Counterspy Review

“Counterspy” Review

     “Counterspy” sets you in the Cold War era, sporting a 60’s aesthetic. Your job is to stop the Imperialists and Socialists from launching rockets at the moon and blowing it up. Each level is randomly generated giving a fresh change of pace for each mission you go on. There are no specific characters. It’s never really clear who you are or what side you are on. Only that you are a “counterspy.” The only thing that distinguishes everybody is their uniforms. The gameplay consists of 2D side scrolling and 3D, usually when you are in cover. The different dimensions allow for some interesting gameplay styles. The art style is my absolute favorite part of the game. It’s a real accomplishment. It looks so basic, but at the same time, it’s so visually salivating. Littered throughout the levels are stashes of money, weapon blueprints; containing separate parts to each new weapon, and “dossiers”, (basically just gives you more money).

     Enemies aren’t as varied as they should be; their differences consist of weapons and their uniforms. I also wish that Dynamighty had put more effort into the weapons system, perhaps including some gadgets to go along with the guns. It would be nice if Counterspy had more of a story then just take cover, then shoot the bad guys. Weapons can be selected quickly using the directional pad. Melee attacks consist of karate chops to the neck and shoulders, and stealth attacks consisting of neck snaps. Aiming your gun is very interesting and works quite well. On your screen when you are in cover, there is an orange circle; you can center the orange circle on an enemy, then, once you peek out from cover, your reticle will be aimed directly at wherever you centered the circle. It helps tremendously with your accuracy if you want to keep a stealthy approach instead of just going in guns blazing.

     Counterspy’s main problems lie in the AI and objectives. The AI is painfully flawed and glitchy and will spot you even if you've taken every careful precaution to not be spotted. Objectives are well, nonexistent. This is a problem because every mission you go on doesn’t really have anything that drives you to complete it. Missions are divided into two sides, the Imperialists and Socialists. It doesn’t necessarily matter which side you choose to take on. The only difference between each side is certain missions offer weapon blueprints, while others offer Intel, which leads to money. One thing I did appreciate, was looking for all the collectibles, which can sometimes be hard to find, presenting a nice challenge for the player. It would have been nice to see some puzzles in Counterspy also. Each side has defcon levels consisting from 1 to 5. Basically, you NEVER want to be anything past 1. Once you pass defcon 1, a one minute countdown is initiated. Essentially, you have 60 seconds to reach the end of the level and shut down the defcon or you lose the mission. If only Dynamighty had expanded on the defcon levels more. For instance, throwing more difficult enemy types at you the higher your defcon level went. Once you lose, you have the option to continue or not. If you click “yes” to continue, you restart the mission. If you click “no”, the words “Game Over” pop up in the middle of your screen. When I clicked “no”, I didn't think anything of it; just that the game would take me back to the main menu, allowing me to continue right where I left off. But in actuality, you lose all previous mission progress. This is obviously a glaring mistake that needs to be adjusted in my opinion. There just isn’t enough challenge here that anyone would normally expect from a stealth game. However, Counterspy offers a decent enough stealth experience with a wonderfully pleasing art style that will have you coming back for more. Counterspy is a good game from a new developer. Dynamighty made some excellent strides with this one, and I expect to see good things from them in the future.

PROS:

-          Randomly generated levels

-          2D and 3D offer different gameplay perspectives

-          Art Style

-          Gunplay

-          Decent stealth

CONS:

-          AI is moronic

-          Lack of objectives

-          Different sides have no real impact on the game’s experience

-          Feels like its missing something

-          “Game Over”

-          Not enough challenge

Final Score= 7/10