Blackout Protocol Preview

Blackout Protocol is a roguelike twin-stick shooter set within the downfall of a secret research facility. You’re sent in after a containment breach to figure out what’s going on and stop it.

The gameplay is a relatively typical twin-stick shooter, with four playable characters, all with a unique ability which focuses on a distinct playstyle. Co-op is heavily pushed, with the option of having up to three players. As the player descends deeper into the facility, they’ll find both gold and Data Nugs. Gold gives the player access to new weapons and items within both the levels and the safe rooms, while Data Nugs give the player the ability to unlock permanent upgrades. There are a variety of different weapons, each one has its own utility and playstyles, which also intertwine with the Nethercube upgrade system. Throughout the stages, you can find Nethercubes, giving the player a choice between three upgrades, from four different categories: Psionic, Bionic, Firearms, and R&D. Upon choosing one of these upgrades, you also get a single point in the correlating stats. As these stats increase, they can unlock new abilities for weapons within the correlating category.

The player has both a health and a panic meter. Certain enemies cannot be hurt with weapons and require being repelled using the flashlight. When they damage the player, their panic meter decreases, and as it hits zero, the screen begins to warp, making things much harder to see. Enemies also have panic gauges, which are affected primarily by psionic weaponry and abilities, and once they hit zero, the enemy is stunned and takes increased damage for a short while. Blackout Protocol seems to take a more tactical and precise approach to its gameplay over a more arcadey style of gameplay. A big part of this is the dodge roll, which has only a single use and is on a relatively long cooldown. Along with the slow movement speeds, this requires the players to think much more about positioning. However, due to these systems, it makes single-player much less viable; it’s far too easy to be trapped in a corner with no way out in certain areas or reloads, slowing the character down to a crawl and being caught by the enemies and killed near instantly.

Overall, Blackout Protocol has the potential to be a reasonably unique and enjoyable roguelike. However, in its current state, it is pretty difficult to recommend for single-player, as the balancing of the game feels incredibly unfair due to the slow movement speed and damage towards the later half of the stages. Blackout Protocol releases into Early Access on the 20th of July.