PixlBit

Deep Black Reloaded is an upgraded PC port of an Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network title that hasn't been released yet. We're just firing on all cylinders right from the get-go, aren't we?

It's hard for me not to be harsh on this game because all things considered, I actually did enjoy myself in the beginning, making the subsequent disappointment that much worse. Deep Black is essentially a Gears of War clone with an underwater setting, which proves to be its most interesting aspect.

You play as some generic operative investigating a hostage situation that turns into a corporate conspiracy… or something, it's not really made clear. Add in some terrible voice acting from your character and the stereotypical Latina commander and it's hard to care what the objective is after five or ten minutes. Your character's uniform is equipped with a boost pack to help move fast and breath underwater. Guns also seem to work the same as they do on land for reasons never explained.

Deep Black controls like a less polished Gears of War. The game is very particular and picky with what you can take cover behind, your character moves slowly (there's no run button), and there's a very awkward roll button that doesn't really accomplish anything. Moving underwater is pretty basic as there's no way to move up and down while aiming forward. Another problem is that the difficulty seems to jump around. One moment you are utilizing cover and gunning down enemies and the next, enemies are shooting you through the wall you're behind and you're dead after three or four shots.

More importantly, even when the game is working as expected, it's just so damn boring. At first, everything is pretty solid and the action can be intense, but it never changes. 14 levels in and the game plays exactly like it did in the first level. You walk around in third person, get behind cover, and shoot anything that moves. Sometimes, you'll do that underwater, although that usually boils down to shooting kamikaze mines and opening doors. It never changes or evolves from this basic premise. It also has the same uniformed enemies and the same dank environments. The game looks pleasant enough, but the level design and character models are uninspired.

It doesn't help that some fights are just outright tedious, like the boss fight at the end of Act II. You're supposed to avoid a giant crab robot's machine gun while going around the room turning on computers and shooting him with a rocket launcher (that you have to babysit because you can't take cover while holding it). For an hour straight, I found myself in a holding pattern where I'd wait for the robot to reload, grab the rocket launcher, walk as far as I could (you also can't run while holding it), and then drop it quickly when the robot started firing again to take cover. In the end, I eschewed the "proper" approach and decided to just use my normal SMG, which was much quicker, but still incredibly tedious.

It wasn't until I sat down to write this review, that I realized Deep Black had multiplayer - understandable, as no one was online. I waited for a half an hour to connect to someone, anyone, before finally giving up. While waiting though, I noticed that there were two modes of play (Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch) and five maps to choose from. I can't say anything about the gameplay itself but there weren't many options available.

Rather than expound on each and every other shortcoming of the game, I'm just going to throw them at you all at once: You can't change the button layout (whether you use a controller or a mouse and keyboard), the pulse gun is worthless, grenades are extremely tough to aim and equally useless, and the game is filled with glitches. I've been shot while behind cover, shot at by an enemy through the wall, and found numerous invisible walls. One last note: the game crashed on me when I installed it on my secondary internal hard drive, so be wary of where you put it.

So what's good here? Well, although they're rather uninspired and predictable, firefights with a room full of henchmen can be a good time. Shooting is precise and accurate and waiting to pop out of cover for when they stick their head out is fun. The actual action of firing your gun is probably the sole mechanic that this game gets right. Melee kills are immediate and rewarding, and blowing up explosive barrels, which are always in good supply, can be satisfying, especially when an enemy just runs by one. Also, and this may be kind of wrong, but the screams of the enemies after killing them is highly gratifying.

None of this makes up for the undeniable fact that other games do all of this with much more success. Because of that, I can't recommend Deep Black Reloaded to anyone other than fans of third person shooters who have already played everything else.