User Review : Blacklight: Tango Down

Blacklight: Tango Down was released on the XBL Marketplace on July 7th. Here is the review I wrote.

Most reviewers seem to be over comparing Tango Down to MW2, and why there is not doubting it should be compared, let’s try to remember every shooter has their own unique features. Although most shooters released after November 2009 do often get compared to Modern Warfare 2. With the biggest entertainment launch in history it’s hard not to compare new release shooters to MW2. But why do most shooters now a days get compared to MW2? It’s simple, by now mostly everybody has played MW2 online and it’s their most recent online shooter in their memory. Blacklight: Tango Down is in many ways similar to MW2, but it does some new things that MW2 would simply not get away with.

First off, don’t expect any campaign, single-player, or anything of that nature from Tango Down. This game is a multiplayer only game and what it does, it does superbly. Tango Down is a $15 downloadable game via the XBLA, PC, or PSN from Zombie Studios. That is the same price point as one map pack from MW2. Included in the game are 12 maps supporting up to 16-players, 7 different game modes, and a 4-player co-op mode to boot. That’s a lot in a game that only cost $15. 7 game modes are also in Tango Down, you have the original Team Deathmatch, and Deathmatch, but you also have a unique spin on Domination and Capture the Flag variants. Retrieval, which is essentially capture the flag, has you and your teammates fighting to capture the point and bring it back to your base. Detonation is similar in ways to domination, but instead of capturing flags or capturing points, you hack three different CPU’s on the map. Also, like domination, you get more points the more points you control

While most of the gameplay mechanics will surely be compared to MW2, let this be known, Tango Down is it’s own game and is run off of Epic’s Unreal Engine. First off, let’s get the similarities out of the way. In Tango Down, you can level up all the way to level 70, much like MW2. There is also a deep weapon customization in Tango Down, far more intuitive than MW2 customization options. As you gain skills and levels you’ll unlock different weapon unlocks. You can in turn customize just about anything on your gun in Tango Down, whether it be the barrel of the gun, or whether it be the magazine size of the gun. The customization options found in Tango Down are fare innovative than that of simply adding a red dot sight or camouflage to a gun, which is found in MW2. One big thing Tango Down has that just about every shooter does not is the HRV, or the Hyper Reality Visor. This visor essentially makes you able to see enemies through walls, but there is a downside to using it. While using the HRV you can’t shoot your gun, you’ll have to turn the visor off to use your gun. You’ll also notice during your first match in Tango Down that you’re character moves a whole lot faster and can jump higher than most modern shooters today. While that’s hard to get used to at first, after a few matches, the way your character moves will start to seem natural.

During your time with Tango Down, you’ll be sure to notice the co-op mode, simply entitled “Black Ops”. You and 3 other friends can fight enemies after enemies. The only possible way to play this game mode is by playing solo or by playing with friends. There is not matchmaking for “Black Ops” what so ever. While the game is mostly enjoyed playing the competitive multiplayer, it’s still fun to play a few co-op levels with your friends, but you won’t be spending the bulk of your time in this mode. While playing the competitive side of the multiplayer you’ll get two grenades that are very different from grenades in other shooters, Digi Grenades are, when thrown, temporarily turn your opponents visor into a blue screen with random text, temporarily disabling their vision. Next grenade is the EMP grenade. When the EMP grenade is thrown, it creates a distorted bubble, that when anybody run into scrambles their vision. When it comes to weapons in the game, you get the same ones you get in other shooters, but the different sights, camo's, and weapon tags in Tango Down beat almost anything I’ve seen in any other shooter.

For Tango Down to be a downloadable game, the graphics are actually better than most full-priced retail games. That’s saying a lot for Tango Down, but it’s also saying how much better downloadable games have gotten over the years. It seems just a few months ago we were only able to play old classics on XBLA or PSN and now we’re getting beautiful full games that rival full retail release games. While the graphics in Tango Down do look wonderful, there are hose bland texture issues that seem to bother just about every game this era. The animations are also top notch as well, but it seems that the throwing grenade animation could be improved for the sequel.

Tango Down does do a lot of things right, there are a few things that were missed during development of the game. The one that sticks out like a sore thumb is the fact that there is no party system what so ever. With more and more shooters coming out, a party system is a must have for any online competitive shooter. The fact Tango Down lacks one is just inexcusable. The only clear way to play with friends on Tango Down is too have one of you join a game and the others follow suit, joining the same game you just joined. That’s a bit of a hassle, when I could easily just invite friends and we all join a game together. If you’re playing ranked matches, which most people are to rank up, you’ll also notice you can’t join matches while they are in progress. You can only join matches while they’re during intermission, which is somewhat of letdown. Most people want to join a game and start playing around, not wait upwards of a minute and a half for intermission to be over with.

Maps in Tango Down are a mix between medium and small size maps, there are the occasional large size maps here and there, but you’ll barely run into the huge maps you see in Battlefield. In team games, each team gets one designated spawn point on one side of the map. Each map has two turrets protecting your spawn, essentially making it to where the enemy can not camp inside your spawn, which is well appreciated. Right away you’ll be able to notice which map works better for what game mode and which ones you’ll see success in. Also, with 12 maps included in the game from the get go, the game is already more of a value for gamers when you would pay $15 for one map pack from MW2.

Most people seem to always complain about shooters on consoles having dedicated servers. While in most cases games need them, Tango Down does not. Yes, when the game was first released it was difficult finding games, but it eventually sorted itself out. While huge AAA shooters, Call of Duty or Halo should use dedicated servers, not every shooter released should implement them. Of course, they’ll make finding match easier, but dedicated servers have just as many problems as regular servers. So just by implementing dedicated servers into the mix won’t guarantee the game to operate smoothly.

We all know that there are no shortage of shooters out their on the market, and Tango Down does not do anything revolutionary, but what it is does, it does superbly. Since the game is multiplayer only, we know that all of Zombie Studios efforts went towards multiplayer. We can’t say that for many of the shooters on the market today. While the game has no party system what so ever, and by no means is that excusable, there are so many aspects of the game that will put a smile on your face. With the price point of Tango Down only $15, the same price as a map pack for MW2, you’re definitely getting the bang for your buck and you will surely not be disappointed with your purchase.