Blacklight Retribution: Beta is over, game has been released.

That_Guy

Blacklight Retribution is a "Free 2 Play" FPS modeled off of CoD. It takes place in a futuristic setting with a few awesome twists to differentiate itself. Your soldier is totally customizable. Everything from the stock of your rifle to the helmet you are wearing can be customized. Instead of a steady unlock progression, you earn a form of in-game currency for playing. You can use this currency to unlock weapon components for 1 to 3 days or (much more expensive) permanently. Blacklight features 8v8 combat with reasonably sized levels to roam around in. Check the video below for a small demo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NvG13KpbtI

Blacklight is currently in Open Beta. Visit the site below to sign up. They are going through Perfect World, so if you already have an account with the, (Star Trek: Online for example) all you need to do is sign in and download the client.

http://blacklight.perfectworld.com/

I played for a while yesterday and it's reasonably fun. Being F2P you get the assorted trash that comes with it, like a cash shop with guns, but they equipment in the cash shop don't seem to be that much better than the stuff you can build.

Echo

I played the original XBL/GFWL game. It was decent fun, so I might give this a shot.

That_Guy

So far the assault rifle and the burst fire bullpup are the 2 best guns I have used. I put just a couple of hours in and got to level 6 last night, so the levels come pretty quick.

Only getting guns temporarily might seem weird, but I think its going to work out. Since everything is so damned customizable, you would end up with a massive pile of unused parts when you hit the level cap. This way you can buy some good stuff for a day to try out, or just use the free gear you get in the mail when you level up. Once I hit the level cap, I am sure I will have tons of money just laying about with which to permanently unlock parts.

Skull2185

That trailer looks pretty bullshotty.

Tango Down was pretty bad too... I dunno about this one.

Darmak

I played the XBLA demo and it was pretty fun. I don't think I'd ever spend money on it but I can see myself playing it for free.

That_Guy

One of the coolest features is the wall-hack mode. For a spell of up to 10 seconds, if you hit "v" you can see through all the walls in the level to locate enemies. This makes up for the lack of a minimap. It can be fun to pop your visor, see someone running up on you, only to get the drop of them and take-em-out. You can't use your gun in this mode, so make sure you don't pop it in combat.

Grimthwacker

I've been playing this casually for about a week or so since seeing the announcement that it's gone open (I already have a Perfect World account from Rusty Hearts and Star Trek Online), and I do enjoy the game for being a nice fast-paced sci-fi shooter - not a "poor man's Halo" (which was ruined for me for all time by the crappy community) by any stretch but a surprisingly good pick-up-n'-play game with a good amount of modes and customization. The only real beef I have is that you can barely hit anything even while fine aiming with the vanilla weapons and even some upgraded components mixed in there. . . the best I've been able to get my AR is roughly 1.73 degree spread and 56-58 recoil (which makes even slightly sustained fire dicey). At least in Tribes: Ascend your weapon purchases start perfectly fine and get even better when upgrading them, but in Retribution I feel like most of the weapon parts aren't even worth spending funds renting considering what little they do to actually improve your performance.

Ah well, it's F2P. The grind is a major part of the experience. I'm still having way more fun with Blacklight than I had while playing Reach.

That_Guy

My name in game is ThatGuy3141. Add me as a friend!

That_Guy

So, the official release happened yesterday.

Here are the notes from the patch. Pretty major changes going on.

Patch Notes for Live Launch maintenance:

Fixes:
- Fixed a few more rare crashes
- Fixed Hardsuit taunt
- Fixed instant spawn bug
- Fixed a few minor memory leaks
- Fixed an issue where you could lose your login UI when logging out
- Fixed Last weapon key to default to secondary weapon when you first spawn
- Fixed Datanode and mail notifications when logging into one region and playing game on the other
- Fixed loadout selection on initial spawn when using a Hero
- Fixed mail items with periods in the text
- Fixed friend invites not appearing after the first attempt
- Fixed melee damage multipliers being applied when they shouldn't
- Fixed deathmatch score screen
- Fixed Emblem patch when cloaked
- Fixed Silencer particle effects
- Fixed Speed Demon Legs particle effects

Additions:
- Added Heavy Assault Rifle receiver
- Added improved lag compensation code
- Added Social Flyout for mail and friend alerts
- Added directional headshot animations
- Added the ability to click on links in the news panels
- Added new audio for when you inflict or take damage
- Added new materials for metallic character camos
- Added option in settings to change where you want the social flyouts to appear
- Added Empty and Full filters to the server list
- Added Inventory cap
- Added new Respawn/Revive interface
- Added sorting for Datanode lists by Datanode quality
- Added Objective dialog for CTF, DOM, and KOTH

Scoring Changes:
- Increased XP bonus for Beast Mode to 250
- Increased XP bonus for ending Godlike spree to 125
- Increased XP bonus for ending Beast Mode spree to 275

Character Changes:
- All characters: Raised max health to 250
- All characters: Raised base health to 200
- All characters: Player impact effects will now always show the blood effect
- All characters Player speed is now 66% from armor, 33% from weapon
- Hero (MARS): Decreased movement speed by 12%.
- Hero (MARS): Decreased HRV duration by 1.5s.

Weapon Changes:
- All Weapons: Raised Gun Melee Damage to 125
- All Weapons: decreased spread by roughly 30%
- All Weapons: Movement speed can now vary based on weapon attachments
- All Weapons: There are now separate spread stats for hipfire and ADS
- All Weapons: Headshot effects now require over 50% of damage to be dealt to the head
- Heavy Depot Weapons: Now require stamina to jump, use stamina when you jump
- Combat Rifle: Increased base recoil by 30%
- Combat Rifle: decreased max recoil by 30%
- Combat Rifle: First bullet when ADS is 100% accurate
- SMG: Increased Min damage to 40
- SMG: Decreased Max damage to 50
- SMG: Decreased effective range by 30%
- Shotgun: Increased recoil by 100%
- Shotgun: Decreased effective range by 20%
- Revolver: Increased movement speed by 5%
- Revolver: Decreased damage by 15%
- 9mm: Increased movement speed by 10%
- 45mm: Increased movement speed by 15%
- 45mm: Increased minimum damage to 45
- 45mm: Increased maximum damage to 65
- Light Machine Gun: Increased movement spread penalty by 100%
- Burst Rifle: Increased base damage to 55
- Burst Rifle: Increased min damage to 45
- Burst Rifle: Increased max damage to 65
- Burst Rifle: Increased effective range by 25%
- Assault Rifle: Decreased base damage to 50
- Assault Rifle: Decreased max damage to 60
- Assault Rifle: Decreased min damage to 40
- Assault Rifle: Increased spread build by 9%
- Assault Rifle: Decreased effective range by 25%
- Combat Knife: Increased damage from 85 to 125
- Machete: Damage increased from 175 to 200
- Hammer: Damage increased from 200 to 250
- Flamethrower: Now only carries one spare magazine, maximum range reduced by 30%

Attachment Changes:
- All Scopes: Removed range modifiers
- Stock: Silverwood IrF-2 Tactical: Increased accuracy/speed
- Stock: Frontier Uls-Ultralight: Increase speed/accuracy/recoil, decreased range
- Stock: Wehr COGs GX: Increase range, decreased recoil/speed
- Stock: Silverwood BRS Tactical: Increased range, decreased recoil/speed/accuracy
- Stock: ArmCom CQC EMOD: Increased speed/accuracy, decreased recoil/range
- Stock: V2 Folding CQC/B: Increased accuracy/range, decreased recoil
- Stock: Hullbreach TSMA CQC/B: Increased speed, decreased accuracy/range/recoil
- Stock: Taurex ACP Mod 0: Increased range, decreased speed/recoil/accuracy
- Stock: Krane STI-01: Increased speed/range, decreased recoil
- Stock: Overmatch JLM.5 Advanced: Decreased accuracy/speed/recoil
- Stock: Krane CP2 Dual Mount: Decreased speed/accuracy/range
- Stock: Vulcan ACP-3 Collapsible: Increased range, decreased speed/accuracy
- Stock: ArmCom AC10 Sharp: Decreased speed/recoil/accuracy
- Stock: Titan BP-SR Tactical: Increased accuracy, decreased speed
- Stock: Titan BP-XLi Heavy: Increased speed, decreased accuracy/range
- Stock: Titan BP-CQ + PCR: Decreased speed/accuracy/recoil/range
- All Barrels: No longer affect recoil
- Barrel: Silverwood X35 CQC Post: Increased movement speed; reduced accuracy
- Barrel: Titan FFB-57 Extended Assault: Increased accuracy/range; reduced movement speed
- Barrel: Wehr Blackbird 71 Assault: Increased damage; reduced movement speed/accuracy/range
- Barrel: Titan Raider x15 Tactical: Increased damage/movement speed; reduced accuracy/range
- Barrel: Titan AR4-NightStalker Assault: Increased damage/accuracy/range; reduced movement speed
- Barrel: Krane LR-Light: Increased movement speed; reduced accuracy/range
- Barrel: Briar Composite LBiV Assault: Increased damage; reduced movement speed/accuracy/range
- Barrel: Vulcan Stalker 1T6 Post: Increased damage/range/accuracy; reduced movment speed
- Barrel: Vulcan BP-15 Short: Increased movement speed; reduced damage/accuracy/range
- Barrel: EON Mercurial SW-09 Post: Increased accuracy/range/movement speed; reduced damage
- Barrel: Hullbreach 77.3 Ogre Post: Increased damage; reduced accuracy/range
- Barrel: ArmCom Elite X3-455 Heavy Assault: Increased damage; reduced accuracy/range/movement speed
- Barrel: Briar TDF 13 Sniper: Increased accuracy/range; reduced damage/movement speed
- Barrel: Briar Leatherneck 5B.ID Sniper: Increased accuracy/range; reduced damage/movement speed
- Barrel: Silverwood EX LR Sniper: Increased accuracy/movement speed/range; reduced damage
- Barrel: Titan FFB Shotgun: Increased range
- Barrel: Wehr M-CV Breach Shotgun: Increased range/movement speed; reduced accuracy
- Barrel: V2 Thor-X200 Mod: Increased damage/accuracy/range; reduced movement speed
- Barrel: V2 Odin-Z900 Mod: Increased damage/accuracy/range; reduced movement speed
- Muzzle: Wehr SYS3: Decreased damage; decreased recoil
- Muzzle: Hullbreach ZXi Nexus: Decreased damage/recoil; Increased accuracy/range
- Muzzle: J3 SRM Mod 01: Increased recoil, decreased damage/range/accuracy
- Muzzle: Briar S'11 Archangel: decreased damage/recoil
- Muzzle: Vulcan QDSS-9: Decreased damage/recoil
- Muzzle: Briar XS-Supp: Increased recoil, decreased damage/range
- Muzzle: Wehr RXS Typhoon: Decreased damage; Increased accuracy
- Muzzle: Vulcan r36 Spectrum: Decreased damage/recoil; Increased accuracy/range
- Muzzle: Overmatch FB-RX: Increased damage
- Muzzle: ArmCom NT4: Increased range/recoil, decreased damage/accuracy
- Muzzle: Frontier Snuff-XS: Increased damage, decreased range/accuracy/recoil
- Muzzle: Silverwood RAS-6: Increased damage/recoil
- Muzzle: J3 R19 Rift: Increased damage/recoil
- Muzzle: Krane SPR1: Increased damage/recoil, decreased range/accuracy
- All 'Quick' Magazines: Reload speeds increased
- All 'Express' Magazines: Reload speeds increased
- All 'Extended' Magazines: Move speeds decreased
- AR Drum Magazine: Increased move speed, Decreased reload speed
- AR Double Drum Magazine: Reload speed decreased
- Shotgun Standard Magazine: Movement speed decreased
- Shotgun Light Magazine: Movement speed decreased
- Shotgun Quick Magazine: Movement speed decreased
- Shotgun Express Magazine: Movement speed decreased
- Shotgun Drum Magazine: Reload speed increased
- LMG Quick Magazine: Decreased reload/movement speed
- .45 Express Magazine: Increased ammo, decreased move speed
- 9mm Extended Magazine: Increased ammo, decreased movement speed
- 9mm Express Magazine: Increased ammo, decreased movement speed
- Machine Pistol Express Magazine: Increased ammo, decreased movement speed
- Burst Pistol Express Magazine: Increased ammo, decreased movement speed

Don't forget to add me as a friend in game.

Echo

"Your account has been banned from Perfect World."

Well, imagine that. Awesome service they have.

That_Guy

Echo wrote: »

"Your account has been banned from Perfect World."

Well, imagine that. Awesome service they have.

Wow, how did you manage that? I would like to know so I can avoid it.

Echo

I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I played one of their F2P Korean MMOs for a week or two, then I gave up on that.

That_Guy

The patch last night really improved the hit detection and generally moved the play style more in my direction. Overall, you have more health, but the guns tend to have less recoil and a tighter cone. Time to kill is almost faster now. The revive mechanic is great, but I seem to be the only person using it. Overall, this game is quite well balanced, but small. My biggest complaint is that the maps are only 8v8.

Rizzi

There are no servers in my country.
Awesome.

Grimthwacker

Yeah, I was playing yesterday and I could've sworn the spread on most weapons was greatly improved. Nice to see they've been taking note of all the feedback and making the mechanics tighter. Hardsuits still make or break every mode outside of single DM, which is to be expected considering they're massively powerful, but still surprisingly balanced in the grand scheme of things.

Skull2185

That_Guy wrote: »

The patch last night really improved the hit detection and generally moved the play style more in my direction. Overall, you have more health, but the guns tend to have less recoil and a tighter cone. Time to kill is almost faster now. The revive mechanic is great, but I seem to be the only person using it. Overall, this game is quite well balanced, but small. My biggest complaint is that the maps are only 8v8.

I've noticed that in most FPSs with a revive mechanic, PA mans are pretty much the only mans that realize its a good thing to use.

Mojo_Jojo

This has a real seed of potential at its heart, but it doesn't quite work as a package for me.

Also, the customisation interface is terrible (looks slick though).