MADNESS: Project Nexus (v2.18.b)

Nevada’s grimy corridors and ruined facilities become a cartoonishly violent battleground where every fight can turn into a desperate scramble for survival. MADNESS: Project Nexus blends third-person shooting with brawling, delivering a fast, savage action game built around the exaggerated mayhem of the Madness animation universe. Its campaign follows a group of damaged antiheroes as they push through a conspiracy surrounding the mysterious Project Nexus program. The mood is gleefully brutal and darkly funny, with flying bodies, improvised weaponry, and hordes of masked enemies making every room feel like an arena.

Combat demands more than blind button-mashing, even when the screen fills with blood and spent shell casings. Players shoot, punch, kick, dodge, block, disarm foes, and grab nearly anything useful, from firearms and blades to blunt tools found in the environment. Encounters reward quick decisions about cover, ammunition, enemy priorities, and positioning, especially as opponents grow tougher and more organized later in the campaign. Arena Mode adds a separate survival loop, letting you create and train a custom fighter, earn equipment, assemble outrageous weapon combinations, and test builds against increasingly unforgiving waves.

Its strongest feature is how it makes chaotic violence feel physical: enemies react to hits, weapons run dry or break, and a careless rush can end with a gunman or heavyweight brute overwhelming the player. The chunky 3D presentation preserves the series’ recognizable stick-figure-inspired style while giving its locations enough depth for flanking, scavenging, and close-quarters panic. Story missions provide a directed action-adventure experience, while the highly replayable Arena Mode caters to players who enjoy experimenting with combat loadouts and mastering difficult encounters. Fans of Alien Shooter, Sifu, or old-school arcade brawlers with a heavier emphasis on firearms find plenty to like, though newcomers should expect a demanding pace rather than an effortless power fantasy.