Oh my God, where am I supposed to start with this?

I had been replaying Project Wingman lately, and had gotten a new laptop. Nuclear Option was a game I knew about for a while, even my friend had already recommended it way back but I didn’t believe my old laptop could run it. But now that I have a better laptop, Nuclear Option was indeed a viable option. I took my time to consider purchasing this game, I watched and read reviews, I watched my friend play it and asked him a bunch of questions. It was ABSOLUTELY worth it!

I mentioned to my friend that Nuclear Option appealed to me from several angles. As a military sandbox it reminded me of Arma 3 and Ravenfield. As a combat flight game it reminded me of Project Wingman and Ace Combat 7. And with the MOBA-like elements of its primary gamemodes, it reminded me of Airmech Arena. All of which are games I regard highly, and for a game like this to tick all those boxes I didn’t wait for a sale to buy and play this game.

I often see people into flight sims saying that this game, in terms of simulation falls somewhere between simulators like DCS World and arcade games like Ace Combat 7. I can’t speak for how true that is, but even in spite of my Arma 3 experience I find this game to be much more simulation-based than any other combat flight games I’ve played. But I assure you, the game is still well-paced and not at all slow.

I struggled with the controls at first. I couldn’t figure out how to calibrate my controller so I gave up and went MKB. I changed the scheme to resemble something more like Arma 3’s and that worked out for me. I can’t say much about flight sims, as I don’t play DCS World or anything like it, but my Arma 3 experience -Despite not being a dedicated pilot- actually helped me massively here. I can’t fly the helicopters yet lol but I’m having a blast flying everything else, especially the Compass and Ifrit.

I beat several of the missions. I managed Altercation solo in ~30 minutes, Confrontation solo in ~1 hour, and Domination solo in ~20 minutes. And I played Escalation in COOP with my dear friend, and that game was the moment my love for the game was cemented.

It was a hectic game of constant sorties and situations popping up. Every couple minutes one of us was trying to go out and get something done “I’m gonna hit the defenses at South Boscali”. Every couple of minutes we were constantly updating each other on the situation “There’s a radar station still at F9”. And it just kept going on and on, but it never felt overwhelming. Occasionally, we had to sortie together, like when we overwhelmed an airbase’s defenses with AGMs and Rockets, or hunted down enemy aircraft.

Then, we hit the one hour mark. Strategic Nuclear Weapons are cleared for deployment. All the Ballistic Missile launchers go off and half the map is targeted. Despite the incoming Mutually Assured Destruction we still flew, destroying BDF ground and air forces alike. At some point I look up at the sky way, way above me and see an ocean of red and blue dots. Those TBM. All of them. Nuclear and High Explosive. And finally, the missiles hit. It was mushrooms all around at the 1 hour mark.

Was it the end of the game? Oh no. No no, it wasn’t. Most major objectives had been completely annihilated but we still had a couple airbases, including the large ones at Vigil Cay and Agrapol. Half the map blew up and yet we still took to the skies again and again, the battle wasn’t over yet. Another exhausting hour of defending our territory and trying to find and destroy BDF remnants and their last airbases.

Eventually, only their Carrier group was left. With some EW we took out the corvettes and destroyer. And I took off from Agrapol in a Darkreach fully loaded with Tuskos. One last sortie, launching everything I had at the Carrier until that sweet sweet victory popped up at the 2 hour mark.

This single game of Escalation and its ending is what sold it for me. At of writing this, I only have about 20 hours in the game. That game of Escalation was just last night’s battle. But you can bet my playtime is likely to astronomically increase. I genuinely believe this game might be on the same level as Arma 3 and Ravenfield for me. An all-out warfare sandbox where I get to feel awesome, where every move feels rewarding and the game feels fair.

I didn’t know where else to put this, but so far my only gripe is a lack of save/load features. I play SP often and some sessions can drag out and get exhausting.

Overall Im loving it and definitely wanting more. I feel it's going to be an Early Access game which I will follow the development of closely. I genuinely can't express my love for this game enough. Let me say this, it makes me feel the same way I felt playing Arma 3 for the first time back in 2017. And I do not say that lightly. I love this game and want to closely watch its development.

Please remember to check other reviews to make a properly informed decision about purchasing this game. I am but one man speaking from my own experience and with my own preferences.

5 stars at $17. This game doesn't waste my time. That kind of respect for the player goes a loooong way with me.

Lots of combat scenarios, you get to play various fictional aircraft (based on real ones kind of), with a solid physics engine, and instant action. I'm not wasting 3 weeks of grinding just to play a low level plane I barely enjoy. Just jump in, choose how you want to play and fly around blowing ♥♥♥♥ up.

Very cathartic, I have fun whether we win or lose. Playing well is rewarded, playing poor is still fun.

I struggle with shaky hands, so the map is difficult to use for me, but this game is a steal at $17. Buy it for yourself and friends.

Hehe plane go zoom zoom pew pew.