Blacklight's a fairly standard FPS with a refreshing spritz of sci-fi.
In basic terms, Blacklight's a fairly standard FPS with a refreshing spritz of sci-fi to liven things up. So, for the most part, I find myself hunting around for headshots with some variation on an assault rifle, SMG, shotgun, pistol, or what have you in modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, king of the hill, and domination. But then little twists creep in -- for instance, giant goddamn mech suits. While it may sometimes seem like only Iron Man could counter that mid-match buyable, the balance works out so that they rarely lasts long against strength in numbers. I Can See Your Underpants
Instead, the real future-friendly game-changer in Blacklight is the ability to briefly see through all solid objects. (Played Batman: Arkham City? It's kinda like that.) For those few seconds, however, players can't even so much as fire a shot, so activating the TSA vision mode is very much a risk-reward proposition. Generally, I use it to plot out where I should go and whether I should do so as the omniscient son of Rambo or his other, extremely quiet and skittish son -- the one nobody talks about.
I feel like having one of those on my side would be worth more than 25 measly morale points.
In one recent round I found myself in cat-and-mouse back-and-forth with two other players, and I ended up losing sight of them while darting between obstacles. Before long, I was at the bottom of a stairwell thinking I'd lost them. Better safe than sorry, though, so I decided to turn around and slip into X-ray vision mode, and shazam: one of them was hot on my tail, right around the corner. My gun leaped back into my hands -- like some kind of hound preparing to lunge for someone's throat -- just as he reached the top of the stairs. And then there was this weird deer-in-the-headlights moment. I'd seen him coming, but couldn't reach my gun quickly enough; he was simply surprised to see me apparently get the drop on him. For an instant, we both just kind of halted, fully aware of what would happen next: We both pulled our respective triggers. Seconds later, it was two fresh corpses, coming right up.
The Quick and Dead and The Dead
Even when one player's got the literal high ground, the figurative playing field's usually pretty level.
It's those sorts of moments that, for me, really define Blacklight -- planning and split-second strategy giving way to sweat-and-spittle-soaked action. Even when one player's got the literal high ground at the top of stairs or what have you, the figurative playing field's usually pretty level. Yes, there's an item/equipment shop where you can spend real money (or earnable in-game currency) to tweak nearly every aspect of your chosen armament, but it's largely about options -- not pure power. Since my Free Agent writeup a few months ago, many gun components have been further re-balanced to have bigger drawbacks to match their stat boosts. The one game where you can say that staring at walls is a brilliant tactical maneuver.
There are, however, a few seriously problematic standouts here. Foremost, leveling -- as is typical of these things -- does its best impression of a high-octane chase scene involving a sloth and a turtle. In other words, it's positively languid. Your best bet's a 50% XP boost, which -- at $8 for a week or $24 for a month -- can do some pretty serious damage to your piggy bank. And while armor items recently saw a price reduction across the board, weapon components are still prohibitively costly if your aim is to buy, not rent. Diving in wallet-first could very well see you dropping $20 on a single gun.
No Free Samples
Without any way to try before buying, though, I'm basically left high and dry.
Disappointingly, there's also no way to test components or premade guns -- Oh. Oh my. Does anybody have a mop?
Also, I have encountered a few instances of questionable balance. Mainly, the standard assault rifle feels a bit too pea-shootery -- though a few upgrades can turn it into a reliably lethal firearm. More pressingly, stat-boosting data nodes are no longer earned at the end of matches. Instead, they must be purchased for an admittedly reasonable in-game currency or real money fee, but fusing basic (and basically useless) low-level nodes to make better ones requires an honest-to-goodness nickel every attempt. And even then, there's a 50-percent failure rate. So, depending on personal spending preferences, that renders the node system out-of-bounds for some players -- giving a slight upper hand to those who opt to drop some coins in Blacklight's cup. I haven't found it to be game-breaking by any means, but it is pretty slimy.
Even so, free players can still hold their own, and these days, that's mainly the capacity I choose to play Blacklight in. It's a F2P FPS that has room for depth, but makes for an explosive good time even if you're just looking to leap in for 20 or 30 minutes. Sure, between promising price drops and baffling changes to the node system, I'm a bit confused about where Perfect World's trying to take this thing, but fun's still handily filling frustration with lead at this point. Blacklight's a smart and polished take on a very tried-and-true formula, and if that's what you're looking for, there's really no better F2P option.