Blacklight: Retribution preview - Onslaught update incoming

Developer Zombie Studios' free-to-play first-person shooter Blacklight: Retribution http://www.gamesradar.com/blacklight-retribution/ is celebrating its one-year anniversary. To reward players for their support over the past year, a new horde-type Onslaught mode is being added to the game along with two competitive multiplayer maps, additional weapons, and a few other gameplay tweaks. We took a look at the new content with the developers and got all of the details on the new features.

First up is the new Onslaught mode. Outside the competitive multiplayer, Blacklight hasn't really touched on the lore of the world the shooter is based in, but Onslaught will give you a peek into the overarching narrative. So far, all we know is that a plague has infested most of the world's populous, turning them into ravenous killers. As a Blacklight Agent, you'll have to gather a team of buddies to kill a bunch of the flesh-hungry infected. A group of up to four players must fight off ten progressively challenging waves of infected assailants that come in the easy-to-kill, speedy variety, or in massive, supermutant hulks that will take team coordination to bring down. In addition to killing every enemy in each wave, players will have to complete different objectives spread across the map, forcing teams to move and work together in order to progress.

For those who want more added to the competitive aspects of Blacklight, there are several extra features coming in the update. Two maps are being added to the environment roster along with a search and destroy game mode, two new weapons, and an unlockable hero. One of the maps, called Safehold, will cater to those who like to fight from long-range with lots of elevated vantage points and relatively open areas. The second map, Metro, is much more confined, giving those proficient with close-quarters weapons, like shotguns and SMGs, the advantage.

Blacklight's gameplay revolves around earning rewards and customization options for your character, and the developers kept this in mind when they added the Ghost hero. The Ghost hero is a base character/loadout you can earn that is pre-equipped with a certain play style in mind: long-range sniping. We didn't get to play with the Ghost loadout ourselves, but earning the hooded sniper looks like it would be time well spent, based simply on how cool he looks. Players will also be able to unlock two assault rifles with the update. The two weapons are future versions of the AK47 and M4 rifles, called the AK470 and M4X, respectively.

Zombie Studios has also partnered with the Electronic Sports League to bring Blacklight to the eSports community. As such, the developer has made several tweaks to game mechanics, such as bullet spread and recoil, to adjust the gameplay for the professional-level competitions. Also, player stats are being made available, allowing players to track their kill-to-death ratios, weapon accuracy, match scores, and anything else you'd want to see in number form.

Check out Blacklight's anniversary update when it becomes available to download on February 27.