Incremental games are something that have blossomed as a curious subgenre of gaming over recent years. Starting out as idle games – we’d watch something grow faster and faster over time. When restarting a process, any bonuses earned would crank some stats up allowing the player to get further, faster. The incremental element has now started to expand into other genres and this is where Nodebuster comes in.
Nodebuster mashes together the incremental ideas behind idle games and applying them to a geometric shaped survivors battle ground setting. You control a shape that auto fires bullets, bombs and chain lightning among other things at enemies and you need to survive 20 waves of enemies to conquer the game. It sounds easy but it comes to pass, there is a virus infecting your system that drains your health faster and faster the longer you stay in a wave of enemies. Not only that but enemies get stronger, more aggressive and angrier over time too. You’ll die, die and die again but that’s all part of the incremental grind.
You’ll gain currency for enemies you kill and you can spend these on a giant node skill tree to unlock upgrades for your shape. Some upgrade health or replenish it. Others add a shield. When you kill a boss you unlock a special currency that unlocks bigger upgrades such as new weapons or traits to help you out like vampirism – gaining health back for each enemy you kill. Most nodes have various levels of upgrade too, costing more for each level. My advice is upgrade everything as you’ll need it. Nodebuster’s first two hours are a brutal battle of small gains that feel bigger than they are but the gameplay loop is undeniably addictive. As soon as you unlock a new weapon, investing in increasing a single shot to a double, then treble shot for example can really help. As a player, you can eek out your runs to be more productive by moving your shape around to avoid enemy fire and contact. Being incremental and hands on is a potent mix and extremely approachable for any gamer to sink their teeth into. There is even an odd crypto currency conversion game towards the end which didn’t quite land well with me, but added something a little different to consider as you juggle multiple currencies for upgrades.
The core gameplay is fun and exploring a vast unravelling skill tree feels engaging and productive but Nodebuster does have a couple of issues. You’ll soon realise that the depleting health from the games virus is your biggest blocker to progression and so once you’ve invested in all the health upgrades, you’ll start to see the games progression speed up. It took me 3.5 hours to complete Nodebuster and at hour 3 I was on wave 8. The last half hour saw me speed through the second half of the game as if it hadn’t been balanced out. It feels like there are 12 genuine waves in this game and then afterwards I had reached the end of the upgrades and blasted through the remaining waves and story. I was still enjoying myself but it felt incredibly lopsided. The developer has implied that more content may come soon which may address this.
A big selling factor is the price of Nodebuster – £2.49p. I definitely got my moneys worth and whilst the last part of the game was a total cakewalk, deciding my upgrade order and dodging the bullet hell to get more cash for the upgrades was fun until I was overly powerful. Yes, it has some rough edges but this is like an itch you can’t help but scratch. Recommended.
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