Strange Brigade Review

Strange Brigade was touted as a co-operative game heavily inspired by Left 4 Dead prior to its 2018 release. Expectations were high, since Rebellion had spent the previous years creating the Zombie Army Trilogy and Sniper Elite series. Strange Brigade doesn’t utilize the zombie setting many expected. But it does include other monsters from the occult for players to overcome during their mission in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Story

The premise of Strange Brigade is basically just The Mummy with less Brendan Fraser. Some 4,000 years ago an evil queen named Seteki was overthrown by her subjects. Fearing her wrath, they sealed her away in a tomb. They left no markings to indicate who was buried in the grave.

Flash forward to the 1930s. When an archaeologist discovers the final resting place of Seteki, he accidentally releases her into the modern world. A group of British agents called the Strange Brigade are sent to fight Seteki and stop any supernatural threats.

Gameplay

Now that the setting has been established it is time to get to the gameplay. Strange Brigade is a third person co-op shooter. While it can be played by yourself without anyone else, it is best experienced as a group. Teams of up to four can join up and everyone gets to pick their own character.

As you would expect from this type of game, the different options you can choose from all have their own unique traits. One can inflict more damage with headshots while another can use the mystical forces given off from fallen enemies to regain health. However, there isn’t too much difference between them. So, your play style won’t change all that much as a result of which character you select.

With the developer’s pedigree in creating solid shooters, the basic mechanics work very effectively here. There is nothing extravagant in terms of gameplay, but the nuts and bolts of shooting at enemies feels satisfying. The gunplay is enhanced somewhat by the special abilities that each character brings, yet they aren’t on the same level as something like Destiny. They simply add an extra layer to combat that aims to keep things fresh and ensure that shooting at enemies doesn’t become too monotonous.