Natural Selection 2 cover art

Natural Selection 2

Asymmetric FPS-RTS hybrid where aliens and marines fight under live human commanders.

On Steam ↗
Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION8 /10READS6 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    8/10

    Skulk movement and marine aim have steep ceilings

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    6/10

    Human commanders mind-game tech and map control

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    2/10

    Symmetric maps, little randomness

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    6/10

    Tech trees, res flow, and lifeform timings

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Game details

Released
2012
Developer
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Platforms
PC
Modes
Multiplayer
IGDB critics
85/100
IGDB users
78/100
ShooterPuzzleReal Time Strategy (RTS)StrategyIndieActionScience fictionHorrorSurvivalStealth