Back in 2005, Monolith Productions released F.E.A.R. into the world. It was a brilliant mixture of cinematic first-person action and light horror elements. I’ve always felt no single-player shooter campaign has reached the same pure “fun” heights. Sure, Titanfall 2 elevated what a single-player shooter could be and games like Bioshock and Crysis are better, more well-rounded games. But I still was missing that certain brand of bullet time and rag doll goodness.
Enter Trepang2. Don’t be confused by the 2 in the title, the first game is a 2D game about a sea cucumber (trepang). Trepang2 is an ode to games from the 2000s like F.E.A.R. and Max Payne. A fast-paced, high-intensity shooter with some light stealth elements and a bit of a lackluster story to hold it all together.
Story is Forgettable
You play as Subject 106, held captive in a snowy prison until you break out and join back up with your secret Task Force 27. You are sent on missions to eliminate high-value targets and collect intel on the Horizon Corporation, a global corporation trying to create Super Soldiers, and stopping at nothing to do so. Even if that means some inhumane experiments. There is a healthy dose of supernatural elements and a few twists and turns that keep the game moving forward, if not a bit by the numbers. It’s all very over the top, and without a central threat like Alma to keep up the tension, the story ends up fading to the background as you enter each new playground for the joyous gunplay. Which is fine by me, because boy oh boy is Trepang2 fun to play.
Gameplay is King
Subject 106 is something of a super soldier himself, which means you can slow down time, go invisible, slide further than anybody has any right to, and eventually dual-wield all manner of guns. This creates a wonderfully gory ballet of violence that never got old in my 8 hours with the campaign. Each level is crafted in such a way that gives you ample opportunity to use all the abilities at your disposal, but rarely force you into it. If you want to try and stealth your way through each encounter by shooting out lights, using silenced weapons, and utilizing your cloak ability, you can. I honestly think you are missing out on half the fun, but you could technically do so.
I found mixing a stealth and full-on action approach to each combat encounter to be the most effective and fun way to clear it. I would routinely start out by crouching behind (the very conveniently placed) cover and cloaking while I moved close to the first enemy. I’d grab him and hold him hostage, momentarily shooting a few baddies before pulling the pin on his grenade, kicking him into a group of his buddies and watching the carnage. It never got old, and even if I started most of my encounters the same way, the brilliant AI ensured that no two encounters played out fully the same. Much like its spiritual predecessor, Trepang2 sports some really interesting and smart A.I. that rapidly try to flank you, yell for help to their buddies, throw flares in dark areas, and try to anticipate your moves, even if there is no stopping a trust slide kick and shotgun combo.
Speaking of shotguns, each of the weapons in Trepang2 feels fun to use and all equally viable in game. It mostly comes down to how you want to eliminate foes. Do you prefer being a bit more methodical? Take the battle rifle and a pistol. Want to run and gun and use your crouch slide to close the distance on your foes? Definitely take the shotgun and an SMG. Throughout all the missions hidden weapon parts can be obtained to further customize each weapon at mid-mission weapon crates, or at HQ between missions. The guns become double the fun once you unlock dual wielding. When I unlocked dual wielding and the incendiary shells for the shotgun, it was a staple in my load out for the rest of the game. It’s so much fun to launch into slo-mo and rain fire from dual shotguns, and it’s made all the more cool by the reloading animation where you toss the shotgun up in the air and grab it by the pump before tossing back to yourself.
Optimized Design
All of this wouldn’t be as fluid and fun if the game wasn’t designed incredibly well. Each level is relatively simple in its design and layout. That’s not to say they don’t look good, the reflections and lens flares especially help the game look pretty stunning at times. But the simplicity allows the game to run smoothly on just about any recent hardware and keep the FPS high. Which is a miracle given the amount of particle effects and destruction. It’s mad. Every firefight leaves books, wood, walls, desks, lights, and more strewn about and flying through the air. Enemies explode in a bloody bouquet leaving blood spatter on the environment and your character’s gun and clothes. I ran at a stable 120fps in 4k ultra settings on my RTX 4090 and had reports of equally good performance at 2K and 1080p on lesser cards.
Rounding all this out is a plethora of difficulty options that allow you to tweak your level of challenge from a cakewalk to almost impossible. I found myself hovering around hard and very hard to keep the challenge up while still keeping the power fantasy alive. On top of that, there are plenty of cheats that can be unlocked in-game. They can augment your experience and range from useful like unlimited ammo and focus, to absurd things like big head mode and squeaky voices. Some even make the game harder should you choose to do so.
Final Thoughts
Trepang2 was a delight to play. An absolute gem of a throwback FPS that pays homage to some of the most fun shooters of the 2000s while keeping things fresh. It didn’t overstay its welcome, and even though the story is throwaway, it doesn’t matter. Gameplay is king..and Trepang2 nails gameplay.
