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Blacklight: Tango Down
Proof that you get what you pay for.
Written by Andy Griffiths, 19 July 2010
The online FPS genre is easily the most popular around today, however unless you are the mighty Modern Warfare or the crazy Battlefield: Bad Company 2, your title will likely drop off Major Nelson's activity chart faster than you can say hardcore. Alas, Blacklight: Tango Down isn't the typical shooter experience, featuring a few nifty gimmicks and a price point which may tempt even the most committed Infinity Ward lover to take a punt. Unfortunately where Zombie Studio's original IP falls down is in the enjoyment stakes.
Priced at 1200 Microsoft points this experience is focused purely on multiplayer with a substandard four player co-op mode thrown in for good measure. There's seven different competitive varietys on offer - Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Retrieval, Domination, Detonate, Last Man Standing and Last Team Standing - all of which are the type expected of any modern day shooter. All of the modes are self explanatory with the capture point based Domination, seeming the most popular.
Map choice too is numerous, offering twelve of the grayest, dullest and most genuinely characterless environments we've had the displeasure of exploring for a long time. Remembering areas and what bottlenecks to avoid is a real problem, because the map design is just too generic. All of the various settings tie into Blacklight's story which involves futuristic warfare, with some reference to a virus and two military forces facing off against one another. However none of the intriguing premise is explored, instead players are just set loose on servers which can support as many as sixteen.
However the faux pas future setting does allow one piece of awesome kit, the Hyper Reality Visor. Effectively a legal wall-hack, this charge restricted weapon allows players to see enemy positions through walls and while this may seem like a revolutionary function in the online world, it seems like the developers were too afraid to let it loose. The amount of time it takes to deploy and the inability to shoot whilst activating the HRV makes it more of a hazard than a blessing. Using it during more chaotic maps, often ends in disaster as you're usually killed before gaining any useful intel from it.
PCGZine Issue 42
For our latest Blacklight Tango Down coverage, click here to download PCGZine Issue 42 for free.The much-lauded four player co-op scenarios were also meant to add more weight to this budget shooter, but unfortunately the A.I design is just too predictable with its run and gun tactics to be enjoyable, even with friends. Each of the four scenarios are set on existing maps and only the dull monosyllabic voiceovers differentiate play from the standard competitive option.
Gunplay itself is very past paced, channeling the great shooters of old like Quake, with an emphasis on speed and dexterity over tactical nous. In the large part this is a success and the weapons feel appropriately weighty, regardless which of the game's five different classes of weapons - sniper, machine gun, assault rifle, semi-automatic, or pistol - you're handling. Each can be customised to the nth degree, with the ability to swap out each weapon's core components such as the handle, nozzle or sight. You can also hang some novelty dongles onto guns for posterity, colourful yet harmless. There're hundreds of different combinations available, with more unlocking as you earn XP by killing foes and winning matches. Again this is an interesting model, but the changes don't feel as ground-breaking as they should, with the silencer option in particular feeling pointless.
The netcode too also has issues with players often dropping out left, right and centre during matches. It wasn't unusual for eight on eight to usually devolve into much lower numbers, which during the team orientated skirmishes can be immensely frustrating, resulting in imbalances and unsatisfactory results.
Blacklight: Tango Down is a noteworthy downloadable release, but not one which can compete with other similarly priced shooters, such as Battlefield 1943. Xbox Live Arcade is increasingly becoming a valid place for gamers to look for some great content, but unfortunately this budget shooter comes up painfully short, even at its diminished price point.
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Blacklight Tango Down coverage available in PCGZine Issue 42 - click here to download it for free!
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