Arena Mode

Arena Combat is the secondary game mode to MADNESS: Project Nexus.

Overview

Arena Combat is generally extremely different than the main story, having its own story as well as having new mechanics, features, and stages.

Arena Combat follows the player character, who is named based on the player's choice. The player character arrives on a bus to Nevada Central, a city in the farther reaches of the Nevada wasteland.

This game mode is centered around building your character from nothing, starting at extremely low level and leveling up slowly as they progress and fight more enemies. As the player progresses, they unlock more of the story as well as more arenas to fight in, items, skills, and features for the Headquarters.

Gameplay

The gameplay of arena mode varies differently depending on what Origin the player chooses.

Gameplay normally starts very slow, with the player having very few skills and this being largely inept in combat. The goal of Arena Mode is to level up your character and make them stronger, all while gaining money, experience, and new arenas to fight in.

The game has an entire RPG-esque leveling system, with several experience pools. Each experience pool pertains to a skill tree. The experience pools are as follows:

• Unarmed
• Melee
• Ranged
• Acrobatic

The player can level up each skill tree by using the required gameplay style. Killing enemies with fists grants unarmed EXP, killing enemies with melee weapons grants melee EXP, and so forth. The player will frequently find themselves playing the same arenas multiple times in order to adequately level up their skills to progress to the next arena. A list of skills can be found here.

There is also a shop system in the game, allowing the player to purchase weapons, armor, and weapon modifications at the cost of money they've earned during their time in the arena.

Story

The story of Arena combat appears to take place in the past, potentially before the events of Project Nexus Classic Episode 1.5.

The game begins with character creation, the player creates their character based on several origins which apply gameplay modifiers. After character creation, the player arrives to Nevada Central via bus. On the bus, the player awakes to see 2BDamned as he explains to the Player their mission and why they are here and that he will be with them every step of the way to advise them on their objectives. The player character is confused and without their memory, but complaint with Doc's orders. After stepping off the bus, the player enters an abandoned building. They encounter the Bossman, who initiates a fight, but is very easily dealt with. After being defeated, the Bossman gives the player a flashlight and promises to make himself useful after the squatters are dealt with.

After defeating the squatters, the Bossman instructs the player to enter the sleepwalker bed and that he will clean the place up while they are occupied. Upon entering the Sleepwalker bed, the player will find themselves in the arena of old, fighting VR training buddies. Upon completing the first few waves, the player will exit the bed and find that things have been cleaned up significantly while they were training.

The Player is then tasked to locate the Bossman once more, who instructs them to go to the bus stop for their first contract mission to rescue someone important.

Contract 1: Pilot Episode

The Warehouse where the Pilot is being kept.

This is the first story mission of arena mode, following the Player as they enter the streets of Nevada Central in order to rescue the Pilot from capture. The stage begins with the Player stepping off the bus and into the street, to where they are assaulted by the Toughs. The Player is then forced to fight their way through the Toughs until they get to the warehouse, where they battle Sweet Tony, leader of the Toughs. After defeating Sweet Tony, the Player releases the Pilot from his bindings.

Due to being rescued by the Player, as well as being a friend of the Bossman, the Pilot agrees to assist them in their operation.

Back to HQ

The Foundry.

Having rescued the Pilot, the player unlocks their first Arena to fight in, as well as the Quartermaster to purchase weapons and armor from. They also unlock the ability to hire Hirelings, who can assist them in combat.

Pit Stop.

This arena is Pit Stop, an abandoned gas station populated by Bandits. The player must defend the gas pumps from attack or else they will fail the stage. As the player fights and gets stronger, gaining more money and experience, they will unlock the second arena to fight in, The Foundry, a factory belonging to MERC. After unlocking endless waves for The Foundry, the player will be informed by the Pilot that they should check the computer in the Hub. After doing so, 2bdamned instructs the player to take on their second contract mission.

Contract 2: The Goods

The player arrives in Central City yet again via the bus, on the same street from Contract 1. The player is immediately recognized by a Tough, who runs to inform the Vendevice of their presence. Soon after, the player is attacked by Toughs and the Vendevice, a Mafia group operating in Central city. The player battles both the Toughs and the Vendevice, fighting their way back into the same warehouse as before. The player fights deeper into the warehouse, killing Toughs and Vendevice as they go. Eventually the player finds some boxes of which they snoop through, figuring out that what they came here for is indeed here. The next room has the player battling the second boss of arena, the Chefs. After defeating the Chefs, the player goes into the freezer, to where they're informed by one of the chefs that he can help the player. The player collects the machine they came here to be, which turns out to be an Enmeshment machine.

Returning to HQ again:

Fighting ATP Soldats in Fast Track.

Upon returning to HQ, the player will notice that some mysterious troopers have appeared at the door. It's quickly reveled that these men are with 2BDamned, who is assisting in setting up the Enmeshment machine. 2BDamned instructs the player to continue the arena operation, getting stronger and leveling up. Once he is finished setting up the Enmeshment machine, he will instruct them in their next mission.

Slaughter Time.

The player at this point will have unlocked the Chef, who operates the black market, selling illegally modified weapons at discount prices. They will also have unlocked the weapon modding station and Troopers, who they can call in for backup during missions.

The next 3 missions unlocked after Contract 2 are Fast Track, Slaughter Time, and the Haunting of Nevada House.

Fast Track is a stage set on a train populated by the AAHW where the player must move from cart to cart, killing Agency goons as they go.

Slaughter Time is a game show run by Garret Goyle, a G03LM programmed to be a game show host. This stage has the player fighting a whole new host of game show themed enemies as they hack and slash their way through them.

The center room of the haunted house.

The Haunting of Nevada House follows the player after their organization has been hired to deal with several strange happenings in the house. The player must fight ghosts, demonic cultists, zeds, and wasteland monsters in order to complete this stage.

Upon reaching Endless waves on all of these missions, the player will be informed that 2BDamned has finished installing the Enmeshment machine. The player is instructed by 2BDamned for their 3rd contract mission, where 2BDamned will attempt to orchestrate a truce between the player and the Toughs/Vendevice.

Contract 3: Fickle Friends

Club Advent from the outside.

This contract mission has the player entering the city once more, this time in the dead of night. They traverse the empty city streets, noticing yellow eyes stalking them in the shadows. They walk up a flight of stairs and find themselves at Club Advent, a local club seemingly run by the Vendevice. The player speaks to the bouncer G03LM, who checks their name on the list and allows them in. The player goes through various hallways, meeting club goes and ravers as they go. They are instructed by a bouncer G03LM to enter the Event, and that the room he is guarding is off limits to them.

The next room contains the dance floor, where Cheshyre and Locknar can be seen DJing the party. The player can also purchase merchandise for both musicians here. Standing in the dance floor allows the player to dance to their hearts content.

Upon attempting to enter the next room, the player is stopped by a bouncer until they explain who they are. Once they have, the bouncer lets them in. The player then meets Dr. Crackpot sitting at a booth, who takes a peculiar interest in the player and their operation. Crackpot instructs the player to go forth with their meeting, telling them he will contact them again shortly.

Upon trying to enter the meeting, 2BDamned stops the player and explains to them that the vendevice have decided that their presence here will be unnecessary. The player character is vocally frustrated with this, but complies with 2BDamned's orders. The player then speaks to Dr. Crackpot once more, who explains to them the concept of Enmeshment and that he would simply like to have a look at the Enmeshment technology housed at the Headquarters.

The conversation is interrupted by the building shaking and the player enters the dance floor once more. The Toughs have attacked the Club Advent, in spite of the truce they had with the Vendevice. The player is then tasked to fight the Toughs, who seem convinced that the player is a Vampire. The player also battles Sweet Tony one last time here, killing him for good.

Upon exiting the club, the player finds themselves in the parking lot, being assaulted by vampires. These vampires pose quite a challenge but are easily killed by the vampire hunting equipment the Toughs have bought with them. The player is then forced to fight their way through the vampires until they reach the bus stop. 2BDamned runs over some Vampire Bruisers and picks the player up in his car.

Return to HQ

2BDamned drives the player back to H.Q., telling them he will contact them again shortly.

Dr. Crackpot can be seen outside of the H.Q. now, offering cosmetic item colors as well as unique weapons in armors in exchange for a rare currency known as Boon tokens. Boon tokens can be achieved by defeating BoonBots, enemies in endless arena waves that drop them. They can also be earned by completing stages for the first time.

Battling the Nexus Core in the Facility.

The player has now unlocked three more arenas, Hard Sell, Murder Room, and the Nexus Core Facility.

The Murder Room has the player in an elaborately designed death trap of an arena, fitted with falling floors and moving platforms. The player must battle insane escaped asylum patients, Orderlies, Harmacists, Cyber Bandits, explosive zombified clowns, and exploding dissonance charged robots.

Hard Sell finds the player inside of an abandoned and mostly destroyed Nevada Supermall, forced to battle the Nevada 51 who are valiantly attempting to destroy a valuable artifact that the player must protect at all costs.

The Nexus Core Facility is the 8th and final mission, which has the player infiltrate the aforementioned facility and make their way up to the top, killing each and every Nexus Core unit they come across.

Contract 4: Mandatus

After successfully completing every single mission in the Helicopter Pad, the player will receive an urgent call from 2bdamned explaining that their work is complete and it is time to enmesh the Mandatus.

The player returns to the bus stop for the 4th and final time, being dropped off on the same street as always. After walking right and reaching The Rift, the player will remark that something is not correct and the game will point them to the left side of the screen. After walking to the left, the player will spot the Gambler walking through a door. The Player can do nothing else but follow him.

Upon entering the strange door, the Player is greeted by the Gambler who explains that he has been watching the player for some time. The Player attempts to probe the Gambler for more answers but is only met with vague non-answers.

The Gambler continues to explain what the Player’s mission truly is, that they came here not to enmesh a physical object or person, but to enmesh an event, a choice the player will have to make. This is the Mandatus. The Mandatus is the event of the player choosing to imprint themselves ad infinitum, which will apparently indefinitely stall a calamity that the Maker is attempting to prevent.

The Player never learns exactly what this calamity is, the only thing they know is that they must imprint, reliving their memories over and over again in a sort of time loop in order to prevent it.

The Player has no choice but to battle a giant mechanical monster by the name of the Grand Steward, it is unknown who or what this Steward is, but it can be assumed that it is related to the Machine due to its mechanical nature.

After defeating the boss, the player will find themselves in Nowhere, one of the farthest reaches of Nevada. If they choose not to Imprint, they can leave at any time and say their goodbyes to the Bossman and Chopper Dave at the HQ.

The Player, upon wanting to Imprint, will walk into a light on the farthest corner of the screen. After walking into this light, the Player will wake up in a room lying on a bed with 2BDamned present.

2BDamned remarks that the readings are good and they are ready to imprint. He also remarks that the player has seemingly not lost their memory, which is extremely impressive.

The player may read several terminals of 2BDamned’s laboratory, confirming a few things:

• The player, as well as Director Phobos, are generation 1 Nevadeans.
• 2BDamned’s notes remark that the employers are stewards of the Machine, but he does not know to what end.
• The 3rd and final note remarks on a single event, a great awakening where every Nevadean was gifted sentience and life. He mentions the first of all Nevadeans to wake up, one that wanders the endless expanses for eternity, awaiting the call. 2DBamned further remarks that it will only be a matter of time until the Machine puts this so-called first to wake up to use, and that he fears that day like no other.

The First Imprint

After Imprinting for the first time, the Player will retain all of their memories from the previous imprint and will have to play the entirety of arena mode for a second time. Most of the differences during the 1st imprint or second loop are changes in dialogue.

2DBamned remarks that he is extremely impressed that the Player managed to retain their memory before imprinting another time. He explains their goal is the same as before, Enmesh the Mandatus.

The Player wastes no time, being noticeably impatient with the Bossman due to their knowledge of all of this having happened before. From this point on there are little to no changes to the game and the player must beat Arena mode, again.

Contract 4: Mandatus [Second Imprint]

The contract begins as normal, if you walk to the right, the Player will state, “Oh, right, it’s the other way this time.”

Upon meeting the Gambler again, he explains that the Player already knows what will happen and wastes no time leading them to their destination.

Before defeating the Grand Steward for the second time, the Player will meet up with the Maker.

The Maker remarks that he had to take many precautions for this meeting to take place, implying he is not a supreme authority, or that he has been tampering with the flow of time.

The Player asks several questions, to where the Maker answers:

• You were the one that created Nevada?
  • Yes, but mostly no.
• Are you going to tell me why I’m doing this?
  • You already know why you’re here. You returned to the Nowhere. You untold your story, to where it must be told anew.
• Why is that important? How does feeding myself to the Nowhere save the world? Why can’t Doc just enmesh any of this? There’s Machine and Nowhere all around us.
  • Insufficient. Your colleagues need a direct connection with the fundamental structures of all of reality. Enmeshment is the tether, and you are the weight that pulls it through the mandatus.
• So what happens then?
  • Your story becomes untold, and it must be told again. Just as it was before.
• What if I refuse to Enmesh the Mandatus?
  • You know what happens, Player.
• Nevada falls…
  • I don’t imagine this was the news you were looking for, and I’m sorry about that. You’ve already grasped what this means for you.
• I’m going to be doing this over and over again, aren’t I…?
  • You say that as if it’s a bad thing. Nevada soon plunges into its darkest era. What happens next will unleash unspeakable horrors, most of all for myself. None of us are long for Nevada.
  • But you, Player?  You will be spared the fate of all others. You will never know the Hellfire. Your sacrifice is your reward.
• Why couldn’t you have just explained this to me the first time?
  • That, I cannot explain to you, Player. None of this was specifically for your benefit. And now, our time together has tragically reached an end. Good luck to you both. Nevada will not survive The Madness without your combined strength.

From this point on the Player is free to imprint over and over again and beat Arena mode as many times as they like. As of now, this appears to be the current end of Arena mode.