Previews// Blacklight: Tango Down

Gerritzen can relate with me on the campers situation, and feels that Blacklight: Tango Down changes the landscape. “Just like a usual FPS, when we started testing this thing there were people who were finding the usual shitty spots and ruining your day.

"They weren't aware that others could scope you out using HRV, and knowing where your enemies are helps make the game even faster. You can hunt down these targets in a pack or lone wolf it, you know? The cool thing is that we turned it off, and everyone started saying 'Dude, I want HRV back.' Even the haters!”

“What will be really interesting is if people start really getting into this game, then Halo: Reach comes out and they start playing and want to hit the HRV button... That'll be the gauge to how successful this system is,” he added.

Of course, with this feature Zombie has had to rethink how multiplayer maps are designed – almost every level has some sort of twist, turn, or intricate staging of multiple levels that aim to block your vision in some way or another. It's no accident – the idea is to provide enough hiding space and cover so that the HRV system does not get abused.

The alternative is to have a big corridor, see someone running at you through some fog using HRV and then capping them in the head without much effort. There's a real emphasis on cat and mouse tactics here.

Even the multiplayer matches have been mixed up a little to add a bit of tension and technological flair. The only mode I was able to play had two teams trying to access terminals called Control Points. It sort of worked like King of the Hill, only when you approach a Control Point you need to play a brief game of Simon Says with the face buttons before gaining access to it. At which point, you need to defend it from the opposition, who will also try to take over.

With this microgame necessary to control these data points, a lot of focus is on teamwork and having your fellow soldiers back you up – one particular level set a Control Point in an open area, ripe for picking by snipers. The defensive becomes somewhat more important than the offensive in this case.

Along with loadouts for each respawn, 2v2 to 8v8 matchups and the ability to customise your character and your weapons (with 25 different weapon parts to boot), Blacklight: Tango Down really does seem like a digital download that could have some real promise to it. Could it change the landscape of the platform? I'm not so certain. But it does offer some really interesting arcade-style shooter mechanics, and I'm all for that.

As for the future of digital distribution, Gerritzen sees the industry going in a similar direction to movies right now, or where music has already gone. “I know there will be a full retail game on digital download at some point. It'll probably take about five years, but I wouldn't be surprised if a company starts saying 'We'll be releasing this game on disc and on digital download for the same price.' The good thing about the platform is that it helps stop piracy, and that's one of the biggest things that's hurting our industry at the moment. Hopefully in a few years the digital space will help reflourish everything in the industry.”

Blacklight: Tango Down will be available for the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC digital distribution outlets in Summer 2010.