''Strange Brigade'' is a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and published by

Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its ''Sniper Elite'' series and multiple games in the ''Alien vs. Pre ...

. It was released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

on August 28, 2018, on August 1, 2020 for

Stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

, and on June 15, 2021 for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

. In the game, the player fights against different mythological enemies and solves puzzles.

Gameplay

''Strange Brigade'' is a

with a huge emphasis on

cooperative gameplay Cooperative game may refer to: * Cooperative board game, board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal * Cooperative game theory, in game theory, a game with competition between groups of players and the possibility of cooperat ...

. In the game, the player assumes the role of an adventurer in the 1930s and can team up with three other players to fight against different mythological enemies like

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...

, giant

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

s and

minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...

s. The game's four playable characters, who can be customized, have different weapons and abilities. Players have a large arsenal of weapons at their disposal. Each weapon has several upgrade slots, which can be used to enhance combat efficiency. Players can switch and upgrade their weapons at the workbenches found in a level. They can also activate different traps, such as spinning blades and spikes, to kill enemies. The game features branching levels which encourage exploration. By solving

puzzles A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...

, players will discover new relics which can unlock "amulet powers". These powerful amulet powers can be activated by absorbing the souls of enemies. Players can also find treasure chests to unlock powerful prototype weapons, and collect gold coins to purchase new weapons.

Premise

The Strange Brigade, a group of Secret Service agents sent by the British colonial government, has infiltrated archaeologist Edgar Harbin's expedition in an effort to eliminate Seteki, a brutal and barbaric queen who once ruled the Sahara Africa.

Development

The game was developed by

. The gameplay was inspired by cooperative games such as ''

Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the ...

'' and Rebellion's own '' Zombie Army Trilogy'', while the story and the game's tone were inspired by the adventure serials released in the 1930s. Announced on June 7, 2017, the game was released on August 28, 2018. Players who pre-ordered the game were given access to the "Secret Service Weapons" pack, while those who purchased the Digital Deluxe edition have access to the game's season pass and other post-launch content for free. There is also a

Collector's Edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

which contains physical items such as an airship model and an artbook.

Reception

According to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the PC and PlayStation 4 versions received mixed to positive reviews while the Xbox One version received generally positive reviews from critics. In December 2018, ''Strange Brigade'' was featured as one of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

''s "50 best games of 2018".

Awards

References

External links

* * {{Rebellion Developments 2018 video games Action video games Alternate history video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Fiction about mummies Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Rebellion Developments games Third-person shooters Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set in Egypt Windows games Xbox One games Stadia games