Blacklight: Retribution PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 341 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 258 out of 341
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 341
  3. Negative: 59 out of 341

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. sinadoom
    Jul 6, 2012
    2
    I can credit this game for being different to your typical Korean free shooter. But unfortunately, the game is far too complicated and has too many elements to make it a viable game even if it is free. It took me 2 days to activate my account, and when you finally log in to the game you will spend most of the time being bombarded by tutorials and messing around in the options menu andI can credit this game for being different to your typical Korean free shooter. But unfortunately, the game is far too complicated and has too many elements to make it a viable game even if it is free. It took me 2 days to activate my account, and when you finally log in to the game you will spend most of the time being bombarded by tutorials and messing around in the options menu and customisation trying to figure out what anything is. And when you get in a match (which is complicated even still) you will experience lag, confusion and get points randomly. Even respawning is more complicated than it needs to be. I have never come across a more complicated shooter ever. OK the graphics are good for a free game- you get DirectX11 features like Tessalation. But since it's set at night the game doesn't look pretty cause it's too dark. The customisation is far too complicated. If you want a free shooter that is fair in all manors i.e. doesn't depend on your PC specs, connection or how well you've customised your layout try CrossFire. It is by far a superior, much more simple and far more addictive and skillful game than this pathetic attempt. If you want a real game, get Batttlefield 3. There's no reason to play this game over BF3 or CrossFire.… Expand
  2. suneater
    Dec 13, 2012
    1
    Pay2Win CoD clone painted with a "dystopian cyberpunk near-future warfare" brush. Gunplay is your typical camping and shooting around corners with everyone dying in 1-4 hits. Although the gun customization is deep, there are many direct upgrades and they will take you a LONG time to unlock if you don't pay cash. You have the option to "rent" parts, but if you want to permanently unlockPay2Win CoD clone painted with a "dystopian cyberpunk near-future warfare" brush. Gunplay is your typical camping and shooting around corners with everyone dying in 1-4 hits. Although the gun customization is deep, there are many direct upgrades and they will take you a LONG time to unlock if you don't pay cash. You have the option to "rent" parts, but if you want to permanently unlock that cool gun you just rented for 1 match's worth of GP you'll be looking at korean-strength grinding. For example, to permanently unlock a Lv1 LMG costs 5500 GP and you average 200-300 GP a match... do you really want to play 20-25 matches just to unlock a base gun? Add a muzzle, barrel, magazine, and stock @ 2750/each, a scope @ 3275 and you're looking at grinding at least 100 matches to unlock a Lv1 gun of your choice (not even including cosmetics). Armor (which adds real game changing stats, like HP & sprint speed) is even more expensive, starting at 7500 for Lv1s. No thanks.… Expand
  3. vahn
    Mar 11, 2013
    5
    This game has some good qualities...but a lot of bad ones at the same time. I'm not really good at shooters so I might be failing at pointing some things or be a little unfair due to my inexperience. However, as far as I can say, it's not a bad game: it plays for the most part as a sort of "call of duty" arena shooter in which you fight enemy teams (dont think there's a free for all, and IThis game has some good qualities...but a lot of bad ones at the same time. I'm not really good at shooters so I might be failing at pointing some things or be a little unfair due to my inexperience. However, as far as I can say, it's not a bad game: it plays for the most part as a sort of "call of duty" arena shooter in which you fight enemy teams (dont think there's a free for all, and I haven't found many other games other than Team Deathmatch), and it plays somehow like a Call of duty...but with better graphics. Actually, the controls also are rather weird: it plays like a fast pace arena shooter...but the aiming is slow and more than once I couldn't kill my enemies because I was slow during my aiming. In the end, I shot at point blank and made more progress. The HRV system, which is basically a legalized wallhack, while it may sound interesting it's...rather out of place, mainly because there's no satisfaction or "learning" while doing arenas: one of the best things in arena shooters was the ability of knowning your surroundings, as well as knowing where your enemies could be by predicting their movement. In here, with the HRV, nobody can hide and nobody can really predict anything, since they're going to be spotted. I have for last another flaw that it's 50% true and false: this game is a pay to win...but also not. It's possible to win games without buying guns or anything and if you try hard enough you can actually improve a lot... but the problem is that it will take you a lot of time to get your kills on your standard weapons simply because most of your enemies will have better guns that, literally, kills you in one hit, while you might take more than few shots (I shot my opponent, which was right in front of me, and took me half of my cartridge to take it down, while I saw enemy players one shotting me from afar...with assault rifles!). On the other hand, better weapons are easily bought and unlocked with money and that alone kills the purpose of "try to be good": just give them money, and victory is assured...and I mean a "LOT" of money. I know it's a f2p and I know they have to gain money somehow...but a single weapon can cost over 5 euros/dollars to unlock "permanently" (or over 5000 points, if you have the patience) and that alone it's very unfair...but expected. However, why should I buy weapons for 20 or more bucks when, for the same price and a little more, we can get better fps with everything "free"? The game gives you the possibility to try weapons with points for a varied amount of time...but I still don't see the point if you can easily buy a full retail game for the same price (not the newest, but there are cheap fps games that are worthy). All in all...it's a very decent game, but suffers from the "pay to win" formula and even if players will dedicate time in order to unlock their best weapons, money will grant easy mode by the very start. Not a terrible game, but not a great one either. Give it a try if you're curious.… Expand
  4. Brosman
    Apr 27, 2013
    5
    Fun, but horribly average.

    The good:
    Fast paced action, Tons of customization, Controls Well
    The bad:
    Pay to Win, expensive, Bad Community

    Id say if you wanna play it go for it since it is free, but be prepared to die a lot unless you want to put a lot of money into the game.
  5. DME
    Jan 6, 2013
    8
    Retribution is by no means revolutionary, but rather a solid competitive shooter, completely balanced and free to play. People crying "pay to win!" have no idea what they're talking about. The game is fast-paced, polished, and fun to play. However, Blacklight does suffer from one major problem. Patches to the game are ridiculously huge and take upwards of 10 hours to download. WorseRetribution is by no means revolutionary, but rather a solid competitive shooter, completely balanced and free to play. People crying "pay to win!" have no idea what they're talking about. The game is fast-paced, polished, and fun to play. However, Blacklight does suffer from one major problem. Patches to the game are ridiculously huge and take upwards of 10 hours to download. Worse yet, you can't pause the update in the middle of the process.… Expand
  6. savagejoe444
    May 30, 2013
    10
    Twice as better than Tango Down and the best online MP game Iv'e played next to CS! Here is hoping that the PS4 version will look TEN TIMES better when it comes out!
  7. Ansatsu83
    Jul 11, 2012
    5
    Its not that its a bad game its that it has a more-or-less lack of content, very few weapons are worth getting, one or two are overpowered, as is typically the case with free to play shooters. The lack of maps/game modes/weapon variations that are viable means the game gets boring quickly. The flamethrower can somehow burn through a completely sealed armored suit and allow another playerIts not that its a bad game its that it has a more-or-less lack of content, very few weapons are worth getting, one or two are overpowered, as is typically the case with free to play shooters. The lack of maps/game modes/weapon variations that are viable means the game gets boring quickly. The flamethrower can somehow burn through a completely sealed armored suit and allow another player to take control of it, from the enemy team, not sure how this makes any form of sense, what-so-ever.

    The SMG is the only weapon to ever use, any other weapon just fails in comparison. I did the closed beta for this game and continue to play today, its not bad, like I said, but it is discredited for the reasons above. On top of this the games new content comes at a very slow pace. There is also a lack of permanently purchasing weapons for in game currency.

    One pet peeve I have with free to play shooters is that they are hosted in america or canada, typically, for NA servers and they are overrun with players who speak Portuguese and Spanish, thus killing the teamplay elements, I did knock off one point for this, lack of teamplay, issue the developers caused by not segregating the players from south/central america from the USA/Canada servers. Yes I realize it costs money but you are a massive corporation with a lot of money and since perfect world entertainment owns the game there is no excuse for this since they are a multi-million dollar company.

    ===========
    Side Note
    ===========

    This is a peeve of mine that did NOT go into rating the review...

    It is overrun with people who cant aim and the devs do not want to segregate the playerbase from the "good players" to the "bad players" which is something that is killing the competitive portion of shooters.

    To sum everything up it is a moderately entertaining shooter but does not deserve over 6 out of 10 due to obvious management, content, and balance issues in a game that really requires it. On another side note, the critic who rated it at a 90% and said its better than cod was right about it being better than cod, but was wrong to give it a 90%.    … Expand
  8. Ordish
    Nov 6, 2012
    7
    Very nice action shooter. Responsive controls and the guns all feel completely different. None of the CoD shooting all the way across the world with a sub-machine gun for an instant kill. All the popular game modes from many different games are included. Great fun and free.
  9. TheGamer31
    Feb 6, 2013
    8
    This game is good, although some of the weapons are OP and I've come across some hackers, but other than that it is a really good game, I don't see why all these people are giving it bad reviews. It does deserve higher than what the users and critics are giving. So don't listen to them, go and get it for yourself, besides, it is FREE!
  10. TheGrindeR
    Jul 3, 2012
    0
    The worst Free to Play game i ever played. Firstly you need to wait ~1 hour to join the main server. In this game you can see through the walls=wallhack. When i saw this i instantly deleted the game. Absolutely 0 score and the fps gamers no need wallhack any other fps games.
  11. Scottixboy
    Jul 2, 2012
    0
    Game is a cheap remake of a game which failed as an "Arcade price" game(Tango Down) Like tango down, the maps are terrible, the graphics are terrible, the guns feel fake, the gameplay feels fake.

    The game is INCREDIBLY biased; For example, if you put money towards the game, you can get hugely unfair advantages like being pretty much invincible having a much more powerful gun; Stuff    Game is a cheap remake of a game which failed as an "Arcade price" game(Tango Down) Like tango down, the maps are terrible, the graphics are terrible, the guns feel fake, the gameplay feels fake.

    The game is INCREDIBLY biased; For example, if you put money towards the game, you can get hugely unfair advantages like being pretty much invincible having a much more powerful gun; Stuff which you can't get from just playing the game.

    There are MUCH better F2P FPS games out there, To list a few that are TONS better than this:

    Team Fortress 2-Probably the best FPS ever made, For free
    Battlefield Play4Free-Battlefield 2, another one of the best FPS games ever made-For free
    Warface-This one is especially good! Battlefield 3 standard!

    Don't ever play this, any other good reviews are people who have clearly never played the games I listed above    … Expand
  12. Invader-Nik
    Jul 14, 2012
    0
    A rubbish game. The tutorial was annoying and I had to turn subtitles on to understand what the voice was saying.
    Servers are constantly jam packed. I can barely even join a game.
    Graphics are ok, its the Unreal Engine.
    By the time I reached level 2 I had enough and removed it.

    Lousy game, try it if you want but don't bother wasting money on it
  13. prossnip42
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    I luv this game. its awesome. it has coll graphics,god athmosphere, out **** standing weapons and then some. sure it can fell sometime like a pay-2-win and some people think that is a little to faced paced but i aint having none of that shieeet.
  14. kanefriessner
    Feb 10, 2013
    1
    The game always crashing before game joins and in the start of a practice. Only the tutorial was running. Graphics are average. Looks like it's a Battlefield 2142 clone, an unfinished beta. A perfect junk. 1/10
  15. Awesomegamer7
    Aug 24, 2012
    9
    Blacklight: Retribution is a great game, with a lot of guns, armors, that you can customize, with upgrades, different looks and colors.
    There are also some classes of characters and each have different ways to customize.
    The game plays feels like Call Of Duty (which is almost the best a FPS can get), and its better then most FPS's out there, like War Rock and Team Fortress 2. The    Blacklight: Retribution is a great game, with a lot of guns, armors, that you can customize, with upgrades, different looks and colors.
    There are also some classes of characters and each have different ways to customize.
    The game plays feels like Call Of Duty (which is almost the best a FPS can get), and its better then most FPS's out there, like War Rock and Team Fortress 2.
    The graphics are awesome and for an online game its amazing, and the guns are beautifully made.
    The sound is just amazing, it feels like a real war, because of the guns shots, explosions etc... I love the feeling of battle while playing the game, so to play this game in full awesomeness grab some headphones and prepare to blow some heads up!
    Also a lot users are giving it negative scores like 0 and 4, but its impossible for this game to get a negative, because the game play is like your "beloved" Call Of Duty, the graphics incredible and in each match a new experience!
    So if you don't know how to play don't review this game. Or if you don't like just don't play it and stop bashing on it.
    And Has you can see I gave the game and 9. Why not a 10? Because its not 100%. It has some errors and bugs but besides that, and if you like FPS's get ready for lots of hours of fun!    … Expand
  16. The-Crow
    Oct 3, 2012
    8
    My first play experience with Blacklight was not great. I was left wondering is this pay to win or what ? I wont say I am a tournament winning Ace in the Shooter department but Im no slouch either, Im emptying clips into folks from the standard rifle using controled bursts and then getting seemingly 2-3 shotted by opponents who have upgraded weapons. When it shows the killcam I can seeMy first play experience with Blacklight was not great. I was left wondering is this pay to win or what ? I wont say I am a tournament winning Ace in the Shooter department but Im no slouch either, Im emptying clips into folks from the standard rifle using controled bursts and then getting seemingly 2-3 shotted by opponents who have upgraded weapons. When it shows the killcam I can see their health is almost gone & when im firing I see the redbox registering hits but so often this happens where they seem to pip me at the post. To win 1 on 1's i generally have to be behind someone on get a headshot in the opening exchange.

    In any case upon further playing I retracted previous statements about being pay 2 win.

    Apparently I was playing on the non level restricted servers, instead I should have stayed on the "Proving grounds" set of servers for players level 1-10. Having tried the level restricted servers I found it was actually pretty good fun, sure the odd person has slapped down RMT and bought something a little overwhelming but not many. The Default Assault Rifle Reciever with a couple of 3800GP (GP being Game Points earned ingame) modifications is actually really good and premade weapons of other types can be rented for as little as 200 GP a day (thats just a little less than 2 full matches worth of GP).

    In any case Skill does come back into play and the Counterstrike Style per match unlocks are good fun, i particularly like the flamethrower & hardsuit which is kinda like the Mech in District 9.

    I am out of the Proving Grounds now (locks you out at level 11) and have earned enough GP for a couple decent weapon upgrades for my A/R and managed to get some items from the free offers around the net. More than enough to hold my own against hgih levels in the open matches now. Worth a look if you can get it working, but it does have some technical issues. When you run the launcher and it starts to patch (particularly the very first time you run the patcher) just leave it running. The progress bar wont update until it gets to like 90%+ or if it does it will show like 3% then no movement till its finished, which is what it did to me. If it cant patch it actually returns an error fairly quickly, I left mine patching overnight when I first installed.    … Expand
  17. BAPACop
    Aug 23, 2013
    0
    This game uses an anti-cheat system known as PunkBuster. Unfortunately, it doesn't bother to tell you that and so installs two services onto your computer and goes so far as to accept PunkBuster's EULA on your behalf without so much as a prompt. I don't even think that last part is legal, but both parts are certainly unacceptable.
  18. auptyk
    May 25, 2012
    9
    This game is TOTALLY worth the money... ok lame joke out of the way. It is really good. There are some great user reviews here so I am not going to really go all out, just want to say a few things: 1. Look and feel of the game are great. Great use of the Unreal Engine. 2. Customization is awesome and meaningful. Lots of it. Starts to feel like an MMO or RPG with how much customizationThis game is TOTALLY worth the money... ok lame joke out of the way. It is really good. There are some great user reviews here so I am not going to really go all out, just want to say a few things: 1. Look and feel of the game are great. Great use of the Unreal Engine. 2. Customization is awesome and meaningful. Lots of it. Starts to feel like an MMO or RPG with how much customization there is to character and weapon stats. 3. Free vs Pay player system is balanced very very well. My one complaint really: You are FORCED to buy more load-out slots. You can't use in game points to get more load out options. I think this is the only "chumpish" aspect of the pay system. Pretty upset about that feature. Solid game, and I recommend every fan of FPS at least give it a look. It can't hurt as it is free, might as well.… Expand
  19. Ochetazinco
    Jan 6, 2013
    10
    If you were a professional reviewer how would you rate this game and why? that is a good question. Most people posting here either like it or they don't. People are not like professional reviewers, they don't waste time in every single detail of the game. In fact, what most people do is to log in and start playing and they don't care about anything else. Also, people are not like reviewersIf you were a professional reviewer how would you rate this game and why? that is a good question. Most people posting here either like it or they don't. People are not like professional reviewers, they don't waste time in every single detail of the game. In fact, what most people do is to log in and start playing and they don't care about anything else. Also, people are not like reviewers in the sense that they are biased by everything around them: those things might include other games, other people, the media, or they might even go along with what everyone else is saying, just because everybody else is saying it...they don't want to be the oddball who actually liked the game, while everyone else said they didn't. But you don't have to be! Nobody is forcing you to not play a game just because they think it's bad, ultimately it is your choice because you can do whatever you wish with your own computer and you answer to nobody. You never know the truth about a game, until you install it and play it yourself. With that said, I believe Blacklight Retribution is a great game: 1) The graphics are awesome, this game runs on the Unreal Engine with DX11. We all know Unreal Engine, it runs great on many varieties of computers. It has many choices, among them tessellation, bokeh, and depth of field. But that is nothing to be worried about, because entry level cards can max out this game, no problem. 2) Dedicated Servers are amazing, the ping is below 100 (on a basic AT&T connection) and there is always plenty of people to play with at any time of the day. You can filter out servers, and find your place in a game easy as 1,2,3 (Well, at least I haven't had any problem with that). 3)I like the maps, they are great. They are medium sized and are designed so that you never spawn in the same place twice. They are also colorful and shiny, but you may need to turn the brightness up on some. 4)Contrary to popular belief, the "wall-hack" visor doesn't really change anything. You can't shoot through the walls, and you can't even shoot while using it anyway. 3) Everyone dies. IF you are new to the game, no worries, because higher level players can be killed just as easily as you, no one has an advantage, even if they paid (I've killed dozens of them no problem, head-shots even) . 4) There no advertising in this game. That is amazing, considering it's F2P and all. A couple of cons, yeah you have to rent things with GP which only last 2 or 3 days and you also have to dish out a lot of GP for weapon parts, but I believe that is a small price to pay, because in real money you have the chance to pay $0 = )… Expand
  20. HerrJoebob
    Sep 18, 2012
    8
    This is a great game and great concept... Building the guns from parts is really engaging and adds a lot to the normal Counterstrike model of gameplay. For instance, if you prefer you can build a gun that is purely a short-range "spray and pray" that doesn't require a lot of precision (my favorite) or you can build a slow-firing sniper rifle from similar parts for the same cost. IThis is a great game and great concept... Building the guns from parts is really engaging and adds a lot to the normal Counterstrike model of gameplay. For instance, if you prefer you can build a gun that is purely a short-range "spray and pray" that doesn't require a lot of precision (my favorite) or you can build a slow-firing sniper rifle from similar parts for the same cost. I personally find the HRV (feature that lets you see through walls) to be a huge bonus as far as the speed and strategy of the matches; after all, everybody's got it. The maps are interesting and well laid out and the "F2P + cash extras" model is very well done; it's not intrusive to the game and the cash-bought items do not give you an advantage in each match; you can buy it all if you spend time playing. Bottom line: if you want a Counterstrike-style game with a few twists, it's worth the $0 to download it.… Expand
  21. 911nsidejob
    Nov 29, 2012
    10
    It's as if COD and Killzone had a perfect baby, that's Blacklight: Retribution folks, a beautiful Directx 11 game that has some astounding customization like no other.
  22. DarthRevan
    Apr 21, 2013
    7
    At first, Blacklight: Retribution looks like a unique shooter with a wide variety of customization and mechanics. For the most part, this is true. But once you get into the meat of the game, you'll find that it's just another cookie cutter modern shooter and there is very few that is unique about this game. Beginning with the pros of the game, for one it is beautiful. The graphics of thisAt first, Blacklight: Retribution looks like a unique shooter with a wide variety of customization and mechanics. For the most part, this is true. But once you get into the meat of the game, you'll find that it's just another cookie cutter modern shooter and there is very few that is unique about this game. Beginning with the pros of the game, for one it is beautiful. The graphics of this game are even better than Battlefield 3. The futuristic style of things really adds a nice touch. The maps are also great and textured well, so you wont be disappointed here. Another pro is the customization. This game allows you to customize many different elements of a weapon to fit your liking. For instance, you could sacrifice damage for lower recoil, have a gun with explosive ammo that shoots really fast, etc. It's terribly customizable, but a con of the game goes hand and hand with the game is the free-to-play model. There are two types of currency in this game, GP and Zen. GP is a currency that can be earned through doing matches. Zen is (as with all free-to-play games) the game's pay-real-money-for-this currency. Most items will allow you to use both GP and Zen on it, and that's great. The problem is that the GP is earned really slow. If you wanted to purchase a permanent form of an item, it would take a multitude of games, which is unfortunate. For the most part, you'll be found renting items for anywhere between 1-30 days (except items seem to require at least a 7-day rental, I hope this is fixed). If they were to increase the amount of GP earned per game, it would make the game a lot better, because you would unlock more parts for your guns faster and would stop having to use the default AR over and over.

    To discuss the combat, I have to say it's hardly different from Call of Duty or Battlefield 3. It's based on twitch-reaction accuracy which is really, really annoying. This is something that not everybody can do, and it takes awhile (if possible at all) to train your hands. I am one of these people. Whoever can jerk their mouse the fastest will win the gunfight. It's sad too, because the same thing applies to any modern shooter. And that's basically what the combat is, and the combat is what a first-person shooter is about. Now there are a unique caliber of guns, ranging from assault rifles to sub-machine guns, but in all honesty most assault rifles and higher-caliber guns are just too recoil-heavy to use. This game teaches you what real recoil is. In conclusion, it's a free game, and it's a great casual game. It offers stunning graphics along with a high-amount of customization. However the combat is way too fast paced and the free-to-play model kind of ruins the casual part of it. If this game was pay-once, things would be a lot better, as you'd unlock everything in game either by leveling up or just using GP. However this is not the case, and there is no use hanging on that point.    … Expand
  23. Chapy
    Dec 29, 2012
    9
    I am incredibly hard to impress and this free-to-play shooter impresses me greatly. The gunplay is tight and responsive. The kill times are a little short for my personal taste (they're pretty similar to CS kill times) but that certainly isn't a negative. It's fast paced which I really enjoy. The 'wall-hack' mechanic has an extremely positive side effect of keeping action up by directingI am incredibly hard to impress and this free-to-play shooter impresses me greatly. The gunplay is tight and responsive. The kill times are a little short for my personal taste (they're pretty similar to CS kill times) but that certainly isn't a negative. It's fast paced which I really enjoy. The 'wall-hack' mechanic has an extremely positive side effect of keeping action up by directing players towards each other, which someone like me really appreciates. The nade mechanics are on point, you can cook a nade, the throw arch is very intuitive, nothing feels wonky or out of place, the gun balance seems fine, granted I'm not lvl 10 yet so I haven't accessed the late game stuff. I mean I went into this game having extremely high standards for FPS and I am just amazed how satisfying the game experience is. I recommend.… Expand
  24. fat_funny_freak
    Oct 20, 2012
    8
    I was actually pleasantly surprised that a F2P such as this could be so good, yes it has it's ups and downs, mainly ups but it's still really good for a simple F2P, so I'm looking forward to many hours of gameplay with this.
  25. Zyromkiru
    May 4, 2012
    8
    Good for a free to play but still won't beat the games you buy. The fact that it has directx 11 while being a free to play game makes this game superior to other free games. They chose the right direction.
  26. StickNik
    Apr 4, 2013
    9
    A great F2P game. Firstly, many people complain that it takes too long to earn GP to get new guns and equipment, but ignore the system enabling 1 day rental, 7 day rental, and permanent items. This can make people choose whether they want to invest into building up a permanent class, or buy their favourite items playing through a week during the holidays, or every so often for a day whenA great F2P game. Firstly, many people complain that it takes too long to earn GP to get new guns and equipment, but ignore the system enabling 1 day rental, 7 day rental, and permanent items. This can make people choose whether they want to invest into building up a permanent class, or buy their favourite items playing through a week during the holidays, or every so often for a day when you have the time. The ability to change the muzzle, barrel, stock, scope, and every piece of the gun you can think of makes you think about what you are going to get, and it rewards you for playing the game well by what you do in a game.I, myself, do not often play this game for days in a row, yet have many permanent items that I like to choose between when tweaking my guns, which often happens every time I play. Often, my friends would rent their favourite pre-made so that they can own with their style of play, and this is often a good way for some people to work for permanent items. Notice when I say favourite, since some people will play extremely well with their own SMG while another person wouldn't live without getting a sniper. The gameplay is great, and changing out only a couple of pieces of your gun can make you notice recoil differences, change in sound, range and spread, showing they really made the customization have depth, with so many different class arrangements you can find by picking up a friendly or enemy weapon drop, which can really help to pick up If you think you need to give the other team a taste of their own medicine. Some people do not want to spend time perfecting their weapon, so they can decide to buy non-customizable pre-mades to keep them happy. But what if you don't want to buy new armours and equipment either? You can get whole character packages that let you drop into play whenever you want, with tailored equipment and guns, with new characters popping out all the time. From snipers, to back-stabbers, to mech-xperts (funny, right?), to heavy gunners, to speed demons. Find the right thing for you and you can enjoy this game as much as you try to.… Expand
  27. Tb87670
    Feb 11, 2013
    0
    The score is to counter the false 10-point reviews, reality is this game rates around 5 out of 10 after a few of the recent patches. First rule of this game: NEVER PUT MONEY INTO THIS GAME. The devs do not deserve the money and it doesn't get you much, the F2P game model needs to die off because it's bad business. Now to the game. The game used to be fun and almost balanced, then theThe score is to counter the false 10-point reviews, reality is this game rates around 5 out of 10 after a few of the recent patches. First rule of this game: NEVER PUT MONEY INTO THIS GAME. The devs do not deserve the money and it doesn't get you much, the F2P game model needs to die off because it's bad business. Now to the game. The game used to be fun and almost balanced, then the update that 'fixed' the HRV issue ruined the game and made it much slower. I quit more than a few months ago but kept tabs on the game, and the devs are just ham-handed with their patches. Every patch adds more bugs than it fixes, and game balance is totally ruined now. This is the first time I saw a good game get ruined by patching.… Expand
  28. ZPFan0LAB
    Aug 24, 2013
    9
    Blacklight Retribution automatically gets bonus points for being free and looking like something that AAA games would cower before. This game is free, deep and looks great-why pay a ton of cash if you want a mediocre, yet addictive multiplayer game; when you can get deep, engaging and addictive multiplayer for free? The feature that is lacking is the inclusion of a campaign or coop-seeingBlacklight Retribution automatically gets bonus points for being free and looking like something that AAA games would cower before. This game is free, deep and looks great-why pay a ton of cash if you want a mediocre, yet addictive multiplayer game; when you can get deep, engaging and addictive multiplayer for free? The feature that is lacking is the inclusion of a campaign or coop-seeing as how the controls and shooting mechanics are better than COD, but that's a minor gripe. The whole game contains; Standard, deep, COD style multiplayer, a tutorial and Bots. The character and weapon customisation is immense and the menu interface is great. Getting and staying in a match is easy, while the consecutive point steaks you can earn are inventive. The cyber, techno, future theme means that the game's sound track is great and that the environments have a distinct feel to the game. Obviously lag and bug issues come in, but most are removed and don't decrease the score.

    In Short; Blacklight Retribution is the multiplayer game of the year, the only problem is the lack of a desired campaign or coop mode.    … Expand
  29. Jswizzy84
    Jan 1, 2013
    7
    Low skill ceiling and low skill floor. If they increased the time to kill and took away the built in wall hacks this game could easily be a 9/10 but instead it's just a f2p annoyance. Do yourself a favor and skip this. Play NS2 or Hawken instead. If you like COD maybe this game is for you otherwise just skip it.
  30. Archontos
    Jul 3, 2012
    6
    For me few things make this game average:
    1. Everyone has ability to see through walls. That's a standard option, everybody has "googles" allowing to see other players (enemies and allies) through walls. That is sick, reducing usefulness of any tactical gameplay to zero.
    2. Dumb-looking, pseudo-modern design of many parts of equipment (especially player's models). 3. Barely moderate    For me few things make this game average:
    1. Everyone has ability to see through walls. That's a standard option, everybody has "googles" allowing to see other players (enemies and allies) through walls. That is sick, reducing usefulness of any tactical gameplay to zero.
    2. Dumb-looking, pseudo-modern design of many parts of equipment (especially player's models).
    3. Barely moderate satisfaction from the basic activity in the game: SHOOTING. Can't name this feeling, but shooting in CS or any Unreal is much more satisfying and in these games I feel I have MUCH more control over the actions of my character.

    Nevertheless Blacklight: Retribution is not bad game, slightly above the average I would say. If you like network shooters - try it, all in all it's free.    … Expand
  31. InfinityBlaze
    Apr 8, 2012
    9
    This game is great. All the guns feel very satisfying to shoot, and the amount of customization is just astonishing. The maps feel well designed, and provide ample sightlines for snipers and narrow corridors for SMG/Rifle combat. The only ding against this game is that you are almost required to use real world money for new guns as the EXP takes FOREVER to earn. That game is very fun, andThis game is great. All the guns feel very satisfying to shoot, and the amount of customization is just astonishing. The maps feel well designed, and provide ample sightlines for snipers and narrow corridors for SMG/Rifle combat. The only ding against this game is that you are almost required to use real world money for new guns as the EXP takes FOREVER to earn. That game is very fun, and I recommend it to any FPS fan.… Expand
  32. Ageoffan
    Jul 31, 2012
    10
    For a F2P shooter, it is bang on awesome. Barely any glitches, the HRV (pretty much wall hack) makes sure no one really is able to camp at all. And it's not P2W either. Sure if you spend money you will have a lead, but i did not spent any zen at all and is still rocked. This game is much more about skill than gear. And it does not take a full day to unlock a single accessory. Play 1-2For a F2P shooter, it is bang on awesome. Barely any glitches, the HRV (pretty much wall hack) makes sure no one really is able to camp at all. And it's not P2W either. Sure if you spend money you will have a lead, but i did not spent any zen at all and is still rocked. This game is much more about skill than gear. And it does not take a full day to unlock a single accessory. Play 1-2 matches, get about 200 -400 GP and you have enough to either buy a premade weapon, which you can not customize but can give you a feel for certain weapon builds, or slowly build your own. Granted to perma buy anything costs a crazy amount of gp and zen, so i can see why ppl go for zen. But each time you lvl the game sends you a mail with some items for your lvl which last for three days, that is more than enough time to earn enough gp to be able to keep renting your gear for say 1 day, or 7 days until you can earn enough gp to buy that thing forever. So i would suggest this game for everyone, this game is better than some major titles as well, BF3 comes to mind, BF3 is just plain **** fail.… Expand
  33. joefresco
    Aug 28, 2012
    0
    The developers are incompetent amateurs. Cumbersome gameplay mechanics, broken options, shoddy implementation of ideas. This junk is not worth its price tag.
  34. IsaacSlade
    Sep 4, 2012
    5
    Okay, adding something to my last review. I just found out that guns you buy with GP are one day rentals. For that, I'm dropping my previous rating from a seven to a five. Graphics are okay, gameplay is that of any FPS, customization is fun just so long as you figure out how to not let weapons expire after a day, and it's lacking maps.
  35. Useful1d1ot
    Feb 27, 2013
    8
    This game does allot well, but nothing amazing, it's fast, it's fun and the customization is endless.. but the servers do allow for to much latency within the players..
  36. Deeperlook
    May 18, 2013
    0
    13 hours to download the patch from there launcher, then when it was finally DL and installed i get an error, I looked up for salutations and all i see is "uninstall and DL it again".
    a waste of time and bandwidth, this is 2013 not f@cking 1996.
  37. YoonYoungJo
    Feb 13, 2013
    0
    WARNING TO CONSUMERS***
    Chinese MMO company (PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT) engages in consumer fraud. They also use "sponsored"
    players within their products to defraud children. Check out Facebook created page "Neverwinter Alert" for more details. ALSO: Please keep in mind Perfect World Entertainment currently has an (F) Grade for its BBB rating. If thats any indication of how it    WARNING TO CONSUMERS***
    Chinese MMO company (PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT) engages in consumer fraud. They also use "sponsored"
    players within their products to defraud children. Check out Facebook created page
    "Neverwinter Alert" for more details.

    ALSO: Please keep in mind Perfect World Entertainment currently has an (F) Grade for its BBB rating. If thats any indication of how it treats its customers. Please LIKE SHARE the Facebook page (Neverwinter Alert), so other consumers (mostly US consumers) will
    not be targeted by this Chinese MMO company (Perfect World Entertainment).    … Expand
  38. SeriousPain
    Jan 27, 2014
    10
    With a unique wall hack mechanic (HRV) that changes the gameplay in a good way, already making the game unique and nothing like other games, probably the best customization in any shooters ever, with lots of items, armor and gun customization, and a very satisfying feel to the guns, with kick and great sound, glitches are rare, the maps are colorful and varied compared to most brown andWith a unique wall hack mechanic (HRV) that changes the gameplay in a good way, already making the game unique and nothing like other games, probably the best customization in any shooters ever, with lots of items, armor and gun customization, and a very satisfying feel to the guns, with kick and great sound, glitches are rare, the maps are colorful and varied compared to most brown and grey and realistic fps today, and the game doesn't takes itself too seriously, this fast paced sci-fi multiplayer shooter is the best of its kind!

    If anyone says this game is unfair or pay to win, they're either lying, or just stupid. From the very first levels, you get good items and so many way to get different temporary items for cheap or free. You get free stuff from just playing the game! And everything is very well balanced, with nothing you can only get with real money (ZEN) that will give you any advantage over other players.

    I played many free shooters, and this is so far the most fun I had with one!    … Expand
  39. Cyph3rPunk
    Jul 30, 2012
    9
    BLR is one of the best F2P FPS games out there. Unlike most others, the system is not broken with pay-to-win shceme. 1 match of GP will give you enough to rent a decked out gun for a day, so you can use high level guns to earn money to customize your own gun. The gunplay feels tight, and no weapons really feel overpowered than others (Unless you have a low recoil/low spread LMG setup).BLR is one of the best F2P FPS games out there. Unlike most others, the system is not broken with pay-to-win shceme. 1 match of GP will give you enough to rent a decked out gun for a day, so you can use high level guns to earn money to customize your own gun. The gunplay feels tight, and no weapons really feel overpowered than others (Unless you have a low recoil/low spread LMG setup). Speaking of gun setups, its amazing to see all that stats that you can modify by choosing different attachments. Almost anything you can think of relating to your weapons or armor can be customized to your exact play style.

    And the reason why I'm liking this game so much - The maps feel well thought out with plenty of alternate paths. With the exception of HeloDeck, the maps have a great mixture of places to snipe and places to get into a total **** of a gunfight. For a F2P game, nobody could have asked for more.    … Expand
  40. Ackz
    Jul 25, 2012
    4
    What Blacklight Retribution does right is the amount of customization on your load-out and the ability to customize your character, however that's where it all falls down a cliff. It probably takes around a full day of play to get the exp needed to unlock a single accessory for a gun (of which there are douzens). I get they want to make money with this game, and I'm also a type of personWhat Blacklight Retribution does right is the amount of customization on your load-out and the ability to customize your character, however that's where it all falls down a cliff. It probably takes around a full day of play to get the exp needed to unlock a single accessory for a gun (of which there are douzens). I get they want to make money with this game, and I'm also a type of person that's willing to pay, but in order for me to get a decent build I could 2 to 4 full A- rated games on Steam. So you're being faced with two equally unattractive propositions. Though I'm an experienced MMO player and I can deal with grind just fine, however, I cannot deal with clunky mechanics that feel wooden if not rusted. Being able to see through walls isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be, it just makes you think twice if you're trying a stealth move. Just that once you try to shoot that person you saw, it gives zero satisfaction, they don't feel like guns and don't sound like guns. The aforementioned attachments you can unlock do offer noticeable differences and you can adjust them to your style, it doesn't make up for the lack of feel. Though the very worst that with an i7 3770k and a GTX690 I was getting pretty bad frame drops (down to 20's), which is probably just a compatibility issue, but that doesn't make it excusable or less preposterous. It being free and so customizable are its only redeeming factors, despite all the negative reviews I decided to still give it a try, and I encourage you to do the same. I however was deeply dissapointed.… Expand
  41. Vistance
    Aug 6, 2012
    2
    I've tried a lot of F2P games, most fall flat and don't offer any excitement to speak of past their initial premise. F2P FPS games even more so than other genre's seem to fail horribly for whatever reason. I've yet to play a single one that was even half as fun as a AAA FPS title (And lets admit those are pretty generic anymore). I spent a good while downloading this game as it's 8 GB, andI've tried a lot of F2P games, most fall flat and don't offer any excitement to speak of past their initial premise. F2P FPS games even more so than other genre's seem to fail horribly for whatever reason. I've yet to play a single one that was even half as fun as a AAA FPS title (And lets admit those are pretty generic anymore). I spent a good while downloading this game as it's 8 GB, and after all that - the game failed to start. I'm a computer technician, so I know how to fix issues the arise generally. Whatever problem Blacklight Retribution has is something in its awful coding. The launcher prompts windows to install something through steam every time I launched the game, the launcher takes a long time to just tell you you're at the newest patch version, and after all that every time I launched the game it just went to a black screen and locked my computer up so horribly that all my USB devices die (Keyboard and mouse just totally dead, can't even CTRL+ALT+DEL out). I disabled my antivirus and firewall (Both of which work fine with all my other games) and still this game just locked up so badly I had to reboot my computer.

    I found someone who said that it's best to download direct from the Blacklight Retribution website, so I started to do that download (Now mind you I have 30 MBPS broadband, normal download rates are 2.5-3.5 MB/sec - steam only took about 10 mins to download the whole game). So I'm downloading through their website, first off they install this awful Pando Media Booster program notorious for excessive seeding and sucking your bandwidth - and then the download rates are horrible! They look like they've been capped to me, the most I was getting was about 700 KB/sec so a nice 2 and a half hour download time. I just cancelled it, deleted the Pando leech program and completely decided against any more effort on this games part.

    Don't waste your time even downloading this game. I thought I'd try it, but more I see people who have real taste are noting the game is a Pay 2 Win kind of F2P and as I was beginning to suspect that the guns don't really feel right (Yes this is hard to describe, but it's difficult for a game with fake guns to get the same feeling of satisfaction that real modelled guns can). This is another generic throwaway FPS that just has lots of customization - which ultimately while cool in concept doesn't mean anything for the lousy gameplay based on all the content I've looked at while trying to get the game running. The developers are clearly too unskilled to code any better than they have, so some users like myself just can't even get the game running. Some might excuse the poor coding because it's F2P, but I don't - other F2P games offer far higher quality than this in that department.    … Expand
  42. Purple_Badger
    Aug 11, 2012
    8
    this is a good game. It looks beautiful in Unreal engine and plays well. the upgrade system is deep and fulfilling with a huge amount of parts that allow you to make a unique weapon and loadout that suits your play-style. unfortunately the modes are generally nothing new but the maps are big enough to let you approach a game differently without feeling samey. for the grand price of nothingthis is a good game. It looks beautiful in Unreal engine and plays well. the upgrade system is deep and fulfilling with a huge amount of parts that allow you to make a unique weapon and loadout that suits your play-style. unfortunately the modes are generally nothing new but the maps are big enough to let you approach a game differently without feeling samey. for the grand price of nothing it's a good game that you need to get if you like FPS.… Expand
  43. Phoxulu
    Jan 31, 2013
    2
    Blacklight: Retribution is a steaming pile of feces lying in a trash bin. it's broken, unbalanced, choppy and disgusting. Here are the reasons to this massive failure:

    Broken: The bots shoot at walls and have aimbots, it is riddled with bugs and when the devs add a patch they add a new 15+ bugs. Unbalanced: People that have "unlocked" guns are far better than you, Why? well all the    Blacklight: Retribution is a steaming pile of feces lying in a trash bin. it's broken, unbalanced, choppy and disgusting. Here are the reasons to this massive failure:

    Broken: The bots shoot at walls and have aimbots, it is riddled with bugs and when the devs add a patch they add a new 15+ bugs.

    Unbalanced: People that have "unlocked" guns are far better than you, Why? well all the guns aside from the garbage starting SMG are about 35.9x more effective than your SMG (you will be getting one-shotted constantly). Choppy: The game has a FPS of a SNES running BF3 (My computer is fast and it still runs like garbage)
    The animations are bad they lag quite a bit.
    The grenades are...... I can't even describe them

    Disgusting: This game is a pay to win, ok in PTW games you can unlock things but in THIS game guess what...... YOU F***ING CANT UNLOCK THINGS!!!!!!! you have to pay for everything and those things only last for 1 day so you HAVE to pay to play in a marked as "free" game

    My work here is done.    … Expand
  44. zto101
    Sep 20, 2012
    3
    I have reached up to level 21 in this game, and for all I've been through, I had to give this game a 3. BLR is not a horrendous game; its graphical shine makes up for everything else, but it does lack many mechanics that players want. Hit detection is a very common issue, that I don't even know Zombie Studios is on the case to fix or what, but that's one main reason this game is partiallyI have reached up to level 21 in this game, and for all I've been through, I had to give this game a 3. BLR is not a horrendous game; its graphical shine makes up for everything else, but it does lack many mechanics that players want. Hit detection is a very common issue, that I don't even know Zombie Studios is on the case to fix or what, but that's one main reason this game is partially playable. Many of the premade weapons in this game lack A LOT of advantages. What I mean is many of them have very very sh*t advantages over say, a lot of the other OP guns other high ranking players have, which they BUY with real cash. The standard tactical knight alone (main gun) is even better than a lot of attachments and gun add-ons. You are only limited to level 1 pre-made weapons, which I'd expect, you would unlock new weapons each time you advance a level. But, I was wrong. You can only purchase the "good" weapons, as well as godly nodes that make you near invincible and give you a HUGE advantage over "GP only" players. Servers are another problem. Many of them are over capacity, and quick joining usually puts you in an unwanted game. Ping, lag, bugs, all the works, even with smooth running internet. HRV has a delay when switching on and off. Gameplay is repetitive in most cases. Maps, game modes are getting worn out. Same old fps mechanics like other shooters. No new updates. Nothing really UNIQUE. Futuristic has been seen too much and overdone in fps based. Overall, if this game does not have a turnaround soon, I'll probably leave my rank in the 20 range.… Expand
  45. Garland
    Jun 9, 2013
    5
    it was decent for a F2P game until one of the resent updates. buying guns and equipment for a single day useage was a much simpler thing for an occasional player. now minimal is 7 days and alot of items you cant get permadently anymore....its just a huge hassle now. the zombie mode was half-assed but it WAS an even game. and what kind of military...Rents out there guns to there soliders
  46. bitcrusher
    Apr 19, 2012
    8
    This game is a f2p shooter done right. The guns and armor are nicely balanced. I played blacklight tango but GFWL really killed it. This time they got rid of that junk and it is a lot better. There are many modes to play, such as KOTH, TDM, DM, and CTF. There is so many ways you can customize your weapon, gear, and outfit. There is also some nice novelty taunts in the game as well.This game is a f2p shooter done right. The guns and armor are nicely balanced. I played blacklight tango but GFWL really killed it. This time they got rid of that junk and it is a lot better. There are many modes to play, such as KOTH, TDM, DM, and CTF. There is so many ways you can customize your weapon, gear, and outfit. There is also some nice novelty taunts in the game as well. Really give this game a shot :D… Expand
  47. ScreamingWargod
    Jul 11, 2012
    10
    This is by FAR the greatest PC f2p fps game ever seen. The business model is very good (NOT pay-to-win). Graphics and game play are all top-notch. What else can be said? Try it for yourself.

    If you are a PC-gamer that digs fps games, this is a mandatory evaluation for you!
  48. Scarrnix
    May 22, 2012
    7
    The free to play model makes it really easy to get into, but compared to other modern FPS games it is not as fun to play. It has a lot f variation with all of the attachments, but each attachment only changes minor aspects of the gun to the point that they are almost not helpful. I'm not saying they should make attachments overpower your gun, but I wish they would increase some stats moreThe free to play model makes it really easy to get into, but compared to other modern FPS games it is not as fun to play. It has a lot f variation with all of the attachments, but each attachment only changes minor aspects of the gun to the point that they are almost not helpful. I'm not saying they should make attachments overpower your gun, but I wish they would increase some stats more and decrease others more to balance it. This way the variation could really determine play styles where as right now there is not as much variation as I had hoped for.… Expand
  49. squarepower
    Aug 30, 2012
    0
    More than half of the reviews scoring this game a 10 are blatant advertising by the developers. This is an unpolished mediocre game that will never be out of the beta stage. Designed from the ground up to encourage you to spend money to purchase "Zen" so you can rent equipment upgrades for less than a week at a time. Attempts to actually "earn" your equipment is a boring chore and grind.
  50. Desmau5
    Aug 22, 2013
    10
    This game is NOT P2W! (pay to win)

    You probably just suck, deal with it. The guns on the game are VERY customizable, and the reason that it seems P2W is because the players customize their guns into their playstyle. The other reviews are very one sided, the "Wallhack" in the game is called HRV, it is to prevent people from camping in corners, and locating your team, the    This game is NOT P2W! (pay to win)

    You probably just suck, deal with it.

    The guns on the game are VERY customizable, and the reason that it seems P2W is because the players customize their guns into their playstyle.

    The other reviews are very one sided, the "Wallhack" in the game is called HRV, it is to prevent people from camping in corners, and locating your team, the objectives, and any possible threats nearby.

    There is no aimbot, that other reviewer is completely retarded.

    The servers work fine, maybe your connection is bad?
    Maybe the servers were down for maintenance, or game was updating?

    Also, it does not cost $10, it's 100% free.

    People are ignorant and stupid, and I'm not going to be that person, so I'll say some bad things about the game.

    The zombie mode doesn't have many maps, and it's really fun.

    Wearing the best armor in the game only makes you have 50% more health, and it completely destroys the ability to run.

    The Speed demon pants are way too awesome when you're using a SMG.

    The guns don't sound that powerful, maybe its because of the future though.

    And camo is cheap, but people assume you're a P2W if you have camo.    … Expand
  51. DEATHSTROKE
    Mar 22, 2014
    0
    The game feels mediocore. It lacks the thrill i get from playing other multiplayer games. The aiming system is really really bad. The moment you launch the game you will know that it feels like cheap plastic. Basically you have thermal goggles and you can get high score because you can see all players.This game is made for camping. If you try to go a short distance(From point A to B)The game feels mediocore. It lacks the thrill i get from playing other multiplayer games. The aiming system is really really bad. The moment you launch the game you will know that it feels like cheap plastic. Basically you have thermal goggles and you can get high score because you can see all players.This game is made for camping. If you try to go a short distance(From point A to B) someone will shoot you (because they are hiding). i will never buy f2p games again… Expand
  52. Zoidenberger
    Jul 3, 2012
    0
    Payed $10 for the game and stupidly activated the limited time XP booster. At the time of writing the games servers have been almost completely unavailable for over 6 hours. I would suggest against buying this game until the server issue has been sorted out.
  53. Earthykiller127
    Aug 27, 2012
    8
    Blacklight: Retribution is a great free to play that deserve you to take a look at it. the game is great itself, it require an internet connection since its an multiplayer shooter game. its worth it, and if you like multiplayer and FPS, its for you.
  54. AlFredo2
    Aug 28, 2012
    0
    Blacklight Retribution is a patheticly poorly made pay-to-win shooter game. Controls are frustrating and broken, player builds are poorly balanced, players are casual noobs, maps are similiar and bland. Customization is complex and very frustrating. Gaining experience points in matches to level up and unlock more gear is also a major grind. This is an poor game. Don't waste your time.
  55. nsuper1
    Jul 22, 2013
    9
    great game incredible gun play, the game play in general good but need some tweaks at leas a great game recommended game for play sometimes for the people that know it and play it well know that very complete game
  56. MrJingles
    Aug 15, 2012
    0
    This game is a joke riddled with glitches and bugs. Every time they patch the game, they introduce a plethora of new glitches while dubiously fixing old bugs. Avoid this junk.
  57. nerdboy64
    Jul 6, 2012
    7
    First of all, the actual shooting in Blacklight: Retribution is absolutely average. It's the same low-recoil, hit-scan style we're used to seeing in CoD and similar titles. This doesn't make it bad, but it's not all that great either. It's just average. And true, there is a device that could be called a "wallhack," in the form of the HRV. But since everyone has it, I really don't see whatFirst of all, the actual shooting in Blacklight: Retribution is absolutely average. It's the same low-recoil, hit-scan style we're used to seeing in CoD and similar titles. This doesn't make it bad, but it's not all that great either. It's just average. And true, there is a device that could be called a "wallhack," in the form of the HRV. But since everyone has it, I really don't see what the problem is. If anything, it's a positive addition because it makes camping impossible and eliminates the need to walk around the map aimlessly looking for an enemy.

    The real meat of the game is in its customization system. This is the first FPS where you can actually build your guns from parts, to have a weapon tailored exactly to your play style. Despite the large number of parts, it seems they've actually got the balance right as well. There are still a few problems with certain parts, but the vast majority are almost perfect sidegrades.

    The graphics are also pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but at least it's not another brown-and-grey shooter. The futuristic aesthetic also helps, as it reminds me of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a game which I absolutely loved. Now, graphics and aesthetics is a touchy subject as most of it comes down to personal preference. I like the way it looks, but you might not. Either way, nobody can argue that the graphics are so bad it hurts your ability to play the game.

    But here's where the games starts to have problems. Blacklight: Retribution has a serious case of what I like to call "CoD Syndrome." CoD Syndrome involves having a level-based unlock system which forces you to play the game not for fun, but rather to get something you want. Not only that, but after you unlock something with levels you also have to buy it with in-game currency, called GP. Now, this has nothing to do with the business model. I just hate the idea of having to run on a treadmill for something which should be down to personal preference. For example, if I subjectively prefer a shotgun over a light pistol, I have to wait until level 20. But if I want a heavy pistol instead, I only need to get to level 2 or 3 (I forget which). This is like an ice cream shop letting you buy mint chip, but making you run on a treadmill for 10 minutes if you want cookie dough. What's more, you still have to pay for your ice cream whichever one you pick. Now, some people may think differently about this problem, but honestly it was this that got the game a 7 instead of an 8, 9, or 10.

    Now, this being a free-to-play game, the way the company makes money is by allowing you to buy the gun parts with real money. Because (almost) everything is sidegrade, there's no buying power. You're not getting better things; you're getting the same things faster by bypassing both the GP cost and the required level. Additionally, the part renting system makes it so you can try things for either one or seven days before you buy them. However, in order to really judge an F2P system, I have to compare it to what the game would be like if it were full price. If it was full price, would they still have the level-based unlocks? Or would everything be available from level 1? If the former, then I would most certainly rather keep it free. If the latter, then I would rather pay for it. That's right folks, call me crazy but I would pay $60 just so I don't have to run on a treadmill for my cookie dough ice cream.    … Expand
  58. SoulReaver934
    Jul 18, 2012
    10
    Blacklight Retribution is an extremely fun game that lets anyone have a chance at winning and being MVP. Surprisingly, it does not follow a Pay 2 Win format that so many other Free-to-Play titles similar to this do, leading to an enriching experience that's fun for everyone. With a large playerbase, you can be sure that when all of the features are integrated into the game, it will onlyBlacklight Retribution is an extremely fun game that lets anyone have a chance at winning and being MVP. Surprisingly, it does not follow a Pay 2 Win format that so many other Free-to-Play titles similar to this do, leading to an enriching experience that's fun for everyone. With a large playerbase, you can be sure that when all of the features are integrated into the game, it will only get bigger.… Expand
  59. TheICBPenguin
    Aug 16, 2012
    6
    Its a pretty fun shooter and not pay to win at all but everything is too damn expensive. I would give it an 8 but it let down by its terrible freemium model. Everything is way to expensive. A single small part (that doesn't change your guns stats by that much) is 3.50. I've bought entire games for less than that!
  60. Velnon
    Jul 29, 2012
    10
    Blacklight Retribution is a great free to play game, better than a lot pay to play games I have played. It has a very strong theme, Great customization options, Fun gameplay, very fast paced, and very few modders or hackers. All in all this game is a must play for any FPS lover and even if you don't like FPS's it's still worth trying out.
  61. VSinGamer
    Dec 26, 2012
    5
    Blacklight Retribution is a free pay-to-win game if you can get the irony. Personally I have no problem playing one so long as the leveling mechanics for those who don't want to pay can still keep up. This is where BR fails because frankly the amount of GP needed to unlock a weapon permanently is quite high and requires a lot of grind, even more so than it should in my opinion. The goodBlacklight Retribution is a free pay-to-win game if you can get the irony. Personally I have no problem playing one so long as the leveling mechanics for those who don't want to pay can still keep up. This is where BR fails because frankly the amount of GP needed to unlock a weapon permanently is quite high and requires a lot of grind, even more so than it should in my opinion. The good of this game is few, but important. Frankly the shooting mechanics are good for a free game. Accuracy isn't all that important in the overall gameplay, however this isn't necessarily a bad thing as this can occasionally be said about other more notable FPSs. The different modes are normal for FPSs but what really got my attention was the mech fighting present in this game and was rightfully so, a refreshing change. While a bit OP they were not entirely unbeatable and with solid teamwork can be taken down. Some of the many problems with it come in pure mechanics because of how poorly the game is set up. The menu is an atrocity and difficult to navigate, the servers don't seem to have a very organized manner to them, and just the needed amount to grind in order to unlock one weapon part seems to much of a chore to actually play through it. The servers also have a couple problems in that they seem to shut down frequently, or that may just have been a freak accident on my part. In summation, the game may not live up to hype other FPSs have made nor does it have any balance between those who pay and those who don't, but it is a rather fun game to play and the shooting mechanics are there for the most part. To me the wall shooting had never affected my gameplay until I start camping(my bad) so it didn't personally affect my scoring of the game. I wouldn't recommend this game when other free FPS games do so much more, but should it get a potential remake somewhere down the road where at least the grinding of this game is brought way down, I would still give it a chance, so a name not to forget.… Expand
  62. MrZ
    Dec 1, 2013
    6
    Although I do not have too much time on this game, it definitely deserves credit, but also needs work. It takes some getting used to but once you get into it, it's hard to get out of. The only problem, is that I personally feel that it is a little too "pay to win." If you play for free, whenever you purchase a gun, you do not get to keep it forever. In the end, most of the time thoseAlthough I do not have too much time on this game, it definitely deserves credit, but also needs work. It takes some getting used to but once you get into it, it's hard to get out of. The only problem, is that I personally feel that it is a little too "pay to win." If you play for free, whenever you purchase a gun, you do not get to keep it forever. In the end, most of the time those that pay for gear and other things will take the top spot in a game.… Expand
  63. shadowking54678
    Jan 1, 2014
    8
    The game is good in many ways. It has great graphics, Fun game play, many weapons, and the game's customization on your weapons is endless. However, there is maybe 1 flaw in the whole game: it just seems very hard to play and get the hang of. It takes a whole lot of practice to get it only slightly easier. However, the game is very fun. Hardsuits? Just awesome.
  64. ITCHOBOYROB
    Jul 9, 2012
    10
    All I can say is that this game wows me every time. I think the biggest thing it has going for it is that it's free to play and you really don't 'need' to pay for anything. I did pay for the starter pack since it was only ten bucks but ever since I haven't felt the need to pay for anything else. The game is astonishingly well made for a F2P game. No, not even just for a F2P. It's outrightAll I can say is that this game wows me every time. I think the biggest thing it has going for it is that it's free to play and you really don't 'need' to pay for anything. I did pay for the starter pack since it was only ten bucks but ever since I haven't felt the need to pay for anything else. The game is astonishingly well made for a F2P game. No, not even just for a F2P. It's outright an amazing game. The graphics are excellent, the soundtrack is sweet, the gameplay is fluid, the audio is crisp, the menus are well designed, and just about every round is intense. Anyone who believes this game is a pay to win game is just a sore loser. Shelling out cash only gives you fancy skins, silly emotes, XP boosts, and lets you hang on to some items permanently. None of these things give you an edge on the battlefield. It only grants you the ability to personlize your soldier freely. It's rare that I feel the need to get online and recommend a game but this one does it for me. I am honestly sick of the MW series and really no FPS games have impressed me in a long while. To have spent so much time away from the FPS genre and to finaly come across Blacklight Retribution (and its free!) has been a breath of fresh air. Bugs are minor and I have no issues with the servers.… Expand
  65. goihe
    Apr 23, 2012
    9
    This is a game i LOVE the most out of any FPS. You can see through walls by pressing Ë
  66. thinktankak69
    Jul 6, 2012
    4
    The game is great, i love the idea of it being free and also the ability to buy and support the developers to unlock items early. You can also unlock and buy the items by just playing and buying them with GP which in my opinion is also balanced well, what ruins this game is the Wall hack. The argument of it removing campers from the game is null, because wallhack camping in this game is aThe game is great, i love the idea of it being free and also the ability to buy and support the developers to unlock items early. You can also unlock and buy the items by just playing and buying them with GP which in my opinion is also balanced well, what ruins this game is the Wall hack. The argument of it removing campers from the game is null, because wallhack camping in this game is a viable strategy, pick a safe spot on the map where you can only be attacked from 1 direction, cover and pop out using wallhack when needed and you will kill more then you die. The mechanic is silly, yes it's different and it is what the developers wanted.

    Think about it for just one second before defending it blindly, everyone has a wallhack, you are instantly removing an entire module of skill in regards to positioning and intuition, this element of positioning is vital for a skilled player.
    The only skill you need in this game is decent aim, nothing else is required, you don't even need sound, you don't need to take into account positions of your team mates, and communication isn't really needed either. since you know where everyone is.

    If they wanted to speed up game play to avoid camping, there is many ways to do this without using a global wallhack.

    The wallhack evens out skill levels, hindering better players by giving all players the ability to see through walls. You are removing all intellectual aspects and decision making via this mechanic. You are just a mindless robot that locates an enemy through walls and then press the shoot button, the most lazy mindless shooter that rewards no risk reward.    … Expand
  67. PaPee_
    Dec 25, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. La verdad es que este juego vale lo mismo que tuve que invertir para comprarlo, NADA. La interfaz tiene un exceso de cosas que dificultan el entendimiento del juego, el juego va bastante rápido lo que no atrae mucho y no genera ganas de jugarlo, los mapas son simples y no tiene nada de original con respecto a otros shooters. En realidad, un juego que no cumple las expectativas que genera.… Expand
  68. indigni
    Mar 18, 2013
    5
    Perhaps one of the most frustrating twitch FPS shooters out there. I don't know how anyone can play this game without getting motion sick. "Fast paced action" translates to "run around each other in circles so that your enemy can't keep you on their screen before you can't keep them on your screen." This game is a carpal tunnel trap in which most gun combat takes place within melee rangePerhaps one of the most frustrating twitch FPS shooters out there. I don't know how anyone can play this game without getting motion sick. "Fast paced action" translates to "run around each other in circles so that your enemy can't keep you on their screen before you can't keep them on your screen." This game is a carpal tunnel trap in which most gun combat takes place within melee range because it's the most effective way to not get shot by your opponent, and players run around on foot at 60 miles per hour.

    The gameplay aside, the unlockables in the game are a joke. Expect to sink 200+ hours using the default loadout before you can permanently unlock a set of even the bottomest of tier equipment and gun mods. After 86 hours of gameplay, I have only been able to afford 1 gun stock, 1 gun muzzle, and a deployable turret--that's at experience level "27."    … Expand
  69. Farive
    Sep 30, 2013
    10
    People who are giving a bad review really should play now now that its not pay to win anymore. It's totally free 2 play and zen only gets your items faster because you have to level up to unlock it with GP, but you can buy anything with GP which you can earn from games so i say you should review the game again if you havent already.
  70. MrBigglesworth
    Aug 18, 2012
    0
    Riddled with bugs and glitches. Every time they update the game, they add more bugs. Not worth anyone's time to play this waste of space. Uninstalled.
  71. aca121
    Jul 3, 2012
    0
    Because of built-in map hack, cheap snipers everywhere. So many Pay-to-Win stuff. Aim-bots already on sale. The only good thing I can find is the graphics. Enough said.
  72. shooter557
    Oct 4, 2012
    9
    I think it is awesome due to its graphics, and sweet guns. I also like the map designs, like the cities! It is very similar to tribes ascend, or Halo.
  73. AboveAverage
    Jul 17, 2012
    9
    Blacklight is a very good free-to-play shooter. People complaining about it being a pay-to-win have a point, but I, as well as many other players with the default guns and armor, seems to be pretty evenly matched with everyone. It's all based on gun skill. As far the the graphics go, it looks great. I have a higher end gaming pc, and with the settings on high, it looks like almost anyBlacklight is a very good free-to-play shooter. People complaining about it being a pay-to-win have a point, but I, as well as many other players with the default guns and armor, seems to be pretty evenly matched with everyone. It's all based on gun skill. As far the the graphics go, it looks great. I have a higher end gaming pc, and with the settings on high, it looks like almost any other shooter on the market, and for a free-to-play, I think it looks pretty great. The price for gold and zen are pretty high, but then again, the game IS free. The maps are pretty balanced and the spawning blows CODs out of the water. All in all, Blacklight: Retribution is a great game.… Expand
  74. Ding
    Jul 29, 2012
    9
    Blacklight Retribution has more polish than any other free to play game I have played to date. The matches are fast paced and are perfect if you do not have much time. The weapon customization is incredibly deep and I do not feel it is pay to win at all. Almost every item can be had eventually without spending a dime. Renting gun parts for 24hrs is cheap, so I have been renting andBlacklight Retribution has more polish than any other free to play game I have played to date. The matches are fast paced and are perfect if you do not have much time. The weapon customization is incredibly deep and I do not feel it is pay to win at all. Almost every item can be had eventually without spending a dime. Renting gun parts for 24hrs is cheap, so I have been renting and trying tons of parts. Once I know which parts I want, I simply save my points to buy them permanently and soon will have my perfect gun.

    I understand some of the complaints on here, but most are non-factors if you stick with the game a little. The rent vs permanent option is hard to find at first and it seems like some people sour on the game quickly when the item they think they got permanently expires. Once you figure out where to choose rent vs permanent, this is not an issue. There are tons of menus that definitely take getting used to. The other thing is the servers. Right when the game went on Steam, the servers where kind of a mess and quick match was broken. I believe this has been addressed because I have not had any issues the last week or so.

    Overall I would definitely recommend. I even bought the starter pack just to support the developers a little.    … Expand
  75. Mercenary222
    Aug 24, 2012
    10
    I made an account just to rate this game. This game is AAA quality and it is innovative. It is not pay to win. I am a level 32 and have saved up enough in game currency to have two builds (heavy armour and a light armour speed build) and a custom weapon as well as some other equipment. I have spent no money and I am almost always on the podium and frequently first place. The badI made an account just to rate this game. This game is AAA quality and it is innovative. It is not pay to win. I am a level 32 and have saved up enough in game currency to have two builds (heavy armour and a light armour speed build) and a custom weapon as well as some other equipment. I have spent no money and I am almost always on the podium and frequently first place. The bad scores and complaints I have read about are usually by people who have hardly played Blacklight or just aren't very good and get owned, then cry "pay to win". Things like the mechs, the HRV (wall hack), depots add strategic interest to the game. After playing for as long as I have I have realized that this game is very well balanced and well designed. I think this game is as good and as fun as BF3. If you like competitive online shooters, you are missing out if you don't give it a try. New content is always being added, it's easy to find and join servers, no crashes. This game is awesome!… Expand
  76. Rockettaters
    Sep 2, 2012
    8
    Lets start this off simple!

    The game is FREE!, meaning you DON'T have to pay for it. But while pay to win may be the angle the developers decided to go for it doesnt mean you have to. I think too many of you are judging this game for something that it is not. It doesnt bear the symbol of EA or Activision so many of the players are writing it off as bad spin offs. Dont. I spent about 3-5    Lets start this off simple!

    The game is FREE!, meaning you DON'T have to pay for it. But while pay to win may be the angle the developers decided to go for it doesnt mean you have to. I think too many of you are judging this game for something that it is not. It doesnt bear the symbol of EA or Activision so many of the players are writing it off as bad spin offs. Dont. I spent about 3-5 hours playing this game on my day off and i found the game amusing! I did not however find any difficulties in beating the living crap out of other players whose level and gear greatly dwarfed my own. It came down to weapon skill and player skill. I feel many of the reviewers that gave this game a "blam" mark wrote their reviews in frustration. I can understand why as many scenarios i found myself I would ask myself "how the hell did that happen" as i was picked off from across the map by a sub machine gun. Thanks to BF3 I have difficulty playing many FPS that dont use the "bullet drop" affect. However, hats off to the Dev team, because this game is a win. Not a smash hit, but will totally keep many FPS fans entertained for quite a while. Im in.

    P.S. Read all the enraged players that gave this game a "0". They are mad at their own lack of gaming skills and try to redeem their feelings of relevancy by putting down the game. It is just a game. A free one.. do not be angry when you decide to put your wallet into it and are disappointed when you dont get what you are after.    … Expand
  77. Laetteralus
    Oct 2, 2012
    10
    Blacklight Retribution is one of if not the best free to play game I have ever played. The amount of content in this game is amazing. Get pay to win out of your head when you think about this game. It is extremely balanced and insanely well put together.
  78. klanny
    Dec 29, 2012
    10
    Very good game, it is free. It does have some in game purchases but it is not pay to win because these weapons, gear etc can be bought very easily using in game xp credits, and this is easy because the amount of credits it takes you to buy said weapon is about 2 games. Very good game and it is FREE!
  79. zurgoth
    Apr 14, 2013
    3
    the only good thing of this game is that is free to play.
    U can see in every game 2-4 players dominating the others with 20-30 kills (about 10-12 above the rest of the players) campers r just annoing and r the most rewarded by high kill rate. the sistem of random spawning in the battlefield after Death is irritating. The weapons just last few days and after that u have to buy them again.    the only good thing of this game is that is free to play.
    U can see in every game 2-4 players dominating the others with 20-30 kills (about 10-12 above the rest of the players) campers r just annoing and r the most rewarded by high kill rate. the sistem of random spawning in the battlefield after Death is irritating. The weapons just last few days and after that u have to buy them again. i unistalled the game after few days of playing    … Expand
  80. typtyphus
    Aug 24, 2013
    1
    Congratulations, You earned 1 point for this review. for 1000 Zen you can buy another point to Up-grade your score. You could also buy a +0.1 Score Data Node for only 300 Zen and will be active for 3 days.
  81. sandpants
    Jun 23, 2013
    6
    Before you scroll down and see loads of 0s and start thinking this game is crap here is a truly CRITICAL review and not some whiny crying.

    1)There is no pay 2 win in this game. The people who spout this spent about 1 hour in game getting raped by people who know how this game works. Experience you. Almost all necessary and currently most common builds and items can be bought    Before you scroll down and see loads of 0s and start thinking this game is crap here is a truly CRITICAL review and not some whiny crying.

    1)There is no pay 2 win in this game. The people who spout this spent about 1 hour in game getting raped by people who know how this game works. Experience you. Almost all necessary and currently most common builds and items can be bought permanently/rented with ingame currency. To perm stuff it will take you a good amount of time, but rents are 3 days for most items, and missions give you 7day stuff as well which are easy to do. That is enough for you to earn some GP to begin perming items. It is also widely considered that starter gear is VERY solid.

    ZEN (real currency) items include: Weapon/Armor camos, weapon tags (majority of which are won from LVL up packs, free), Heroes (essentially gear presets) which offer particular stat boost based on role and allow maximum item slots which are still available for free, some perm ammo types (can be rented with ingame currency), and unlock high level items earlier (you don't need to level up). They even ported nodes (perks) from ZEN to full GP. As far as RAW power REAL money DOESN'T hand it to you. .

    2)YES this game DOES have "Wallhack". It has NO RADAR. HRV lasts for 4 SECONDS MAX. You CANNOT SHOOT when you use it. You CANNOT SPRINT (currently) when you use it. You CANNOT USE it IF its not fully recharged. It recharges in ~7 Seconds if you use it completely (depends on gear and total capacity). There ARE items that block it (blackouts, EMPs, shock nades, HRV cloak).

    3) Game pace is really fast. Slower than before, and yet still very fast to new players. You will regularly get the impression you were one shot. YOU WEREN'T. This is how fast this game is and it used to be faster.

    4) The pace is set by weapons and weapons can kill you in 3-4 shots for most common used ones. This includes starter gear.

    5) There AREN'T that many glitches. If you see anyone saying, ask them about it. They will mention 2 maximum. There aren't that many bugs either.

    6) The game mechanics DO feel clunky and artificial/fake. At times the game feels random. There are lag issues. There are issues with some melee weapons. There are issues with bumping into people and item/player collision. Sometimes it feels like enemies run through you. There are issues with sticking (not getting stuck) to walls of maps.

    7) Sniping in this game is HARD as hell. Whoever says otherwise is clueless and played this game for an hour. This is a critical fact. No jokes. It is that time in the industry when it's almost compulsory to mention details like this.

    8) You do not need to have high KDR to be first in this game. Points matter more. Points can be got through doing objectives, assisting, destroying deployables, healing/repairing/refilling ammo. This translates to EXP.

    9)Game currency is based on time played in a match. You will rarely get less than 100-130 per match. If you are really good you will get about 160-180 for 3rd, 2nd and 1st places. Which can be gotten by having the most points, not the most kills. To put it into perspective, most old Receivers (weapon bases) cost ~6k. Add in mission which give you 2k weekly (very easy), and another one which gives you 1000 daily (harder).

    10) There ARE robots. They CAN one hit you. They can be 2 shotted with rockets. Remember, against mechs, ROCKETS are BEST.

    I gave this game a 6. It used to be about 8. The server issues are worsening. The game pace is becoming slower. There is more disbalance in gear/items. This game was advertised at having high customization it has that, but its useless. Because most items are useless, so various builds/combos become obsolete. Doesn't help that the developer is releasing items which overlap/outdo previous gear. Not a lot of effort goes into balancing. Not a lot of interaction from the developer either.

    But this is a VERY solid F2P game. The best aside from, say, Planetside 2.    … Expand
  82. Thunderflex
    Nov 17, 2013
    9
    This is actually one of the best shooters I have played on PC. The mechanics are recognizeable and similar to what you'd expect from a Call of Duty game, but it feels a lot more precise. When I shoot people in the head, im definitely shooting the in the head. Many CoD games Ive played, I shoot in the head and replay is enemy dying from an ankle shot, lol. This isnt the case withThis is actually one of the best shooters I have played on PC. The mechanics are recognizeable and similar to what you'd expect from a Call of Duty game, but it feels a lot more precise. When I shoot people in the head, im definitely shooting the in the head. Many CoD games Ive played, I shoot in the head and replay is enemy dying from an ankle shot, lol. This isnt the case with Blacklight. Customization of gear is solid, UI is solid, sound is solid. The only thing keeping from a 10 is Steam Achievements are broken.… Expand
  83. xind
    Jan 3, 2014
    10
    best fps game today real next gen! amazing fun, thousand of weapons, it is not pay2win u have to play and improve your skill to win! PS4 version is little worse PC but they will improve soon Im sure, join TOP clan contact in game name xind
  84. corcoos
    Oct 4, 2012
    10
    While it isn't perfect, it just might be the best pc multiplayer FPS out there. Compared to the popular mw3, the gameplay of BLR is miles ahead. Anyway, this are my 2 reasons why everyone should at least try it:

    1. It's free to play, but not pay to win, and do not believe the misinformed/ill intended people who say otherwise. Everything gameplay related can be bought with game points    While it isn't perfect, it just might be the best pc multiplayer FPS out there. Compared to the popular mw3, the gameplay of BLR is miles ahead. Anyway, this are my 2 reasons why everyone should at least try it:

    1. It's free to play, but not pay to win, and do not believe the misinformed/ill intended people who say otherwise. Everything gameplay related can be bought with game points (GP). While you don't have to buy anything with real money in order to improve your odds, you may end up buying things with money to support the game.
    2. The HRV, which is a temporary wallhack, makes corner camping impossible, which is so annoying in other shooters.    … Expand
  85. Jrtlaktalk
    Jul 19, 2012
    1
    The problem I find with pay-to-win games is the model. Now, I get the fact that these guys have to pay for servers, staff, and licensing of the Unreal engine, and for this reason I can see myself paying approximately $20 to 40$ for a game, even if p-2-w. But if I pay between 20$ and 40$ I expect to get premium value. But with Blacklight, this is not the case. 20$ dollars gets you theThe problem I find with pay-to-win games is the model. Now, I get the fact that these guys have to pay for servers, staff, and licensing of the Unreal engine, and for this reason I can see myself paying approximately $20 to 40$ for a game, even if p-2-w. But if I pay between 20$ and 40$ I expect to get premium value. But with Blacklight, this is not the case. 20$ dollars gets you the few items that you think are top-class, but as you find out very quickly, turns out to be spectacularly bad and overpriced investments. Now, it is true that you can accumulate ingame cash for playing, but the problem here is that you can only rent the items for a day or seven days at an affordable price. The prices to actually have the item forever, unlike other online shooters like Tribes: Ascend, is ridiculous. Meaning that it will take approximately 100 games to own the cheapest clip for your pistol - and as you get several guns, several mods for guns (clips, stock and barrels) and several pieces of armor for about every part of your body, your 'blood-and-sweat' new pistol clip just makes you end up looking like a right tool.

    However, the setting, atmosphere and sound is quite good and has a decent cyberpunk feel. The game also uses the Unreal engine, meaning that the gameplay and mechanics are quite solid. The matchmaking is however pretty much the same of most online shooters. You cant spectate in the middle of a match so as to wait for an open spot. No, you must either have perfect timing, look for an open spot on a server without having the time to check the server's details (server map or type of mode (the details of which arent apparent on first glance), or waste your time by clicking on the broken 'auto-join' button. Basically, in the end, you are stuck having to sift through servers finding an open spot. When you do eventually get an open spot in a server, odds are you are stuck on a server which is the same map, all the day, every day.

    If you dont want to shell out atleast 100$ for playing a game properly, dont bother.    … Expand
  86. Avallac
    Aug 28, 2012
    10
    All low ratings are bots with one review total and full of lies. The game is the best FPS developed to date. By the time you are level 35 (max) you will have enough game points to unlock full set of gear, custom gun, armor and a secondary. Permanently. That is if you weren't running with starter items. Otherwise I would say at lvl 30 you will have everything you need without paying forAll low ratings are bots with one review total and full of lies. The game is the best FPS developed to date. By the time you are level 35 (max) you will have enough game points to unlock full set of gear, custom gun, armor and a secondary. Permanently. That is if you weren't running with starter items. Otherwise I would say at lvl 30 you will have everything you need without paying for anything. There is no pay2win since everything in game you can unlock with game points relatively fast (compared to games like tribes), only cosmetic items such as camos and taunts cost money. The physics and general mechanics are excellent on unreal engine, gun mechanics are great and have an intuitive feels to them. Customization is detailed right to where it needs to be. Not overwhelming and not under informative. Recoil spread and run speed is all you need to know to build a perfect weapon for yourself. The customization is also very varied with tons of different mods, scopes etc. Occasionally developers release new maps and gamemodes, and have nice events and giveaways. The game has some bugs that occasionally appear but developers fix them in timely fashion (not too annoying). For all it's worth, try it out until you're at least lvl 10.… Expand
  87. pepperjj31
    Apr 7, 2012
    10
    I find this game to be one of the best MMOFPS (massively miltiplayer online first person shooter) games i have ever played. I'm going to start with the maps. Most of the maps are small to medium size. And by small i don't mean tiny, i mean just close quarters. Kind of like the Call of Duty MW3 map "Dome" Just the right size to still be fun. But for all your long-range lovers, don't worry,I find this game to be one of the best MMOFPS (massively miltiplayer online first person shooter) games i have ever played. I'm going to start with the maps. Most of the maps are small to medium size. And by small i don't mean tiny, i mean just close quarters. Kind of like the Call of Duty MW3 map "Dome" Just the right size to still be fun. But for all your long-range lovers, don't worry, there are still some pretty large maps, and a few great ones for sniping. Now i'm going to transition to the guns. You can literally customize every aspect about your gun. You can customize receiver (assault rifle, sub machine gun, light machine gun, heavy assault rifle, combat rifle, and bolt action rifle), muzzle, barrel, magazine, scope, stock, weapon tag (little charm on your gun that gives it bonuses), and camo. And for each of the categories there is usually 10+ options to choose from. Now for the armor. The armor is very easy to customize, with around 5-6 options for either upper body, helmet, lower body, or camo. Then there's depot items. These are special items that you can buy with points you earn throughout the game (kind of like COD kill streaks but not really). All together its a really fun game, and its free!… Expand
  88. tucket
    Apr 14, 2012
    9
    Surprisingly fair game for both people spending money and true F2P people. Right now it has somewhat limited maps/gametypes, but more are on the way. Gameplay is fun, you can customize to your style (speed vs armor), fully customizable weapons, choice of gear, etc. Good graphics, most people are friendly (certainly moreso than most FPS). XP comes quickly until in levels in the 20s, and aSurprisingly fair game for both people spending money and true F2P people. Right now it has somewhat limited maps/gametypes, but more are on the way. Gameplay is fun, you can customize to your style (speed vs armor), fully customizable weapons, choice of gear, etc. Good graphics, most people are friendly (certainly moreso than most FPS). XP comes quickly until in levels in the 20s, and a few hours can earn you enough points to get permanent gear without spending money.… Expand
  89. klinkhammer
    Apr 15, 2012
    10
    This is the best free-to-play FPS ever made. Surely better than Team Fortress 2 after it was made free-to-play. Here's why.

    Of course, the first concern for anyone interested in the free-to-play model is, can free users still play competitively. The answer is a resounding yes. The balance in game mechanics is incredible, and the developers are working very hard to tweak everything    This is the best free-to-play FPS ever made. Surely better than Team Fortress 2 after it was made free-to-play. Here's why.

    Of course, the first concern for anyone interested in the free-to-play model is, can free users still play competitively. The answer is a resounding yes. The balance in game mechanics is incredible, and the developers are working very hard to tweak everything perfectly. Free users are in no way at a disadvantage. There are a large variety of play-styles that are possible, and each one feels well balanced and fun. Games are played up to 16 players at a time, in 10-minute matches ranging the traditional gamut of gametypes: capture the flag, king of the hill, deathmatch, team deathmatch, domination (holding control points), with a few more yet to come.

    Map design is top notch. All the maps are very well balanced, and very fun, each one incorporating a good variety of close-range and long-range combat options. The two unique game mechanics in this game are 1) the power to temporarily see through walls and identify where all your opponents are for a few seconds, and 2) the ability to summon a mech to jump inside once you've gotten enough points in a match. Both of these features add a healthy variety to the gameplay and set this game apart from other FPSs. The see-through-walls feature significantly increases the importance of team tactics to achieve objectives.

    The player customization is very extensive. Gun parts can be customized down to every last detail. A delightful leveling system assures that there is always another piece of equipment you're eyeing to unlock. Unlocking all the parts can take many hours of playtime, however. But none of the upgrades are overpowered or game-ruining. They all confer slight benefits and they all come with trade-offs to other stats. (Stronger armor will make you run slower, a more accurate gun will do less damage, etc.)

    Overall, this game is very polished, and it's incredibly refreshing to see a free to play FPS that isn't a circus. And content will continue to be released! The developers are working very hard and they're intimately connected with the community via the official forums. So even though this is free to play, I'm more than willing to shell out some cash.    … Expand
  90. bankmank2
    Apr 15, 2012
    10
    Blacklight Retribution is an amazingly well made free-to-play shooter game. Controls are solid, player builds are very well balanced, pace is fast and exciting, maps are varied and interesting. Customization is deep and complex and very satisfying. Gaining experience points in matches to level up and unlock more gear is also very satisfying. This is an excellent game overall!
  91. 10er
    Apr 29, 2012
    10
    Anyone caring enough to read these reviews probably already knows about the core mechanics of the game, so here's just a short sum-up of the highlights:

    - Incredibly detailed gun customization, letting any player who is willing to invest time (and/or money) create the perfect weapon for his playstyle - "Integrated Wallhack" feature adds a new dimension of tactics to the game, as everyone    Anyone caring enough to read these reviews probably already knows about the core mechanics of the game, so here's just a short sum-up of the highlights:

    - Incredibly detailed gun customization, letting any player who is willing to invest time (and/or money) create the perfect weapon for his playstyle
    - "Integrated Wallhack" feature adds a new dimension of tactics to the game, as everyone is aware of everyone else's positions most of the time
    - Free2Play as it should be done: Paying gamers have NO gameplay advantages over people who actually put time into the game. Free unlocks take quite a while, but personally, I managed to get permanent gear that allowed me to compete with high level players after around 15 hours of playing. More impatient people can also unlock gear for 1/3/7 days with much less (free) ingame currency.
    DON'T trust any review claiming this is a pay2win game.

    Blacklight: Retribution might be a stupid title for a game, the barebones approach (no real lore, no single player, very little marketing, etc.) might make the package look a little unattractive, but in my opinion there's a real gameplay gem behind the bland fassade. And with new modes and weapons coming up, it looks like it will only get better. I haven't had this much fun with an FPS in years, and I've been playing FPS for over a decade.

    P.S.: The Gamespot review is nonsense.
    "Hardsuits are clunky and awkward" ... seriously? Join any game of Blacklight and you'll have people complaining how they're overpowered, how they should be slower, how they should even be removed altogether. "New weapons and gear are costly"... yeah, god forbid you should be forced to actually play a game you enjoy to unlock stuff. And if you don't enjoy it... why care that unlocks are slow? Just don't play.
    Also, Tribes: Ascend, the main current F2P competitor for Blacklight has MUCH more expensive unlocks, yet this magically doesn't qualify as a bad point in Gamespot's review.

    P.P.S.: Yes, I signed up just to review this game (for now).    … Expand
  92. Phil_8811
    Jul 17, 2012
    10
    I created an account here just to review this game. Blacklight: Retribution is simply amazing. The graphics are top-notch, and the gameplay does not disappoint at all, with fast-paced, intense action. It is not pay-to-win either. Everything that affects gameplay is buyable through GP (earned in-game). Everyone who enjoys FPS games at all needs to at least try it out. Post Steam launchI created an account here just to review this game. Blacklight: Retribution is simply amazing. The graphics are top-notch, and the gameplay does not disappoint at all, with fast-paced, intense action. It is not pay-to-win either. Everything that affects gameplay is buyable through GP (earned in-game). Everyone who enjoys FPS games at all needs to at least try it out. Post Steam launch edit: Yeah there were server issues because of the massive amount of new players, that's to be expected. Don't rate the game a 0 for that... And people are saying the graphics are "OK." Sure, if you have a 10 year old PC. Get a DX11 card, then show me a FREE game with better graphics. Seems like people are comparing this to $60 titles, but guess what? You don't have to spend a penny to FULLY enjoy this game. TL;DR - Don't trust the scores on here. Play the game yourself.… Expand
  93. Trollbotexe
    Jul 5, 2012
    0
    Don't read the other reviews about this game, they're being incredibly biased! Anyways time to address the complaints about the HVR and the pay2win factor. First off the pay2win thing is not true, you can easily rent a gun (200gp-2matches for 1 day) that is the same as the people that pay real money for it (armor may be a bit pay2win) and the HVR makes up for the lack of mini-map andDon't read the other reviews about this game, they're being incredibly biased! Anyways time to address the complaints about the HVR and the pay2win factor. First off the pay2win thing is not true, you can easily rent a gun (200gp-2matches for 1 day) that is the same as the people that pay real money for it (armor may be a bit pay2win) and the HVR makes up for the lack of mini-map and leaves you Unable to fire your gun. Moving on to my review. The graphics are really good, the game modes are the generic FPS ones but some have a twist like in domination you have to hack a point to secure it which requires your attention leaving you vulnerable, (you can also hack doors to give your team shortcuts) the game is kinda fast paced on the small maps, and customization is amazing letting you change almost everything about your loadout. The game could use some gun balancing but other nothing else major needs to be tweaked. It's a good (and free!) game that is worth your time and maybe some money to support the developers.… Expand
  94. timjcody
    Jul 5, 2012
    10
    I have to laugh at the reviews complaining about how long it takes to permanently unlock parts for customization and then in the same sentence suggesting Call of Duty or Battlefield 3, games famous for their grind to max level so you can have all the guns and options.

    There really is no "pay2win" in BL:R. All the guns you can rent are the same guns people choose to buy with IRL money,    I have to laugh at the reviews complaining about how long it takes to permanently unlock parts for customization and then in the same sentence suggesting Call of Duty or Battlefield 3, games famous for their grind to max level so you can have all the guns and options.

    There really is no "pay2win" in BL:R. All the guns you can rent are the same guns people choose to buy with IRL money, you just played and used in game money for it. Yes as has been stated the armor is a bit pay2win, but its a free game that anyone can play. Really all I hear is "wah wah wah people paid to support this company and are better than I am wah wah wah I want what they have but I don't want to have to pay for it"    … Expand
  95. yuleon
    Jul 16, 2012
    6
    When I bought the hero, I was disappointed in this game. DO NOT buy anything in it for real money!!!, except for camo and tag, otherwise you will be frustrated and disappointed as well as I do.
  96. Zayler
    Aug 15, 2012
    9
    I really like this game because we can personalize our weapon as we want and we can have access to every equipments and weapons in the game without using a single penny.
  97. hifumi
    Aug 15, 2012
    8
    Even though I may be tempted to give this game a 10 just to counterbalance all the haters who senselessly vote 0 points, I'll try and be as neutral and objective as possible.

    Basically, Blacklight: Retribution is your common modern day shooter: Aim down sights, autorifles, all that. What makes this one unique is the "HRV", a kind of limited-use wallhack that lets you see everyone on the    Even though I may be tempted to give this game a 10 just to counterbalance all the haters who senselessly vote 0 points, I'll try and be as neutral and objective as possible.

    Basically, Blacklight: Retribution is your common modern day shooter: Aim down sights, autorifles, all that. What makes this one unique is the "HRV", a kind of limited-use wallhack that lets you see everyone on the map as a red or orange silhouette, depending on their team. This is Blacklights take on the minimap you might know from CoD, and it has an enormous impact on the game.
    The HRVs use is limited by a timer which slowly recharges. You can't fire while it's active and switching on and off will take a second as well. Used well, the HRV can give you great awareness and with a bit of foresight it can be one of your strongest weapons. The least it can do is reduce downtime, because you won't have to run around the map looking for the enemies in a deathmatch game.
    In objective based modes it can help you find less defended spots and plan out your actions. As I said, it is game changing, and you'll have to keep in mind that your enemy could see you as well... which is not to say you cannot sneak up on them.
    If you don't like the HRV or try to ignore it, you won't like Blacklight. I for one think it's pretty great. It's a matter of taste as well, but it's definitely an original feature that sets this game apart.

    The game's graphics are nothing groundbreaking technically; it's Unreal 3 engine, nuff said.
    Visually, everything is loosely cyberpunk oriented, with designs and locations reminiscent of movies like Ghost in the Shell or Appleseed. Blacklights version of the flashbang is an EMP grenade that will give everyone it hits a virtual bluescreen while the helmets OS has to boot up again, resulting in 2-3 seconds of blindness, which is pretty cool if you ask me. It's little things like these that give the game a soul and personality.
    The whole cyberpunk motive reflects pretty well within the gameplay itself, as taking objectives in certain game modes means "hacking" nodes, and Blacklights variant of TF2s Payload is a map where you have to escort a slow moving spider tank in which one player can sit and use the turret. If you want, you can even pilot your very own robot called a "Hardsuit", which can lay waste to entire squads in seconds, but is also easily countered by a smart player using a rocket launcher.

    There is a metagame that lets you customize your equipment and specialize in HP, speed, low recoil or weapon spread. The amount of customization options can be overwhelming at first, but the default equipment is balanced and completely viable throughout the game.
    You can rent or permanently buy almost everything in the game with the currency you gain by playing, called GP, and while it can take a lot of GP to permanently buy some of the parts, the game is very generous with letting you try out everything. When your character levels up, you get an in-game mail that contains all the items you unlocked as 3 day trials. The cost of renting something for 1 day is about the amount of GP you'll get by playing two matches. What this means is that in Blacklight, unlike games like Tribes Ascend, you'll never spend huge amounts of ingame currency on something and then find out it wasn't what you wanted after all. If you feel like sniping "just today", you can cheaply get a sniper rifle without spending a lot of your GP. As far as F2P goes, this is as fair of a system as I can imagine.
    If you just started playing and feel helpless and weak, let me assure you that this is NOT because all the other players bought their way to victory.

    Okay, so I said that I was going to be objective, which also means talking about the downsides. To be honest, I can't find many flaws with this game. There are some smaller bugs, the biggest one I encountered was when the game decided to spawn both teams right next to each other, which resulted in quite a bloodbath, but that was one out of literally hundreds of games.
    As with every game, some things are up to individual taste. You might not like the HRV, you might not like how the weapons handle. Blacklight doesn't reinvent the wheel either, but the whole HRV thing is something we haven't really seen yet. Ordinarily I'd say 7 out of 10 for a very solid game, but since BLR brings something new to the table as well, that's one more point - 8/10. A very awesome game.    … Collapse
  98. Klute
    Aug 16, 2012
    1
    Game only gets a 1 for at least for PC only. Low ranking mostly due to the constant bugs and a community that is less than friendly. After 13 yrs in the FPS PC arena thats saying a lot
    What could have been a great PC FPS they took all depth from the game and created a system that only allows for over powered players to prevent any offensive plays leading to one boring slow paced game.    Game only gets a 1 for at least for PC only. Low ranking mostly due to the constant bugs and a community that is less than friendly. After 13 yrs in the FPS PC arena thats saying a lot
    What could have been a great PC FPS they took all depth from the game and created a system that only allows for over powered players to prevent any offensive plays leading to one boring slow paced game.
    While the gfx were not that bad the so called "free to play" is imo a gimmick.    … Expand
  99. MsBiggles
    Aug 18, 2012
    0
    i thought this game was fun at first but as i played it more i realized that it was very glitchy and full of bugs. the equipment is unbalanced and the guns dont even shoot half of the time and the other half of the time the guns shoot in random directions because they want you to spend money to buy upgrades to make the guns better. you can spend 3 days trying to earn points to rent ai thought this game was fun at first but as i played it more i realized that it was very glitchy and full of bugs. the equipment is unbalanced and the guns dont even shoot half of the time and the other half of the time the guns shoot in random directions because they want you to spend money to buy upgrades to make the guns better. you can spend 3 days trying to earn points to rent a upgrade for 1 day or spend money to get it. do they think i'm a sucker?… Expand
  100. Hyde
    Aug 18, 2012
    0
    Terrible game. Playerbase is a noobfest of casual players who suck at situational awareness or strategical movement. Tons of bugs and broken mechanics that will frustrate you.
  101. hifumi
    Aug 15, 2012
    0
    Even though I may be tempted to give this game a 10 just to counterbalance all the haters who senselessly vote 0 points, I'll try and be as neutral and objective as possible.

    Basically, Blacklight: Retribution is your common modern day shooter: Aim down sights, autorifles, all that. What makes this one unique is the "HRV", a kind of limited-use wallhack that lets you see everyone on the    Even though I may be tempted to give this game a 10 just to counterbalance all the haters who senselessly vote 0 points, I'll try and be as neutral and objective as possible.

    Basically, Blacklight: Retribution is your common modern day shooter: Aim down sights, autorifles, all that. What makes this one unique is the "HRV", a kind of limited-use wallhack that lets you see everyone on the map as a red or orange silhouette, depending on their team. This is Blacklights take on the minimap you might know from CoD, and it has an enormous impact on the game.
    The HRVs use is limited by a timer which slowly recharges. You can't fire while it's active and switching on and off will take a second as well. Used well, the HRV can give you great awareness and with a bit of foresight it can be one of your strongest weapons. The least it can do is reduce downtime, because you won't have to run around the map looking for the enemies in a deathmatch game.
    In objective based modes it can help you find less defended spots and plan out your actions. As I said, it is game changing, and you'll have to keep in mind that your enemy could see you as well... which is not to say you cannot sneak up on them.
    If you don't like the HRV or try to ignore it, you won't like Blacklight. I for one think it's pretty great. It's a matter of taste as well, but it's definitely an original feature that sets this game apart.

    The game's graphics are nothing groundbreaking technically; it's Unreal 3 engine, nuff said.
    Visually, everything is loosely cyberpunk oriented, with designs and locations reminiscent of movies like Ghost in the Shell or Appleseed. Blacklights version of the flashbang is an EMP grenade that will give everyone it hits a virtual bluescreen while the helmets OS has to boot up again, resulting in 2-3 seconds of blindness, which is pretty cool if you ask me. It's little things like these that give the game a soul and personality.
    The whole cyberpunk motive reflects pretty well within the gameplay itself, as taking objectives in certain game modes means "hacking" nodes, and Blacklights variant of TF2s Payload is a map where you have to escort a slow moving spider tank in which one player can sit and use the turret. If you want, you can even pilot your very own robot called a "Hardsuit", which can lay waste to entire squads in seconds, but is also easily countered by a smart player using a rocket launcher.

    There is a metagame that lets you customize your equipment and specialize in HP, speed, low recoil or weapon spread. The amount of customization options can be overwhelming at first, but the default equipment is balanced and completely viable throughout the game.
    You can rent or permanently buy almost everything in the game with the currency you gain by playing, called GP, and while it can take a lot of GP to permanently buy some of the parts, the game is very generous with letting you try out everything. When your character levels up, you get an in-game mail that contains all the items you unlocked as 3 day trials. The cost of renting something for 1 day is about the amount of GP you'll get by playing two matches. What this means is that in Blacklight, unlike games like Tribes Ascend, you'll never spend huge amounts of ingame currency on something and then find out it wasn't what you wanted after all. If you feel like sniping "just today", you can cheaply get a sniper rifle without spending a lot of your GP. As far as F2P goes, this is as fair of a system as I can imagine.
    If you just started playing and feel helpless and weak, let me assure you that this is NOT because all the other players bought their way to victory.

    Okay, so I said that I was going to be objective, which also means talking about the downsides. To be honest, I can't find many flaws with this game. There are some smaller bugs, the biggest one I encountered was when the game decided to spawn both teams right next to each other, which resulted in quite a bloodbath, but that was one out of literally hundreds of games.
    As with every game, some things are up to individual taste. You might not like the HRV, you might not like how the weapons handle. Blacklight doesn't reinvent the wheel either, but the whole HRV thing is something we haven't really seen yet. Ordinarily I'd say 7 out of 10 for a very solid game, but since BLR brings something new to the table as well, that's one more point - 8/10. A very awesome game.    … Collapse
prev
Page:

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Sep 16, 2012
    70
    A more-than-capable shooter that is a blast to play. Shame about the pings. [Sept 2012, p.59]
  2. GRYOnline.pl
    Aug 6, 2012
    75
    Retribution is worth your time under one condition –you like online shooters, you don't get carried away with emotions and will treat this game as entertainment and not a fierce match to the death. Game mechanics is perfect, you can easily feel differences between weapons, even after a slight modification. The game uses Unreal Engine 3, is well optimized and looks nice, although the industrial style and sterile locations prevent you from being astonished. I'm not a hardcore shooter fan, so after a while – even with all the weapons and customization – I became bored. Retribution offers nothing new.
    Read full review
  3. GameStar
    Jul 30, 2012
    78
    Quotation forthcoming.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »