Have you ever wanted to explore a Clandestine research lab and see all the wonderful experiments? Play with new high-tech gadgets, weapons and try to save the world? Yup, me too. And that’s why I signed up to be a member of the S2P Corporation.

Blackout Protocol is a co-op left-for-dead-style zombie survival game with roguelike elements.

An internal containment breach has knocked out the power at Section 13, a high-tech, top-secret underground research base where S2P houses its most dangerous subjects. Time is of the essence, and S2P has initiated a call for any corporate operatives to respond to the compound and deal with the situation. Due to a lack of options or destiny, only four operatives are available to respond.

You start out by picking one of four characters:

Boyscout: A principled, by the book, agent of S2P who has a Special ability called outburst, which allows him to knock back enemies in an area around himself.

Red: An enthusiastic agent who is a real go-getter who thinks first and thinks later, who has an affinity with machines, and who has the Gear Head special ability that allows weapons to have temporary increased firing speeds.

Scalpel: A burnt-out middle management researcher who likes things black and white, but somehow always finds herself in the gray area. She has the Severance special ability that allows her to attack a single enemy with something pointy, and if the attack kills the enemy, she regains some health.

And then there is Beaker, a researcher who is a bit of a perfectionist and a Workaholic who will stop at nothing to get the results she wants. She has the Recovery Vial special ability that allows her to throw down a healing vial, allowing her and the people around her to recover some health.

You all meet up at the lobby area, a staging area right outside the Section 13 compound. You can go in alone, but you won’t last long. Furthermore, you can go in with up to two other friends, and you might live a bit longer.

Once you enter the compound, you will see the immense level of detail on the map, which is a handcrafted map that has slight alterations to it every time you enter the compound. Once inside, you will start fending off a huge assortment of creatures, from the normal zombie types to blue blob-type creatures that will sap your sanity. You will even come across other competing military or corporate commandos also trying to get their hands on the technology, weapons, and research inside the facility.

While fending off the waves of grotesque enemies, you will also have to watch out for friendly fire, through both gunfire and throwables like grenades and flashbangs, as well as making sure to keep an eye out for the amount of ammo you have left in your guns. Good communication is necessary for the team to succeed at this mission, so keep open arcs of fire, don’t roll into friendly fire, and most definitely do not drop a grenade near your coworkers.

As you delve deeper into the complex, you will pick up blueprints for weapons that you can use the next time you run the facility. Keep your eyes out for the Nether cubes, which will allow you to select one of three temporary perks during your run. There are currently 4 different groups of perks: Firearms, Psionics, R&D, and bionics. Each will apply a passive bonus to you, your equipment, or your weapons.

Along with the perks you will acquire, you will be picking up Data nuggets, which you can turn in to increase your permanent stats that will stay with you and allow you to tailor-build your character to fit your playstyle.

But all your hard work will be for naught if you are unable to make it to the handful of safe zones throughout the map. In these safe zones, you will have a chance to heal up, refill your ammo, and purchase new weapons. Drop off your Data Nuggets, increase your stats, and deposit your blueprints for use in later runs.

When the team is ready to continue, you head out. But eventually, you will meet death. Luckily, death is not the end, they say, for S2P Corp. has provided you with agents with access to its platinum benefits package: the Death Nullification System, or DNS. In the event of catastrophic mission failure, DNS will evacuate your consciousness and transmit it backwards through time. This will enable you to preserve certain skills and abilities between runs, ensuring your next attempt will be a little bit easier.

That’s right, all your skills, weapons, and such will come with you for your next run of the complex.

We do not know what we will find in the depths of the Section 13 facility, but we know that not only will other agencies and corporations do whatever they need to get in, but the S2P Corp. will spare no expense in keeping it a secret.

The early access of Blackout Protocol is coming on July 19th on Steam.

Will you pick up the phone when S2P calls? Are you prepared to face the unknown experiments and technology that lay in the bowels of Section 13? Let me know what you think about the game in the comments below.