Takedown: Red Sabre is a tactical shooter developed by Serellan, published by 505 Games, and proof that the universe has a way of balancing itself out. While a game like Payday 2 felt a bit unpolished at certain points, Takedown: Red Sabre plays like a frustrating alpha build of a student project.  Now I love… LOVE… supporting independent games, but this was a rough experience.

Yes, I’ll still refer to Takedown: Red Sabre as an indie game despite being spearheaded by a designer who worked on Halo: Reach and the Ghost Recon series. Experience doesn’t always equal success.

Kickstarter fundraising success aside, Takedown: Red Sabre is a mess of a shooter to endure. Sure, a single well-placed headshot is likely to take you out in most games (and real life, mind you), but when you have an equal chance as the terribly programmed AI to score a hit every round is essentially a crapshoot. There are five maps to try and work your way through, each dropping enemies in your path with what I can only assume to be magical body armor. Either my aim is way off, or enemy kill ratio is considerably higher when baddies don’t forget you exist. When you do down an enemy, characters turn into comical marionettes akin to backup dancers on Pleasure Island.

If you have the patience to get past the horrid AI, then you’ll have the tolerance to navigate Takedown: Red Sabre’s generic levels. Don’t count on your squad-mates to back you up though, as they apparently graduated from the same training school as your enemies. Yell frustratingly at the screen while storming a lab, or factory, or… don’t. Really, there are so many other FPS options available that you shouldn’t have to play this game by yourself or with others – if you can convince them to wait for a stable server to join you on.

I try to find redeeming qualities in every game I play, but Takedown: Red Sabre was just not fun. If video games are your escape from reality, then face the reality that you should try anything else in your FPS library before loading this one up.

Takedown Red Sabre E3 Gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9h5vaoBeBc

Takedown Red Sabre Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4WQx2ds_rk

Takedown Red Sabre E3 Preview
https://coin-op.tv/takedown-red-sabre/