Blackstorm

Blackstorm is a multiplayer action game that tries to reinvent the battle royale formula by moving the competition into outer space and putting players in control of pirate crews aboard heavily armed spacecraft. Developed by Lost Criteria Studios and published by Lost Criteria Studios and U-tad, the game began life as a university project before becoming a free-to-play Steam release. That background is important when evaluating it, because Blackstorm feels more like an ambitious experimental multiplayer project than a conventional commercial battle royale. Its combination of spaceship navigation, cooperative crew management, looting, ship customization, boarding actions, sword fighting, and sabotage gives it a distinctive identity even though its current multiplayer situation substantially limits its appeal.
Instead of dropping individual combatants onto a traditional map, Blackstorm organizes players into crews of three. Each crew shares a spacecraft and must survive until it becomes the last remaining team. Cooperation is therefore built directly into the fundamental design. Crew members navigate through the Kraken Cluster, search for equipment, operate weapons, prepare defenses, and decide when to attack competing vessels. This approach makes teamwork more meaningful than simply having several players shooting alongside one another. A successful crew needs to divide responsibilities and react collectively when circumstances suddenly change.
The spacecraft themselves are central to the experience. Movement takes place across three dimensions, with ships capable of rotating and traveling along multiple axes. Consequently, an enemy can potentially approach from above, below, behind, or from an unexpected angle. This makes positioning an important part of combat and creates a different rhythm from vehicle battles restricted to a mostly horizontal battlefield. Piloting effectively requires spatial awareness, while the rest of the crew needs to remain attentive because an apparently safe position can quickly become vulnerable.
Exploration and equipment collection add progression to each match. The harpoon can be used to obtain useful equipment, after which players can prepare their vessel for future encounters. Cannons, consumables, shields, and a frontal ram provide different tactical possibilities. These systems allow the spacecraft to evolve throughout a session rather than functioning as a static vehicle. The gradual process of acquiring better equipment also complements the survival structure, since stronger preparation can make the difference when only a few crews remain.
Weapons are designed around cooperation as well. Six cannons are positioned on the upper deck, while the forward P-Cannon requires two pirates working together to operate it. This is one of Blackstorm's more interesting ideas because powerful equipment can demand genuine coordination rather than allowing a single skilled player to handle everything. One person may concentrate on navigation while the others prepare weapons or respond to threats. When everyone understands what they are doing, operating the ship can produce the feeling of being part of an actual crew rather than three unrelated players occupying the same vehicle.
The most memorable feature is the ability to board hostile spacecraft. Crews can ram opponents, use the harpoon to restrict their movement, draw swords, and jump directly onto enemy vessels. Battles can therefore shift naturally from long-range spaceship combat into close-quarters fighting. This gives encounters considerably more personality than simply exchanging cannon fire until one ship loses all durability. An aggressive crew can attempt to physically invade another vessel and resolve the confrontation from inside.
Sabotage makes boarding even more significant. Invading pirates can interfere with enemy systems and attempt to overload the opposing ship's core. Successfully initiating the overload is only part of the challenge because the attackers must protect their sabotage long enough for it to destroy the vessel. The resulting situation can become chaotic, with defenders trying to reclaim their ship while attackers fight to maintain control. This mechanic captures Blackstorm's space-pirate theme particularly well and represents one of the strongest examples of its willingness to experiment with the battle royale formula.
The downside is that many of these mechanics depend heavily on having enough players and reliable communication. Blackstorm was designed around multiplayer interaction, so much of its appeal disappears when a proper group cannot be assembled. Its current condition makes this especially problematic. Development has ended, and there are no official servers or built-in matchmaking services operated by the developers. Players must locate community-hosted servers or establish their own games using the dedicated server tool. Hosting can also involve additional networking configuration, creating a significant barrier for anyone expecting to install the game and immediately enter a populated match.
For that reason, Blackstorm is considerably better suited to a group of friends willing to organize sessions than to a solo player searching for an active competitive multiplayer community. The absence of continued development also means that expectations should remain realistic regarding future improvements, balancing changes, additional content, or quality-of-life refinements. What exists should essentially be regarded as the completed state of the project. This is unfortunate because the underlying concept contains enough interesting ideas that a larger and continuously supported version could have developed into something genuinely distinctive.
The game's modest origins nevertheless make its scope impressive. Blackstorm received recognition through the PlayStation Talents VI Press Award and the Fun & Serious 2019 BBK New Talents Award, and it is easy to understand what attracted attention to the project. The developers did not merely transplant an ordinary shooter into a space environment. They constructed gameplay around crews operating shared vessels and created interactions involving navigation, equipment management, cannons, shields, ramming, harpoons, boarding, melee combat, and sabotage. These elements reinforce the fantasy of being a group of space pirates rather than functioning as disconnected gimmicks.
Blackstorm ultimately succeeds more as an interesting multiplayer concept than as a convenient modern online game. Lost Criteria Studios created a surprisingly creative interpretation of battle royale by making teamwork, spaceship operation, boarding, and sabotage fundamental parts of survival. Flying through three-dimensional space, preparing a vessel, coordinating cannon fire, harpooning an opponent, storming its deck, and attempting to destroy it from within can create scenarios few battle royale games attempt. Unfortunately, discontinued development, the lack of official matchmaking, dependence on player-hosted servers, and the difficulty of consistently assembling crews prevent those ideas from reaching their full potential. As a free experimental game played with an organized group, it can still provide an unusual and entertaining glimpse at a promising concept. As an active competitive multiplayer experience, however, its limitations are substantial.
Rating: 6/10

Steam User 0

Reviewed last year

Игра Blackstorm - адреналиновый шутер с видом сверху, затягивающий динамичными перестрелками и ретро-стилем. Графика, хоть и пиксельная, выполнена стильно и со вкусом, создавая мрачную атмосферу киберпанка. Геймплей простой в освоении, но сложный в мастерстве – быстрое перемещение и точная стрельба здесь жизненно необходимы.
Особенно радует разнообразие оружия и апгрейдов, позволяющих кастомизировать своего персонажа под разные тактики. Уровни достаточно разнообразны, с секретами и альтернативными путями, что добавляет реиграбельности. Музыкальное сопровождение отлично дополняет атмосферу, создавая напряжённое ощущение борьбы за выживание.
Из минусов могу отметить некоторую однообразность врагов и ограниченное количество сюжетных элементов. Однако, учитывая направленность игры на экшен, это не критично. В целом, Blackstorm - отличный выбор для любителей динамичных шутеров, желающих проверить свои навыки в напряжённой атмосфере киберпанка. Рекомендую!
Steam User 0

Reviewed 4 weeks ago

Blackstorm is a multiplayer action game that tries to reinvent the battle royale formula by moving the competition into outer space and putting players in control of pirate crews aboard heavily armed spacecraft. Developed by Lost Criteria Studios and published by Lost Criteria Studios and U-tad, the game began life as a university project before becoming a free-to-play Steam release. That background is important when evaluating it, because Blackstorm feels more like an ambitious experimental multiplayer project than a conventional commercial battle royale. Its combination of spaceship navigation, cooperative crew management, looting, ship customization, boarding actions, sword fighting, and sabotage gives it a distinctive identity even though its current multiplayer situation substantially limits its appeal.
Instead of dropping individual combatants onto a traditional map, Blackstorm organizes players into crews of three. Each crew shares a spacecraft and must survive until it becomes the last remaining team. Cooperation is therefore built directly into the fundamental design. Crew members navigate through the Kraken Cluster, search for equipment, operate weapons, prepare defenses, and decide when to attack competing vessels. This approach makes teamwork more meaningful than simply having several players shooting alongside one another. A successful crew needs to divide responsibilities and react collectively when circumstances suddenly change.
The spacecraft themselves are central to the experience. Movement takes place across three dimensions, with ships capable of rotating and traveling along multiple axes. Consequently, an enemy can potentially approach from above, below, behind, or from an unexpected angle. This makes positioning an important part of combat and creates a different rhythm from vehicle battles restricted to a mostly horizontal battlefield. Piloting effectively requires spatial awareness, while the rest of the crew needs to remain attentive because an apparently safe position can quickly become vulnerable.
Exploration and equipment collection add progression to each match. The harpoon can be used to obtain useful equipment, after which players can prepare their vessel for future encounters. Cannons, consumables, shields, and a frontal ram provide different tactical possibilities. These systems allow the spacecraft to evolve throughout a session rather than functioning as a static vehicle. The gradual process of acquiring better equipment also complements the survival structure, since stronger preparation can make the difference when only a few crews remain.
Weapons are designed around cooperation as well. Six cannons are positioned on the upper deck, while the forward P-Cannon requires two pirates working together to operate it. This is one of Blackstorm's more interesting ideas because powerful equipment can demand genuine coordination rather than allowing a single skilled player to handle everything. One person may concentrate on navigation while the others prepare weapons or respond to threats. When everyone understands what they are doing, operating the ship can produce the feeling of being part of an actual crew rather than three unrelated players occupying the same vehicle.
The most memorable feature is the ability to board hostile spacecraft. Crews can ram opponents, use the harpoon to restrict their movement, draw swords, and jump directly onto enemy vessels. Battles can therefore shift naturally from long-range spaceship combat into close-quarters fighting. This gives encounters considerably more personality than simply exchanging cannon fire until one ship loses all durability. An aggressive crew can attempt to physically invade another vessel and resolve the confrontation from inside.
Sabotage makes boarding even more significant. Invading pirates can interfere with enemy systems and attempt to overload the opposing ship's core. Successfully initiating the overload is only part of the challenge because the attackers must protect their sabotage long enough for it to destroy the vessel. The resulting situation can become chaotic, with defenders trying to reclaim their ship while attackers fight to maintain control. This mechanic captures Blackstorm's space-pirate theme particularly well and represents one of the strongest examples of its willingness to experiment with the battle royale formula.
The downside is that many of these mechanics depend heavily on having enough players and reliable communication. Blackstorm was designed around multiplayer interaction, so much of its appeal disappears when a proper group cannot be assembled. Its current condition makes this especially problematic. Development has ended, and there are no official servers or built-in matchmaking services operated by the developers. Players must locate community-hosted servers or establish their own games using the dedicated server tool. Hosting can also involve additional networking configuration, creating a significant barrier for anyone expecting to install the game and immediately enter a populated match.
For that reason, Blackstorm is considerably better suited to a group of friends willing to organize sessions than to a solo player searching for an active competitive multiplayer community. The absence of continued development also means that expectations should remain realistic regarding future improvements, balancing changes, additional content, or quality-of-life refinements. What exists should essentially be regarded as the completed state of the project. This is unfortunate because the underlying concept contains enough interesting ideas that a larger and continuously supported version could have developed into something genuinely distinctive.
The game's modest origins nevertheless make its scope impressive. Blackstorm received recognition through the PlayStation Talents VI Press Award and the Fun & Serious 2019 BBK New Talents Award, and it is easy to understand what attracted attention to the project. The developers did not merely transplant an ordinary shooter into a space environment. They constructed gameplay around crews operating shared vessels and created interactions involving navigation, equipment management, cannons, shields, ramming, harpoons, boarding, melee combat, and sabotage. These elements reinforce the fantasy of being a group of space pirates rather than functioning as disconnected gimmicks.
Blackstorm ultimately succeeds more as an interesting multiplayer concept than as a convenient modern online game. Lost Criteria Studios created a surprisingly creative interpretation of battle royale by making teamwork, spaceship operation, boarding, and sabotage fundamental parts of survival. Flying through three-dimensional space, preparing a vessel, coordinating cannon fire, harpooning an opponent, storming its deck, and attempting to destroy it from within can create scenarios few battle royale games attempt. Unfortunately, discontinued development, the lack of official matchmaking, dependence on player-hosted servers, and the difficulty of consistently assembling crews prevent those ideas from reaching their full potential. As a free experimental game played with an organized group, it can still provide an unusual and entertaining glimpse at a promising concept. As an active competitive multiplayer experience, however, its limitations are substantial.
Rating: 6/10

Blackstorm

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