Game Reviews

SpyCorp

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iOS
| SpyCorp
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SpyCorp
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iOS
| SpyCorp

Outlandish gadgets and platforming action are the order of the day with SpyCorp. That, and a jolly sense of humour which pokes fun at the cliches of the spy game whilst also reminding us of its appeal. It’s got all the bounce and energy of a kid’s TV cartoon on a Saturday morning.

You’re a new recruit to the self-styled “stealth startup”, and your first assignment is to infiltrate the warehouse of a criminal mastermind and find out what he's up to. From there, you'll hop, skip, and jump through 50 levels of platforms, puzzles, and hidden goodies while avoiding detection.

Ratchet and Clunk

The level designs are pretty conventional - it’s just a case of figuring out a path through the stage and sidestepping the hazards that are blocking your way (including pools of sharks). Where it gets interesting is the range of gadgets you can use to chart this path.

You can only use gadgets a set number of times. A bungee cord will help you descend from platform to platform, for example, whereas a special spycam allows you to scope out the whole stage in advance. Other gadgets include jetpacks, suction cups (for walking up walls), smoke bombs, and triple-jump boots.

You can find these gadgets in your travels through the game, or you can buy them from the gadget shop with your in-game credits. Other items to discover are fragments of a secret code, which you’ll need to decipher to access password-protected areas, and checkpoint-markers so you don’t have to go back to the beginning of the level when you die.

This last bit is a nice touch. Your character doesn’t have a life bar, and it’s very much a case of one hit and you’re dead. BUT the game proceeds to respawn you at a checkpoint, and then it makes a wisecrack about the effectiveness of the holographic decoys. This must be how James Bond manages to survive in his line of work.

Mission Improbable

The controls work well enough, given that they amount to a touchscreen joypad with an 'action' button and a 'jump' button. If the game depended on quick reflexes to proceed through a level, as opposed to paced-out smarts, we’d probably have more issues.

The problems with the game become obvious as soon as in-app purchases make an appearance. These let you exchange real money for the in-game currency and buy gadgets outright instead of collecting credits throughout the game.

Because the game requires you to use gadgets, and their use is capped at certain numbers, you may find yourself running short of a critical gadget at a crucial juncture. This means you'll have to spend credits to buy a top-up of the required gadget. And if you don’t have enough credits, you'll have to buy more with your real-life cash.

In this way, the game is gently steering you towards spending more money on buying more gadgets. If you object to this model, and the necessity it creates to either spend money or grind, you may have a hard time enjoying SpyCorp.

SpyCorp

SpyCorp looks and plays like a tweenie version of Metal Gear Solid, with vibrant production design and some brilliant gags. But the in-app purchase model is flawed and this detracts from the experience
Score
Bulent Yusuf
Bulent Yusuf
Bulent Yusuf is a ladies man, man's man, and a man about town. His endless barrage of witty anecdotes and propensity for drink makes him a big favourite on the dinner party circuit. He likes writing, he likes gaming, and with Pocket Gamer he gets to do a bit of both.