Off Duty Gamers

Released, July 14^th, Zombie Studios and Ignition Entertainment bring for your gaming pleasure Blacklight: Tango Down. I had high hopes for this game, from the trailers and what I could make out of the premise it looked like the makings of a good near future based shooter. Unfortunately, the game failed to deliver on quite a few aspects. Rather than take up a lot of space and time describing the shortcomings, I will break it down into three categories.

The Good: Blacklight has a solid multiplayer component, in which the player can participate in online matches or co-op with another player in short “Black Operations.” No matter what the player chooses, whether it be going solo on the Black Ops, Co-op play, or shooting it out with other players, you earn experience, allowing for level progression in addition to weapon, player, and item unlocks. The Unlocks are the best part, allowing you to customize not only the appearance of your player model but also add some pimpin’ sweet gadgets to your gear. Whether you choose certain flags (and yes, their does appear to be at least one Rainbow, and I don’t mean Tom Clancy!), key chains, or even what appears to be fuzzy dice, there are over one hundred unlockable weapon “tags.”  Ridiculous as it seems, each one adds certain abilities to the weapon it is attached to. Likewise, unlockable grips, stocks, magazines, sights and even some ammo all add a level of customization not normally found in First Person Shooters. The game, like any other will get you wrapped up after a while, and there are plenty of places to hide and ambush your opponents. Base raping is discouraged by several automatic weapons turrets, which spew digital death to any enemy unfortunate enough to wander nearby. But if you pay attention to the alarms going off literally in your head, you can judge where the best place to camp out and wait.

The Bad: Well, how do I put this? The Game Sucks. There is absolutely NO single player storyline. Single play is available, but only in the Black Operations mode, where the player tackles single missions with several objectives and checkpoints provided by the  Control Element, which sounds surprisingly like Natasha from Bullwinkle. No Boris here though, as the player, who supposedly is a member of a military faction attempting to gain control of a former Soviet city (name unknown), sounds like Samuel L Jackson. The missions themselves are not easy simply by means of the sheer number of AI opponents the player encounters; however, the goal usually entails moving from point A to point B, and then completing a series of mouseclick puzzles. Online resources state Zombie Studios is hoping to turn Blacklight into a franchise consisting of the game, movies and comic books. But, each one will be from a different storyline and time period from the Blacklight universe. Remember the days of the Atari 2600, when every game came with its very own special issue comic book, and no one cared? How much is that first edition Atari Force worth? Sell it; you might be able to buy another game. But not to be deterred, Blacklight uses in game advertising technology from Microsoft to deliver digital billboards straight to your screen. Don’t believe me? Load up a Black Operations scenario and start looking at the walls.

The Ugly: The AI  is dumber than a Day One Recruit at Basic Land Nav.  Many times, I rounded a corner and confronted enemies prepared for a fight, only to find them not moving…at all…Apparently the AI opponents suffer from a severe case of glaucoma. Only after I crossed some predetermined point that they saw me and started moving. Of course I used this to my advantage and blasted away…and still they did not move, rather they just…fell. Rather disappointing in all that. When the enemies do see you, they don’t use any form of tactics except the occasional duck behind cover. Even then, shooting them is easy since a foot, elbow or top of head is still visible. When I bravely ran away, no pursuit. Nor did they encircle me when I placed myself in an exposed position. Lastly, the AI blindly fired away in a valiant attempt to wear down the concrete wall, steel barrier, or vehicle I used for cover. I never did get one to deplete all rounds however, so I got bored and went after them with my pistol. While there is only a finite distance a player can sprint, he apparently can jump like a ninja on speed, leaping like a cartoon rabbit from barricade to car roof, to awning to building roof faster than a crackhead skipping bail. Likewise, there is no hardcore mode, players will likely experience the best results by emptying the entire clip of their weapon in a desperate attempt to shoot that hopping sonofabitch before he leaps on your head and blasts away with a shotgun (not that I did that…), or you can use the sniper rifle for a center mass shot, and after about round three drop your opponent. Prone…..? Nope, not a chance in hell in this game, with the glowing red or blue neon lights on your helmet, concealment is not a viable option unless they add a Christmas Tree to any future downloadable content.

In Short: Blacklight tries to be an awesome multiplayer experience, rich in advancement and options; it just feels like half a game. You keep asking yourself “Is this it?” or “Did I download the demo?” Honestly, it has potential, but it needs a hell of a lot more development. Medal of Honor is in the Beta, and Blacklight only offers marginally more content…My advice, spend the 15 bucks on a combo meal at your favorite fast food joint, splurge for a milkshake and pie, and then stuff your face for an hour. You’ll get more value that way. Remember UP-size that sumbitch!

One more thing…Zombie, please update the Game Homepage, and the Facebook Page, it still says “Coming, Summer 2010.” Psst, I got a little news for you…Also, a list of the requirements and minimum specifications would be nice…I had to go to the Games for Windows Live website for these.

OS: Windows® XP, Vista, or 7, Hard Drive: 2 GB or more, Processor: Dual Core CPU or better, RAM: 1 GB, Sound: DirectX 9.0c compliant sound card , Video Card: ATI x1800+ / Nvidia 6800+