History VideoGame / NuclearThrone

''[[http://nuclearthrone.com/ Nuclear Throne]]'' is a BulletHell ShootEmUp {{Roguelike}} by Vlambeer, creator of ''VideoGame/SuperCrateBox'', ''{{VideoGame/Luftrausers}}'' and ''VideoGame/SeriousSamTheRandomEncounter''. The game is currently available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, [[UsefulNotes/{{Playstation4}} PS4]], UsefulNotes/PSVita, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. The game is focused on high-adrenaline shootouts in randomly generated environments with a large amount of guns available at the player's disposal. Every character has different passive and active abilities, ranging from blowing up corpses to spending their own health to spawn allies. In addition as you defeat enemies you gain radiation, which allows your character to mutate, gaining new perks as you travel across the wasteland. But no matter how strong you or your weapons are, you must still be careful, because death comes quickly, and death means you're going on a [[FinalDeath one-way trip]] back to the campfire.

* AllThereInTheManual: Most everything about the characters. Things like Steroids being a scientist, Fish having been a police officer, and even a few characters' genders are never mentioned during gameplay, or at best hinted at in the loading screen hints. Even the bosses have backstories that the game never even touches upon.

* EnergyWeapon: Weapons that use energy ammo fall under this category, and the mutation Laser Brain increases the effectiveness of all of them.

* MadeOfExplodium: Cars can take a few hits, but will explode after taking enough damage (or being thrown at something).

* {{Cyclops}}: All bandits (including Rogue) except for [[KingMook Big Bandit]] have one glowing eye visible underneath their bandages.

* PrayerIsLastResort: Seems to be what the Last Wish "mutation" is, as the artwork depicts Fish in a PrayerPose. Since the mutation restores health back to max and gives you more ammo, it appears that there actually is a higher power to answer that prayer.

* AntiPoopSocking: One of the loading screen messages reminds you to take a 15-minute break for every hour you play.

* LethalJokeWeapon: The energy screwdriver initially doesn't seem that impressive given that it has the same paltry range as it's underwhelming, non-energized counterpart. However, it's lethality comes into play with the fact that it does the same damage as the energy sword and swings much faster, giving it some serious DPS even without Laser Brain.

* NotCompletelyUseless: On Hard Mode, the otherwise-terrible Disc Gun is actually surprisingly useful. Since the weapon drops increase in power much slower, you won't have access to good AOE weapons for a long time, and the enemies are densely-packed enough that firing a few discs through a chokepoint into a big room is an effective, if risky, method of crowd control.

* RevolversAreJustBetter: Every character has a revolver as their starting weapon, except for the Chicken and Rogue, as mentioned above. Y.V.'s happens to be made of gold. Averted since these are their starting weapons and as such usually the weakest weapon in their arsenal [[note]]with the exception of the Rusted Revolver, which is ''even weaker''[[/note]], but played straight with [[HandCannon later incarnations]] like the Heavy and Ultra Revolvers, the former of which deals more than double the damage of the regular revolver per shot and the latter dealing as much damage as a ''[[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Slugger]]'' with each bullet.

** For more details: [[spoiler:enemy spawns start out at the same level as if you'd already looped once, the difficulty of the enemy spawns increases twice as fast, the weapons increase in power at half the rate of a normal run, health drops are rarer, and enemies drop half as many rads. The only mercy you get is that IDPD vans don't spawn]]. ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Have fun]]''.

** Nuke Launchers are an explosive-type weapon that is extremely powerful. Missiles from it will also veer off-course and are just as likely to blow you up as your intended target.

** For more details: [[spoilers:enemy spawns start out at the same level as if you'd already looped once, the difficulty of the enemy spawns increases twice as fast, the weapons increase in power at half the rate of a normal run, health drops are rarer, and enemies drop half as many rads. The only mercy you get is that IDPD vans don't spawn]]. ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Have fun]]''.

** For more details: [[spoilers:enemy spawns start out at the same level as if you'd already looped once, the difficulty of the enemy spawns increases twice as fast, the weapons increase in power at half the rate of a normal run, health drops are rarer, and enemies drop half as many rads]]. ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Have fun]]''.

[[caption-width-right:350:The playable characters, from left to right, [[EnergyBeing Horror]], [[DefectorFromDecadence Rebel]], [[BloodKnight Plant]], [[AIIsACrapshoot Robot]], [[MindOverMatter Eyes]], [[GeniusBruiser Steroids]], [[JackOfAllStats Fish]], [[RockMonster Crystal]], [[GlassCannon Melting]], [[OddJobGods Y.V]], [[TokenHuman Rogue]] and [[TheDeterminator Chicken]] ]]

At some point in the past, humanity [[AfterTheEnd messed up]]. They tried their best, but they went extinct, either dying in the wake of the apocalypse or mutating to a point where they could no longer be called humans or classified as anything remotely close to natural life. Though the human race was destroyed, Earth was not; it merely changed. Life became a struggle for survival, but it continued ever onward. A long time has passed since the apocalypse, and now rumours of the legendary [[MacGuffinTitle Nuclear Throne]] has led a small group of mutants together to a secluded campfire. They have very little in common, but they all have the same goal; seeking the Nuclear Throne. This will by no means be easy, however, as the path to the Nuclear Throne is guarded by murderous bandits, ravenous monsters, and the mysterious Interdimensional Police Department (IDPD), a heavily armed militia determined to prevent anyone from reaching the Nuclear Throne for unknown reasons. Using their uniquely abnormal superpowers, these very same mutants will do whatever it takes to claim their prize and rise on top of the apocalyptic food chain, no matter the consequences.

* LimitedLoadout: Despite the game boasting 100+ different guns and five ammo types, you can only carry two weapons at once, and only Steroids can [[DualWielding use both at the same time]].

* A loading screen tip for [[spoiler:the Jungle area is [[Music/GunsNRoses "Welcome to the jungle"]]]].

[[caption-width-right:350:The playable characters, from left to right, [[EnergyBeing Horror]], [[DefectorFromDecadence Rebel]], [[BloodKnight Plant]], [[AIIsACrapshoot Robot]], [[MindOverMatter Eyes]], [[GeniusBruiser Steroids]], [[JackOfAllStats Fish,]] [[TeamMom Crystal]], [[GlassCannon Melting]], [[OddJobGods Y.V]], [[TokenHuman Rogue]] and [[TheDeterminator Chicken]] ]]

* UniversalAmmunition: Despite the huge arsenal of weapons to use in-game, there are only 5 ammunition types. This leads to completely different weapons somehow sharing the same ammo pool, such as the [[AutomaticCrossbow Auto Crossbow]] and the [[DeadlyDisc Disc Gun]] both using bolt ammunition.

* UniversalAmmunition: Despite the huge arsenal of weapons to use in-game, there are only 5 ammunition types. This leads to completely different weapons somehow sharing the same ammo pool, such as the [[AutomaticCrossbow Auto Crossbow]] and the [[DeadlyDisk Disc Gun]] both using bolt ammunition.

* {{Macrogame}}: As a {{Roguelike}}, there are little bits of progression that carry on between runs. The most major are the unlocking of characters, crowns and golden weapons. You unlock characters by performing a specific action or visiting a specific area. When unlocked, you'll see them back at the campfire after you complete your run. Crowns are much harder; you must acquire them on your run and defeat the FinalBoss. Since you can replace your crown in the Frozen City, you only get to keep the one you end the game with. Golden weapons are easier to acquire than crowns but the way to get them is less obvious and requires more luck. You need to be lucky enough to receive the [[spoiler screwdriver, which you need to use on a broken-down car in 5-1. This will take you to Y.V.'s mansion, where you can find a random golden weapon.]] Leave the area with the golden weapon equipped and it's yours for keeps. However, you can only have one golden weapon unlocked per character; getting another one replaces the first.

* GoldBasedSuperiority: Golden weapons allow you to equip a stronger weapon than your default revolver from the start as well as having slightly better firepower than their less shiny counterparts.