Blacklight Retribution Evacuation Update Review

Blacklight Retribution is getting officially bigger with the news that the Evacuation update is ready and available. This update adds quite a few new things, most importantly a new map and the ability to host your own server. I’ve had a little time with the Evacuation update this morning in the hopes of reporting back on the major new features. Is it worth returning if you haven’t played in a while? Is the new map fun to play? Is hosting your own server the way to go if you’re bored of the Perfect World servers? In today’s article I hope to answer all this and more.

Evacuation

The first thing you’ll notice when you log onto Blacklight Retribution is that you’ll receive a limited edition Headcrab to tag onto your weapons. Pretty cool if you’re a fan of the Half-life games and definitely worth logging in for if you plan to play Blacklight in the future. There’s also a cool Valve helmet up for grabs, but only if you can reach level 40 before end of November. The Valve cap has a little tap on it, influenced by the Valve splash screen no doubt we’ve all see while playing Half-life, Portal or Left 4 Dead.  You can get the Headcrab tag up until November 6th, so you have a week to log in and claim it. Level 40, by the way, is the new level cap, so if you love playing until your character is the best they can be, you’ll want to come back and get working on that exp.

The most important part of the Blacklight Retribution Evactuation update is the new map. Evacuation is a wet, open map perfect for release on Halloween. A city which has been cleared of its population, Evacuation is a playground of abandoned businesses, cars, buses and boxes. Like all of the Blacklight maps, there’s a definite futuristic bent to the design, but there’s something very human about it as well, especially in light of the pictures of abandoned streets in New York during Hurricane Sandy. This sort of thing is always closer than we’d like to admit, I think, and Perfect World has delivered on this map.

The Evacuation map is made up of two levels. Above, empty, long streets perfect for mid-to-long range shooters with great accuracy and the ability to shoot moving targets. Get a set of teammates watching these walkways with you and you’ll quickly boost your score. You’re not impervious to danger, but you’ll do enough damage while holding off attack that you probably might as well be. This is when your enemy will probably look for alternative routes, probably taking to the lower level.

Whereas the street level has space and long views, the underground level is far more “close-quarters.” If you can’t compete against more accurate shooters, just head down one of the many sets of a stairs and prepare to dominate on a completely different level. The underground section also gives you quick access to almost any area of the map, so if you DO have to deal with camping (and it’d be an intelligent thing to do, with the right loadout), you won’t have to deal with it for too long. Just remember to watch you back; as close as you are down here, if someone manages to get up behind you, you’re not going to have chance to turn around and defend yourself.

"Overall the map feels incredibly balanced."

I’ve played it for almost an hour today, and I can’t see any major flaws. Things seem to flow, most of the time, and the issue tends to be not being able to find the enemy, rather than being overwhelmed by them. This, of course, is a completely different problem, but it’s a problem that doesn’t pop up all that often and that, for the most part, works in your favour. I’d rather be wondering aimlessly than being killed over and over again by spawn-campers. This largely happens if a team is working together incredibly well and if you’ve ever played an arcade multiplayer game you know the risk of this is fairly minor.

Your Own Server

One of the major complaints people have about this sort of multiplayer game is that you generally have to play with strangers.

Even when you have a friends list full of people you enjoy playing with, you’re still likely to come across wild cards, people either not very good or who are likely to cheat their way through proceedings. This is no longer an issue. In return for some Zen, you can create your own private servers.
You can make your server whatever you want it to be: private, invite only, long, short, difficult, easy. If you don’t enjoy something about the rules of the game, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to change them in these private maps. It’s a great option for somebody who wants to play the game without having to rely on strangers, but the fact that you have to pay will probably be enough to put some of you off. It really depends how much you want it, how easily you’ll fill your server and how often this will allow you to play.

New Weapons in Evacuation

This Evacuation update also brings in a few new weapons. These weapons are only unlockable in-game once you’ve reached the higher levels, although you can pay to have them earlier if you choose (although expect the prices to be near ridiculous if you choose to do this). For core players, you’ll probably be wielding the new katana, the anti-material rifle and the tomahawk before you know it, but new players will just have to watch in awe. I’m not sure if this one can be classed as pay-to-win, but I’m still not sure what made the developers do this one.

Still, the weapons DO look fairly cool, and when you factor in the continued support and the fact that this expansion – which brings with it several fixes as well – is absolutely free, some people will quite happily pay to get at the new content.

Conclusion - Blacklight Retribution Evacuation Update

Although I feel access to the new weapons is a bit of a bust, the rest of the Evacuation update is pretty fantastic.

The new map is fun to play on and the server access is a nice bonus that I can imagine people will get a lot out of. Although server rental will run  you at around $20 for a month, that’s a month of peace and quiet. In comparison, the less said about the value of the weaponry the better, although you CAN unlock it with hard work. If you haven’t played Blacklight Retribution for a while, I think it’s probably time for you to make a comeback.

Read our Blacklight Retribution review with Blacklight Retribution gameplay video here>>