Nuclear Blaze (Switch)

Nuclear Blaze is a platformer title that has decided to do something a little different by putting you in the boots of a firefighter who stumbles into something a little more unexpected during a forest fire. Is this another Red Hot title or just a spark in the rain?

Nuclear Blaze is developed by one of the masterminds by the fantastic Dead Cells and was initially created as part of a game jam, the idea was expanded and has now taken from of Nuclear Blaze, a puzzle platformer where you play a Firefighter with outstanding jumping ability and even more outstanding bad luck. 

As I’ve alluded to this isn’t your run of the mill Firefighter simulator as within minutes of trying to quell a blazing forest fire you’ll stumble across a facility that isn’t on any map, following your duty you venture in to find any survivors and quickly find out the reason this place isn’t common knowledge is that it’s a facility that houses SCP or Special Containment Procedures, basically not very nice monsters!

Alot of the narrative is told through files you’ll find scattered around the facility though there are a few cutscenes, it’s not the most story heavy of titles and pacing mixed with the 2 hour runtime makes it feel like it’s building to something that sadly never materialises. 

The heart of the game is within its puzzle platformer gameplay in the style of titles like Celeste or Horace, despite how it looks and the amount of exploration this isn’t a Metroidvania and with the amount of them flooding the market lately I couldn’t be happier with a linear adventure with no backtracking. 

Being a firefighter your job is to put out fires and this is done with the push of a button, you top up your water with handy refill stations dotted around. Many of the rooms rely on you extinguishing the fire before it spreads, either by your means or by activating sprinklers, there’s even a section where you have to be speedy to stop the fire reaching nuclear reactors which spells out bad news.

You also gain abilities throughout the game such as a dodge roll to get through fire, a water shield and other nifty tricks to see you survive the facility and its dark secrets. 

Nuclear Blaze can be a tough little game but quick respawn and no penalty for dying means you can power through with a little effort, if it does prove to be a little too tough there are a plethora of difficulty modifiers to see that everyone can see the end of the game regardless of skill, there’s even a “Kids Mode” which lets you run around and play firefighter with fire trucks in an environment with no dangers, something very much appreciated for a parent of 3!

The game has a fantastic pixel graphical style to it and the lighting effects are brilliant, this is a prime example of a game that looks good on screens but even better in motion.

I loved Nuclear Blaze. I just wish there was more to it, it’s a brilliant 2 hour jaunt but the build really doesn’t pay off in the end and that’s a damn shame. Hopefully there are more firefighting adventures on the horizon but for the right price you can whack the difficulty up and get a little longer out of this short but sweet title. 

3

Summary

A short but firey adventure.

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Straight from the streets of SouthTown, all Dunks Powah'd and ready to Bust A Wolf. Catch me on Twitch/YouTube.

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