Line #21 VideoGame/BlackCommand


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_command_photo.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: Now you can run your own PMC, from the palm of your hand via cellphone.]]
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4	''Black Command'' (or ブラックコマンド in Japanese) was a 2018 PrivateMilitaryContractors SimulationGame that's available via [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames Apple iOS]] or Android for smartphones in 20 countries by Creator/{{Capcom}}. The game was made by Capcom in-house with staff recruited from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'' in cooperation with Japanese military hobbyist site ''Military Blog''. The game had English and Japanese language options with European languages like French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.
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6	Due to circumstances beyond Capcom's control, they announced via in-app that the game will be discontinued worldwide after September 30, 2019. As of 2020, Capcom has quietly taken the app offline.
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8	There's some plot to the game (via tutorial). The story takes place in the present day where players assume the role of a newly recruited contractor hired by Manda Securities for an upcoming operation somewhere in [[{{Bulungi}} Makenene]], where a civil war is taking place between the Wanato and Nutu ethnic communities. A [=MS=] contractor named Garheim is tasked to assist United Nations peacekeepers and is the recruit's training officer.
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10	During anti-Nutu operations, the team rescues a Wanato officer named Dufusi. After an incident where Garheim is spotted [[ArmsDealer running guns and other military equipment]] for the Nutu to escalate the civil war, he's taken out and the player is now tasked to recreate the [=PMC=] all over again to redeem their reputation by taking on contracts in Asia, Africa, and South America while getting into contact with various sponsors to get money, gold, armor plating and ammo.
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12	The [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180828110340/http://www.black-command.com/en/ Official English]] and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20181002033146/http://www.capcom.co.jp/black-command/ Japanese sites]] are here.[[note]]Both sites are now dead, so they're (mostly) archived for reference purposes.[[/note]]
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14	%%The [[https://twitter.com/CapcomBlackCmnd Official English]] and [[https://twitter.com/BC_CAPCOM Japanese Twitter sites]] are here.
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16	There's a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/BlackCommand/ small Reddit community]] dedicated to the game.
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18	----
19	!!The game contains examples of:
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21	* AKA47: Somewhat zigzagged. The names used for various firearms (Except for those taken from the Resident Evil series) use shortened names, but the history of each gun was from actual weapons research.
22	* BittersweetEnding: The tutorial concludes with the Nutu and Wanato signing a peace agreement. [[spoiler:But the reputation of Manda Securities was ruined after Garheim was exposed.]] But from playing the Africa levels, some Nutu factions in Makenene have refused to abide by it and have made threats to use nukes.
23	* BulletproofVest: Using armor plates in a mission will turn your vest into a ballistic one to reduce damage from gunfire.
24	* {{Bulungi}}: The prologue starts with the player recruited by Manda Securities for a contract in Makenene.
25	* ButThouMust: The tutorial war is evidently scripted to teach the player the mechanics of the game, but if you play the tutorial a second time you'll realise just how heavily the game is railroading you.
26	** In the first attack on central command, you lose three of your mercenaries and are forced to abort. Chances are you attacked the bottom right camp, three tanks rolled up to you, you returned fire, and [[CurbstompBattle promptly get steamrolled by the three tanks]]. If you successfully retreat from/evade the tanks, they will, in complete defiance of what the AI usually does (that is to say look around in place for a bit before returning to their original positions), stay right next to the camp, so if you attack it at all, you will get caught in the tanks' line of fire. The other camp and central command have tanks directly next to them already, so you can't attack those either. You have no mercenary with 'Tank Buster' nor 'Tank Sniper', and you don't have any anti tank rockets, so you can't destroy the tanks. And most egregiously of all, if you wisely decide to sit in a single spot and let the time limit run out, it'll loop back to 2:00:00 once the time limit reaches 1:00:00, so there's no way out of the mission except by suffering casualties.
27	** In the mission immediately after the above, three of the tiles are removed off the board to create an artificial chokepoint so you cannot outmaneuver the tanks, and so Sergeant Garheim can teach you about retreating.
28	** And in the mission immediately after that, the officer will immediately start escaping to the extraction point once you get near him, even if you didn't alert a single enemy.
29	* DevelopersForesight: If a mercenary dies in combat, you don't have enough operatives to form at least one five-man fireteam, AND you blew all your money so you can't afford any more mercs, your secretary will point out you don't have enough money to hire more mercs, [[WhatTheHellHero bemusedly ask you what you're doing]], and then she'll tell you that you she's found a few mercs who are willing to work pro bono, meaning that the hire screen will offer you exactly enough $0 mercs to form a single five-man fireteam.
30	* GuideDangIt: Some of the Legend-type contractors are available in collaboration events or special promos. But the guides will explain how to get some of them.
31	* HelloInsertNameHere: After the tutorial, the name of the [=PMC=] and the player, who's the commanding officer, can have their names changed.
32	* InTheBack: A justified tactic in the game. Ambushing enemies from the rear can save you ammo from being expended too much.
33	* MultinationalTeam: Your PMC ranks can be recruited worldwide from various countries.
34	* MythologyGag:
35	** VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}
36	*** '''Bal'''mora '''Bal'''muda or '''BB''' is named after BB Hood.
37	** Franchise/ResidentEvil
38	*** One of the items you can pick up from from the battlefield is a [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard lone puppet finger]].
39	*** Some of the contractors who can be recruited in the collaboration event consist of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 Jill]][[note]]She was currently available for a thousand players through a raffle promo[[/note]], [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 HUNK]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis Murphy]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilOutbreak Rodriguez]].
40	*** The presence of the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis Samurai Edge pistol]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard Thor's Hammer]] as rare guns.
41	*** [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 The remake version of RE2]] will have Leon and Claire recruited as contractors, as well as have the Lighting Hawk present. Tofu is also present, although the photo used is the remake version of him holding a Ruger Blackhawk.
42	*** [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 There's a minimission]] where MS contractors are contracted to investigate a spooky castle somewhere in Western Europe.
43	* OhCrap: When your contractor team runs into a mortar or a [=MBT=] tank, their attacks can instantly take them out unless you 1.) surprise them from the back (for the mortar teams), use [=RPGs=] to take them both out. In addition, certain skills like Tank Sniper or LMG Tank Buster can be used to take out [=MBTs=].
44	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The contractors you can recruit are from a variety of jobs and fields. Most are ex-law enforcement/military/intelligence agency personnel with some who are ex-security guards. There are some who come from civilian life, ranging from secretaries, office clerks, [[CombatMedic paramedics]], martial artists, [[EgomaniacHunter hunters]] and ex-[=YouTube=] reality stars.
45	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The civil war between the Wanato and the Nutu is one for various ethnic civil wars in Africa in countries like Libya, Mali and South Sudan.
46	* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: If you lose three mercenaries during a mission, the two survivors will decide to cut their losses and flee.
47	* StarterVillain: The Nutu militants in the tutorial levels.
48	* WhamLine:
49	** In the prologue [[spoiler: after the tutorial level reveals that Garheim is playing both sides, but specifically for the Nutus]]:
50	-->[[spoiler:'''Garheim''': "That's your squad, isn't it? Why the hell are you here? Huh? What do you mean, what am I doing here? [[DeadpanSnarker You're as sharp as a marble, don't you get it?]] If we slip the Nutu weapons, [[CivilWar the [civil war] will keep going!]] [[HeKnowsTooMuch Hey you, kill the guy]]."]]
51	-->[[spoiler:'''Random contractor''': "Commander, requesting permission to open fire."]]
52	-->[[spoiler:'''Garheim''': "You heard the man! Hurry up and give the order!"]]

Context VideoGame / BlackCommand