When it comes to movie sequels, people can be divided on whether they make a franchise better or dilute it. There are countless movies that had a great entry into the world of cinema, only to release a subpar effort as a sequel, thereby diluting the brand.
Yet it’s hard to ignore the fact that Aliens, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien, is probably one of the greatest movie sequels of all time (I’d put it in competition with Terminator 2). James Cameron’s action flick about a squad of marines taking on a host of xenomorphs is an action-filled roller coaster that’s also one of the most quotable movies ever.
I bring this up because today, we are looking at the 3rd offering in the Nemesis series of games. Following the original Nemesis and its sequel, Nemesis Lockdown, we now have Nemesis Retaliation. While Nemesis was all about sneaking and trying to survive with your wits, Nemesis Retaliation has you fully armed and ready for combat.
Gameplay Overview:
Nemesis Retaliation is a fairly complex game, so there is zero chance of me giving you the full details on the gameplay here. If you want to know the full details, you can download a PDF of the rulebook here.
Whether you are playing semi-coop or fully cooperative, your goal is mostly the same. Complete your orders, try not to die. You have to both accomplish your mission and also escape the facility alive (and uninfected) to win.
On your turn, you’ll take 2 actions. Each action requires playing a card from your hand (sometimes 2). Actions will let you move around the station, explore new rooms, search for equipment, use items or room actions, or shoot intruders (aka, the aliens).
For the most part, you’ll be exploring the facility trying to find the rooms you need for your mission. Every time you move, you have to make a noise roll. Many times this will result in intruders spawning. If they spawn in a corridor, that’s good for you as they are easier to mow down (but cost ammo). If they pop up in your same room, well, it’s going to be a tougher fight.
Regardless, combat (when you are attacking) is handled via a die roll. If you shoot an intruder in the corridor, you kill as many as your die result. In the room with you, you need to roll lower than its current wound total (on a d8). Each time you attack in a room, it adds on hit, so unless you get a lucky roll or have a really good weapon, it will usually take multiple actions to kill one in the room with you.
The other thing to know is that the facility starts the game with no active life support. So in addition to looking for your mission critical rooms, you need to find the life support room in each sector (A, B, and C). Until you end up in a location with breathable air, at the end of your turn, you lose an oxygen (you start with 7). Run out of air… well, you can guess what happens when you can’t breathe.
After all players have passed, the intruders get a turn. Any on the board will attack and possibly move. Then an event card is drawn. These are all bad for you and will do things like spawning more intruders, setting rooms on fire, or kicking you in the nether regions (metaphorically).
The only other thing to know is that when the intruders attack, you draw a card from their attack deck. They rarely miss. Some cards will just scratch you, others will infect you, and still others will give you wound cards. If you have a wound card already, then some may just straight up kill you. There is player elimination, so be aware of that.
Once players finish their goal(s), they can escape the facility either via the lander they arrived in (if it’s come back already), go to sleep in the hibernatorium, or one player can zip out in the escape shuttle. Then it’s a matter of checking objectives and seeing if you are carrying a buddy inside of your body ready to pop out.
Game Experience:
Even though my overview above was pretty wordy, I’m really just scratching the surface of what Nemesis Retaliation has to offer. Like most games from Adam Kwapiński, this is a big, sprawling game with numerous ways to lose. I really like many of his designs (Frostpunk, Horror on the Orient Express), but they are not for casual gamers. They take time to learn, but they are thematic, meaty affairs.
And one of this game’s strengths is its thematic experience. You will feel like you are stuck on this station, with the odds stacked against you. The intruders are vicious and much more numerous. Thankfully, you’ve brought your trusty rifle, so unlike previous Nemesis games, combat is frequent here. Expect to be mowing down intruders even on your first turn. Yet as strong as you feel at times, the event deck and the noise rolls are there, ready to crush you.
Every time you move, you’ll make a noise roll, and even if you’ve secured a lot of corridors in the area, you are still never safe. There is always the chance an intruder will pop up in your room, ready to strike. And the event cards… let me just say that deck hates you. I don’t believe there is a single good card in that deck. We’ve had rooms set on fire, aliens spawn, and even the landing pad explode just as we were about to go back and restock. The game rarely gives you a chance to breathe. And in Nemesis Retaliation, that’s a feature, not a bug.
If you are looking for a game where you can feel like a badass, cutting down aliens while you make a funny quip, this isn’t the game for you (maybe try Zombicide Invader). It’s a game where every time you feel like you’ve got things under control, one wrong turn and things go haywire. We’ve had 2 out of 3 objectives finished and the facility under a bit of lockdown, and suddenly all the life support malfunctions and 5 rooms of intruders spawn. It definitely adds to the tension, but it also makes the game pretty swingy.
I say this because a lot can depend on luck. When you explore a new room, you draw an exploration card. That tells you if you find a sector-specific room or a random one. It can also let you know if the room is broken, on fire, and where intruders might pop up immediately. There is a large group of random rooms, which is great for replay value. But if you are desperately searching for the life support room, drawing a random room is going to add to the frustration.
I’ve played this game at a number of different player counts, from solo on up, and this is a game you definitely want to play with more players. I think its sweet spot is with 4-5 people. This is because while each new player adds a required objective, it also adds in another player’s worth of actions each round (usually 3-5). And since objectives can sometimes overlap, I’d much rather have the extra sets of hands.
In fact, the solo mode can feel unwinnable at times. You get, at most, 5 actions in a round (usually fewer), but are on your own to explore and fight. I’ve played at least half a dozen games solo and only come close to winning once. It’s just way too easy for things to spiral out of control. Especially because you have to do everything yourself. With more players, you can have someone focus on exploring, someone who activates rooms, and someone who shoots things. And since room combat can sometimes take 3-4 actions to kill an intruder, spending the entire round just killing one intruder will really set you back. I don’t think I’d recommend this game for solo play.
Final Thoughts:
For its place in the Nemesis trilogy of games (soon to be one more with Nemesis Legacy on Gamefound), I think this is definitely my favorite. I really enjoyed the exploration, the thematic immersion, and actually having a chance to fight in combat.
That being said, Nemesis Retaliation can be pretty swingy, with things turning on their head rather quickly. While corridor combat is great, room combat can turn into a slog. But if you are ok with that, the reply value for Nemesis Retaliation is off the charts. Even with just the core box, you can get a lot of mileage out of this one.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars – I think it’s my favorite version of Nemesis yet, even if it can be pretty swingy at times.
Hits:
• Great replay value
• Excellent thematic feel
• Both coop and semi-coop work well
• Best version of Nemesis yet
Misses:
• Game can be pretty swingy and luck-driven
• Needs 4-5 players to really shine
• Solo mode is brutal
