The game is set on the peaceful world of Nomis which has been invaded by a mad half robot/half human general. The army are looking for pieces of a long lost weapon which are hidden on the seven islands of Nomis. You play as Simon, a pirate smuggler who along with his co-op player Lucke, decide to visit each island and defeat the army.
Unlike many platform games where running, jumping and gunning is required, Nomis takes on a more stealthy approach. Your character can go into stealth mode for a limited amount of time, during which, you are invisible to enemies and the majority of their firepower. You can sneak up to them and deliver a single blow which will kill them instantly. You can always shoot your way through the level, but you have limited bullets and enemies can take a few shots to kill.
[nggtags gallery=NomisLegacyIslands]
A dead enemy will drop some items including bullets, money and materials which can be used to build upgrades for your weapons and improve your stats. Weapons can be upgraded a number of times including laser sights, extra ammo capacity and damage. You can also visit Pappy’s store at any time to purchase additional levels of health, stealth time and more ammo capacity.
The 20 levels of the game are split over several islands which carry the traditional gaming themes such as the icy Frostbite Atoll, lava filled Black Ash Island and jungle hi jinx in Tropical Village. Enemies also follow the theme with the robots wearing costumes wearing scuba gear or bobble hats which keeps the game fun. Level designs are quite large and are mostly well thought out, levels take advantage of the special items you gain by defeating the end of island bosses. You can revisit islands which can be easier to explore with items such as the oxygen supply for the water levels, ice cleats to stop you sliding on ice and double jump allowing you to reach previously unreachable platforms.
Presentation is done well with an easy to navigate system both in the menus and game such as the weapons upgrade and stores. Helpful tips are provided via signposts in the game and provide useful advice. Graphics are fairly good with a hand drawn artwork style, backgrounds are well drawn and represent the location, the characters look good and while some could do with more animation, they overall work well. Each island has its own music track but they are very short and become repetitive very fast. Sound effects are quite basic with annoying sounds for weapon fire, robot deaths sound somewhat better but some variety would have helped.
There are some flaws which can be very frustrating. The information panel at the top left of the screen can sometimes get in the way resulting in unseen enemies and even your character. There are some areas of the game where a manual camera control to see some more of the level would have been helpful. You can sometimes find yourself drowning, hitting spikes or landing on an enemy due to having to take leaps of faith to land first time on an unseen platform. Checkpoints are far and few between and you will often find cheap deaths due to unseen dangers. The stealth system allows you to almost play the entire game without having to shoot an enemy; simply go into stealth mode, kill or bypass an enemy, wait for the stealth to recharge and repeat.
Nomis: Legacy Islands costs 240 :MSPoints: which represents good value for money. The 20 levels will take a couple of hours to get through, there is a some replayability as you can revisit islands to explore further. The variety of the islands themes and power ups makes the game fun and interesting so it does make up for the occasional cheap deaths. Nomis: Legacy Islands is a recommended purchase but do expect some frustration due to a bad control system.
For information on Nomis: Legacy Islands as well as the trial and full versions of the game can be found on the Marketplace.
0
