How to Play Madness: Project Nexus

Madness: Project Nexus is one of the most unique games out there, with a very innovative combat system that no other game quite has. It's definitely one of the most in-depth when it comes to Flash games.

1. Basic controls and gameplay mechanics

The game's controls are deceptively simple. Here's quick list of all the controls:

• WASD: Moves the character. (Double tap to run)
• Mouse: Aim.
• Left Click: Fire/attack.
• Left Click (Hold): Auto fire/attack.
• Q: Swap between primary and secondary weapons
• E: Throw current weapon, pick up weapon. (When unarmed)
• R: Reload.
• Spacebar: Dodge/block, open doors, interact.
• Shift: Bullet-time or Magic-Bar. (When bar is not empty)

As you can see, it's a lot more simple than most games. However, the mechanics are where it gets a little more complex.

Your character has a TAC-Bar. This bar represents your character's ability to avoid damage or luck - in function, it works similarly to an energy shield from Halo. When you get shot while you still have some of this bar left, your character will sidestep or otherwise smoothly dodge like an action hero. More elite enemies will also have a TAC-Bar.

What differentiates this between Halo and Call of Duty is that since it's based on your character's awareness, being attacked from behind will shred through TAC-Bars. This is what makes positioning incredibly important.

There is also a rudimentary cover system that will effectively give you damage immunity when attacked from the front unless you're shooting. 

Some of the playable characters in story mode will have special weapons - specifically, Sanford. Sanford's iconic hook cannot be discarded, and trying to toss it away will simply have him hurl it out on a rope. If it hits an enemy, then it will deal heavy damage, especially since it will likely only hit them when it comes back, effectively hitting them in the back and dealing heavy damage to the TAC-Bar.

Lastly, there is a bullet time mode you can enter at will when you press the shift key. This is useful for some boss battles that require accurate shooting.

2. Arena Mode

Now we can get to the real meat and potatoes of Madness: Project Nexus. The Arena mode is a mode with persistent progression where you take control of a random nobody who's forced to fight in experiments. You start out with rock bottom stats, unable to dodge roll properly or even shoot straight with a TAC-Bar made of paper.

As you participate in the wave, horde-based combat, your character will level up and earn money. You can use the stat points from leveling up and put them into a variety of stats that will eventually see you having higher stats than even Hank Wimbleton themselves. As you earn money, you can buy things such as hire squad members who will also progress with you, though you can't control how their stats allocate. You can also purchase weapons for your main character, but they will run out of ammunition as you progress through the waves.

As you progress, you'll start running into bosses from the main story mode, sometimes in multiples. This is where you'll truly be challenged.

When your character hits level 30, you'll unlock zombie mode. In this mode, enemies are significantly more durable. You'll run into zombie versions of pretty much every enemy including bosses, who are now significantly harder to take down due to their undead nature.

All in all, Madness: Project Nexus is one of the deepest and replayable flash games around. If you're a fan of the Madness series and you like shooter flash games, then you should definitely use this guide to play this game to its fullest potential.