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We first reported on the announcement of the release of Ratalaika Games’ Codename: Black Crow a few weeks ago, and our initial impression of the game was that it looked as though it was going to be an Ikari Warriors-style top-down arcade shooter, but we weren’t quite right about that. You see, Codename: Black Crow may superficially and stylistically resemble a top-down arcade shooter, but it’s actually aiming to be something a little more than just that. In fact, Codename: Black Crow isn’t a shooter at all, at least not at first, as the game’s protagonist begins the game armed with only a knife.
And unlike most protagonists you’d find taking the lead in top-down shooters, Codename: Black Crow’s protagonist, Aurora, is no gung-ho musclebound action hero, and this is where the game starts to get really interesting, as rather than playing an all-guns blazing soldier hell-bent on death and destruction, Aurora is, instead, a rather reluctant, yet still very capable former child soldier. In this regard, Codename: Black Crow takes an approach that’s often seen in modern indie games, insofar as it utilizes the form, aesthetics and controls of a retro arcade game, but rather than just offering up all-out arcade action, it does this in order to tell a story with a little more emotional heft to it, so rather than just focusing on murdering as many of your enemies as you can, the developer. Seep seemingly wants to take you on the journey of Aurora the reluctant but still fearsome soldier.
In doing so, Seep seemingly wants you to experience war not as a bit of gun-toting fun, but as a futile exercise that has a certain grim mundanity about it. This is accomplished by telling Aurora’s bleak story of being forced to be a child soldier, and having her abandoned in desolate woodland, fending off enemies as she retraces her steps. Said enemies initially come in the form of giant bugs, who don’t give the knife-wielding Aurora much trouble, but she soon comes across rather more deadly armed soldiers, who she has to dispatch with just her trusty knife at her disposal to begin with. The game’s knife-based combat may be simple, but it’s also intuitive and satisfying. The game’s controls are simple and retro-styled, with just one attack button in addition to a heal button and a roll button. The latter of those is particularly important for dodging enemy fire, especially when taking on the game’s pretty difficult bosses, which are the most arcade-like parts of the game. But in addition to its arcade shooter elements, Codename: Black Crow also employs some RPG-style elements, with character progression employed via Aurora’s rank increasing as she makes her way through the game, and there’s even a degree of crafting to be done via the game’s workbenches at which items collected by defeating enemies can be crafted into upgrades to help Aurora on her quest.
Ultimately, Codename: Black Crow is perhaps best compared to treatments of war from other mediums, insofar as it utilizes what is a typically light-hearted medium to tell a rather dark story, much like say, Marvel’s The ‘Nam comic from the 1980s and 90s, or the TV sitcom version of M*A*S*H. The previous video game it most reminds me of is perhaps the 8-bit home computer game based on the movie Platoon, as both games treat the topic of war seriously yet do do so via the medium of retro (or retro-style) video games.
The game skillfully uses its graphics and sound to convey that war isn’t actually harmless fun, with the game’s musical score creating a dark sense of foreboding, and the game’s human enemies bleeding graphically when killed (or as graphically as 16-bit style pixel art allows, anyway!
But if you’re looking for a bit of light relief after completing the emotionally charged main campaign in Codename: Black Crow, then upon completing it, you’ll unlock Thunderflash 2, a sequel to developer Seep’s earlier more action-oriented arcade shooter, Thunderflash!
Codename: Black Crow is highly recommended If you’re a fan of top-down shooters, but you’re also not averse to trying out something a little more contemplative.
Codename: Black Crow was developed by Seep, and published by Ratalaika Games on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, and Xbox Series X|S (version reviewed).
