Nemesis Strike is a fast, kill-or-be-killed third-person shooter that blends pieces of Metal Gear Solid with elements of kill.switch and other duck-and-cover spy games.  This isn't much of a spy game, though you do have a lot of options in terms of confrontation avoidance, adding twists and turns to a game that might have otherwise been deemed repetitive.

How then, with all that good stuff, did the publisher reach the price point?  It starts with a "G" and ends in "raphics."

At its heart Nemesis Strike is a repetitive game, but only to a certain extent.  I wouldn't call the local game rehab center and prepare them for your addiction, though you should be prepared to be hooked a bit longer than you would for the average third-person shooter.  Low price or not, Nemesis Strike has enough fun points (imaginary points that are cashed in when you play a good game) to make up for all the technical issues.  For the lack of artificial intelligence.  And for the lack of... 

For an inexpensive game with one primary goal (shoot every bad guy who's visible and hunt for those who aren't), Nemesis Strike has a lot of diverse gameplay features.  Lean up against walls, peak around the corner to look; pull out your weapon to fire.  Stay behind the wall, position your weapon away from the wall and shoot semi-blindly to wipe out the dumbest (and closest) enemies.  This isn't fool-proof, but it will stop most flesh wound from occurring.  It'll also keep the force field charged.

Players can't jump, but they can lunge forward, evading bullet streams from cannon-friendly enemies.  A lot of the time it's a matter of looking ahead, knowing who's around you, and snipering as many enemies as possible.

That isn't too hard to do when you have multiple weapons from the start of the first level, including two different rocket launchers.  I really only needed one, but they gave me two!  I never look a gift arsenal in the mouth though.  If it makes the game easier, oh well.  If it makes the game more fun (which it did), then everyone's happy.

All weapons have a sniper or sniper-style mode that makes far away kills possible regardless of the circumstances.  Though there are situations where you can't make the kill if you don't get a little closer, most enemies will die by shotgun.  I didn't know they could reach that far!  In reality, they can't.  This game's physics are a (little?) off, but it's another one of those fun situations.  Shotguns are more fun when you can do more them. 

Next there's vehicular combat (tanks, hovercrafts, snowmobiles, etc.) and, as the box indicates, skydiving!  That exclamation mark wasn't there when I first heard about this feature.  It was more like, "Oh, skydiving."  But then I played it and was totally changed.  It's not revolutionary, but it shows that this can be done in a virtual environment.  The controls are 3D obviously, but unlike other games that attempted this, Nemesis Strike succeeded.  They feel right.  This is my favorite part of the game, and it just happens to be one of the shortest.  I have high hopes for what this could lead to in the future.

Although this isn't necessarily the rule for inexpensive games, Nemesis Strike does suffer visually.  Animations are stiff, they aren't always accurate, and although I liked the explosions, the side effect is more laughable than it is awe-inspiring.  (Explosions can throw enemies as much as 50 feet away!  It looks cool until you realize how exaggerated the effect is.)

One place where the game does not suffer is the music.  The soundtrack is somewhat of a rip-off of popular spy films/games.  No particular games come to mind, but you'll definitely get the feeling that you've heard it somewhere before.

That makes it sound like I don't like the soundtrack, which is not at all the case.  New or not, I loved the music.  It was intense, exciting, and drove the game at every turn.  Even the training mode was treated to a collection of eyebrow-raising, espionage-style themes. 

I'm not the type to buy $20 games, but it'll cost you $6.99 to rent Nemesis Strike from Blockbuster.  That makes the $20 price tag look even better, doesn't it?  Technically flawed and artificially unintelligent, Nemesis Strike is a game for those who want to get in, kill stuff, and get out.

Gameplay: 7.5
Metal Gear Solid minus the brilliance, the refinement, the innovation.  kill.switch minus the insanity.  Syphon Filter but with worse animation and, oddly, superior controls.  Nemesis Strike's pros and cons could be listed, explained and pondered all day long.  Once you get in and start firing your weapons, the rest won't seem to matter too much...at least until you've beaten it.

Graphics: 6
Good explosions, but that's about it.  Why is it that bland textures pop up in new games every single year?

Sound: 8
The music is so cool that it nearly eliminates the thought of it being anything but an original composition.  The voice-overs are hokey at times, but still acceptable for an industry that's dead last in voice-over quality.  Skip the cut scenes (do we really need to know why we're using so much ammunition?  Isn't that what games are for?) and crank your speakers for the soundtrack.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Medium is stretching it.  Anyone who's NOT a casual gamer will find the majority of Nemesis Strike's missions to be too easy.

Concept: 6.5
I love the skydiving mission, but the rest of the content was pulled from other games.

Overall: 7.5
The best low-priced third-person shooter?  If not the best, it’s pretty close.  Nemesis Strike holds no commitment.  It isn’t overly long, difficult to learn, or bombarded with frustrating missions that don’t have a point.  It’s a shooter weapons to load and enemies to kill.  Grab some ammo and fire away!