Weekend with Indies: Strange Brigade

We’re taking Weekend with Indies in a slightly different direction this week, looking at a AA game released independently by Rebellion: the quirky and peculiar, co-operative shooter-slash-puzzler Strange Brigade.

Rebellion isn’t a stranger to co-op shooters, from classics such as the Alien Vs Predator series to a pulpy spin-off to their acclaimed Sniper Elite series called Zombie Army Trilogy. Their latest self-published effort follows in the same pulp science fiction vein as ZAT, taking players on an adventure through 1930s Egypt in pursuit of the evil witch-queen Seteki and her hoards mummified minions, minotaurs, and even pirates.

As I said above, there are plenty of puzzles to be found in the game that are worth solving, because the secondary objective of Strange Brigade is acquiring artefacts, diaries, blue crystal cat statues, and all the gold that the player can eat. But between the player and their reward are the undead hordes of Seteki, from Skeleton Warriors to bandage wrapped Mummies to giant scorpions. A really cool detail is the danger indicator – ghostly hands reaching towards the player from the direction of the enemy. This is a really simple way of creating tension, but can easily be missed as they often blend into the environment.

Rebellion, 2018

Ignoring the narrative, which is fairly easy, Strange Brigade is all about exploration, and players are heavily rewarded for doing so. Maps are designed in such a way that they inspire intrigue, tempting players to look around corners and down dark corridors. The more gold found in the levels, the more weapons will be available to the player in the main menu, or they can spend some of their cash on the mystery boxes dotted around the map’s arenas. There are even gems to be found that will enhance your weapons, granting them better armour penetration or even the ability to freeze enemies in ice.

Overall, the game is a really good shooter at its core. The striped down nature of the mechanics, the familiar button layouts, and the well-tuned controls make Strange Brigade a super accessible experience. The selection of period weaponry is a touch limited but it’s a case of quality over quantity – apart from the grenades, of which only dynamite really feels useful. It’s longer fuse and ability to be detonated early by, you guessed it, shooting it, make it great for setting traps and crowd control.

Whilst shallow in appearance, Strange Brigade’s gameplay is actually surprisingly deep when it comes to the explorers the players can choose. Gracie is a close quarter’s powerhouse, whose explosives recharge faster than any other member of the party; Nalangu can heal herself through melee attacks; Professor DeQuincy can open up unique paths to collectibles, making him a must for completionists; and finally Frank Fairburn has a bigger health pool and, like his name sake, can cause massive damage with headshots.

Rebellion, 2018

Each of the explorers has access to four unique supernatural abilities as well, from turning enemies into chickens for a brief time, to summoning their own undead minions. All of this goes to making Strange Brigade a far more engaging casual experience, giving the player more ways of playing without it being overwhelming. What I will say, though, is that this depth is not very well explained or even made that obvious, and honestly could be overlooked by those who don’t go looking for it.

In fact, this apparent lack of depth contributes to a feeling that perhaps Strange Brigade is a bit too basic. Playing solo can be a slog and at times verges on being boring; the formulaic gameplay becoming more and more perfunctory. Multiplayer, however, really changes things up: puzzles more complex, requiring more than one person to complete them; enemies become deadlier and more numerous; the whole game just feels that much more alive.

What should normally break up the singleplayer monotony, the boss fights, are by and large challenging. But others are too drawn out, made arbitrarily too long. My pet hate out of this was a Minotaur with a weakspot on the very top of its head. Fine, cool, whatever – but don’t make its head move minutely every time it’s stunned. It’s not challenging or engaging, it just straight frustrating.

Narrative-wise, Strange Brigade is, well, strange. The 1930s pulp sci-fi settings is a really interesting choice, as it’s a timeframe usually reserved for films like The Mummy franchise, King Kong and the green screen hellscape that was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Personally, I think it works, but there is some baggage to unload here.

Rebellion, 2018

The subtext of the game, the idea of a Colonialist Government organisation stealing ancient artefacts from across the globe, is potential an offensive one: governments from around the world have begun to demand their cultural heritage back, but Strange Brigade seems to celebrate and even make jokes about taking riches from the colonies during a time where the practice was often a punitive measure.

The game is presented in an episodic format, which keeps players up-to-date with their progress through the narrative, but it somewhat lessens the importance of the story. This is especially true for the deeper lore, which can only be read through in the main menu. What lessens it even more is the fact that the text is damn near impossible to read due to the font’s style and minuscule size.

And finally, to top it all off, is the narrator: a man’s voice that goes from amusing and fitting for the style, to downright irritating. I will hear him brassly exclaiming “the STRANGE Brigade!” forever in my nightmares. The rest of the voice acting is fine, apart from the Strange Brigade’s leader, whose voice is only ever heard over the radio, and sounds like a sentient piece of cardboard.

In the end, Strange Brigade is and odd game, with a middling singleplayer experience and some perhaps rose-tinted ideas about the British Empire at the beginning of the 20^th Century. However, its gameplay is solid and shines when played with friends, compensating somewhat for the rote singleplayer experience. If there’s a group of your friends wanting a kooky co-op experience until Fallout 76 rolls around, Strange Brigade might be the one for you.