Trepang 2 (PC, Steam) Review

High-Adrenaline Action Horror Driven by the Noise of CQB

A while back while perusing the plethora of boomer shooters and retro-inspired FPS games, I came across a demo for Trepang2. Funnily enough, I had recently delved into F.E.A.R. 2 for an article that appeared in E1M1 Magazine as a part of their pursuit of covering as much as possible within the genre. While I hadn’t played the F.E.A.R. games before taking on that article assignment, I always knew about them and mentally marked them as games I wanted to play. F.E.A.R. likely inspired an entire generation of developers due to its groundbreaking approach to gameplay and enemy artificial intelligence. Upon trying the demo for Trepang2, I was hooked. It was everything I liked about F.E.A.R. with a fresh perspective. I waited patiently for the full release and jumped in right around its launch. I’ve been playing it in bursts since then, finally having finished it and I’ve spent enough time drilling lead into bad guys to talk about it with confidence. This is an explosive action game that shouldn’t be missed.

Make no mistake, anyone who is into first-person shooters should check this out and I recommend playing it with as little knowledge as possible. Play on easy if the normal settings are too hard. 

Additionally, this isn’t the sequel to a similar shooter so don’t go looking for the first entry. According to the FAQ, the word trepang is an Indonesian word for sea cucumber and Trepang1 was a 2D platforming game created during a game jam by the same developer. There is no relation to Trepang2.

Again, I loved the demo for Trepang2. It distilled close-quarters combat into this frantic cacophony that drives the player to each micro-encounter with a staggering amount of energy. Activating the slow motion ability revealed a detailed world of chaos with reams of office paper sent dancing by a grenade as shell casings rained around the claustrophobic, oppressive concrete tombs where most of the battles take place. It was beautiful, raw, and so mechanically pleasing that I could barely stop playing. 

Then the full release finally came to Steam and I fired it up on a late night. My partner was away on a business trip and I found myself alone with the rare occasion to fully immerse into a game, so I donned my headphones, sipped a Red Bull, and played through the first few levels. Getting exactly what I expected, I plunged into the noise that Trepang2 offered in spades, quickly reaching the Pandora Institute mission. Playing as the mysterious protagonist Subject 106 under the directives of Task Force 2-7 (a group hellbent on dismantling the hold that the Horizon Corporation had on the world) I scrambled through firefights, coming to grips with the controls and the capabilities of my soldier. While the backdrop was interesting enough, I mostly ignored it, eager to get into the next satisfying action sequence. 

Then, the game surprised me in a way that I hadn’t expected that left me stunned, and slack-jawed. 

After infiltrating the facility and getting weird feelings from the various messages of clear corporate propaganda I found myself surrounded by body bags and abandoned clinical equipment. Clearly, something horrible happened here. I was steadily led towards the basement to find a person of interest. Then, something strange being took apart an enemy soldier while my character cowered behind a desk, only catching a glimpse of the thing. That’s when the realization took root in my soul.

There is more going on in Trepang2 than I could have known.

Somehow, I missed all of the marketing materials that may have revealed this. I assumed this was going to be a theater of war with an up-close-and-personal twist that had been sorely lacking in most shooters with these themes here of late. What I got was a tour of a world of dark mystery, twisted beings, shadow organization, black ops, and above all else horror. 

From that moment, I was far more on edge. I love action horror games like Resident Evil and Dead Space but when I sit down to play those games I am prepared with an expectation of fear. Trepang2 caught me unaware, leaving me nervous at every flittering shadow. 

From there I eventually encountered the first supernatural beings of the game, horrifically mutated zombie-like things that fall out of swollen sacs of inky flesh on the walls. As I fought for my life, my shotgun belching blasts into the hordes, the strange creature returned. In a pulse-pounding chase, I scrambled through narrow corridors, sliding under collapsed shelves, and miraculously made it out in one piece without needing to restart the level. After meeting up with other members of the task force, the quiet was interrupted by the creature’s return. It was scarred from our previous confrontation, eager for blood, and rightfully pissed.

As the healthbar appeared and the silhouette of the thing was fully revealed, I learned that this was Mothman. That fight, that expertly crafted level, and the shattering of what I had known about Trepang2 shook me to my core. 

At that moment, this was more than what I had hoped. It was a shooter damn near crafted for me, especially in that moment. 

See, I am from West Virginia; monsters and aliens were a part of my upbringing. I recently did a road trip where we stopped at various cryptid statues and museums throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and West Virginia. I had also started watching X-Files in its entirety and I was fascinated with the presentation of hard-to-explain oddities and objects of power in Control and I started to reminisce about the SCP Foundation. Trepang2 came into my life at the exact perfect time and I had unknowingly been subject to the best possible scenario for a player, completely unaware of the supernatural components. 

Needless to say, Trepang2 made an impression on me, carrying me through about ten hours of explosive action and unforgettable moments of eerie horror. 

This game does an excellent job of keeping the player engaged and succeeds at being a tight action experience while rewarding anyone willing to master its action. That said, it asks a lot of the player and I still haven’t quite nailed sliding around and popping slow-mo at the proper instances. Despite lacking the dexterity to pull things off smoothly, I was so immersed in the action which was paired perfectly with amazing sound design that helps sell the chaotic nature of CQB fights.

The only criticisms I have with Trepang2 is that it’s sometimes more complex than its good which can lead to inconsistent performance, and it’s sometimes a struggle to figure out where to go to proceed. For someone like me who doesn’t like to tinker with settings on PC games and would rather just get to playing, it can be challenging to get the game running flawlessly though this is a case-by-case issue.

I will likely revisit the game on PS5 one day to see this game’s art direction in the best light that my current home gaming setup can achieve. Although, I do adore playing FPS games with mouse and keyboard so I made it work to the best of my ability. Outside of that, it can sometimes be hard to navigate in certain levels as there is no map and the objective marker is sometimes hard to parse. Thankfully, most levels flow well as long as one’s getting into firefights, indicating the right path, usually. . . 

I also couldn’t quite get a grip on what actions replenished the slow-motion ability; that and the cloaking power always seemed to last just under what I needed. There were a lot of frantic, accidentally accomplished missions that I barely scraped through. I feel like as a rule in these sorts of games, the availability of the slow-motion power should be something one can adjust as an accessibility or difficulty slider. Granted, there are cheats that enable unlimited slow-mo but it locks out earning rewards from replaying missions, meaning only the skilled will see all of the cosmetics and have the most tools available. Thankfully, the pistol is one of the most reliable weapons in the game and I held onto it like it was the only raft in an empty sea. 

In some ways, Trepang2 is similar to games like Bayonetta or Vanquish where there is a lot to unpack for those who want to become adept at playing. I can only imagine how impressive the action might look for the best players but even though I still consider myself a novice after completing all of the missions it was so much fun seeing this game to the end. 

I’m not overly invested in the game’s plot or the rogue’s gallery of villains but there are a lot of interesting scenarios and foes to face. Even half-paying attention to the plot or just reading a few of the intel entries strewn throughout the game does result in a satisfying ending.

That said, I didn’t have it in me to chase down the true ending, especially since it’s not terribly different from the core conclusion. Although as soon as I hit the credits, I leaned back and said to myself, “Holy shit. I hope this team makes another one of these.” 

Since finishing the game, a survival mode DLC has been added. I haven’t tried it yet but any excuse to keep playing Trepang2 is fine by me. If I do end up picking this up for PS5, I’ll be getting the deluxe edition or whatever gets me all of the goodies. A quick look at the announcements section on Steam also reveals that there is story content coming as DLC at some point. Fantastic!

Even among the never-ending mountain of shooters available these days, Trepang2 stands out by being a loud and mysterious endeavor that doubly rewards those committed to learning its ways. It’s an adrenaline-fueled roller coaster that is a ton of fun to play. There are a few rough spots of course but overall I am so glad to have put in the time to get to know Trepang2. 

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 8/10

VISUALS - 8/10

SOUND - 8/10

CONTROLS - 7/10

REPLAY VALUE - 9/10

OVERALL - 8/10

Learn more about Trepang2 on the official website. Trepang2 is available on Steam, GOG, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. A digital Steam copy was provided for review purposes. Screenshots were captured using native Steam features.