Review: Blacklight: Tango Down

First-person shooters are, according to some guesstimating I just did, one of the most popular video game genres in America. We have the Call of Duty series, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, not to mention Left 4 Dead and a little game called Halo – and those are just off the top of my head. On top of that – according to some more guesstimating – most people will spend a majority of time playing the multiplayer components of those games over the single play. But that’s America for you – we love shooting stuff just as much as we love competition.

Zombie’s latest release for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Blacklight: Tango Down, is an FPS set in the near-future of a former Soviet republic. Being an arcade game, Blacklight is primarily a multiplayer game akin to Battlefield: 1943. Gamers take sides in a conflict between Blacklight and The Order, though the specifics of the conflict are eschewed in favor of smooth, incredibly fun gameplay. Gamers can compete online in games of up to 8-on-8 in several mainstay modes such as Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Last Man Standing. There is also a mode titled Black Ops which can be played solo or co-op with up to 3 others to take on the computer and earn XP. Leveling up your character and unlocking new equipment, guns and customization is the main drive behind multiplayer.

Though you only start off with a standard assault rifle, SMG and sniper rifle, you’ll eventually open up shotguns as well as LMGs. As you level up, new customization options including muzzles, stocks, magazines and camo for your weapons become available, allowing you to customize your loadout beyond just what type of guns you want to use. Various type of pistols are also available as sidearms as well as the standard frag grenade and a unique digi-grenade. The digi-grenade is used similarly to a smoke grenade in that obscures your vision as well as interfering with your enemy’s HUD. One of the most interesting aspects of the HUD in Blacklight is the Hyper Reality Visor. With the HRV, you’ll be able to see the position of all enemies, teammates as well as health and ammo crates. You can’t shoot when using the HRV and it must recharge for a short time after every use but it is invaluable when tracking enemy movements, especially when playing on a team.

I had been hearing about this game for a while now and was pretty anxious to finally get my hands on it. The summer games drought is in full effect right now and the only thing tiding me over until the fall has been arcade games, most recently Risk: Factions (which I didn’t write a review for because, regardless of the objective based mode, Risk is still Risk [and its awesome and you should buy it]). Though it’s not as polished as bigger budget titles, Blacklight manages to deliver all the fun and action of said titles. The grayish-black color palate really helps drive home the dystopian near-future feel of the setting. Each of the 12 maps are smallish but offer plenty of diversity in terms of routes to take through them and cover opportunities. And you’ll need plenty of cover too since Blacklight is not a run-and-gun kind of shooter, as one of the loading screens informs you “The best armor is to stay out of gunshot.”

At just 700 megs and $15, Blacklight: Tango Down is a great Arcade game for any FPS fan who is waiting for the next big budget release (I’m waiting on Dead Rising 2, personally) or for those who have grown tired of their preferred FPS. It doesn’t have the destructible environments or vehicles of Battlefield: 1943 but it makes up with deep gun customization, cooperative play, and well designed, instantly memorable maps that will keep any FPS satisfied for a long time to come.