Codename: Black Crow from Ratalaika Games and SEEP is a top-down arcade-style action game with some RPG progression elements. Check out our Codename: Black Crow review!
Codename: Black Crow from Ratalaika Games and SEEP is a top-down arcade-style action game with some RPG progression elements. You’ll be stepping into the role of Aurora, an unlikely action heroine who really had no other choice than fighting her way through life. Having been raised on the battlefield as a child soldier in a remote area of Mexico, she’s now called into action to put to good use everything you learned from the war legends Rock and Stan – a.k.a. Thunderflash. Your task? To find Hangar 22 and neutralize the terrorist threat. There’s more than one path to take, so you’ll need to find the best possible route to help you succeed.
You’ll get to learn more about your character’s past thanks to the different story cutscenes that will play as you progress further and further in the game’s story. You can also visit the Briefing section to check out the different characters, commands, exploration, RANK system, and more. I had a chance to work on a review for Thunderflash from this publisher and indie dev combo, so I was definitely up for checking out this new game set in the same universe.
With nothing more than a knife and a few rations to get you started, you will need to explore 100+ areas as you gather resources, locate new and useful gear, and work on crafting upgrades by visiting the different workbenches that you’ll find along the way. Once the intro cutscene is over, you’ll be taking control of Aurora by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad, pressing the X button to perform a dodge roll to try and avoid incoming attacks. This will use up some stamina. Take on your opponents with the Square and R2 buttons to attack or shoot them.
You can lock your aim by pressing and holding down the L2 button. Switch between your available weapons by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons as needed. Use a ration by pressing the Triangle button. This will allow you to restore a bit of your lost health, as long as you have enough stamina to trade for it. You can also place an electric mine by pressing the Circle button. You know, once you manage to unlock them and have them in your arsenal.
At the top of the screen, you’ll spot your RANK, as well as a counter with points right below it. RANK, well, is for your current rank. You can improve your RANK by obtaining enough experience points. With every level up and RANK upgrade, you’ll earn an extra permanent health point. On top of that, the higher your RANK, the more items you’ll unlock at the workbench. As a heads-up, any enemy that you defeat by using the knife will reward you with up to 45% extra experience points!
As mentioned before, resources need to be collected so that you can have enough ammo and rations to survive, as well as to be able to obtain upgrades from workbenches. Biological resources can be obtained by defeating creatures or cutting down bushes. Metals are obtained when you take down armored vehicles or break crates. Spoils of war are obtained after defeating terrorists or also from crates. Use resources at the different workbenches that you’ll find, which are marked for your convenience with a green wrench icon. It’s there that you’ll be able to craft rations and ammo for your weapons, as well as upgrades for your character… as long as you have the resources needed for them as well as reached the required RANK level.
You’ll run into outposts as you work on completing this mission. Outposts are guarded by a boss, so you could think of them as equal to dungeons in action RPGs. They’re not all mandatory, but you need to be ready to give it your all once you enter an outpost, since you won’t be able to exit until you’ve completed the outpost and beaten its boss. You’ll be able to spot an outpost on the map thanks to its ominous red icon.
Trophy-wise, the game features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. And since this one is from Ratalaika Games, that means we’re getting a Cross-Buy release, so you’ll be able to download the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game at no extra cost, and each one will have its own trophy list for you to work on. Each list is split into 2 Bronze trophies, 22 Silver trophies, and 4 Gold trophies for you to work on.
What will you need to do to add each of these Platinum trophies to your collection? Some of the objectives to complete include starting your mission, obtaining the machine gun, finding a cat, obtaining the electric mines, collecting 20 medals, crafting some armor, reaching a checkpoint, blowing up a barrel, collecting 50 biological materials, achieving rank 15, destroying a rock, playing Thunderflash 2, and completing Thunderflash 2, to name some examples.
Codename: Black Crow is a top-down arcade-style action game with some RPG progression elements. You’ll be stepping into the role of Aurora, an unlikely action heroine who really had no other choice than fighting her way through life. Having been raised on the battlefield as a child soldier in a remote area of Mexico, she’s now called into action to put to good use everything you learned from the war legends Rock and Stan – a.k.a. Thunderflash. Your task? To find Hangar 22 and neutralize the terrorist threat. There’s more than one path to take, so you’ll need to find the best possible route to help you succeed. As you can tell from the trailer and screens in this Codename: Black Crow review, the game pays homage to the classic entries in the Metal Gear series.
Since the game started its life as Thunderflash 2 and then took a different path and morphed into this new game, the developer has decided to include Thunderflash 2 as an unlockable bonus game that you’ll get once you roll credits on the main experience and collect all of the extra medals, so you’re basically getting a 2-for-1 deal with this release! Codename: Black Crow is available as a Cross-Buy title, so your $9.99 purchase will allow you to download the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game at no extra cost.
Disclaimer
This Codename: Black Crow review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.
