Strange Brigade is a fun co-op shooter that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Rebellion are best known for their gritty war shooter series Sniper Elite and while you can’t exactly call a slow motion x-ray clip of a man having his testicle explode from a sniper rifle shot two hundred metres away hyper realistic, they have certainly went for a lighter tone with this new project.
The story in truth is pretty basic but that is by design. While the game can be played solo this is meant as a Left 4 Dead style co-op experience and despite my love for strong narrative games this is better suited to a pick up and play style narrative, which is what we get. The back story is that 4,000 years ago, Sahara Africa was ruled by Seteki, an ancient Egyptian Queen. Her people were disgruntled though. They dethroned her and locked her away in a nameless tomb. Fast forward to 1930 and an archaeologist has discovered her tomb which has released Seteki’s spirit. Enter Strange Brigade; a group of secret service agents that have been shipped in by the British Colonial Government to save the day.
Gameplay feels very similar to one of Rebellion’s other titles Zombie Army Trilogy, which released on the PS4, Xbox One and PC back in 2015. That’s not to say Strange Brigade doesn’t improve on the formula, but you certainly get a familiar feeling when you first pick up the controller. The game can be played solo, but is a much more fun experience with friends or even a random mix of people online. The game does not feature split screen co-op which should come as no surprise in this day and age. Developers simply aren’t willing to compromise the fidelity of the game that inevitably occurs when you chop the screen in half.
Puzzles make an appearance but given the games co-op emphasis as you can imagine they are kept light. Shooting symbols on doors to match a certain pattern, deflecting light by turning objects, activating pressure pads and pipe puzzles all show up and are a nice break from the frantic action.
I have heard a similar complaint from many about how the game starts off a little slow and uninspired. While I don’t exactly disagree I do think too many of us are living in the instant gratification era and want to be wowed by a game immediately. I feel like Rebellion does a good job of easing you into the game at the start and letting you get your feet under the table before upping the ante in terms of weapons and difficulty.
The game has an interesting progression system where players obtain gold from kills and loot chests. This gold can then be used to buy new and better weapons to take with you into the next level. While nothing groundbreaking I like this method of rewarding the player for their efforts in a mission and giving them the option of what they want to buy for the next challenge instead of everyone just unlocking the same gear at the game point in the game.
As stated earlier Strange Brigade can be played in up to four player co-op. As such you have the choice of four playable characters each with unique abilities. There is Professor Archimedes de Quincy, Gracie Braithwaite, Nalangu Rushida and Frank Fairburne. Each character feels unique and has their own special like Rushida who can perform a powerful blast that hits multiple enemies called ‘Raging Aura’.
Meanwhile possibly the best character is Frank Fairburne, a relative of Karl from the Sniper Elite series. Being a bit of a marksman runs in the family it would seem and Frank has the ability to hit every enemy with headshots. Finding collectables known as relics will allow characters to buy new special abilities which gives added incentive to explore during levels.
One underrated aspect that I really enjoyed was the narrator who pipes in throughout with great one liners. His enthusiasm is infectious and I think it was a smart choice to include it. The voice acting of the main characters is also good, but fails to reach the heights of our MC. Outside of that the audio is what you would expect from a shooter. Guns sound good as do the enemies hunting you down.
Overall Strange Brigade is a solid third person shooter best experienced with friends. In the absence of a new Left 4 Dead developer Rebellion has filled the void left behind admirably and anyone looking to team up for a wacky adventure will not be disappointed.