Blacklight: Tango Down – Review

Blacklight: Tango Down is the latest first-person shooter to join the fray of an increasing number of downloadable shooters for Xbox LIVE Arcade. Blacklight is everything you expect from an FPS, they can’t really deviate from the standard gameplay of shooting things. But, as with all FPS’s, they have to have their own unique elements. Blacklight introduces a HRV (Hyper Reality Visor) which allows players to enter the visor and spot enemies on the map, however they cannot shoot them. It sort of works similar to a UAV in you can find out where enemies are around the map, but as previously mentioned, it renders you a stationary target for the moments that you are in the HRV. The other unique things Blacklight has is a digi-grenade and an EMP grenade. The digi-grenade is like a futuristic smoke grenade that turns the screen into pixelated madness when caught up in it. The EMP grenade works almost like a futuristic flashbang where you actually get the blue screen of death for a second or two, taking away your vision and leaving you vulnerable to be shot in the head.

The gameplay itself is incredibly solid. The game is fast paced and often very hectic as the sensitivity is set quite high to default and players move pretty quickly without sprint. The shooting itself may seem a little odd at first, but only because it’s slightly different to  games like Modern Warfare 2. When you aim down the sight in Blacklight (note: this is only present with iron sights) the targeting reticule that’s on your screen while not aiming down sight stays there and that is your method of targeting and it can be disorientating at first as you’re used to that reticule disappearing when you aim down your sights. However, after a couple of games getting used to the shooting, you’ll find yourself decimating enemies as usual.

Elsewhere in the game there’s a lot to get your attention. The graphics are at a high standard with the maps and guns looking detailed and great for an Arcade game. The game has 7 modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Retrieval, Detonate, Domination, Last Man Standing and Last Team Standing) taking place across 12 maps with 47 weapons for you to sink your war-hardened teeth into along with a wealth of armour customisation options.Retrieval is Blacklight’s version of CTF where you have to capture a canister, Detonate is planting a bomb and Domination involves capturing points by standing near them or using a clever little hacking minigame in order to capture them immediately. There’s even 70 levels for you to progress through which should give you something to do over the summer weeks. One thing I think could be improved is the HUD. IT’s often slightly confusing as to which team your on and who killed who as the kills come up in a small corner of the screen, often leaving you wondering who you just killed or visa versa.

The only downfall to Blackight is that is has frustratingly long loading times, both finding a game and then entering a game, and there’s no party system meaning you have to enter a game before you can even invite a gun-wielding friend to join the battlefield!

However, Blacklight is a very good game and should be compared up alongside other great XBLA shooters like Battlefield: 1943.

Review by Daniel Brookes