The Blackout Club is a co-op horror game in which teenagers investigate the weird things going on in town. Learn more in our The Blackout Club review!

 

In The Blackout Club, you play as one of the teenagers who are trying to find the evidence needed to prove that something very wrong is going on in town. You have been experiencing mysterious blackouts for no apparent reason. Some of the adults in the town have been sleepwalking at night, and there is another group of adults who want to get rid of you before you can show the world what is going on. You will need to work together to be able to survive, making good use of your abilities as a group.

You can get started with the Prologue chapter, which acts as the game’s tutorial. It’s a section that should take you 40-50 minutes or so to complete, and it also helps to set up the game’s story. A lot of weird things have been going on, but the adults don’t care at all. Whenever one of the teenagers in town tells them that something is not right, the adults brush it off and say there’s nothing going on and that they’re just seeing things. Luckily, you’ve managed to hide a camera and now have video proof. The issue is that there is no internet access in town, so you have to drive one town over so that you can upload the video before it is too late.

 

You can walk with the left analog stick, running by pressing down on the L3 button. You need to be careful when you’re running since you can’t just run forever as there’s a stamina bar in place. The right analog stick is for looking and aiming around you, and you can also tag a target by pressing down on the R3 button. The X button is for jumping, the Circle button is for crouching, and you can interact with things with the Square button. You can close your eyes with the Triangle button, which will be needed in order to be able to see The Shape, the creature that is out there to get you. You have a flashlight you can use by pressing up on the D-Pad.

 

Any items you pick can be selected from the item radial menu, which you can bring up with the R1 button, using them with the R2 button. Say you are wounded and need to heal up and recover your health before it’s too late, and an enemy grabs you while you’re not in tip-top shape. If you have found some bandages, you can press and hold down the R2 button to use the bandages on your right hand to heal your wounds. This is not an instant process, so be sure to be somewhere relatively safe before you initiate the process.

 

Along with The Shape, there are other enemy types you need to keep in mind. There are Sleepers who can’t see you – hence their name, but they can certainly hear you, so you’ll need to be careful when you make any noises that might attract their attention. Walking over soft surfaces will lead to less noise, and you can also cushion your falls with special foam materials. Then we have the Lucid, who are very much awake, and will see you if you’re not careful, while also searching for you if you make too much noise. You can check the icon in the bottom center of the screen for clues on if you’ve been heard or if you’ve been spotted. If there are many lines emanating from the eye, then you’re too loud, and enemies are suspicious. If the eye is white, then you’re being watched.

 

Once the tutorial is over, you’ll get to create your own character since, you know, you’re the new kid in the club. You can select between two body types, a couple of heads, three different hairstyles, and seven colors – blonde, brown, black, red, orange, green, and blue – as well as six eye colors. The next step in customizing your character will be to select the skin tone from the seven available options. Once that’s been taken care of, you can select between the available voice types, and you’re set.

As you play the game, you will gain experience points, which will allow your character to level up. As you level up, you will gain access to minor and major powers, which you can allocate to your character’s slots. Major powers are active powers that grant you special skills, and the further you go in each particular skill tree, the better and stronger said major powers will be. Minor powers act as buffs to your character, and they might grant you an item that can aid you on your adventure.

More stamina, starting a mission with a bandage, boosting your luck so that when you pick an item from a supply chest you have a chance of finding an extra item, these are all examples of the minor powers you can add to your character. As for the major powers, these are split into four different skill trees, and you will be using the skill points you’ve obtained from leveling up to unlock new powers as you go. Three of the skill trees have five powers to unlock, while one of the skill trees will only have four.

As for the game’s trophies, this one does not have a Platinum trophy for you, which is something that might rub some people the wrong way. What you will get is 13 trophies in total, split into nine Bronze, two Silver, and one Gold trophy. The trophies will be unlocked for completing the game’s prologue, showing another player one of your gestures, using a bandage to heal a teammate, reviving a teammate that has been knocked out, being defeated by the Shape, maxing out one of the major power skill trees, and more.

The Blackout Club is a co-op horror experience on PlayStation 4 that is a lot of fun to play, as you mix and match your powers with those of other players in your group, finding the right role to play. Even when you’re captured, all is not lost since you can save yourself as you are being dragged – or saved by other players. Once you complete the game’s prologue, you’ll be hooked by what The Blackout Club has to offer. The game is available on PlayStation 4 for $29.99, and you’ll be spending dozens of hours playing this one as you level up your character to the max… only to see if you’re willing to sacrifice your progress for the greater good.

Disclaimer
This The Blackout Club review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Question.