Review for Strange Brigade. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 28/08/2018
When he still produced video games, Valve launched a title on the market that was a huge success. Left 4 Dead, thanks to its cooperative multiplayer mode, it attracted millions of players and represented one of the most important products of the first decade of the 2000s. After an equally excellent second episode, many tried to emulate the same winning combination without completely succeeding. The last to do it in chronological order are the guys from Rebellion Developments, already authors of the excellent series Sniper Elite, and how it seems to be damn interesting.
Strange Brigade is the name chosen for this experiment and perfectly conveys the idea of the handful of shabby heroes who will take part in the adventure. The cast is made up of five agents in the service of the English Crown will find themselves in the middle of an invasion of mummies at the hands of the mysterious and evil queen of ancient Egypt Seteki. A little Left 4 Dead, a little The Mummy, a little Indiana Jones: in the cauldron of Strange Brigade you can really find everything and this undoubtedly gives it a strong identity that is able to make it recognizable at a glance. It is almost superfluous to highlight also that the plot plays an absolutely marginal role in the global economy of the title, on the other hand, no particular motivation is needed to shoot a handful of undead in the middle of a curse!
There has been a lot of talk about Left 4 Dead, but what exactly do the two products have in common? In addition to the aforementioned cooperation between four players against a hostile environment, we find a well thought-out level design that sometimes reserves some surprises. In fact, on several occasions, the various levels offer environments developed not only horizontally, but also vertically, thus making the clashes much more dynamic and articulated. There are also traps, useful to thin out the number of enemies that will attack us, as well as some simple puzzles to solve to continue to the next section. But returning to the clashes, the view chosen is the third-person one and the weapons available range from machine guns to devastating flamethrowers. Strange Brigades basically plays like a classic shooter, however, the presence of the aforementioned traps gives a pinch of strategy to the game and encourages intelligent cooperation between players. Then there are the mini bosses and the end-of-level bosses, which are a little more original than the classic ignorant waves of creatures that other productions offer.
Part of the success of a game, at least in cooperative, is the selection of the weapons of the various players: it is in fact important that there is a minimum differentiation to keep up with the aggressive CPU. Fortunately, it is still possible to review your arsenal between one area and another of the levels and on this occasion it is also possible to buy upgrades to improve its firepower.
Strange Brigade, however, could alienate some potential players due to some technical and stylistic choices. Rebellion Developments is in fact a development team that is not too large and therefore with limited resources, this translates into animations that are not exactly the latest and a minimal sound sector. However, this does not mean that the gameplay suffers as the control system is reactive and precise. Technically then, the graphics engine behaves discreetly on consoles and despite some uncertainty in the most excited situations, it turns out to be all in all adequate in order to deliver an enjoyable and fun experience to the user. The artistic direction is very good, taking inspiration from other works, it stages an absolutely perfect Egypt of the 30s! Perfect not because it is a faithful historical reconstruction, but rather because respects the stylistic features of the monster movies set in that era. And the sound sector? Music and various effects accompany, without infamy and without praise, the adventures of the player, however the narrator uses an irony that sometimes makes the blood really freeze!
From a content point of view, Strange Brigade offers a great number of levels which can be enjoyed not only in the company of other players, but also alone. Indeed, hats off to Rebellion Developments that it was able to create a main campaign that can also be used by a single player.
In short, Strange Brigade may well have some flaws and be "raw" in terms of graphics and sound, however its merits are much more interesting. Rebellion Developments has made a fun game, pleasing to the eye and with a good amount of content. The stable netcode then encourages players to tackle the campaign in multiplayer, a mode in which the game expresses its full potential. In short, it will not be Left 4 Dead but it still manages to rise above many other decidedly less brilliant emulators.
► Strange Brigade is a Shooter type game developed and published by Rebellion for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 28/08/2018
