Nuclear Blaze

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Nuclear Blaze is an Action-Platformer released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players take the role of a sole firefighter putting out a raging fire, who discovers that the fire extends into what appears to be a secret research laboratory. Gradually learning that the fire may threaten an even greater potential disaster than initially thought, the firefighter continues deeper into the facility, trying to ensure the blaze is extinguished and the threat is subdued.

I love the premise of this game. It seems rare that we get a game about fighting fires, save for low-budget “Simulation” games, and it’s inexplicable that this would be the case, as firefighting is surely one of the most potentially exciting and dangerous professions there is. Cop games are a dime a dozen, where are the laddermen, the smoke jumpers, the… well, lookit that, apparently “Jake” is a slang term for firefighters. Cool.

Anyway, Nuclear Blaze does a good job fulfilling that potential. The game simplifies some of the logistics of the job – instead of a hose, you have a portable supply of water you lug around and magically refill when in proximity to water stations. However, this definitely doesn’t feel like a generic Action-Platformer with a firefighter theme pasted on top – players must constantly fight back fires that gradually grow and leap to surrounding areas. Opening doors often becomes a moment of suspense in and of itself, as each one can erupt in a backdraft explosion as fresh oxygen hits the blaze. What’s more, your water fires in arcs rather than a straight line, and does it messily enough that your stream usually covers an area, or you can opt instead to use a close-range blast to shield yourself from nearby fires.

Because of the way fires travel, and because you need to work your way toward sprinkler valves to turn them on and gas valves to turn them off, each area in the game can almost play out like a puzzle – how do you get safely where you need to be, and then to the next spot you need to be, without running out of water and trapping yourself behind an encroaching wall of fire.

Later in the game, you’ll encounter explosive hazards that will destroy everything if you can’t put them out before a timer ticks down, making you really think about making fast, efficient movements to accomplish your goal. You’ll also encounter electrical hazards that don’t take kindly to being sprayed with water, forcing you to find ways to work around them and eventually turn them off.

The action in this game is wonderfully intense, and the controls work pretty well, giving players just enough control that they feel like they have options to push back the fires, but not so much that the fire ceases to seem like a threat. There’s good variety too, as different parts of the game will require you to do some tricky platforming, or manage where you’re using your water, or as mentioned above, force you to think through how to accomplish your goals.

The presentation here is excellent as well. The game makes wonderful use of 2D pixel art visuals, filling fiery areas with a smokey haze and making the blaze itself look lively and uncontained. Water also looks great in this game, animating… well, fluidly. And the subdued atmospheric soundtrack does a great job putting the focus on the tense action. What’s more, it is absolutely insane that a game that looks this good only takes up 155MB on your memory card.

Okay, so there’s a lot to love about this game. What doesn’t work so well? First, the game is frequently showing places the player can’t get through – doors that won’t open, walls that seem breakable but can’t be broken, ledges you can’t reach. It seems like the game is setting things up to play out like a Metroidvania, but it’s not. In fact, apart from finding hidden bonuses (generally cats in the facility you need to bring to a ventilation shaft to rescue), there doesn’t seem much reason to explore here. It seems like a wasted opportunity to build this game into something bigger and better, and it’s particularly galling because this game is only 2-3 hours long.

Possibly more frustrating is how unforgiving the game is. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is a difficult game, because it’s not. However, making even a single screw-up will force you to restart the entire room you’re in, even with some rooms that can take a considerable amount of time and effort to clear. All that work just gets wasted and wiped back to square one whenever you mis-judge a jump and land in an area on fire.

It’s really disheartening how this game starts with such a great formula, and shows itself capable of creating something truly great with that formula, but ends up lacking the ambition to see it through and filling what is there with repeated frustration.

Still, while I’m saddened by what Nuclear Blaze could have been but isn’t, I’m still very pleased with the game that we did get. This is a wonderfully unique Action-Platformer that tackles an exciting topic matter in style, doing a great job of delivering on the promise of the thrills its topic has to offer. While it’s a short experience, and it absolutely feels like it could have been so much better, what’s here is still pretty great.

tl;dr – Nuclear Blaze is an Action-Platformer that puts players in the role of a lone firefighter trying to put out a raging fire in a secret research facility. The game delivers beautifully on the exciting premise, with some really fun and unique gameplay that makes players think about the best way to fight the encroaching flames, and the presentation is outstanding. It’s a shame that the game is a bit short and could have done so much more with its wonderful foundation, and death is frequent and frustrating, but overall this is a superb experience within the genre.

Grade: B

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Winner:

Most Efficient Use of File Storage Space (155MB) – When I was writing this game’s review and looked up its file size, I think I did a double-take. This game looks way too good to be so small. While pixel art visuals and no spoken dialogue surely contribute to the small size, the real wonder here is the way the game depicts fire, the way it moves and spreads. That such a visual treat has been squeezed into such a small package is a true feat of engineering.

Runner-Up: Best Action Game, Best Platformer

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