PixlBit

It's rare these days to see low budget first person shooters reach the marketplace. Most publishers are aiming for the AAA mark, with little interest in pushing anything less out the door. Blacklight: Tango Down is an exception to that rule, as it is a budget-priced, downloadable shooter in the vein of Modern Warfare 2. Unlike that title, Blacklight: Tango Down truly only offers a multiplayer experience, while the single player Black Ops mode is largely a throwaway feature.

Upon first playing Tango Down, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the game. After glancing over the menus, it was obvious that the game was tailored toward the multiplayer experience. Regardless, I went for the low-hanging fruit and tried out the game's single player mode, Black Ops, first. Though Black Ops mode is the game's single player mode, it can be conquered co-operatively. The basic strategy of this mode is to slowly work your way up what are no more than simple corridors, ducking behind purposely set-up bullet shields until you can take a clear shot at the enemy. Throughout the level, there are only little deviations from this, wherein players activate certain objects via an embedded mini-game.

As you might expect, this mode wasn't the most enthralling. Add in one of your buddies for co-op play and it's a bit more enjoyable, but barely so. The entire experience feels very much like it was tacked on to the game so that Ignition could say that they offered a single-player experience.

With that out of the way, I went straight for the multiplayer mode, which clearly was influenced by Modern Warfare 2. Players have access to a number of game types, which include your standards like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag (Retrieval), to your less common, like Last Man Standing, Last Team Standing, and Domination (wherein you capture waypoints), to your totally unique, Detonation. In addition to a variety of game types, players have a set of twelve maps to enjoy, which is quite hefty when you realize that Tango Down is nothing more than a downloadable title.

Playing through any of these set-ups on any of the maps earns players XP, which in turn increases a player's rank and unlocks gear, guns, and abilities. Anyone familiar with the Modern Warfare created multiplayer will be thoroughly familiar with what you get here. In between matches, players can arrange which two weapons they want to bring into combat by customizing their loadout. While doing so, they can also modify which armor they are wearing, swap grenade types, and apply weapon tags which provide both player and gun stat boosts.

The game's actual mechanics are somewhat unique and mostly sound. Again, those who have played Modern Warfare will feel right at home as the game controls nearly identically. Players will need to look down their sights in order to accurately shoot, they're given a close range ultra-powerful melee attack, and grenades are accessible at the push of a button.

There are a couple of major differences between the two though. Health works significantly different, as does damage. Players are given 175 health upon spawning, but that health decreases to zero almost instantaneously when involved in a firefight. If players do manage to make it out alive, their life will auto-fill to 88, but health dumpsters located around the level will allow players to stand near them and slowly fill-up their life, similar to how it's done in Half-Life. When players start reaching higher and higher levels, their gun damage can become so effective that they will kill in a single shot.

This trait of the game isn't inherently a bad one. In some instances, it was frustrating to die in a single shot when fighting a high level opponent, but in others, very redeeming to be able to defeat such an enemy. Additionally, quicker deaths forced stealthier gameplay, which I always enjoy, but it also encourages camping, something I'm not fond of. Those who are familiar with Counter Strike should feel right at home with the game's approach, but thankfully, players are able to respawn within the current match.

Further differentiating the game from Modern Warfare, is the game's Hyper Reality Visor. This allows players to get a quick thermal-like view of the world in front of them, complete with textual overlay, showing off friends, enemies, and areas of interest within the level. The visor can only be temporarily activated and it restricts usage of your weapon while it is engaged. While players won't use it often, it does replace the radar, which I often don't like to see in a multiplayer shooter. This keeps players on their toes and integrates a risk-reward system in using the visor to find enemies and areas of interest in the level.

Though Blacklight: Tango Down offers a unique experience, it is almost exclusively restricted to playing competitively online, whether it be against friends or strangers. This could be quite frustrating for those who simply want to engage equally skilled bots in some basic offline matches. Even worse, the game's matching seems to be slightly problematic. During my time playing, I was often matched against extremely high level enemies who had clearly invested much more time in the game than I did. I'm not sure if this is a byproduct of only a few challengers being available at the time, but it was frustrating to constantly be the underdog.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a decent shooter that only manages to be interesting in its arena-based multiplayer mode. For the most part, it emulates Modern Warfare 2, which makes you question why you just don't play that instead of bothering with Tango Down. For those itching for something new, a purchase of the relatively cheap title is justified, however, those who are still enjoying Modern Warfare 2 may as well skip this derivative title as it doesn't bring any new, significant features to the table.