Welcome to our CHEATfactor Game Review of Nuclear Throne. We review the game and then factor in how the available cheats affect the overall game experience. For better or worse, our reviews will help you decide whether or not to use cheats when playing the game.

Confession time, though Nuclear Throne has been in Early Access for nearly two years and officially came out late last year I didn't play it until just last week. If I had played it when it came out though, it not only would have placed high on my top games of 2015 list, but it may have topped it. Nuclear Throne is a fun and fast, shooter that's instantly accessible for anyone looking to try their luck at it but it's also filled with a remarkable amount of depth the will keep you coming back time and time again. I couldn't get enough of Nuclear Throne's brand of hectic violence and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite games in recent memory.

Take the fast pace of a game like Super Meat Boy and the rougelike elements of a game like Spelunky and The Binding of Issac and you'll get a pretty good sense at what makes up the DNA of a game like Nuclear Throne. At first glance, your task is simple, shoot EVERYTHING and that's a solid plan at first but you'll soon realize that it will only get you so far and you'll have to think quickly to become successful in Nuclear Throne. Things happen quickly in Nuclear Throne, and a game can be over in seconds and it was incredibly rewarding when I found myself dodging bursts of fire and taking out whole waves of enemies.

It's that rewarding twitch style gaming that really keeps me coming back to Nuclear Throne. Much like Super Meat Boy, one of my favorite games of all time, Nuclear Throne is a game that's incredibly easy to get into and even when you die (which will happen, and it will happen a lot) you can't help but think, if I just did this a bit different, or moved that much quicker I would have beaten that level. Of course,  everything here is randomly generated, making every run a challenge, and incredibly interesting. It was a lot of fun to experiment with different strategies, weapons and abilities. I love that how I play Nuclear Throne is likely to be different than how you do, and neither way is right.

The game put you in the middle of a post apocalyptic war and while that's not the most original story, the game does put it's own unique spin on things; this isn't the man against monster type of apocalypse, no this is the monster vs monster type of apocalypse and everyone is gunning for a seat on the nuclear throne. This is a game that features a remarkable cast of characters, each complete with their own abilities. There's Fish, who can roll through the battlefield or Melting who can make items like corpses explode in the middle of the battlefield. You'll start with just Fish but as you progress through the game you'll unlock more very quickly.

That's really part of the genius of Nuclear Throne, it rewards you so quickly and always keeps you dating your play style that you're rarely ever bored. Kill enough enemies in any round and you'll be able to choose a mutation like the ability to absorb health from most kills or poison enemies that touch you. These too are randomly generated and the mutations you get can be the difference between a long run in the game and one that ends very quickly. It's also a lot of fun to be able to stack these mutations on top of each other after leveling up multiple times. With a little skill, and admittedly a bit of luck you can create some pretty cool and interesting builds that can cut through even the biggest bosses the game throws your way.

There's some danger in that through as playing through Nuclear Throne I had several instances where my game abruptly crashed right as I was nearing the Nuclear Throne itself with a really awesome build. The game is constantly being patched and it hasn't happened in the last few play sessions but it's still incredibly disheartening when it does. The developers are aware of the issues and constantly trying to work towards a more stable build, which will make long the long play sessions that you're sure to have with Nuclear Throne even more fun.

Nuclear Throne has quickly joined the ranks of Super Meat Boy, Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite as one of my favorite games in recent memory. It's fun, it's fast and it's level of challenge is equal to that of it's rewards. It's the type of game that I can keep playing for hours and never feel bored, as long as it doesn't crash. Nuclear Throne is a fantastic game that deserves to be played, now if you'll excuse me I've been away for a few hours and that throne isn't going to fill itself…