Deep Black: Reloaded Review

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Jump underwater and take cover in this decent little shooter.

So, I played this PC game called Deep Black: Reloaded. It’s a PC port of an Xbox 360 and PS3 game that has yet to be released. I did a little bit of research on this game before playing it. Needless to say, I was confused on what exactly the game was, but with every review I do, I always go in with an open mind. I have to say, I was actually surprised.

Deep Black is a cover-based third person shooter set in a near future world where government and corporate espionage run rampant. You play as Pierce, a special soldier sent to investigate and rescue hostages from what he is told is a small terrorist group. What he sees when he arrives is something much larger and a lot more dangerous.

As stated above, the game is a third person shooter. You can duck behind cover, pop out to fire your weapons or throw grenades, and when up close and personal, engage a special melee attack that can provide an instant kill. Truth be told, the game play is pretty standard fair. If you have ever played Gears of War or Kill.Switch, you’ll know how to play this game.

For the most part, you will be doing most of your shooting and bigger actions on land, but one of the unique aspects of the game is the underwater set pieces. Pierce is equipped with a special underwater suit that will allow him to travel with ease below the surface with the assistance of jets. While underwater, you will have to look out for not only enemy soldiers, but bots that will shoot and try to grab you. Luckily, some bots can be controlled by using Pierce’s harpoon that doubles as a hacking device. There’s even a boost you can activate that will allow him to move faster in the water. There are multiple guns, including an assault rife, shotgun, stun gun, and others. Many of them have an alternate fire.

For the most part, the game controls decently. It can get a little cumbersome at times in big fire fights. The underwater controls are really tight and are, surprisingly, very good. The one problem I did have with the controls was the dodge roll. It really doesn’t do much. You don’t travel faster if you use it, and I found that you can still get shot while performing it.

There are a few problems with the game. First, the damage for both shooting enemies and enemies shooting you is off at times. You have regenerative health, so staying behind cover will heal you back up. There were times where I was able to take a good 10 shots before getting to the point of dying, and sometimes where two shots killed me. It’s very inconsistent. The same goes for the damage I dealt. Sometimes I would kill a guy in two shots, and sometimes it took almost an entire clip. There were a few times I died and didn’t really know why.

There are some quick time events as well. It seems to me that the design and game play choices are questionable when it comes to these. For example, when you get attacked by a bot underwater, you go into a quick time event. It is always the same animation and always the same button tap every time. There’s just not that much variety.

Water and electricity simply do not mix.


The story is adequate, but won’t knock your socks off. It’s decent enough to keep the player invested throughout the game, though. The voice acting is passable in most aspects. There is, of course, some cheesy dialog here and there, but for the most part, it’s not too bad. Visually, it’s not too bad either. On high settings, the game looks pretty good, and the water effects and visuals are impressive.

The one thing I will always mention when playing a PC game is whether or not it supports gamepad and controller support. This one does, and I played the game with the Xbox 360 controller. It worked very well.

The game offers multiplayer, as well. Unfortunately, I could not find a person online playing it. So, this review is solely based on the single player aspects.

For what the game does, it works relatively well. There are a few hitches here and there, but it was never enough to have me quit playing the game. For a cheaper title, you can definitely do a lot worse than Deep Black. If you’re looking for a decent little shooter and don’t mind a few inconsistencies here and there, you might want to check this game out.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.
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Written by
Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.