Nemesis: Lockdown

Survive an alien-infested lab on Mars

When I saw that Awaken Realms was releasing a new version of Nemesis set on a secret Mars base, my initial reaction was that they were just borrowing the theme of Doom in the same way the original game was inspired by Alien. They are, but this version surprised me by being even better than the original!

I wasn’t planning to get it, but when it came up on retail I couldn’t resist, and to to my delight, Lockdown doesn’t disappoint. Nemesis is all that I love about modern boardgames – over the top production, total thematic immersion, an emerging story and cinematic scenes – but if hard pressed, I’d have to say it can be a little too dependent on all the elements falling into place at just the right time and in the right combination. So far, Lockdown improves on the formula for me. By adding extra things for the players to do – managing an interesting system of escape pods, more computer control, making sure sections of the base aren’t plunged into darkness by keeping the power levels up, and even the option to go wandering about the surface of the planet – Lockdown engages you more in the theme and makes the cooperation between players more meaningful. But most importantly, it makes the opportunities for betrayal more frequent at the same time! Now that I have both I can really see myself always choosing Lockdown when I want to enjoy the Nemesis experience.

This rules summary isn’t just a rejig of my Nemesis summary, it’s completely redone from scratch for this new version of the game. Enjoy – and be careful out there!