Since Blacklight: Tango Down was released over 18 months ago a lot has changed in shooter town. Team Fortress 2 went free-to-play, Brink disappointed after promising so much, Battlefield 3 launched and TimeGate Studios proved that for less than £10 players can expect not only a persistent class-based multiplayer experience, but also a compelling single-player campaign to boot. Arguably shooter fans have never had it so good, so it’s no surprise that the original game in this series quickly faded into obscurity, but Retribution will change that.
Over the past month we’ve had access to the game’s closed Beta and we’ve enjoyed every second we’ve invested in this futuristic shooter’s sci-fi arenas which cater for 18 players. The core gameplay of Tango Down, which hinged so much on the Hyper-Reality Visor, a vision mode which allows players to see objectives, enemies and friendlies through walls for a few seconds before recharging, has remained for the most part unchanged, but Zombie Studios have added several layers of complexity both in terms of functionality and also in its presentation.
First off, Retribution is a PC exclusive title which comes with all the benefits that provides, include FOV options, Direct X11 visuals and weapons which have been optimised for the pixel-perfect precision only a mouse and keyboard can provide. Maps still feel a little bit too tight with open spaces mostly sacrificed for small corridors, making fast reactions more of a factor than strategy, but Retribution maintains that twitch-based Quake-like feel which the original boasted.
Where the strategy side of things has been compensated is via a new in-match economy mechanic – which allows players to purchase items such as a flamethrower, mini-gun, grenade launcher and even an almighty mechanised suit – when you kill enemies and achieve objectives. This store is accessible from certain kiosks spread throughout a map and as the match continues, the action inevitably ramps up with more extravagant weaponry as combatants spend their hard-earned cash. It’s a great mechanic which gives matches a natural feeling of ebb and flow, but the changes don’t end there. There’s also a really nifty enemy spotlight mechanic which declares troublesome members of the enemy team – when taken out they also offer much more cash to spend. This may sound like a small touch but it really helps to personify the battle at hand and it feels fantastic to take out another team’s MVP.
Separately these well-implemented touches wouldn’t amount to much but when wrapped together in a smooth multiplayer-online package, which also includes the impressive customisation suite of the original, Retribution is an easy recommendation. Unfortunately we only had a chance to sample the variety of Deathmatch options and a nifty Capture the Node-style match-type, but more will be added.
What will be crucial for Retribution’s success is how the in-game store will be implemented, and during our time we saw lots of potential armour pieces and gun attachments which could be rented for both in-game (GP) and real-world cash (Zen). Needless to say, Zombie Studios need to stay as far away from pay-to-win items as possible in order to ensure Retribution’s success but if they do then they could have a multiplayer phenomenon on their hands.
Tags: Blacklight Retribution
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