CounterSpy - An Indie Stealth-Action Platformer that Catches the Eye - Preview
by Jake Weston , posted on 11 June 2014 / 3,088 Views
Sony has made all of its current PlayStation platforms the home of great, unique-looking upcoming indie titles. One of these titles that caught my eye on the show floor of E3 today was Dynamighty’s CounterSpy, a side-scrolling stealth platformer featuring procedurally generated levels and a unique, minimalistic cel-shaded art style.
Players control a spy from the C.O.U.N.T.E.R. agency, sent to infiltrate a Russian base in order to halt the launch of a nuclear warhead. The most notable aspect of CounterSpy is its evocative art style, conjuring imagery of classic 1950s propaganda posters, resulting in an incredibly unique style I don’t see in many games.
Gameplay is very similar to 2009’s Shadow Complex, in that players explore the base on a 2D plane, climb multiple levels, and melee unsuspecting guards. However, you can take cover behind many walls and crates in sections of the base, causing the perspective to shift to a more traditional 3D, over-the-shoulder one to give you a better view of your surroundings.
From here, you can either shoot at enemy guards like a standard third-person shooter, or use the new perspective to get a leg up and sneak your way past guards. I tried to stealth my way through most of the sections, though alas, some sections force you to shoot your way out. I was a little disappointed that the game bottlenecked me into such a situation in the first place, but the cover-based shooting was solid enough.
CounterSpy’s gameplay is solid and its art style striking, but what will make it or break it is the quality of its procedurally generated levels, which in theory should result in high replay value. Having only had the chance to run through one level at E3, it’s hard to say at this point if this will be the case. Still, CounterSpy is an indie title worth a look. It launches later this summer for PS3, PS4, PS Vita, and mobile devices.
