Communication is one of mankind’s greatest feats, as it separates us from other species by showing we can share intelligence to achieve a common goal. Video games have explored this with asynchronous multiplayer, most notably in the VR title Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. As of late, the studio Clever Plays has tried their hand at a communication-based title with Operation Tango, where two spies depend on each other to complete their mission.

For my playthrough of Operation Tango, I joined fellow Phenixx writer and longtime friend David to tackle our missions together. We’ve spent countless hours gaming in the past, so it was natural that we got to take on this tough title together. The nice thing about Operation Tango is that it includes a Friend Pass, only one person has to own the game in order to invite a friend to install/play the game with them, saving a great deal of money in the process.

To start our playthrough, I opted to play as the field agent while David took the reigns of the behind-the-scenes hacker. My screen showed me infiltrating the location, whilst David’s showed a computer-esque display that was dedicated to assisting me. He had the ability to view my progress by tapping into on-site cameras and could help me whenever there was a locked door or a password that needed cracking.

The minigames within Operation Tango required cooperation between both of us. One of them had us navigating a ball to its end-point, with me controlling the left-right movement whilst David controlled up-down. It took us several tries, but we found an even ground and managed to accomplish our end goal with us talking to each other through it. The variation between each separate little game was novel, and while some wracked our brains, we never felt like we were truly stuck.

The high point of our playthrough required us to stop a train plummeting to a violent end in a matter of five minutes, by completing six separate minigames. David had to inform me of certain chemical compounds and their state, while I had to advise him how to progress with timing and color-matching.

The ticking clock kept me on edge while I talked him through hyper-specific tasks that needed perfect execution, otherwise losing us precious seconds. Thankfully, Operation Tango retains progress so operatives don’t have to replay segments and spend several minutes doing the same thing over and over again.

Overall, Operation Tango can feel like work, but in a way that rewards the player for strong communication skills and a knack for describing things. I can’t imagine how a playthrough of this game would turn out with a random companion, but I’d imagine that’s a fast way to make friends – or enemies. With a cheap price tag of $19.99 for the polish that the game boasts, it’s a shoo-in to be a great time for players that have a trusty companion at their side, as both playstyles are a blast and are worth exploring.

A PC review copy of Operation Tango was provided by Clever Plays for this review.

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Operation Tango

$19.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Brain-Wrenching Puzzles
• Fantastic Fun with Friends
• Forgiving Checkpoints

Cons

• Lack of Accessibility