Crossfire Preview: That's No Moon has ambitious ideas but are they enough?

In an industry of frequent leaks and loose-lips, it's actually rather exciting when a developer is able to make an announcement of their own accord and to surprise the viewer in the process. As someone rather ingrained into all things video games these days, announcements like this are few and far between, but the reveal of developer That's No Moon's debut project did catch me a little off guard.

For those unaware, That's No Moon is a Los Angeles-based studio founded a few years ago by a slate of individuals familiar with the challenges of developing Call of Duty, God of War, and other tentpole AAA franchises. The studio's mission statement was always that it wants to make "a new generation of narrative-driven, genre-defining interactive experiences," and this certainly applies to the game in question, which I've had the luxury of seeing more from via a behind-closed-doors reveal.

Ambitious, exciting, bold, innovative, cinematic, grounded, prestigious, these are all words that were used in the presentation led by That's No Moon's key developers as they were explaining what they wanted to deliver and how they were going about it. But interestingly, the actual name and identity of the game in question wasn't revealed for a considerable portion of the BCD presentation, for a reason I soon understood when the title was shared.

Crossfire. Yep, That's No Moon is working with Smilegate to create a new chapter in the long-running action franchise, and it was only when I heard the name did I realise why the studio was likely a little hesitant to begin the presentation with the name and logo on centre-stage. For all of its range and options, Crossfire has always struggled when compared to the established cinematic military shooter series like Call of Duty and Battlefield, which is why it's a little bold that the imminent game is identifying so boldly with it. It may be a tad prejudicial, but there will be a fair few folk who hear the name Crossfire and hit the metaphorical snooze button, so does That's No Moon have what it takes to make Crossfire a true titanic franchise?

While the amount of gameplay that has been shown so far has been minimal, That's No Moon certainly has a vision worthy of celebrating. This incoming game is a single-player character-driven narrative action experience, where the aim is to deliver an "authored story", have grounded combat with "high lethality" and a "stealth-forward" approach, cinematic moments, flawed but relatable characters, and all without any of the burdens of live-service features or even any form of multiplayer or cooperative systems. This is a true single-player adventure for one person to experience at a time and that's a bold choice these days that I can get behind. Credit to Smilegate for backing That's No Moon on this venture too.

The premise follows a character called Layla Qassem, who is regarded as a gun-for-hire that aims to achieve progress at all costs. Layla finds herself in what seems to be a Middle-Eastern setting and dealing with human threats for a reason I can't quite pinpoint, as That's No Moon was very secretive about Crossfire's plot. What we were told is that Layla will be supported by a character called Delroy Cross, a more reserved individual who fights for institutions and targets stability first and foremost, making for a polarising character archetype to Layla. Needless to say, these two don't get along but they are working together in Crossfire to deal with a problem that includes some kind of sci-fi-like affliction.

As for the gameplay itself, That's No Moon only presented a brief taste of what's in store, mostly showing Layla crawling around rocks in an open area where she has to avoid threats, silently take down enemies, and otherwise survive a dangerous encounter. For the most part, this plays like a more traditional stealth action game, where you can choose how to overcome the task at hand, elegantly weaving around patrolling enemies, quietly eliminating them via takedowns, distracting them with thrown objects, and then should everything fall apart, proceed to use guns and noisy violence to quickly tie things up. Where That's No Moon is looking to shake things up is in its usage of the full capabilities of Unreal Engine 5 and how this can make more complex environments through its Nanites technology, lighting them effectively with Lumen, and also providing new ways for characters to move through this advanced terrain.

A huge emphasis was placed on how real-world environments are hardly ever flat and how rocks jut out in awkward shapes that don't nearly match the box-like aesthetic of cover in video games. That's No Moon's solution is to make environments that are less rigid and predictable, bolstering this with a new movement and cover mechanic designed to reflect the military technique of defilade, where a soldier changes their positioning to reflect the cover at hand. Effectively, taking cover and avoiding line-of-sight is more fluid and authentic, as Layla transitions from prone, to semi-prone, crouching, semi-standing, you get the gist, all as she moves between cover of varying height and shape. In practice it all looks rather elegant and smooth, like a true evolution of the concept, but the big question is whether this one evolution will be enough to make Crossfire stand out as something really, really special.

It may seem a little harsh to reduce it to such a trivial manner, but this is still a Crossfire modern military shooter game, meaning we're treated to lots of brown and rocky environments, all while being tasked with rather familiar stealth-action challenges and moving through zones in a familiar manner to how Lara Croft would approach well-armed enemy threats. I couldn't help but notice how Crossfire felt traditional in some of its overarching ideas but then looks to spice them up with this more innovative flair, a bit like taking Death Stranding's movement suite and terrain design and slapping it in a Metal Gear game. There's an idea here, but will it be enough to make Crossfire feel truly unique in the eyes of consumers?

All this aside, Crossfire looks premium as it comes with true top-of-the-line graphics and visuals. That's No Moon has also clearly spent time working on a fluff-less HUD and UI and it shows, with a clutterless display that lets the action stand out and thrive. All of the promises of "prestige storytelling" and offering a "cinematic tactical action-adventure game", it all seems to be delivering on these points, and hopefully it will succeed in its effort of being a "narrative reimagining" of Crossfire at the same time, a true turning point that can wipe away the stain that was CrossfireX and its equally dismal single-player portion.

So there's a vision in place for this game and the way the developers talk about Crossfire gives you confidence this ultimately can become something special. The main caveat is we simply haven't seen much of the game at all as of yet. We need to see more, we need to learn more about the plot, we need to see if That's No Moon can build on its ambitious ideas and continue to expand them beyond simply interesting features. If it can manage to tick each box, Crossfire will become one to watch for action-adventure fans in the years ahead.