While the boomer shooter has been enjoying its day in the sun, Trepang Studios has been beavering away on an alternative brand of retro-revival FPS. By now we're used to seeing the '90s return, reminding us of a time when all that mattered was eviscerating demon hordes amid labyrinthine levels. But Trepang2 is very consciously and conspicuously a child of the post-Halo 2000s, when the single-player FPS became that bit more grounded and tactical. And because of that, while it’s certainly a throwback, it actually feels oddly fresh.
If you were around for the FPS wave of the mid-2000s, you’ll soon recognise that Trepang2 is especially indebted to Monolith Productions’ FEAR This isn’t exactly a subtle tribute – the developers might as well have tattooed the FEAR logo across the foreheads of their NPCs – but the more I played through the opening hours of the game, the more obvious the influence grew. If nothing else, you have to admire the dedication here to reproducing a tone and graphical style, along with the nuts and bolts of the action.
