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Blacklight: Retribution loses studio, continues on anyway
It turns out that the worst news for an online game -- having its studio close -- may not be the end of the world after all. Zombie Studios, the devs behind multiplayer shooter Blacklight: Retribution, announced today that it's closing shop and that a new studio has arisen from its ashes to take care of the game: "Now it is time for us to part ways and close our doors [...] We want to congratulate and wish nothing but success to Builder Box, the new studio starting up that has acquired some of the work Zombie is parting with, including all rights to Blacklight: Retribution. The new studio is comprised of past Zombie employees that put their hearts into Blacklight and we have no doubt will continue to do so." Builder Box's Facebook page also posted a notice, reaffirming the game's future: "What does this mean for you the fan? While ownership of the game has changed, the people behind the scenes who have been constantly contributing to the Blacklight universe for the last four years remains intact. Builder Box will be working with Perfect World so that, as a fan, you can look forward to more updates and exciting changes in the coming year."
Daylight developer closes, passes Blacklight IP to new studio
Seattle-based developer Zombie Studios is closing its doors after over twenty years of operation. The developer announced the news on its website, noting that the studio's owners are retiring. As a result, former Zombie Studios employees started a new company, Builder Box, and "acquired some of the work Zombie is parting with." That includes all rights to Blacklight: Retribution (seen above), Zombie Studios' 2012 cyberpunk first-person shooter. Builder Box was formed by Andy Kipling and Russell Nelson, Zombie Studios' director of production and technical director, respectively. In a PlayStation Forums post last week, Kipling assured Blacklight: Retribution fans that "the people behind the scenes who have been constantly contributing to the Blacklight universe for the last four years remains intact," and that players "can look forward to more updates and exciting changes in the coming year." Zombie Studios formed in 1994, launching its first game the following year, a spaceship simulator known as Ice and Fire. The developer is known for creating the Spec Ops line of tactical shooters, starting with Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way in 1998 for PC. Among the final games developed at Zombie Studios is the Atlus-published survival horror game Daylight, which arrived on PC and PS4 last year. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Blacklight: Retribution patch adds new game mode, multiplayer maps
Developer Zombie Studios has issued a patch for the PlayStation 4 incarnation of Blacklight: Retribution that, along with the standard bug fixes and balance tweaks, delivers the new Onslaught game type as well as two decrepit multiplayer maps. Onslaught pits four Blacklight players against endless waves of the infected. Over time these waves of enemies grow progressively more difficult and complicated, forcing players to adapt or be overrun. According to Zombie Studios producer Kael Hammond, "[t]hose who find a way to succeed will be rewarded for their efforts," though it's not mentioned what exactly that reward might be. Today's patch also introduces two new multiplayer maps, "Metro" and "Decay." The former drops players into an abandoned subway station full of tight corridors and narrow passageways, while the latter takes place in a "slum fortress" featuring multiple floors and just as many angles of attack. Best of all, this content is being added to Blacklight: Retribution at no cost to players. More details on the gameplay tweaks introduced by this patch can be found at the PlayStation.blog. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Blacklight: Retribution launches today for European PS4 consoles
Zombie Studios' free-to-play multiplayer shooter, Blacklight: Retribution, is set for launch on European PlayStation 4 consoles today. The game, which hit North American PS4s as a launch-day beta, does not require a subscription to PlayStation Plus. Blacklight: Retribution originally released in April of 2012, hitting Steam a few months later. Since then, it has become one of the most-played shooters on Valve's digital distribution platform. The game was originally slated to land in Europe with the PS4 but suffered a brief delay.
Blacklight Retribution adds Sonic Tomahawk, Dropzone map
Zombie Studios has updated its Blacklight Retribution multiplayer shooter. The title, which is published by Perfect World, now boasts a new map called Dropzone that hearkens back to Zombie's 2010 Blacklight: Tango Down. Zombie says that due to the map's small size, gameplay will be "fast and frenetic." The team has also raised the level cap from 40 to 50 and added new titles, camouflage, and gear including Riot Shield and Sonic Tomahawk melee weapons. [Source: Perfect World press release]
Hands-on with Blacklight: Retribution's biggest update yet
February 27th will mark one year since Blacklight: Retribution threw the doors of its beta wide open. Since then, it's ranked among Steam's 50 most-played shooters. For the game's first anniversary, publisher Perfect World Entertainment is hoping to keep the free-to-play shooter's success story going with an update called Onslaught, its biggest content push to date. I recently attended a preview event for Massively to sample Onslaught for myself. Let's start with the small and work our way up.
Massively Exclusive: Check out these sweet Blacklight: Retribution screenshots
Blacklight: Retribution is getting its "largest update ever" soon. What better way to whet your appetite than with some tantalizing screenshots of two upcoming maps? Welcome to Safehold and Metro, agents! The Metro map is set underneath the ruined cityscape, bringing players into the old subway system to go mano-a-mano with the enemy. Above ground, the Safehold features an open plaza and its surrounding buildings. Get a taste of the new maps in the gallery below. %Gallery-178151% [Source: Perfect World press release]
Massively Exclusive: Blacklight: Retribution shows off the end of the world, part 5
The adventure of the Blacklight team comes to an end today with the last motion comic setting the stage for Blacklight: Retribution's major patch World's End. And after facing no small number of enemy troops and zombified locals, the group finally arrives at its designated target to find something very different from what it had originally planned. Remember, if there's one thing worse than failure, it's the success you never knew you didn't want. This final video brings the story full circle and explains more of what's out there... but what happens next is up to the players -- unsurprisingly, since this is meant to provide backstory for a game and all. So if you've been following along for the last few installments, you'll want to catch the last one just past the break, and then probably load up your weapon and get to shooting in the game proper.
Massively Exclusive: Blacklight: Retribution shows off the end of the world, part 4
As it turns out, moving through the heart of darkness is no easier in Blacklight: Retribution than in the real world. As the motion comic previewing the game's major patch World's End nears its climax, it turns out that yesterday's zombie-filled antics and general civil unrest were not the worst problem that Spade and his team will have to encounter. After all, the Order is still out there, and it turns out they're no slouches in battle... The second-to-last installment is a little longer than its predecessors, moving the protagonists from their perpetual quagmire to the doorstep of their ultimate objective, but not without taking a few more lumps on the way there. So how do we get from here to the intro we saw back in the beginning of the week? To find that out, you'll just have to check back in tomorrow for the concluding episode.
Massively Exclusive: Blacklight: Retribution shows off the end of the world, part 3
It's time for further installments of the motion comics accompanying Blacklight: Retribution's upcoming major patch, World's End. The first two comics yesterday set up the team and the stakes, but today's comic kicks off as the Blacklight team lands in Balik and starts getting down to business. Or not; the mission starts going cross-eyed almost the moment the team touches down. Obviously, the place is a mess by governmental standards, which makes sense when you consider that the team sent in is supposed to be the best of the best. But as the team trails the shadowy Order, it quickly becomes clear that this is more than just a fight against opponents with superior weaponry. But you don't have to take our word for it. If you want to see things going from bad to worse, you can check out the next two issues just past the cut and tune in tomorrow for another step along the path.
Massively Exclusive: Blacklight: Retribution shows off the end of the world, part 2
Yesterday we previewed the trailer and the raw content information regarding Blacklight: Retribution's upcoming patch, World's End. But what's the story behind the patch? For that, we turn to the first two parts of a six-part motion comic from the team behind the game at Perfect World Entertainment. The comic details some of what happened leading up to the events of the update... starting with a single man touching down on a hospital rooftop about ready to bleed out from injury. From there, the first two chapters go on to establish some of what's at stake in the game's lore and what happened on the main character's disastrous mission. If you're curious, the videos are each only a couple of minutes long, a chance to get a little does of lore and an idea behind the setting. But what happens next? Check in tomorrow to see more.
Massively Exclusive: Blacklight: Retribution shows off the end of the world, part 1
If you're a fan of Perfect World Entertainment's competitive MMO shooter Blacklight: Retribution, you're in for the end of the world. The game's latest update, World's End, is coming after the end of this week's scheduled maintenance, and it's a big one, complete with new playable characters, new specialized assault robots, and new maps to shoot your way through. Chronos, the new hero, is meant to act as a group's computer specialist, with an innate ability to hack control nodes faster. He comes equipped with an auto-turret and HRV decoy by default, allowing him to place traps or simply defend himself while hacking. These skills will be put to good use in the new maps, Decay and Trench, with the former featuring close-quarter alleyway combat and the latter giving plenty of mid-range sniping spots. Take a look at the official launch trailer just past the update screenshot gallery, and stay tuned this week for more previews leading up to the patch launch! [Source: PWE press release] %Gallery-126205%
The Firing Line: Exclusive Blacklight Retribution Evac Q&A
It's been a while since The Firing Line took a look at Zombie Studios' Blacklight: Retribution title. The sci-fi shooter, published in conjunction with free-to-play giant Perfect World, has added quite a bit of content since that pre-launch preview, and more is coming this week courtesy of the Evacuation Update (including a new map and premium/private server functionality). Join us after the cut for an exclusive chat with Zombie devs on that and more. %Gallery-126205%
Blacklight: Retribution arrives on Steam, free-to-play items 50% off
Blacklight Retribution is a free-to-play shooter that arrived on the PC earlier this year, and it's now easier than ever to download and play it. The game's been added to Steam, so jump over to the game's page, click Play Game (as long as you have Steam installed first), and you're good to go.To celebrate, Steam is providing a starter pack for the game for half off. Usually, the items in the pack would cost you $20, but for a limited time you can get two guns, two gun mods, two armor pieces, two equipment gear, a seven-day XP boost, and 3000 GP to spend for $9.99. We'd suggest playing first, of course, before you start spending money on a free-to-play game all willy-nilly.
The Firing Line: Blacklight release, Defiance, and (hopefully) a DUST livestream
Welcome back to The Firing Line, shooter fans. I'm still recovering from Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide 2 demo last week (as well as CCP's reveals regarding DUST 514 gameplay footage and impending beta dates). Life goes on, though, and there are plenty of interesting tidbits to talk about with regard to our favorite genre. Won't you join me after the break for a recap?
The Firing Line: Blacklight: Retribution open beta impressions
So I spent a little time with Perfect World Entertainment's new multiplayer shooter this week. Buh-what? Yeah, it is strange to think that the company responsible for Rusty Hearts, Ether Saga Odyssey, and about 20 million other free-to-play MMOs has finally jumped onto the FPS bandwagon. While PWE is publishing Blacklight: Retribution, though, design and development of the spiffy sci-fi action title comes courtesy of Zombie Studios.
Blacklight: Retribution moves to open beta on February 27
Zombie Studios' free-to-play sequel to Blacklight, called Blacklight: Retribution, has gotten itself an open beta date, which means that the game will essentially be ready to party. Feburary 27 is the date in question -- that's the point when the closed beta (which started up last year) will end, player information will be wiped, and the game will start anew for good.Additionally, the open beta will bring new content with three new maps and custom Heroes to play with, and the Data Node system (which allows users to upgrade and specialize certain pieces of gear) will go live. If you weren't able to get in on any of our many beta keys for the game, then mark your calendar for February 27.
A giant pulsing blacklight for your iPhone or iPod
This has been out for a while, but in the same booth where Engadget found the Watch Your Bag crapgadget there's a giant blacklight dock that will pulse to the beat. Oh, and it has speakers. You can opt to leave the black light on if you want (no sync to music), or have it strobe. Naturally it'll work with iPods as well, so you can practically set up a nightclub in an instant. Provided you don't mind toting a 4-foot iPod dock around. At $149.99 from Sharper Image, I doubt these are flying off the shelves.
Crapgadget: 'atrocious amalgam' edition
Sure, it may not be as functional as a 3 megapixel camera conspicuously disguised as a magnetic cat, but what could be more secure than an oversized pseudo-padlock thumbdrive? Not your style? Well, surely you have use for a new towel, complete with iPhone pocket? No? Might you enjoy re-training yourself to breathe while basking in the glow of your iPod-ready black light? Fine. Negative Nancy (shown above). We'll just leave you to your USB-warmed coffee and rage relief button. When you're ready to come out and play, hit up the links below to help us crown the king of crappy combos. Read - Brando Flash Drive (Looks like a padlock!) Read - USB cup warmer (with a massive 56-inch USB cable!) Read - A black light -- with an iPod dock! Read - Visualizing pulse meter (for learning how to breathe!) Read - Gym towel iPhone pocket! Read - The unfortunate offspring of the Staples Easy Button's sordid love affair with a stress ball. %Poll-63853%
Blacklight sequel going free-to-play
The sequel to Blacklight: Tango Down is going to lower the price in addition to the, uh, tango. Zombie Studios CEO Mark Long told Big Download that the sequel to the downloadable FPS, called just "Blacklight" for now, will be released under a free-to-play model, instead of the traditional one-time purchase fee attached to the original. "The full game will be free along with premium content that can be purchased in-game," Long said. "Blacklight will feature a large number of improvements based on the player feedback we've gotten. And we hope going free-to-play will close that loop so we can respond even faster to player preferences." And hopefully give Zombie more resources (read: money) with which to implement those responses, no doubt. The new game will use Unreal Engine 3, but won't use any assets from its predecessor. New weapons, new levels, and new "mech" vehicles will be featured -- the latter of which can be seen in the single released screenshot, above. Since it looks totally awesome, we're guessing that's going to be a microtransaction-based item.
