Ultratron Review (PS4/Vita)

Hot off the back of Space Invaders inspired Titan Attacks comes Puppy Games’ take on the Robotron formula. We suspect that there other ‘inspired by’ games may not be far behind and this is no bad thing. 

Ultratron uses the graphical style that Puppy Games has become known for. The blocky robot like enemies, pixelated distortion and cyber voices are all in effect and the music is of a suitably high quality to build tension and complement the action.

With games which borrow so heavily from classics it’s all about the execution and Ultratron has a pretty good go at trying to recreate the Robotron feeling of blasting panic. It does take a while to get going but once you get towards the end of the second world it’s all very chaotic and there is never a shortage of things to blast.

The action is relentless and some suitable bosses are waiting at the end of each of the four sections which require destruction via blowing off various bits. There is a wide variety of enemy types from the standard drones to missile firing ones and robots that have shields or spread poison across the play area. Chances are you’ll just be blasting everything though in a desperate bid to survive.

You can collect money during each round and then use this to upgrade your little robot at the end. There are a whole host of upgrades ranging from more shields and bombs to little robot helper pets and tools like EMP blasts. It encourages a second play through to try and fully upgrade and the choices on offer certainly add to the core formula. 

For everything good the game does it sadly has a fair few bizarre design decisions that can really impact on the game. The first of these is that messages and information are displayed in the bottom left of the screen. This wouldn’t be an issue normally but sometimes they can take up around a quarter of the play area making it impossible to see what is going on - A crazy decision in a twitch blaster like this.

The colour scheme also causes numerous problems as enemies and bullets can simply blend into the background. This issue eased when we removed all the visual filters but it was still very difficult to see things at times. The screen is also far too cluttered with nonsense information and symbols. There is simply too much for most players to take in and distinguishing what is useful to you and what isn’t requires thought processing power of super hero like proportions.

 All the screen clutter and noise means feedback for things like when you get hit is also almost impossible to distinguish.  If you have all three helpers on the go with their different range arcs and messages popping up it is just chaos and not in a good way. There’s also a bit of a level up problem in that if you haven’t upped  your speed you’ll fight all the way to the last boss only to have it crush you in a few seconds because your robot is just too slow to move away from it.

Despite all this we actually quite enjoyed Ultratron. When it flows it’s really quite an enjoyable distraction and the style in quite endearing. There are some nice little touches like your robot helpers yelping when they get hit and there’s some good imagination on show.

Overall, Ultratron is a fun game but one with a few too many design floors to recommend it to everyone. If you are a fan of the style of Titan Attacks then you should enjoy this as well and it’s certainly the better game of the two. There may be numerous niggling irritations but there’s also an intense shooter here as well and very little else like it on PSN currently.

Overall 7/10

OlliOlli Review (3DS)

Written by Dan Gill

Falling over hurts, as anybody who's ever fallen over will tell you.  The shock of taking a misstep, the ever-approaching ground waiting to meet with your fragile body, and the final impact with the deck all make for a rather unpleasant experience.  It's for this very reason that I am not - nor will I ever be – a skateboarder.  That, and my balance is awful, but that's another story.

Thankfully, game developers have me covered.  From 720 through Skate or Die to the Tony Hawks series, my virtual meatbag has always been the one to take the risks and suffer the cuts and scrapes that I'm too soft to bear.  Yet since the decline in quality of Neversoft's aforementioned series (at least at time of writing), no new titles have provided me the opportunity to spin, kick, grind and faceplant all in the name of score chasing until OlliOlli.

For those unfamiliar with Roll7's game, it's a 2D amalgam of Tony Hawk's and Adam Saltzman's superb indie runner, Canabalt.  It's presented with minimalist visuals reminiscent of the latter's style, and adopts the sense of constant motion too (albeit with the aid of a little push-off here and there). 

As well as sharing similarities with Canabalt's appearance, OlliOlli keeps a tight control scheme, making use of the analog stick for tricks, shoulder buttons for spins, and the A button to land.  This all seems basic in theory, but in practice things become tricky as you try to string combos together.  Several times during my early playthroughs my fingers seemed to operate independently of my brain – not the game's fault of course, more the fault of my dulled twitch-gaming senses.   

Over time, my reflexes returned, and the scores began to rack up as I 360 kickflipped into a 5-0 grind, heelflipped into a nosegrind and gracefully landed a 360 hardflip.  It seems my digital boarding skills had returned and that's OlliOlli's first victory– it gives you a control system that's straightforward to learn, you just need to think about how you can get the most out of it in a continuous stream of inputs.

Your control skills will need to be honed as you attempt to take down each level's challenges.  As with the Hawk series these range from collecting markers to racking up huge combos and add to the replay value of each level, which is something you'll most probably be doing.  A lot.  OlliOlli has a nice difficulty level, keeping you coming back for more.  If you're pretty good at the game you'll be attempting to complete all the challenges or smash your last high score.  If you're not able to finish the level (when you fall off your board you have to restart), you'll return again until it's done.  The game keeps things just tricky enough to antagonise you, but always remains fair, meaning you never feel like the game's cheating you.

An added bonus of the 3DS's dual screens is that the tricks you can perform are displayed on the touch screen for reference.  Not the fanciest use of the screen perhaps, but for OlliOlli it's a practical one and anything more would have felt tacked on.

One of the game's nicest/most masochistic features is the Daily Grind mode.  Each day you have a chance to play through a level with the aim of being the highest scoring player for that day. You can practice the level as much as you like, but you only get one shot at racking up a score.  If you fall off your board, game over.  If you perform an ollie and score ten points because of a sloppy landing, that's your score and it's game over.  It adds a real tension, making for a brilliant yet infuriating challenge, but even racking up a decent score fills the player with a sense of accomplishment, mainly through the satisfaction of knowing your fingers haven't let you down at the most crucial moment.

All in all OlliOlli is a tight arcade game, definitely worth your time if you're a fan of score chasing (and let's face it, which self-respecting retro gamer isn't?), and its clean 2D graphics are stripped down yet clear to make out (your boarder is pretty expressive given their size, especially when bailing).  It's a neat little package and its appearance on Nintendo's consoles is long overdue.  Here's hoping Curve brings its recently released sequel to the big N's machines in the near future, as OlliOlli manages to remain on the board and pull off plenty of tricks with style.

Overall 9/10

Titan Attacks Review (3DS)

Puppy Games has been making its neon-styled retro shooters for a while now and it always seemed only a matter of time before they took the step onto console. Titan Attacks was the first game to make the jump and serves up its own take on the Space Invaders theme.

Set across five worlds the player controls their tank at the bottom of the screen as enemies approach from the top. It may remind you of Space Invaders but aside from the obvious nods there is much more going on here than simply trying to produce a clone. The first thing to take into account is the scoring mechanic. A multiplier continually increases through the levels and when you take a hit it returns to zero.

 

You can also gain points and money by achieving skill shots. This occurs when you shoot an enemy and instead of it exploding it begins to fall to the ground. Shooting the careering vehicle may also see an alien jump out in a parachute, collecting these little guys will give you a further bonus, while letting them drift off the bottom of the screen will result in a penalty.

 

Any money you gain during a round can be spent before the next one starts. You’ll start off buying extra shields and smart bombs but the power-ups are extensive and you can add bits to your tank to fire rockets and lasers as well as giving yourself multiple shots or reducing the recharge time between firing. In truth, it can make the game a little easy towards the end but it’s always a fun way to spend a few minutes. The game also seems to have been slightly rebalanced to present more of a challenge in this 3DS version.

 

The game is set across five worlds, starting on Earth, moving onto the Moon, through Mars and Saturn before finishing on the alien home world. Every few levels you get a chance to get bonus points and prizes by shooting down special flying saucers and the end of each world sees you square off against a mother ship. The enemy types and patterns continually change and the later levels are hectic which helps to keep everything fresh and moving. The lack of 3D though is a bit of an issue as it makes the port seem less polished than it otherwise could have been.

 

There’s no denying this is a fun game while it lasts but there are a few things which hold it back from being a classic. Though the bosses a bit tougher now the game is still a little on the easy side and you'll likely blast through in a couple of the attempts. It’s certainly fun and you do get to start again on harder versions of the levels but we were expecting a bit more of a challenge. 

 

The second problem is the scoring mechanic isn’t really intricate enough to cause the massive adrenaline rushes you can get from other games. There’s very little you can do if you’ve been building a multiplier and get hit other than slowly build it up again. That’s fine for anyone who wants an enjoyable arcade shooter but for those looking for a game to master this will let you down.

 

Slight issues aside, the question that matters is are you going to enjoy playing the game? The answer to which is yes you will, it’s a blast with a fun style that cleverly evokes just enough of Space Invaders to hit the nostalgia button while producing something fresh. It won’t last you forever or put up that much of a challenge but for a fun few minutes of blasting it certainly ticks all the right boxes. It’s also especially suited to handhelds. Overall, this is a good if not great game that everyone will enjoy. It’s a promising start from Puppy Games and we look forward to their next project.

Overall 7/10

Iron Fisticle Review (PC)

Written by Tom Sharpe.

The days when you can sit next to a friend and JOIN IN are certainly back. The ease of controller-PC action has ushered in a good, hearty trend of pure local co-op experiences (see Risk of Rain for a golden example). And so, Iron Fisticle appears with those now familiar words, procedurally-generated etched across it's bow. But is it tempting enough to keep you coming back run after run?

Well simply, Iron Fisticle is a charming game, that has only just started to wear thin on us after four hours of play. You play a (or two if you're lucky enough to have a friend) knight who loses a bunch of food while napping on guard duty when an esurient eye appears from a vortex, taking lunch and yourself into a procedurally-generated dungeon nightmare. The premise is absolutely enough to justify your role in the game and all the better for it being playfully odd. The designers have keenly tapped into the simple and bizarre story setups that old coin-ops so often had.

In each Zelda-esque room, waves of enemies spawn, dropping aforementioned snacks (providing a fruit machine aesthetic) when dispatched. Other typical symbols appear in the arena, such as letters tablets, gems, health hearts and character buffs. Your standard weapon is a throwing axe which you wield in an 8-axis manner, but better tools become available to you in chests. A large part of the tension of this game is the weapon balancing, as your axe dispensing is only just quick enough to keep the hordes at bay, but tactical use of the extra gear clears a room in seconds. This provides moments of mob-carnage so multitudinous that you can't help but be pleased with yourself.

Aside from the weapons, you can dash to gain a movement advantage and also use your iron fist (icle) as a big hit “special” move, like those crazy bazooka cops in Streets of Rage. The game is as simple as that. You move through the dungeon-grid, clearing waves of enemies, gathering points and buffs, grabbing the key, moving on to the boss room. It is a simple, retro game at heart, but with an important alteration of persistent character improvement. Speed, health, damage buffs can be purchased which pertain to subsequent play-throughs, however I find any changes to be so subtle, I could not tell the difference. It does not have the gravitas of the similar persistent-item-gathering system in The Binding of Isaac, for example.

Iron Fisticle, however, rollicks along with tongue-in-cheek style, great design and effective, but slightly limited, soundtrack. A glaring problem needing to be fixed is the bonus rounds which work like the worst platformer this side of Pickle Wars. These sections are sometimes impossible to skip and provide so little benefit that they became a thorn in the fun, a real shame.

The rooms are, sadly, repetitive, undermining the great design work on show. The enemies are brash, colourful and varied, some parodies of classic mob types. Lighting effects on the special graveyard arenas add a touch of atmosphere lacking in the standard rooms. The procedurally-generated boast is somewhat weak, and perhaps with more elements to give greater variety, our interest may have been held for longer.

So, does Iron Fisticle stand as a roguelike that we will return to again and again for run after run? It certainly keept us playing and I’m sure will continue to do so, testament to the developers nailing the addictive factor much needed for this style of play. Sadly, however, it is not always a fulfilling run, due to slightly restricted freedom of path and the few niggles previously mentioned. We would, however, recommend Iron Fisticle to anyone who enjoys slaying some creatures with a buddy of an evening without pretension and with heaps of passion and fun for retro styling evident in the developers minds.

Overall 7/10

Qora Review (PC)

Written by - Thomas G.J Sharpe

It sounds like a popular meat substitute brand, Qora, and after the two hours it took me to complete, I am none-the-wiser as to the reason for it. I’ll tell you something from the off, though, Qora is a superb example of what can get lost in the (for want of a better made-up word) cinematographising of video games (yeah, that's right, use that one on your grandmother); writer's voice.

As Qora is a interactive story/adventure, with a dusting of light platforming, the dialogue, pacing and overall narrative should be the most developed. Further than that, the now familiar home-spun pixel vibe, will serve the usual love-it-hate-it division, so the cracking writing from Holden Boyles is thankfully present and correct. On your curious adventure, from a village to a mysterious temple and to more abstract settings, the characters you meet are snappy and exciting. At times it reminded me of the great old point-and-click dialogue from Simon The Sorcerer or the usual Lucasarts suspects. Though not a long experience, Qora is worth the purchase for this aspect alone.

The game centres around a silent protagonist, who has moved to a quaint mountain village. Strange events occur leading you to discover the secrets of the temple nearby, all the while meeting bizarre characters, using a sort of past-vision to catch glimpses of history and a bunch of odd deities and ghosts. The backgrounds are incredible, especially in the darker settings. The situations of high contrast environments play to the strengths of the design, whereas sometimes the outside, daylight situations can fall a tad flat. I ached for a little more character-scenery interaction at times, dust or particles would have really made it sparkle, but the aesthetic ties itself together consistently and effectively. The sound design is at times clunky, but generally good - where as the music is nicely pitched and serves the entire experience well.

The gameplay itself will either numb and infuriate you into considering this “not a game” or an “interactive story”, a place filled with other such titles that confused consumers, or it will service a quaint story. I felt the latter, and never once felt like I was pushing a button for more narrative pellets, even though it is essentially what you do. The platforming is mild, the movement mechanics are primitive, yet the world created touched me in a way only great games can. Thoughtful, absurd and charming, Qora is soaked in one man's humour and occult-lite. One moment depicting an execution had me laughing out loud, the comic timing was spot on.

Don't be put off by what may seem yet another DIY pixel-art adventure, this feels more sincere than most. I'd expect to see this fitting very nicely in a Humble Bundle at some point, in the company of other games like this, perhaps Thirty Flights of Loving or To The Moon. If you are at all a fan of story heavy, pixel-art heavy or the absurd, then you could do several tonnes worse than pick up Qora, but the challenge may be convincing your friends when you excitedly recommend it. Its a personal, short, but pleasingly strange title.

7/10

Lone Survivor Review (Wii U)

The horror genre has been on a downward spiral in recent times. The series stalwarts of Resident Evil and Silent Hill have seemingly passed their best and what we are left with is an ever increasing amount of creatures to gun down or cheap shocks we have seen before. Lone Survivor aims to change that by taking a different approach. 

Presented in a side on, 2D, 8-bit style, Lone Survivor is the story of a man trying to escape a disease ridden city where monstrous creatures roam the streets and corridors. It’s very much set in the psychological horror mould and uses a subtle script and clever use of music to try to get inside your head. You might wonder how a game with 8-bit graphics can be scary but when it works it certainly does make you feel decidedly uneasy.

Before starting the game it asks you to set up your playing environment. If you can, you need to be in a dark place and to also use headphones. We would say that it’s also much better to play it via the Wii U game pad, as when it’s running on a large high definition screen it really doesn’t work as well. You can change the size of the game window but this is clearly a game more suited to a smaller screen. It’s also worth working out the best gamma settings as if you get it wrong you are not going to be able to make out much of what is on screen. The settings can be adjusted mid game as well to find the right sweet spot. The 8-bit graphics have their charm but they can be a total nightmare in trying to work out exactly what it is you are looking at.

The game itself plays out like a point and click adventure game where you actually move around. You’ll be looking for items to take to somewhere else, normally to unlock a route or door to the next area. There is also combat and stealth mechanics to get past the monsters. As you might expect, ammo is limited and firing the gun makes all the monsters in the screen come charging after you so it’s often wise to try and sneak past them.

There are also a number of different systems working away under the surface of the game. The main one of these is your characters sanity. At the end of the game you’ll get one of a number of different endings based on how high or low it is. It goes up or down depending on certain actions you take such as eating and resting properly, or taking the different pills that you find around the world.

Food and sleep are also key components in your adventure. If your character doesn’t eat regularly he gets hungry, which can lead him to not sleep properly or collapse. When you sleep you save your game but doing it when you are not tired also affects your sanity meter so there is a constant risk reward systems at play. If you go on a long trek and discover a load of things but aren’t tired you risk either losing sanity or dying in an upcoming encounter and having to retrace your steps.

Luckily for players there are mirrors, which act as teleport points spread throughout the world. This makes moving around a little easier but having to retrace steps to find items lost after death is still a frustration which doesn’t do much to enhance the flow of the game. This frustration also increases when you get stuck in an area you simply can’t get out of without dying. 

The other main issue with the game is simply the environment. You are effectively, continually walking up and down dark corridors for the whole game. There are only a couple of enemy types and the game gets more difficult by pretty much just giving you a longer corridor with more monsters in to avoid.  This isn’t a major issue until you get stuck and repeatedly die somewhere, then the feeling of repetition can kick in and this takes away from the overall experience.

Faults aside, when it works (and it does most of the time), this is the closest you’re going to get to the feeling of dread and unease found in the early Silent Hill games. It’s creepy and you never for one moment feel safe. There’s a lot to juggle with food, sleep, ammo, batteries and sanity and a number of side quests and different endings to experience. If you’re looking for something different then this is the game for you. Just make sure you play it on the gamepad as it’s much more effective in the dark with the headphones on.

Overall  8/10

Titan Attacks Review (PS3/Vita)

Puppy Games has been making its neon-styled retro shooters for a while now and it always seemed only a matter of time before they took the step onto console. Titan Attacks is the first game to make the jump and serves up its own take on the Space Invaders theme.

Set across five worlds the player controls their tank at the bottom of the screen as enemies approach from the top. It may remind you of Space Invaders but aside from the obvious nods there is much more going on here than simply trying to produce a clone. The first thing to take into account is the scoring mechanic. A multiplier continually increases through the levels and when you take a hit it returns to zero.

You can also gain points and money by achieving skill shots. This occurs when you shoot an enemy and instead of it exploding it begins to fall to the ground. Shooting the careering vehicle may also see an alien jump out in a parachute, collecting these little guys will give you a further bonus, while letting them drift off the bottom of the screen will result in a penalty.

Any money you gain during a round can be spent before the next one starts. You’ll start off buying extra shields and smart bombs but the power-ups are extensive and you can add bits to your tank to fire rockets and lasers as well as giving yourself multiple shots or reducing the recharge time between firing. In truth, it can make the game a little easy towards the end but it’s always a fun way to spend a few minutes.

The game is set across five worlds, starting on Earth, moving onto the Moon, through Mars and Saturn before finishing on the alien home world. Every few levels you get a chance to get bonus points and prizes by shooting down special flying saucers and the end of each world sees you square off against a mother ship. The enemy types and patterns continually change and the later levels are hectic which helps to keep everything fresh and moving.

There’s no denying this is a fun game while it lasts but there are a few things which hold it back from being a classic. The first is that the game is simply too easy. We managed to blast all the way through it on our second attempt. It’s certainly fun and you do get to start again on harder versions of the levels but we were expecting a bit more of a challenge. 

The second problem is the scoring mechanic isn’t really intricate enough to cause the massive adrenaline rushes you can get from other games. There’s very little you can do if you’ve been building a multiplier and get hit other than slowly build it up again. That’s fine for anyone who wants an enjoyable arcade shooter but for those looking for a game to master this will let you down.

Slight issues aside, the question that matters is are you going to enjoy playing the game? The answer to which is yes you will, it’s a blast with a fun style that cleverly evokes just enough of Space Invaders to hit the nostalgia button while producing something fresh. It won’t last you forever or put up that much of a challenge but for a fun few minutes of blasting it certainly ticks all the right boxes. It’s also especially suited to the Vita. Overall, this is a good if not great game that everyone will enjoy. It’s a promising start from Puppy Games and we look forward to their next project. 

Overall 7/10

Proteus Review (PS3/ PS Vita)

It’s been a busy year for Curve Studios with a number of releases onto Sony’s digital network. The latest of these is Proteus, a largely experimental adventure based on the concepts of colour and sound. Not a game in the traditional sense, it aims to provide a unique, uplifting and immersive experience for players.

The concept is simple, you are dropped at sea overlooking a randomly generated island. You can then wander around the island and experience what it has to offer. The Vita can also generate islands based on the players location, while the PS3 version will do this based on what date it is.

The graphics are highly conceptual with a vibrant colour spectrum used to put across grass, trees and water in a pixelated, retro style form. It reminded us quite a bit of the look of old BBC Micro adventures - just with a wider colour palette. The island goes through a day and night cycle and seasonal change and each is instantly recognisable thanks to clever use of the art style. It goes to show just what can be filled in by the player when colour and shape are used so well.

 A heavy emphasis on sound is what brings the game to life. The islands are alive with creatures, wind and vegetation. Fire flies buzz around at night, owls fly, while monkeys and chickens scurry across the floor. Each of which have their signature sound. In fact, most things have a signature sound and it turns your journey around the island into a concerto of noises and music that often surprises and delights in equal measure.

There are landmarks to find and paths to wander along but there isn’t really any goal to Proteus. There’s even a button that lets you simply sit and watch the sun go down. There are also numerous events to witness (which we won’t spoil here). It’s a strange one, there’s no reason to play the game other than simply the experience of taking in the sights and sounds, but we found ourselves drawn to come back to it again and again.

There are some riddle-like trophies for those that want to try some puzzle solving but in truth we’ve never been a huge fan of such things. Rushing around waiting for little pictures to ping seems to take away from the main experience on offer which is simply to relax and take in what’s around you. 

Although it doesn’t follow the same structure it evokes memories of Journey and Flower, games where there is little risk but it’s all about the experience of playing around and exploring. There’s certainly a fair bit to see here as well, just no reason beyond the curiosity of the player to go and see it.

There is a time frame to exploration and after you’ve gone through your final season it’s all brought to a close with the shutting of a virtual eye. There are a couple of different endings so exploring again is well worth a go. The game also has an interesting feature which allows you to take postcard ‘snap shots’. At first these seem just like screen shots but clicking on one will take you back into the world to further explore.

It’s clear Proteus isn’t going to be for everyone. But if you are fan of games like Flower, Fl0W or Electroplankton then this could be for you. It provides a bite sized chunk of serenity and for Vita owners especially this could be a great distraction through a lunch break or on a long train journey. It’s more of an interactive ‘experience’ than a game as we might define it but it’s certainly a very interesting piece of software that does things differently and thus offers up something fairly unique. For those willing to try Proteus there’s something quite special here.

Overall 8/10

Lone Survivor: Directors Cut Review (PS3/PS Vita)

The horror genre has been on a downward spiral in recent times. The series stalwarts of Resident Evil and Silent Hill have seemingly passed their best and what we are left with is an ever increasing amount of creatures to gun down or cheap shocks we have seen before. Lone Survivor aims to change that by taking a different approach. 

Presented in a side on, 2D, 8-bit style, Lone Survivor is the story of a man trying to escape a disease ridden city where monstrous creatures roam the streets and corridors. It’s very much set in the psychological horror mould and uses a subtle script and clever use of music to try to get inside your head. You might wonder how a game with 8-bit graphics can be scary but when it works it certainly does make you feel decidedly uneasy.

Before starting the game it asks you to set up your playing environment. If you can, you need to be in a dark place and to also use headphones. We would say that it’s also much better to play it via the Vita than on the PS3, as when it’s running on a large high definition screen it really doesn’t work as well. You can change the size of the game window but this is clearly a game more suited to the hand held system. It’s also worth working out the best gamma settings as if you get it wrong you are not going to be able to make out much of what is on screen. The settings can be adjusted mid game as well to find the right sweet spot. The 8-bit graphics have their charm but they can be a total nightmare in trying to work out exactly what it is you are looking at.

The game itself plays out like a point and click adventure game where you actually move around. You’ll be looking for items to take to somewhere else, normally to unlock a route or door to the next area. There is also combat and stealth mechanics to get past the monsters. As you might expect, ammo is limited and firing the gun makes all the monsters in the screen come charging after you so it’s often wise to try and sneak past them.

There are also a number of different systems working away under the surface of the game. The main one of these is your characters sanity. At the end of the game you’ll get one of a number of different endings based on how high or low it is. It goes up or down depending on certain actions you take such as eating and resting properly, or taking the different pills that you find around the world.

Food and sleep are also key components in your adventure. If your character doesn’t eat regularly he gets hungry, which can lead him to not sleep properly or collapse. When you sleep you save your game but doing it when you are not tired also affects your sanity meter so there is a constant risk reward systems at play. If you go on a long trek and discover a load of things but aren’t tired you risk either losing sanity or dying in an upcoming encounter and having to retrace your steps.

Luckily for players there are mirrors, which act as teleport points spread throughout the world. This makes moving around a little easier but having to retrace steps to find items lost after death is still a frustration which doesn’t do much to enhance the flow of the game. This frustration also increases when you get stuck in an area you simply can’t get out of without dying. 

The other main issue with the game is simply the environment. You are effectively, continually walking up and down dark corridors for the whole game. There are only a couple of enemy types and the game gets more difficult by pretty much just giving you a longer corridor with more monsters in to avoid.  This isn’t a major issue until you get stuck and repeatedly die somewhere, then the feeling of repetition can kick in and this takes away from the overall experience.

Faults aside, when it works (and it does most of the time), this is the closest you’re going to get to the feeling of dread and unease found in the early Silent Hill games. It’s creepy and you never for one moment feel safe. There’s a lot to juggle with food, sleep, ammo, batteries and sanity and a number of side quests and different endings to experience. If you’re looking for something different then this is the game for you. Just make sure you play it on the Vita as it’s much more effective in the dark with the headphones on.

Overall  8/10

Stealth Inc: A Clone in the Dark Review (PS3/Vita)

Written by Bradley Marsh

Originally called Stealth Bastard, the game was given the name change for the Playstation release, however it is still a bit of a bastard to play as it offers up one of the most challenging experiences on the system.

The idea of the game is to simply get to the exit. Well, we say simply, as it is anything but simple. All manner of deadly traps will be between you and the exit and generally there to make your task as difficult as possible. Yet like many stealth games, you have various tricks to make your way to the end.

Shadows are the order of the day, as cameras and the like won’t be able to see you, there is also a handy little visual indicator as your goggles light up green when hidden and red when visible. Using the shadows is just small part of it, as levels start off fairly simple, but soon become ultra complex as you try your hardest to move without being spotted.

The difficulty shares a lot in common with a game like Super Meat Boy, but the mechanics really do set it apart, as it becomes less of a pixel perfect platformer and relies more on your ability to think on the go as you plan your next move. In some levels, switches may need to be hit in order to open up other areas to get to a terminal to open the exit. All the time having the various traps, robots, cameras and more trying to spot and destroy your clone.

Each level is graded with a rank between D and S, with the rank you get depends on three main things. The time it takes to complete a level, how many times your clone dies and how many times he is spotted. Basically get through the the level in the quickest time possible, without dying or getting spotted and you get an S-Rank. Easy right? Well not at all, it will take multiple attempts to perfect a level, learning the layout and the movement of the enemies, trying to get the quickest and most efficient route to the end.

Completing levels and getting certain ranks unlocks the various enhancements to your clone, such as decoys, camouflage and more. Choosing the right equipment for the right level can make all the difference, especially in the later levels. Happy with that S-Rank? How about online leaderboards per level that will show up straight away how you compare to the rest of the world. Leaderboards are split too, for simply best time and best time with equipment attached.

Aside from all that, each level also has hidden treasure known as Helices, which add yet another level of difficulty. The Helices are not easy to collect, some may be easy to find, but reaching them is a whole other ball game and again, getting a perfect run whilst getting the Helice isn’t possible, so yet more runs are needed. At the end of each sector you are given a rundown of just how well you have performed, with an over view as to total time, deaths and times spotted.

Each sector also has a boss level, which even early on isn’t simple and requires you to use all the skills learned from previous levels to beat. The first levels act as something of a tutorial, with hints explaining the different mechanics, which become intuitive from the very moment you try each one.
What works with a game like this, as it did in a Super Meat Boy, is that no matter how difficult a level appears, you know what you have to do and how to do it. Each failure is down to something you did wrong, no blame on the controls or the game cheating you. Death is met with instant restart at the last checkpoint, again something that is vital for a game that requires you to try over and over.

You will try things again and again, it is how the game is designed. It wants to challenge you and challenge you it will. The complexity really grows as you progress with many levels including backtracking that you’d expect in a game more akin to Treasure Island Dizzy. Hit a switch to activate a door, then go somewhere else to hack a terminal before going to another switch. Using all those technique to both avoid robots, or use them to your advantage.

Levels that initially seem impossible just start to make sense as you feel your way through, learning how one thing affects another. You will not breeze through Stealth Inc, even levels that look easy on first inspection can be difficult to work through. Then working out how to get through that same level without being spotted, killed and in the quickest time will test you to the limit.

There is a built in level editor which brings you all the assets used by the developers for the main game. It is possible to lose hours to the editor, however levels are local only and being unable to share them seems like somewhat of a missed opportunity. There are so many possibilities as to what can be created in an editor that can match that of Trials Evolution. It is really the only down side to a wonderful game.

Stealth Inc: A Clone In The Dark is a special game and one that shows off the sort of thing the Vita was made for. A game that is simple to play, both in quick bursts or for hours on end, that offers up a challenge and doesn’t hold back just because it is on a handheld, At just £7.99 you will struggle to find another game that offers as much content for the price. This is one game that won’t be hiding in the shadows for long.

9/10