Trepang2 Review (THIS MOTH WILL DO BONKERS AGAIN)
THE GOOD -
gameplay loop and gunplay is orgasmic. lived up to the hype it promised in most respects. has some interesting story bits, i.e the biocomputer haunting the blacksite in the arkansas mission, the flesh people on the second mission, the "memorial hall" for the sacrificed people (and upon looking up birthdates, realizing some of the people who were sacrificed where children was unnerving), and the final mission with anton and his doctor sawing up the smartest people still working at his company last minute in an attempt to upload himself to their brains was something else
THE BAD -
this game has a massive identity crisis. it felt like it wanted to be Every Evil Corporation horror trope at once, and the whole backrooms level was.. well, it's already aged as of writing this review.
the break the cycle motif throughout the game felt like it was building up to something interesting but it ended pretty abruptly. some things felt shoehorned and forced.
i spent the whole game wondering why i should care about the syndicate, and the whole attempt at making you like the helicopter pilot and gunnery just didn't land for me. i feel like this was sort of the intended line of thinking for the player given the ending, but for me it was less intrigue into why the syndicate cares about me so much and more apathy. "why should i care?"
it's a game! it's fun! but the writing felt like 4 dudes got high after watching alien, robocop and played fear and said "what if we did this bro??"
don't get me wrong, i'm not ragging on that concept, honestly it could have worked if the game wasn't as short as it is. every side mission felt like i should have been it's own chapter. if this game had a blank check and more time to develop i'm sure that'd have been the case. i'd have *loved* to get more into the haunted biocomputer story going on. I opened the door to that room and was frozen in the doorplace and didn't even want to step in. but that's not what we got.
THE REST OF MY TANGENT -
honestly? i didn't expect a long, drawn out game. it's an indie, i tempered my expectations to begin with and i cant say i was disappointed, but there's a lot that i wish this game could have been.
calling it a FEAR spiritual successor? nah, it's is own thing. Selaco feels more deserving of that title. This is like margarine while FEAR is butter. not bad, but you can't believe it's not butter, or maybe you can.
I still recommend it, It's fun, you'll enjoy it, and in an environment with games like redfall and that gollum well, whatever it is, Fun is Enough. But if you play FEAR first or have played FEAR prior to Trepang2, you will notice the deficits in story between the two.
TL:DR-
game good, story kinda mid, lives up to expectations given there wasn't high ones to begin with, worth buying and playing