July 8, 2010

Blacklight: Tango Down (X360) Review

Zombie Studio's Blacklight: Tango Down is a fun, downloadable shooter in the same vain as the modern Call of Duty titles, for a fraction of the cost.

Similar to how World War II shooters were a dime-a-dozen in the early 2000's, Modern FPS games have been overpopulating consoles and PCs these last couple years. The most popular of these franchises has undoubtedly been the Call of Duty series of games, there have been a few games that have attempted to capitalize on the series, but have failed miserably. Blacklight: Tango Down however, delivers an experience that's accessible to fans of Call of Duty, but has a few tricks up it's sleeve that make it unique.

The game takes place 25 years in the future, using various Army technology that is currently under R&D. The single player mode has you playing as an Elite Covert agent working in a dilapidated ex-Soviet country.

Grittiness you can only find in the former Soviet-bloc.

Though it does include a single-player mode, it's very limited. The real focus is on the games multiplayer mode. The game controls exactly like Call of Duty, with the control scheme being the exact same, so those familiar with the series will be right at home. The game has a level-ranking system similar to the Modern Warfare games, completing levels allows you to unlock new weapons, equipments and outfits for your soldier. The game has a distinctive focus on customization, allowing you to make a soldier that's all your own. Unfortunately, multiplayer modes are lacking. While there is your basic modes such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, retrieval, and domination. There's nothing that's distinctively unique.

The visuals in the game are fantastic. simply put. The game makes great use of the Unreal Engine and matches full-price games of the same caliber. Though the game does suffer from the typical grey-drabbiness that comes with using the Unreal Engine. The games locations, though similar, are all well designed and interesting. They have the futuristic flair that goes along with the games' concept. The game has a variety of special tools, like the Digi-grenade and HRV, which aren't just major changes to the gameplay, but have neat visual effects on the game as well. The amount of detail that has gone into the visual presentation is ridiculous for a downloadable game.

Future-Tech. It's awesome!

Overall, if you're looking for a fun, immersive first-person experience, Blacklight: Tango Down is your game. Though people looking for something different from Call of Duty won't find a huge change. The game manages to differentiate itself with the use of high-tech weaponry, but at it's core, it's still Modern Warfare. The games major selling point is it's price-point, which is a steal considering the amount of content you'll be getting. The game is currently only on the Xbox Live Arcade, but will be making it's way to the PC later this month and the Playstation Network in August. Check it out!

- Kyle K.

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