for the commander) and teamplay (for all the players). A commander on each team gives out orders to the squad (marines) or the the hive (aliens). High quality command is essential for victory. This game is original and best played with some friends with microphones on. The spirit of the game is similar to left 4 dead, the aliens and the atmosphere are rather creepy :)… Expand

This game is very creative and a great game to play with friends. Modded servers are AMAZING, you could pretty much play a different modded server once per hour for a whole day, and it would never get boring. However, if you are not playing with friends, matchmaking is terrible. Basically what happens is you either select a server or use quick match (which obviously selects a server) and once the server loads you go to a room where you pick to be a marine or alien. However, once you are in the room, either you pick a side and there is no one playing the game or the sides are locked. Matchmaking never choses a balanced server and it takes forever to find one. The gameplay is very fun, and it is great to play with friends. However, I advise to look elsewhere if you are looking for quick multiplayer games… Expand

Awesome! I can't stop playing it... Memories come from 10 years ago :) Though it needs some graphics optimization, performance is not awesome unfortunately.

Make some maps for this game please! There are only a few good maps (tram, mineshaft, summit, refinery), and of those, only summit is a truly good one. This game is marketted as having a user-friendly, powerful map making engine, but in all the years of development it has only been able to squeeze out a handful of small, dry lumps. This really hurts the replay value of the game. Yes, obviously there is more to the game than just maps (I could mention snail's pace devepment,or silly gameplay mechanics that were removed from NS1 for good reason, but have inexplicably made their way back into NS2 because Flayra thinks they are "cute"), but they are well covered in other reviews.… Expand

Im a fairly new player to NS and my experience so far has been pretty good. I was a little intimidated initially as there is a learning curve. Aliens have a fairly different playing style, but whether you pick them or not - you still need to know what each type does. Still, its thanks to this we have a nice change of pace from other multiplayer FPSs, that and the role of the commander. Which brings me to the negatives. The commander is a key part of your success, even with otherwise balanced teams (skill wise - both sides), if your commander doesnt know what he/she is doing and/or doesnt communicate, you will lose. A more helpful (interactive) tutorial would really benefit in this area. In the end, while this game can offer much fun, its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness - teams that do not work together will be hammered, leading to an unpleasant experience. Personally, out of a dozen or so games so far, its been a complete mixed bag - sometimes playing with no voice comm and people lone-wolfing which leads inevitably to a loss and potentially nasty messages, and other times playing with an experienced commander that has resulted in a mostly (7/8) green (rookie) team to victory, which was great fun!… Expand

I never played NS1 so this comes from the perspective of a noob to the game. The game is daunting at first, as either side, but I attempted to join the marine side to get a feel for the game, which was nigh impossible, everyone wanted to be a marine. I did well learning the aliens, and enjoyed my time. After a few games the real game came out to me. Maybe it's my PC but the hit detection is way off. I would hammer away on the smallest aliens and they would survive, where as while I played I would take very few rounds before dying. And once the marines got into exos, almost any game I played (even where the alien equivalent was there) the game ended in a win for the marines.

I want to enjoy this game but my PC can barely handle it, where as it can play games like Rage, Killing Floor, with smooth animations. I want to love this game, but I find it to be a down the middle average game. Great idea and okay gameplay make a title that I'm glad I purchased with a steep discount on sale.… Expand

So it seems this is one of those games where any negative score just gets spammed with Not helpful, and all the 10's get Helpful. Please, stop fooling yourselves it's not helping anyone to lie and say this game is a 10/10. The truth is, the game is fun but as it is it's terribly unbalanced. Skulks are unbalanced early game, far too many Zerg rushes can occur and their speed and mobility makes it next to impossible for a marine to kill them. Late game, aliens are too weak - they lack the strong units that the marines have. The original Natural Selection was free, and it was balanced pretty well - but this is ridiculous. Game balance is the number one complaint I have with the game. The mechanics are fine, but until the glaringly unbalanced issues are resolved I won't be playing this.… Expand

Game is fantastic. Requires a lot of teamwork, has a decent learning curve especially for commanders, graphics are great and I have not had any of the issues with crashing on highest performance. buy this game if you enjoy FPS, strategy or RTS

I love this game, I love the RTS/FPS combination, and I think that both sides of this game are very well intertwined. Natural Selection 2 has a bit of a steep learning curve, but rookie servers allow new players to learn the ropes without blame. There are no introductions, just gameplay videos that don't help out too much. There is, however, an "Explore Mode" to test out some of the basic features of the game. The three lost points were due to the fact that this game still plays like it is in beta. It has crashed on me many times, and servers are frequently laggy. The game once crashed my computer too, and this is an Asus gaming desktop that runs SC2, ME3, LoL and many other games on ultra quality, double-chip. I would recommend this game, but I do hope that Unknown Worlds continues to patch and troubleshoot, because there is a long way to go before I can say that this game runs well.… Expand

"Hi, my name is Eric Neigher and I'm a Gamespot reviewer. I got my ass kicked in NS2, and unfortunately I have autism so I can't learn. Where are the potatoes? 60/100."

Its been years since this was a CS MOD and loved it. Now its back and its a Official game?! WhAT! saw it, bought it, LOVE IT. marine or aliens there both equally fun.... i sense no un-balance, feels both side equal witch i love. Win or LOSE! i cant stop saying.... I LOVE IT!!!!! i thought i was gonna be bored after awhile but still its so open with options of team work....i cant never regret buying this for 24.99 when normally i expect to pay 59.99 Lol, its a must have! Add my steam ID "Shinigami4Life" this is one of a kind game that best discribs the perfect game lol... no serious! :D i would write more to show the passion for this game but ill just end it here hehe :P… Expand

This Autumn is reach for great indie games. Not **** ones with pixel art, cubes and anime style, but for real titles not dumbed down by some publishers. First one was a Chivlary: Medeival Warfare. The second one is Natura Selection 2. They both came out of nowhere for me, and as for NS2, thrill of this game is on par with monsters like DOTA2 . Really, a game from indie studio on self-made engine easily beats most modern online games. There are few issues, lack of normal training mode but fear not. Once you learn how this game work, you'll spend days in it. P.S. While game engine is not some sort of DX11 monster like Frostbite 2 or CryEngine 3 I can tell for sure, infestation animation is the best visual effect I saw this year on PC.… Collapse

This is my favourite FPS/Strategy game so far. If you're fan of NS1, then for love of the god buy it. I really like the changes they did compared to NS1. The graphics are nice and gameplay is smooth too. Teamwork is key to success in this game, I really recommend to try this game. It's worth every penny.

I previously gave this game a 9, but I've changed my mind and I think it deserves no more than 7.

The main problem is *performance*. I don't have particular issues, I have a pretty decent rig, but you simply can't expect people to have high end machines to play your game, which doesn't even look that good or complicated.

At first I was more forgiving, the game had just been released.
But now months have passed, and performance has even got worse for some in the previous patches (240 and 241).

Then there's balance; I understand that the asymmetry of the game makes it hard to do proper balancing, but when UWE fixed major hitreg bugs AND heavily nerfed Skulk's mobility *in the same patch*... well, that was stupid.
Skulks are the backbone of Alien teams; any significant change to both skulks and base marines might have a huge impact on balance.

You should never ever fix major bugs and nerf these units at the same damn time.
The result is that skulks are very easy to hit and they move like a brick, hence marines win most games nowadays: well done.

Also, I hate how they overhyped certain features which turned out to be stupid and useless (yes, i'm talking about Babblers). They made a trailer about it. I have no idea how Babblers made it out through internal playtesting, they are abysmally bad and a waste of resources.

They enjoy suiciding in places like Crevice, they can't keep up with the gorge (which is the slowest life form too), they have a 2 minutes life span which isn't reported anywhere in the game, they are extremely easy to dodge as a marine: in short, a fail-feature.

Well, that's it.
I guess my rant is over.… Expand

Great game, it retains many features of the mod and adds a few more which I think make it better, the addition of an alien commander is nice and the fact that marines can now buy their own weapons from their personal resources instead of begging the commander every time they respawn which gets annoying, the map design and graphics are great though as well as the sound, despite the fact I'm loving this game there are still issues to be aware of, the pre-cache one Is being fixed at the moment I'm sure and I wouldn't worry about that, the main one bothering me is the stuttering and teleporting that seems to appear at the most inappropriate times but the engine is actually great despite those facts and I'm sure they are working on those bugs. bunnyhopping is absent though but I gotta say I prefer the skulks movement in this than in HL Mod, you stick to walls much better and transitioning from wall to floor/ceiling is easier and more fluid, get this game you won't regret it.… Expand

Preordered NS2 when it was first announced, loved NS1, and am enjoying this game... mostly. Loading takes a pretty long time for first load but it's decent after that. Best part about this game is that teamwork is REQUIRED to win. No lonewolf noscope snipers in this game.

The biggest problem is the current balance of the game. I'm not talking from a clan/competitive perspective here, but rather just joining public servers. Aliens are a blast to play. That being said, marines really need some buffing for endgame: You cannot get out of your exosuits (therefore unable to recall back to base via Distress Signal, use phase gates or repair/build anything) and one on one an Onos will win against an exosuit, dual or not. Not to mention that Onos has more than double the health of an exosuit and tons more mobility. The Onos' devour ability has been replaced with a Stomp attack, which can easily take out more than two marines, while they lie helpless on the floor.

Anything midgame and lower is a nice fun, tug of war for resource control of the map. However, once the aliens reach Onos, there is rarely anything that can stop them. I know this game has a potential to have a greater score than 7, but at the current state, due to the skewed wins for aliens on public servers, it will have a lot of pro-marine public players uninstalling in frustration.… Expand

It was a long way of evolution..** First of all, sorry for my bad English. I played the game since the early alphas and i played part 1 as well. The positive aspects of the game are the big difference between the classes, (teams, weapons, attacks, tactics,..), the fine graphics, the complex maps and, of course, the combination of RTS and FPS. I don't know how long it takes new players to get used to all the game mechanics. It took me very long when I started playing beta after a long pause but its it's was easier now with all the help that found into the game in the last months.

**..and finally they released a great sequel of a great half life 1 mod.… Expand

Almost too good to be real.
The developer (Uwe) knows how to push all my buttons with NS2.

It features some of the best and most rewarding team play you can find in any game, A huge variation in gameplay, almost endless learning curve, the most friendly and enthusiastic community I've seen since the desert combat community for bf1942 and shiney graphics with a good sound track as cherry on top.

I can't fault them for a single thing they did (and I'm a huge cynic, this never happens for me). Just a shortlist of the best things about the game.
-community support dialed up to eleven! Rcon tools, server build for community, open source engine, mod and map support, amazing spectator mode. good quality VOIP in game. (actually the ONE SINGLE thing I miss in all of this game is demo recording like in quake or half life).

-Uwe developed their own engine, which produces some incredible lighting well suited to the game, super clean image quality, extremely responsive mouse input (best since half life 1! ). Can't fault this for anything. It is fairly cpu heavy (but looks the part!) The game runs really well on my pc from 2008.

-mod support and the sheer quality and variety of the game play ensures this is one of those games you can play for years without it ever getting repetitive or boring. It only costs 23 euros on steam too, almost ridiculously high value.

-No modern game tropes like ADS, p2p lobbies, DLC map packs that would split up the community, grinding for unlocks or level ups, mouse acceleration, locked frame rates, locked FoV or any of those shenanigans that can sully an otherwise good game.
They did right by the pc gaming community with this game.

If you like team play, or strategy, or shooters, or feeling like some solid snake/predator hybrid offspring or fun in general then you can't possibly go wrong buying this.

A lot of people will give 10 or super low scores on metacritic to influence the average because they think their opinion is worth more than others , but if I were to give NS2 an independant score I'd genuinly give it a 10. It's the first game since half life 1 that I consider to be truely in its own league.
Imo it re raises the bar for all other multiplayer and pc games to come.

Don't miss out on this gem fellas, you'd do yourself a huge disservice. The joy and giggles this game brings can't be overhyped, you will not be disappointed.… Expand

This game blend RTS and FPS pitting 2 teams against one another. Each team has a commander (RTS) and each team has soldiers. The commander buys upgrades, and decides how he wants to control the map. The entire game is a battle for resources which commanders use for new structures (turrets, whips, cloaking devices, etc) and the soldiers use for upgrades (shotguns, evolution, etc). The reason I am giving this game a 9 is because it does what no other FPS has done for me, makes me feel like a win is more then just who got the most kills, but who truly out witted their opponent. The graphics are amazing for an indie studio, the interface even more so. I would dare you to find any major lets downs when it comes to the visuals of this game.… Expand

One of my favourite games. A great blend of RTS and FPS, which gets a good variety of players involved. The only issue that I have with the game, is that you must have a solid team, and very good communication. This can be difficult to find at times, but once you do, hours of fun can be had. The alien class makes sure that this is not just two teams with machine guns. It keeps things interesting, and there being lots to learn, will keep the interest high in this game for a long time… Expand

I played the original Natural Selection back in the days of CAL and I'm glad to see the developers succeed with NS2. Unlike remake failures like CS:Source and CSGO, this game was actually developed by people with passion - and it shows. The controls are intuitive and the engine is gorgeous (*bad dum ching*). It may take a bit of time to learn how to play and com but you won't regret it.


9/10 - only reason is that there needs to be improvement in what was called 'interp' in NS1 but could also be called netcode.. Being killed when your character is 5 meters around a corner is an irritating and unnecessary part of the gameplay.… Expand

Great game that is a team player base and requires some skill. Aliens are so fun I enjoy the Fade going to the speed of light is a great escape move when I found myself in trouble. Marines jet packs and Exos is also fun to play. Been playing for 8hrs straight and enjoy every minute. NS2 developers added a great feature too called Mods. Mods in a server can change the game play with endless possibilities, like for example, Marines vs Marines or Aliens vs Aliens and so on. The game has great replay and with new MODS ideas making this game have so many possibilities of game play. I am tired of these AAA game developing companies that bring poor content with a huge price behind it, unknownworlds is indie company not even close to AAA level, but they made a great game with half the cost. highly recommended.… Expand

NS1 is one of my favorite multiplayer games of all time. This game gives the original title justice. Overall the developers are probably my favorite team right now. The dedication and passion they had for making this title is amazing. The community is amazing. Everyone you play with is mature and friendly. The game itself is a unique blend of strategy, skill, and action, and I love it. There is a learning curve to being an alien and thats what I think a lot of people have trouble with mostly. Being a good skulk/lerk/fade is an art, and takes some time to master IMO. There are still some performance optimizations to be made to the game to iron out some stuttering, load time, and framerate issues, but if you have at least a decent mid range PC you shouldn't have any problem, and the graphics/art are probably the best I know of right now. This is some PC gamer god tier **** a diamond in the rough, and I cant wait to see what Unknown Worlds has in store for the future of this game.… Expand

An awesome mash-up of RTS and FPS. For an independently developed game it easily puts many of the big AAA titles to shame. With constant updates through-out BETA and with continued support promised for a long time to come, NS2 is not only a great game getting better, it's got a great community behind it, pushing it further with mods and tons of support.

NaturalSelection2 is something different, thats what makes it special. Some of the fastest , most challenging tactical gameplay out there. Whether playing Aliens or Space Marines, its completely different from your typical Shooter. The game has a learning curve, especially learning the aliens, and playing the commander positions. This game demands teamwork. If you want Teamwork, this is it. You cannot win without it. But if you were craving something deeper than "Capture the Flag", then you cant go wrong with NS2. Its only downside is, its a bit of a resource hog. You need a fairly new gaming rig to play it without lag. But this is a gamers game anyway.… Expand

Incredible fun with friends of solo. Had not heard of this before but was amazed by the quality of the game. Huge fun, atmospheric and if played in the dark at night can even be creepy when you hear enemy aliens crawling through the vents around you.

The game has depth and real substance to the gameplay, and team work is absolutely essential. For the commander, it is like playing a slow paced but deeply tactical Star Craft where your marines and units are real people with differing levels of skill.

at 18 quid on steam this game is an absolute steal - buy it, get your friends to buy it, and enjoy!… Expand

This game is an amazing blend of FPS & RTS. If you like team-based games, you're in for a real treat. The only reason I don't give it a 10 out of 10 is that sometimes I don't like how you know you have won or lost a game, but it takes another 20 to 30 minutes for the game to actually end. Still, I highly recommend!

Game is good. Get it. Don't pay attention to the Gamespot review by that one guy called Eric Neigher.

Eric Neigher can suck my peepee while neighing like a horse.

I have no idea why people like this game. Rarely is there a good fight, they really needed a system to keep noobs playing with noobs. Its very painful to continually lose because your commander has no idea what he is doing. I can only imagine that this game is good in clan v clan situations, since there is no matchmaking. Very painful process, not very fun after you get past the gimmicks.

Absolutely fantastic. I have had a lot of fun with it so far, and I highly recommend. My only issue is the game's crosshairs, but I tend to dislike most game's crosshairs, and this game is moddable enough to allow for custom crosshairs to be out.

Also, if you're a fan of the classic NS, people have already begun releasing more classic NS Maps, as well as a Combat Mode mod.

So, you may be wondering to yourself "How good is this game?" The answer: Spectacular. This game blends RTS and FPS flawlessly, better than any other game I've seen to date. The game is of course full-on multiplayer, as many games are leaning toward now. The game favors the fast-twitch style gunplay of CS: Source, GO, etc. while the Real-time strategy aspect caters to all kinds of playstyles, be it turtling, rushing, or aggressive expansion. The commander makes or breaks the team, which is where this review comes to a mid-point on the goodness. If you get a commander that is New, Uncooperative, or just plain bad, you are at a very serious disadvantage, which makes the learning curve of beginning Comms steeeeeeeeeeep. The players are usually very helpful in pointing new folks in the right direction, leading me to believe that the community of this game is one of the best I've seen or been a part of. This game is revolutionary and deserves more recognition than it's gotten thus far. Its beauty, brains, and brawn all outweigh the small aspects that bring it down from a perfect 10. Get this game, if you're a FPS OR RTS fan, you won't be disappointed, which isn't something you can say often.… Expand

What a wonderful game. It's combines FPS and RTS together very well and creates a unique experience rarely if ever found in other games. It's a lot of fun and playing with people who know what they're doing makes this all the more enjoyable. Playing on both sides is great fun; aliens can chomp at the legs of marines and evolve into creatures that range from flying units to giant rhino-looking aliens. Playing on the marines side is a ton of fun as well; more team work involved, I believe. The guns are used in a very old-school way (no aim down site), which I can definitely appreciate. But this is just from the FPS side, the RTS side is also great fun, but also where most of my criticism stems from. As an avid gamer who plays anything from RTS to FPS to side scrollers, I can sadly say that the commander mechanics in this game are not that great. In my RTS's, I like to be able to make control groups, double tap the key for that control group to center on it, and to queue commands on my units; but unfortunately, none of these things are present in Natural Selection 2, which alienates a lot of would-be commanders. The ability to learn commander is also very difficult. Going into a random server with players on it and jumping in on the commander's seat for the first time will more than likely result in a loss for your team and them getting mad at you, so jumping in on a pub server is not ideal for learning how to play commander. There is an explorer mode, but that starts you out with more buildings and resources than what you would in an actual game, and seeing as you have no marines to do anything for you and have no enemy,, you can't really learn all that much. What I feel would greatly help aspiring commanders would be an offline mode with really basic bots, but that does not currently exist. However, asides from my gripes with the RTS side of the game, this is a really wonderful and unique title and you'd be missing out were you to not pick this up at some point.… Expand

The game has a lot of promise but the system in which decides the winning losing team is too quick and before you know it, you're either owning the other team or getting your face smashed in. You don't simply lose the game, oh no, it takes a while which is very frustrating. Even if you win, its a slaughter and not a very rewarding experience.

If your Commander is bad, you will lose. You know this quickly as they don't talk. Teams need to communicate which is fair enough. Just something to point out how critical commanders are. If you have friends, get them to play. Communicate a LOT and get one of them to learn the commanders role. Get some tactics and maybe, just maybe the game will be fun.

Not recommended for casual gamers.

Buy Planetside 2 or Teamfortress 2 instead.… Expand

This is quite simply one of the most unique and ambitious pc titles to come out of today's market. A truly remarkable community, asymmetrical sides, and necessity of teamwork define the charm that puts ns2 as one of my currently most played games. This game is living proof that you do not need persistent leveling, aesthetic promotions, over exaggerated bloom/visual stimulation, and expensive DLC to create a worthwhile game, and this is something seldom recognized by all the big name titles in the current industry. This is the kind of game that more people need to try, especially those looking for something different from the routine modern military shooter trend.… Expand

It's a good game, a faithful recreation of the HL1 mod. But sadly, that's all it is. A recreation. No real new features to speak of, ones that add to the game, that is, and we lost alot of features as well, so it comes out to less.

The game also has horrible performance, as you can see on their forums, even with a high end rig. There's numerous bugs that have existed for over two years in the beta form, that are still not fixed. At it's core, it's really fun, but lacks polish and content.… Expand

Perfect game, its not unbalanced to any side.. its unbalanced if you get a **** commander and team thats all. Real fun game, i prefer aliens due to the play style and I can say it definately is not easier for marines.

Awesome game, the original was fun and this is even better. They are allowing mods for the game, which I can only imagine that will take this game far.

This is to help balance out the falsely positive reviews. Probably won't help much, but truth is this suffers what all FPS/RTS hybrids suffer: Mediocre gameplay all round. Not good at anything, forgettable at the least and annoying quite often. Bad interface, gameplay balance, hitreg, basically everything that should have been done right for an RTS or FPS hasn't been done proper in this hybrid game.… Expand

Natural Selection 2 is a great game. Immersive game play and a really fresh feel for an FPS with good balancing considering the drastic differences between the two factions. This is a must have for any fps enthusiast.

Can be fun but seems horridly unbalanced. For being a game that doesn't have the epic action, expanse and visuals of Battlefield 3 and other games like it, it sure requires a lot more power to run. The game seems to have the optimization of an alpha build and runs like complete garbage. Constant crashes and frame lag destroys what could be a pretty fun experience.

One of the most fun games i hav ever played.
Unlike modern AAA fps shooters the Devs have not "Dumbed down" the game, so it has a refreshing high learning curve, most others miss.
No Pay to win dlc is another +
Game sourcecode is open source and modders have all-ready made some amazing content.
Superb balance, extremely beautiful, runs better then most AAA and the RTS elements are vary fun.

The game is pretty fun for a little while definitely well built, but I uninstalled after about 20 hours of game play due to the sole reason that balancing was apparently done for tournament play. As a casual gamer I expected to lose on the pub servers, but when over 3 days playing as a marine (which I enjoyed better than aliens) I managed to win only 1 game barely due to the fact that the teams were stacked is a pretty good indicator that this is nothing but an exercise in frustration.

For a multiplayer game such poor balancing for casual gaming is inexcusable and the community will probably die in the upcoming months. If you are looking for a game that will last you a while there really is nothing here.… Expand

From one of the best mods, to a standalone game. As it was getting released i found myself hoping the developers wouldn't sell out and just dish out another Counter Strike/COD like game. I'm very glad to report that the game turned out great and that i'm waiting for more games from '' Unknown Worlds Entertainment ''.

This game is just Epic. The work these 3-4 people did is Godlike ... I am a programmer and i am impressed ... More maps will be out soon all for Free! You will get patches and Upgrades for free the next 2-3 years like NS1... The support from the modders is big like in Skyrim

Fantastic job of expanding and improving, while still maintaining the feel of the original. Few developers have the guts to take on the challenge of building a team vs team gave with a non-mirrored playstyle. While the balance is delicate, and a competent team is required to get the most from games, it's a ton of fun, and well worth the wait. With a price tag at half of what big developers charge for comparable content, it's a deal.… Expand

I applaud the effort put into making this game, and the risk the developers took starting a new company and going with some new ideas. I didn't play NS1 Half Life mod, so I was turned on to this game by a friend. As soon as he said "FPS/RTS combo" I was sold. It really is a neat concept, but it is very poorly executed. On the surface, it seems like this should be a game of possibilities: the two sides being different, the team play, the RTS/FPS combo effect, the individual purchases and group upgrades. The end result, unfortunately, is a game of limitations. You will spend most of the game using either an ineffective assault rifle or spamming the space bar, trying not to lose proper perspective while biting. There is little variety in what you are allowed to do and the few things you can do you will not really spend much time using. Marines die quickly, so purchased weapons will be lost, aliens get greater variety but it isn't much to speak of. The levels are all the same, a function of the aliens being only melee, which gets stale quickly. The RTS as commander is a bit hard to get used to but solid once you figure it out. However, commanders don't get too many options for things to do. The game is very rigid in the build/research paths and there isn't a lot you can really do to customize the force available. With aliens you get a bit more than marines, but you can't really follow a research tree to anything unique or amazing. All in all, the limitations on what is available, and with the high prices of evolving/buying coupled with the short lifespan inherent in corridor combat games makes it a pretty unremarkable experience.… Expand

If you like teamwork-heavy strategic gameplay, shooters, and strategy games, you should like NS2. If you also used to like playing AvP, you should love NS2. The game loses a point for occasional performance issues, but gains it back in essentially free updates and new features for life.

With its blend of action and strategy coupled with non-linear teams and diverse roles this game is one of the best experiences in online FPS coop to be found.

Great team based competitive FPS/RTS hybrid that deserves your attention. Based on the original Half-Life mod with updated features and some interesting but refreshing gameplay changes. With all the generic modern FPS shooters competing for your gaming dollar this holiday season, Natural Selection 2 is a great value. I promise you will put more hours into this game than most other flavor of the month FPS that are rarely worth the full retail price you're forced to pay. Check it out!… Expand

This game isn't easy, it has a high learning curve, getting used to the differences between marines vs aliens can be tough for new players, I stuck with it and got the hang of it after a few hours(I was still no ace) each side has a much different approach to win the game, and it doesn't have to be the same approach each time! with the Multiple upgrades. The Unknown Worlds Entertainment is so good to their community, the community is so good to them and new players, the steps they made to make this game is incredible it feels like a multimillion dollar game title but it was only made by a group of 7 and help from the community. If you're tired of the same old Call of Duty copy and paste from year to year, you can buy two copies of NS2 for you and a friend for less than 1 copy of Call of Duty Black Ops 2, and I guarantee you're going to have way more fun, especially if you enjoyed AVP, NS2 blows both out of the water.… Expand

Natural Selection 2 game play has a unique personality, which is rare in titles today. Sure there are other games that are Hybrid RTS/FPS, but they don't offer the same level of quality and depth. The game is simple, but offers a lot of strategy and each game feels different. Playing as a gorge (combat engineer), skulk (sneaky fighter), fade (quick medium assault fighter), lerk (combat support), or onos (siege and heavy combat) on the alien side all feel different. Playing as a marine or exo-suit (GOLIATH ONLINE) are fun experiences. If you enjoy team game play, you'll love Natural Selection 2 since each role benefits the team in a unique way.

Natural Selection 2 is basically a delicious cheap wine that will only taste better as it ages. For $25, this game is already a bargain and the developers have committed themselves to improving it post-release. Additionally, mods can provide additional content for no cost to the purchaser.

There are a few issues that need work including networking and performance. If it were a $40 or $60 game I might be a bit more strict on the performance of the engine. The developers have committed themselves to improving performance after release.… Expand

Natural Selection 2 is one of the best Tactical Shooter Games of the Year... Because no other one use a so likely concept... Good Work Unknown Worlds Entertainment!

Amazing game, sticking to it's roots as a PC mod and asymmetrical shooter. Refusing to dumb down their game and create a work of art independently this company developed it's own engine with a group of 5 or so people and the work they've done is ASTOUNDING, better then some supposed triple A titles with a huge budget and staff. This is one of the defining reasons why PC gaming is not dead and why it remains the best for real, raw and intense gameplay that is unique and not a retextured mess of everything sold to the kiddies on Xbox already. I tip my hat to Unknown Worlds and what they've been able to do.… Expand

This is a fun multiplayer game that has a lot of potential, it contains a team element not often seen in games of this generation. You feel a connection to your team and when your team and your commander are working together there is nothing more satisfying. I would say that you should get this game if you plan to play it while working with people. no lone wolf crap. my only complaint is the lack of tutorial for the commander mode, and i always felt intimidated to get in it since it could ruin the game for my team.… Expand

An amazing sequel of the Half-Life mod Natural Selection. The developers have done an outstanding job and really pushed the limits of indie game design. This game deserves a 10 for many reasons, but the biggest has to be the perseverance and skill shown by the developers.

Marvelous game, every bit as entertaining as Natural Selection was years ago. The most important thing to understand about this game is that everything was made by a handful of dedicated people with an ENORMOUS modding community behind their back every step of the way. New content will be continuously released (including combat mode from ns1) on a monthly/weekly basis including: maps, models and skins, game types, etc.
As with any mixed-genre game, getting a grasp of ns2 can be a challenge. Marines/aliens with sub-par FPS skills will be worse off than the counter-strike gods, and commanders that breathe Red Alert will be tactical masters in just a few games. There is variety of playing styles to suit you, whether its being a scout for your team to warn of incoming threats/enemy positions, supporting by building or protecting valuable ground, or endlessly assaulting the enemy base, you can sink hours at a time into this game without even knowing you've killed half of your free day.
Sadly, as with most online games (mostly the PC versions), teamwork is a HEAVY requirement. For some people this may make the game, for others it will break it, but regardless playing with friends and communicating with your team is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. Remember, you could easily kill a few marines and look cool, or you could strategically kill the power and prevent many more from spawning.
Now for the reason it can't be a 10, and maybe never will be... Latency scripting. No matter how 'professional' or 'godlike' or 'stronk' you may be, having a ping above 100 will ALMOST ALWAYS ruin your gameplay. You might hear things like "wall hacker" and "godmode" and such, when in reality you're shooting 2 feet behind the skulk lagging like a b*tch, or biting where the marine was nearly a second ago. Sure, your damage drawer might shot -420 on a skulk, but that guy dodged every shot on his screen, and he happened to roll a 6 this time around while you got a 5. For this, all I can say is to bear with UWE until they can polish their coding. Until then, for everyone's sake, don't join a server if your ping is gnarly.
Anywho, if you played the first NS, you owe it to yourself (and possibly your childhood) to buy this game. Great remix of classic NS1, with a few additional key elements to balance it out once and for all, as well as some added quirks, tech tree elements, and skills.

P.S. currently $10 on steam until 1/7/13… Expand

This game is deep and fun but overall is very original, having played the original mod all those years ago, its been created as a standalone game masterfully and has embarrassed the CoD clones in how the game plays and its intelligent design, ignore the haters its a masterpiece of MutiPlayer gaming.

Brilliant sequel of good old NS which was... legendary, it took best part of it and added some new awesomeness. It is stongly tied on a teamwork, good commander can do the match, and weak one fails it at the start. So don't try to jump to the console if you don't know what to do.

An amazing online multiplayer game which remains faithful to it's predecessor. Many of the features and game mechanics are missing when compared to the original - but they kept and refined the basics to craft a well-balanced team based multiplayer experience. Frustrations with the title often stem from the radically different styles of play that the Marines and Aliens require. Each side has different strengths and tactics, which gives them different advantages throughout the game. This (in my opinion) adds to the experience, creating unexpected scenarios - and keeping the game fresh.

The game presently runs for $25 on Steam, and is worth every penny. It's a work in progress - with many features, enhancements, and optimizations to come -- but in it's current state, still well worth playing.… Expand

This game is stupendous. It manages to mix RTS and FPS, which alone is ridiculous, but it also has two completely different sides that are both a ton of fun to play... and it's balanced! Holy cow. The graphics are amazing and climbing on walls as aliens or flying around or teleporting is tons of fun. Easily one of the greatest multiplayer games since the original Natural Selection.

The first time I jumped into NS2 I was shocked that this game is so polished and enjoyable. It's amazing to see an indie studio coming from a mod doing such a great job. It's worth every penny and I know it will be a title to plays for months / years to come. Especially with the large amount of Modding and eSports support released with it! My only wish is that the Gamer Media would write more about it to get more players in!… Expand

This game is incredible. The only real major complaint I have with it is the optimization issues. My graphics card can run Skyrim on Ultra, Metro 2033 on pretty high settings, and Borderlands 1+2 on absolute max with no issues, but I had to set textures to low and remove several effects to achieve playable FPS. Other than that, it's a spectacular game that looks brilliant no matter what. The learning curve is steeper than many other games I've played, but within a day I was able to figure out the game for the most part. To start, I'd pick marines. They're far more easier to pick up than the Kharaa, who took me an extra couple games to figure out completely. I'm absolutely enthralled with this game, and were it not for the optimization issues it would be a perfect 10 in my book. Excellent gameplay, community, graphics, atmosphere, and easter eggs! Also PROTIP: Get a mic! Makes everything so much easier.… Expand

We (the fans of NS1) have been waiting for a long time for this gem. This game has it's own in-house developed engine, it's not an eye-blow, but it's cool ! The infestation is spreading dynamically, power loses can be really spooky. I love this game, it's both good for causal and competitive gaming ! A legend. 10 out of 10.

Natural Selection is one of the most innovative games I have ever played in my life.

The sheer value of this game is astronomical. What a neat idea of incorporating RTS with FPS. If you like team based multiplayer games, this one is for you. The team of 7 people did a phenomenal job of truly making this a sequel of Natural Selection 1. Highly Recommend this to everyone!

I wish Aliens vs Predator 2 multiplayer was alive. I bet it would have been awsome but then I heard about Natural Selection 2. I loved the game but I have to complain about one thing. Marines, they are too powerful against aliens. Save in-game money for that big power suit and aliens chance to win is close to 0. There are too little maps but your main base will never be in the same place. It gives enough variety until new maps are added.

In NS2 forums they say that even if you bite marine it either did a lot of damage or barely at all. Pro players can land 3 to 4 hits on marine and he is dead. Even after 9 bites I still get killed and marine runs away healthy. I have no idea how to do perfect bite and kill marine. If there was some sort of limit for those superman suits or make them cost more, the game was better and I would enjoy playing as an alien. Right now marines are the ones who always win. I have seen only 5 games where marines have lost and I have played the game about 100 hours.… Expand

If you don't own NS2, I highly recommend you pick it up. The game is absolutely GORGEous! The game play is addicting and with FPS and RTS elements you simply can't go wrong spending hours in this game.

The game balance is a little off and that's the only reason I've deducted a single point from this title. When they come back and address this, I'll rewrite this review.

Anyway, the fact that they've opened it to the Steam community with the workshop has brought a LOT of custom content including the old school game type, Combat, as well as maps from the previous game (NS1) and re-skins for just about everything. This fact alone helps push this community and the game to another level.

A tip for people playing as marines... disable atmospherics. This will allow you to see clearly when other players are using their flashlights. If it doesn't bother you, it really adds a realistic lighting effect to the entire game and looks absolutely beautiful, I just wish they would tone it down a bit so it doesn't hinder visibility. All in all, if you like FPS and RTS games, this is a must own and a no-brainer.… Expand