First-person shooters are a dime-a-dozen, with most in the last two decades attempting to capitalize on the hype of the Call of Duty and Battlefield craze that really ramped up in the 2010s. Instead of evolving on the formula, we often just get recreations with slightly new twists that can never quite capture the same excitement that many players had in the first Black Ops.
The CoD series has been taking baby steps to improve but it’s also being shackled in “realism,” preventing more serious entries from even including the once profitable Zombies mode. Trepang2 does a really good job of leaving a lot of these tropes behind and blends typical NPC gunplay before truly surprising you with an unknown threat that I personally didn’t see coming for a while.
The world and story feel a little like something I’ve seen before, as recently as The Callisto Protocol, but it is done in a more action-packed and borderline horrific way than that AAA title, which is impressive. There’s enough content and collectibles to keep players busy for tens of hours, but that also applies to figuring your way around some of the more complicated levels.
A nameless supersoldier to do the 2000s proud
Gone are the days when players are able to play as bullet sponges, immune or severely resistant against guns and other effects that make quick work of regular humans. Players will take on the role of a seemingly unknown prisoner, named 106, forced to live out the rest of their lives in a maximum security prison, shackled to a wheelchair, and seemingly sedated.
That is until an unknown group, later revealed to be Task Force 27, is able to give you the one opportunity you need, with the player escaping from their chair and sneaking through the vents as they slowly clear the entire facility of soldiers. Especially in the early parts, this first level can and will be confusing to those who are used to hand-holding systems in other games as it relies on observing the environment yourself.
It took me a couple of tries but eventually, I started to get the hang of things and could progress through areas fairly quickly, but I won’t say it wasn’t frustrating up until that point. There are really compact areas that you’re supposed to run through quickly, but the rapid movement and dark areas often made this more confusing than it wasn’t, but they built adrenaline nonetheless.
As a supersoldier, 106 has abilities that make the run and gun mechanics a lot more fun than you’d see in more classic FPS titles. There’s the standard bullet time, called Focus in Trepang2, but also a cloaking ability that prevents you from being seen for a short time. Combined, these abilities lead to some great cinematic moments reminiscent of the best slow-mo sequences from CoD games on demand.
Some of the best moments that took advantage of the Focus ability were when I would be in a large room with enemies behind obstacles. I would get a running start before sliding and initiating the slow-mo before kneecapping every enemy with my shotgun. It was truly one of the more fun experiences I encountered, pushing the boundaries of what I could do.
Is Pandorium causing this?
The gameplay is undeniably fun and thrilling in a way that most AAA titles aren’t able to do anymore, making me feel the danger of the encroaching threats of the world. For most of the first mission, after you get to the Safehouse, you’re left in the dark about why you specifically are going after Horizon Corp. after just escaping them, but this is revealed in a big, beautiful, and really fun way.
However, around this same point in the game, I began to notice certain technical issues that seemed to happen with object collisions or character models clipping through the walls. It actually made for some funnier moments and rarely affected the gameplay, but players who might get impatient with bugs are likely to be disappointed or frustrated when they get stuck in a vent with no way out one too many times.
The guns feel really good to use, whether it be against the Horizon goons or the mutated victims that resulted from their greed. The shotgun is my personal favorite because you can really feel the weight of each shot and the lack of effectiveness at long range. Getting it close to your enemy before pulling the trigger will result in a viscera coating of the area, your shotgun, and your customized outfit.
In that same vein, it’s a very gory game, with characters who die leaving behind pools of blood as they lay where you left them. Shotguns, grenades, and even more powerful rifles blow enemies into chunks, with their organs lying next to their disembodied legs. This is kind of evolved upon when the player meets the mutants, but it’s also not overly realistic in a way that some might find nauseating.
All of this really culminates into something that is really reminiscent of the shooters I wasn’t allowed to play in the 2000s but with the mechanics and movement of current-gen games. The technical issues are apparent at times, but hopefully it’s something that can be resolved with a patch or two once the game has been fully released
The Final Word
While Trepang2 might suffer from some technical issues at launch, many action FPS fans are going to find a lot of fun with the weapons and abilities that this title gives you. Its industry-standard story might not be the most exciting, but the constant hail of bullets more than makes up for it.
8.5
Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of Trepang2. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!