This week, our daring heroes team up to take on the undead in Strange Brigade: hands-on at E3 2018

Strange Brigade is true to its name: It’s a group of explorers in a strange, cursed land full of treasures and mummies. At E3 2018, I was given the chance to team up with three other explorers and delve into Rebellion’s latest co-op third-person shooter, Strange Brigade.

Before starting, I had the opportunity to choose between several characters, each with their own loadout. My character had a simple pistol and a shotgun, which I was confident would be enough to take out the horde of enemies that awaited us. In addition to their own loadout, each character had an amulet power, activated when enough souls are absorbed.

The aesthetic of Strange Brigade is reminiscent of old-time adventure radio shows and films from the 1930s with an announcer, played by Glen McCready chiming in at the beginning and the end of each stage to explain what our “heroes” are up to. This was a nice touch and sets it aside from other co-op shooters.

Throughout the stage there were plenty of hazards and puzzles to solve. Some of these puzzles lead to tombs with treasures and, of course, traps preceding them. Finding treasure allowed us to upgrade our weapons later, or purchase new ones. There were also blue cat statues that would have led to a treasure trove at the end of the level if we didn’t miss one of them along the way.

While fighting hordes of mummies, there are several traps that can be activated. One of them spreads blades and spins quickly, cutting up any enemies in the way. There are also spiked logs waiting to by swung down by being shot. Of course, these traps could harm players as well, should one of my teammates feel malicious enough to activate them while I’m standing near one.

Stronger enemy types appear throughout the stage as well. Eventually, we ran into ghouls that had the ability to teleport around us. While mummies didn’t like to go down in a few shots, Ghouls were incredibly tough and only gave us a taste of what’s in store for us down the line.

With hordes of enemies closing in, the charged amulet’s attack came in handy. While each player’s is different, mine had the ability to shoot a bolt of electricity at a nearby enemy, shocking all of the enemies surrounding it in a line. Knowing when to use it was a struggle, as it took awhile for the amulet to recharge again.

Strange Brigade will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on August 28th, 2018. For more hands-on previews out of E3 2018, stay tuned to Gaming Trend.

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