Blacklight: Tango Down

The triple-A quality graphics and slick, speedy multiplayer action brings a new level of polish to Xbox Live Arcade.

If you fancy shooting people in your games, Blacklight: Tango Down will likely be a fun diversion from whatever AAA shooter you normally play.

The maps are all well designed with plenty of places to pop behind for the numerous short-range firefights that are bound to take place.

If you enjoy GRAW, Modern Warfare II, or any other quality FPS for that matter, then give this game a shot.

This new FPS by Zombie Studios is enthralling, original and frenetic: a different shooter with a good online mode, even if partly ruined by campers.

Blacklight Tango Down is one of the most impressive downloadable game to date. Smooth and deep gameplay mechanics for a low price are a good combo for every player. We hope that Zombie Studios will continue to support this funny experience.

That all being said though, Blacklight: Tango Down is a quite solid shooter that combines entertaining gameplay with some unique features and throws it all together into a commendable multiplayer package.

Blacklight Tango Down is one of the best looking XBLA titles to hit the marketplace and players will find that it may even surpass some retail games they have previously bought.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a good, cheap multiplayer shooter for the budget-minded gamer looking for a change of pace.

You're getting great value here for only $15. There are definitely a lot of simple tweaks that could have been made to make this a must buy, but you're still getting your moneys worth, especially if you're already an FPS addict.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a nice $15 game, but there's just not enough values here to keep us entertained for a long period of time.

Blacklight: Tango Down has positioned itself in the precarious spot of being an XBLA game that wants to be a full release. I can't fault Zombie for being ambitious, but this is what ultimately leads to the game's failures.

Depending on your patience, Blacklight could be the best fifteen bucks you've ever spent on a game, or a frustrating waste of cash.

Blacklight: Tango Down isn't going to set the world alight – it suffers from a few too many annoying design choices, is lacking any form of serious innovation and can't quite stand toe-to-toe with the big boys of the genre. What it can do though is offer up a largely enjoyable online shooter with a huge array of options at an unbelievably low price.

If you're bored with what's currently on the table, the visuals (while not jaw-dropping) are certainly pleasing if you're into the whole dystopian future Russia fetish, the familiar controls are very easy to master, combat is fluid and fast-paced, and the customization options and wide range of player modes keep the game continually interesting. If you're not convinced, consider this: for all you get, it's really hard to argue with fifteen bucks.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a good concept and game limited by its average quality maps' level design and by some issues with weapons balancing and respawn spots.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a good value for anyone who enjoys competing in heated FPS battles online.

Whether or not it's worth $15 to you depends on what kind of a FPS fan you are. If you demand a fulfilling, big budget experience and a butter smooth matchmaking experience, then you should probably stick to the big brand names. If, however, you're just looking for a little down and dirty online action and you don't mind waiting a little between rounds, then Blacklight: Tango Down just might be your huckleberry.

As a short-lived break from MW2 it works, but long-term exposure will highlight flaws. [Oct 2010, p.85]

It conjures up memories of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, Army of Two, and the Call of Duty series, which makes me wonder why I'm not playing any of them instead. Blacklight: Tango Down is nicely priced, but when you already have tickets to see the real thing, why bother with the cover band?

In the end, Blacklight: Tango Down is a good game with some lofty goals.

Blacklight: Tango Down offers an impressive amount of content for a $15 release, especially when you consider it's the going rate for a mere map pack in Modern Warfare 2.

At a reasonably priced $15, this game is bound to have some replay value if not only for the fact that, in order to get any enjoyment out of it, it must be played long enough to build up a character that can withstand a gunfight.

For all it's faults, Blacklight certainly has the potential to be a great little game. If it can overcome the shortcomings of its design by adding on to it, and if it can get a much larger and more active player base, it could be a viable contender to Modern Warfare 2. Until that happens, however, it's not quite good enough to outright recommend, nor bad enough to outright dismiss.

Functional but flawed multiplayer shooting. [Sept 2010, p.91]

The main problem of Blacklight is that there are much better options in the market. Besides its price and being downloadable, there's nothing that stands out in Zombie's last offering.

Competitive online First Shooter Person with twelve maps and seven classic modes. But's too simple and generic without any innovation in the genre.

Releasing a good first person shooter with only the multiplayer component might seem like a good idea. Unfortunately, Blacklight: Tango Down feels to low budget and is to hard to get into, to feel like a serious alternative to Bad Company 2 or Modern Warfare 2.

Blacklight: Tango Down simply doesn't do enough differentiate itself from other modern FPS multiplayer titles currently on the market.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a game with great ambitions and too many design issues. If you are a sniper rifle lover, you'll be really disappointed by this game, due to the bad weapon balance. The entire gameplay is built around a pure run&gun action, so if you're looking for a cheap but good downloadable multiplayer FPS, go for Battlefield 1943.

It's not bad for a $15 game, but it does next to nothing to advance the FPS genre. You're better off getting a used copy of Call of Duty 4.

The problem is, despite having everything it sounds like it needs, it's missing what might be the most important element: fun. It's an often joyless experience, and there's absolutely no reason to pick it up over the dozens of other options on the market, even with the low price factored in.

Brings nothing new to an utterly bloated genre. [Issue#62,p.102]

Cheap, but not cheerful, first person shooter, with nothing new to offer the genre but change from £20.

At the same cost as a single map-pack for Modern Warfare 2, Blacklight makes a pretty strong case for itself based on price alone. Just know that this is one instance where you get exactly what you pay for.

Despite a few neat ideas, it's as though Blacklight doesn't want to be played. After a couple of hours, you'll be happy to oblige. [Oct 2010, p.85]

While there are aspects in the game that mimic some of the more expensive shooters out there, Blacklight: Tango Down just doesn't play well in a lot of areas.

Feels like a trip back to the last generation. [Issue#99, p.122]

Overall, it's not that Blacklight can't be enjoyed on its own merits, because it can in the most basic sense. But when held up to scrutiny and measured against those gunning for the same lucrative audience, it's hard to recommend Blacklight: Tango Down with an absolute guarantee that you'll be completely entertained.

Is this worth the 1200 MS points Microsoft is asking? No. Oh, and if I have to hear the words "Tango Down" ever again, I'm going to shoot myself.

A mediocre game a genre stocked with the highest quality. [Sept 2010, p.99]

The game looks good and aims high, but the problem is it's just not fun. At all.