In 2005, F.E.A.R. had players blasting through rooms of mercenaries with bullet time, dodging one of the smartest enemy A.I., and dreading the descent of every ladder they approached. Trepang2 (either Two or Squared) is an action-packed FPS that calls back to the simpler times of dual wielding everything and not aiming down the sights. On the harder difficulties, it’s a two-way bullet hell that’ll test players skills across the board. While its story may not be as cohesive as F.E.A.R.’s, Trepang2 delivers strong action, chilling atmospheres, and some good scares that rival the infamous ladder turn.
Players take on the role of 106, Trepang2’s faceless and voiceless protagonist. A corporate prisoner at the start of the campaign, players team up with a mysterious group that frees them from their A Clockwork Orange inspired holding cell. It’s a simple set-up that leads to a globetrotting adventure, where players take down the evil Horizon corporation one stronghold at a time. Things take a turn pretty early and the army of henchmen you were dispatching become hordes of abominations, cultists, and other strange entities. There’s no lurking antagonist like F.E.A.R.’s Alma. With Trepang2 coming in around 4-5 hours to complete (if you focus on the campaign missions) there’s no time to build up a single big bad. Instead, missions feature a monster of the week that players eliminate by mission’s end. It’s a decision that keeps these enemies from having to carry an entire game’s narrative with them. It also gives the game an opportunity to find new ways to scare and mess with players. Some highlights include a nod to The Backrooms, an underground hivemind, and a mid-campaign jump scare that I won’t soon forget.
As scary as Trepang2 gets, it still finds time for some silliness amongst all the chaos. 106 out of the gate, doesn’t have the ability to dual-wield guns until they find a dual-wielding serum. You later lose this ability in a hilarious fashion. There are a handful of moments like this throughout the campaign that I couldn’t help but chuckle at (I’m treading lightly here to avoid spoilers.) At its core though, Trepang2 is about corporate greed and corporations branching out into uncharted territory. Horizon is in over its head in dealing with these different entities, but that doesn’t stop them from continuing these efforts and seeking out additional places for growth.
All backstory in these endeavors is fed through collectables that can be found in each mission, but you never truly get the full story. You instead have to piece some things together on your own. What happened to the science team in Arkansas studying a mysterious mass? I don’t truly know, but the only thing I can be sure of is that Horizon is going to continue messing with that mass. I appreciated the game leaving things open ended and resisting the urge to spoon feed players everything. It kept me wondering what else was out there, and in what way is Horizon mucking it up.
The campaign is split up into six story missions and six side missions. Selectable from a mission map in your HQ hideout, this allows players to take on missions in an order they see fit. Side missions play out in more of a wave-based, single location type structure. One of these missions has you taking out waves of henchmen, while protecting turrets that are attacking a much larger creature. The game tries to create some variety in these side missions with fun locations and set-pieces, but if you’re not into horde mode type gameplay, these missions won’t be for you.
The gunplay is the showstopper here. If you love dual-wielding shotguns and blasting through everything in your way, Trepang2 is here for you. Enemies dissolve into moosh and fly around the room in spectacular fashion. The game just looks great, no matter how gross it gets. Once you get off the muscle memory of aiming down the sights, movement and combat are fluid. The sprint and slide from modern shooters is here as well as a cloaking ability and a Focus ability (bullet time.) With these skills and your arsenal of weapons, players can approach each encounter like a deadly puzzle. Running and gunning, while doable on easier difficulties, comes to a halt if you don’t manage your abilities properly in the harder difficulties.
I do wish some abilities had a little longer duration. The cloak and sprint felt like they ran out too quickly. Dual-wielding also takes a small hit due to the inability to mix-and-match guns. It doesn’t completely ruin it, but coming from a guy who came up wielding Needlers and Pistols, it’s just disappointing. Weapons can be customized with parts found out on missions. From stocks to help with feedback, to laser pointers and scopes that help with accuracy. The customization is nice to have, but doesn’t make or break any of the guns. Weapon variety is of your typical military shooters with a mix of SMGs, ARs, shotguns, and pistols. There is a DRM, minigun, and grenade launcher to help mix things up further, but in a world where advancement is a key focus, I was disappointed the game didn’t dabble with some otherworldly weapons. You also have a mix of throwables like grenades and proximity mines. These can help thin out herds when things get a bit hairy. Sadly, you can only carry one type of throwable at a time.
Encounters can quickly break into chaos as you’re overwhelmed by large groups of enemies. The enemy A.I. is smart and will seek you out in your last known location. This makes for great opportunities of misdirection with the cloak, disappearing and reappearing behind an enemy unbeknownst to them. Base enemies come with different levels of armor that require different tactics to dispatch them. Riot shield wielding grunts either have to be knocked down with your slide or you’ll have to get behind them prior to dealing out the kill shot. Boss fights range from the oddball creatures to C-Suite sleazeballs dripping with armor. These fights play out like other encounters, but with one more heavily armored enemy to account for.
You have a list of high priority targets to take out, but other than having a list you can track in your HQ, there’s not much else that comes from these hits, other than checking one more person off your list. Some of these encounters are locked behind tougher difficulties, adding some replayability once you’ve completed the short campaign. Completing missions on harder difficulties also unlocks cheats that can be activated from the pause menu, such as unlimited focus or unlimited cloak.
Trepang2 delivers on high paced action, scares, and just being a blast to play. Its satirical look at corporate growth doesn’t land all its story marks, but it doesn’t need to. You’re here for the scares and the guns. What are you waiting for? Pick up that second shotgun and get blasting.
