Trepang2, developed by Trepang Studios and published by Team17, brings those who aren’t into online shooting a sleek, fast-paced, single-player FPS experience. Set in a world where you play as an escaped soldier with supernatural abilities, the game offers a mix of brutal melee combat, stealth action, and explosive gunfights – something that fans will quickly connect to classic shooters like the F.E.A.R. series.
The premise of Trepang2 sets the stage for adrenaline-fueled gameplay, with players thrust into a short but mysterious narrative involving a prison break, sinister corporations, and deadly experiments gone wrong. While the story may not be groundbreaking, it’s entertaining and serves as a backdrop for the real star of the show: the gameplay mechanics.
One of the standout features of Trepang2 is its excellent mechanics, which include a combination of superhuman abilities like bullet time and cloaking, alongside brutal melee combat and intense gunfights. These mechanics, reminiscent of other titles including Max Payne, provide players with a wide range of often creative options for dispatching enemies, from slow-motion headshots to stealthy takedowns and explosive mayhem and all-out carnage. The AI works well to keep players on their toes, with enemies using cover and tactics to hunt down the player, making for some tense and memorable confrontations.
The game’s well-designed environments provide ample opportunities for strategic gameplay, whether it’s using the environment for cover or taking advantage of verticality for surprise attacks where you gain the upper hand. However, the environments have a tendency to appear rather dark at times, making it challenging to see, especially when indoors. While it helps the atmosphere, this can also result in a few frustrating moments where enemies seemingly come out of nowhere.
Visually, Trepang2 may not push the boundaries of graphical fidelity like the Call of Duty games do, but it gets the job done with solid visuals that complement the fast-paced action. The game also maintains a smooth 60 frames per second on the PlayStation 5, ensuring that the action remains fluid and responsive.
While Trepang2 excels in delivering thrilling shooting mechanics and intense combat encounters, it does have its shortcomings. The stealth mechanics, while present, aren’t quite as engaging as the gunplay, and those who are mainly interested in straight up shooting might not appreciate that the game occasionally veers into horror territory as well – though F.E.A.R. fans won’t mind, even though in comparison to that game the story here is largely forgettable and a bit on the short side.
Overall, Trepang2 is a love letter to classic single player shooters, offering a satisfying blend of old-school gameplay with modern sensibilities. Despite its shortcomings, the game delivers an exhilarating experience that will leave players craving more action-packed mayhem. So it may not reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t need to. With its engaging mechanics, smart AI, and well-designed environments, it provides a welcome break from the complexities of modern shooters with all of their game modes, instead giving us some old-school action to enjoy.
Score: 8.0/10
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