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The Doom clone you never knew existed.

Nerves of Steel is a 1995 First-Person Shooter developed by Rainmaker Software for the MS-DOS.

Set in some unspecified future where the various governments of South East-Asia have unified to form a massive dictatorship, led by one General Kim Dung-Moon who rules the Golden Triangle (called the "Iroin Triangle" in-game) with tyranny, General Kim's forces are developing the mechanical armies and superweapons using stolen Western technology. And it's up to the player(s), part of an unnamed Commando Team under the South-East Asia-specialized unit called the "Tunnel Rats", to infiltrate Kim Dung-Moon's lair to take him down.

The game received notoriously bad reviews, even back during it's initial release, where it's seen as one of the worst and forgettable Doom clones back then. To the point where a remake by members of the Doom modding community exists, which is actually considered better than the actual game itself.

Gameplay is divided into three "episodes" which can be played in any random sequence (surprisingly enough), though, in chronological order:

1. The Cyborg Solution - Mecha-development labs with plenty of cyborg soldiers.
2. Mutant Hive - Bio-chambers, where mutants are being created.
3. Moon Keep - Kim Dung-Moon's lunar headquarters


There is no time to waste... only you can stop the twisted plot of Kim Dung-Moon!

  • A.K.A.-47: Although unnamed onscreen, the first weapon pickup you can obtain is an assault rifle seemingly based on the AK-47, with a brown front lever handguard, a scope in front, and a sliding lever. It's implied to be the real deal, given the setting .
  • Artificial Stupidity: Due to the game's developers seemingly forgetting to input an "open" animation for shutters, areas accessible via shutters (which the game has a lot of) can be reached via the player phasing through the surface. Most of those entrances has mooks on the other side, but they're programmed to attack if and only if the player is in sight - you can just phase through a shutter, take a few potshots, and phase backwards and the mooks will conveniently forget you're there! Repeat this a few times and you'll kill everything without suffering a scratch. The remake from Doom's modding community fixed this issue though.
  • Container Maze: The hangar area has a crate maze, made of indestructible crates where you'll need to navigate and find an exit. With plenty of mooks and occasional weapon pickups. Meanwhile the labs have a similar maze made of oil drums.
  • Cut and Paste Environments: Several which are painfully obvious, where hangars, labs, offices and other areas shares identical designs. Sometimes the game throws a colour filter in a pathetic attempt to make it slightly different, but that's it.
  • Cyborg: Kim Dung-Moon's scientists have dabbled in cybernetics, with occasional mooks having half-mechanical features popping up alongside flesh and blood enemies. They stick out among the few enemy designs, being the only mook variety that's more fitting in a sci-fi setting.
  • The Dictatorship: The game is set in one of these, allegedly set in South-East Asia in the future, though you likely couldn't tell due to the generic-looking graphics.
  • Excuse Plot: There's a dictator and his private army, they want to do bad things, your commando needs to stop them, end of plot outline.
  • Fan Remake: There's one made by members of the Doom modding community, which is actually better received than the real deal.
  • Gas Mask Mooks: There are enemies in blue bio-suits wearing face-concealing gasmasks in the moon base.
  • GIS Syndrome: Makes up the bulk of the background scenery, rather unconvincingly too.
  • Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: No Doom knockoff / homage could be complete without this:
    • Green Recruit
    • Trained Soldier
    • Seasoned Veteran
    • Killing Machine
  • Interchangeable Asian Cultures: The "South East Asian" dictator, Kim Dung-Moon, has a suspiciously Korean-sounding name. Not that the game actually tries to explain about.
  • Mooks, but no Bosses: There isn't a single boss battle anywhere in the game, with Kim Dung-Moon himself getting offed in the same difficulty as any generic mook.
  • Space Base: The third stage, "Moon Keep", have you discovering Kim Dung-Moon's real headquarters... on the moon. You'll need to hitch a lunar shuttle to infiltrate the place.
  • The Squadette: You can choose to assume the role of a lady commando, as seen on the front cover. It doesn't affect gameplay in any way.
  • Standard FPS Guns: The game doesn't really bring anything new to the table. You've got the basic pistol, your first upgrade is an assault rifle, and you can obtain shotguns, rockets, and a Mini-gun.

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