Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is a "tactical fleet simulator," which basically means it's a sci-fi strategy game with real-time combat set in the cold black void of (Tim Curry voice) space. It's quite well regarded—PC Gamer magazine gave it an 83% review score in April 2005, according to Metacritic—but, as you can tell by that review date, it's also a little aged. More important than that, though, it's also free on GOG until July 6 as part of the storefront's ongoing Summer Sale.
The setup is classic: 60 years after the catastrophe of Noah's Ark, humankind's first colony ship, an uneasy peace has settled between the megacorps who rule the solar system—until a startling discovery throws that balance of power into chaos, and you, the famed young captain Marcus Cromwell, find yourself thrown into the fires of a new conflict.
Nexus: The Jupiter Incident features a variety of mission types strung together through an elaborate narrative moving the story forward, Wing Commander-like, even when a battle is lost. The GOG release also includes "a fully documented mod kit," with a model viewer, sample models from the game, and guidelines for creating your own. That 4.4/5 user rating on GOG isn't anything to sneeze at either.
Your mileage may vary, but I think it looks pretty damn good for a 20+ year old game too, although I am admittedly a sucker for that sweet Homeworld style, especially when you can see bits of the Freespace aesthetic poking through here and there.
This giveaway is, as I mentioned, coming amidst the GOG Summer Sale. The Steam Summer Sale is the big one, but I've always loved GOG's turbo-cheap deals, so here are a few you can snag for less than $2—not quite as good as free, but pretty darn close.
- The Witcher Enhanced Edition
- Alan Wake
- Kane and Lynch: Dead Men
- Rollercoaster Tycoon Deluxe
- Hitman: Blood Money
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Freedom Fighters
- Freedom Force
- Darklands (only for the truly hardcore, but I tell ya, it's great)
- Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
- Serious Sam: The First Encounter
- Battlefleet Gothic: Armada
- Arx Fatalis
Okay, that's more than a few, and there's a lot more than just that, but you get the idea: If you can't figure out how to blow two bucks in GOG's Summer Sale, I don't know what to tell you. Except that Nexus: The Jupiter Incident is free, as long as you pick it up before July 6. The GOG Summer Sale itself is on until July 9.
