Review #278: Spy Fiction

 That pesky Swery's at it again!

 Remember Deadly Premonition? Yeah, it was pretty dope. Well, Spy Fiction was a game made by Swery 65, before he went and developed Deadly Premonition. Spy Fiction is a derivative game as well, borrowing heavily from Metal Gear Solid, albeit a bit more Spy-ish.

 You play as either Billy Bishop or Sheila Crawford, two Phantom operatives task with stopping the terrorist organization Enigma, which has bioengineered a Virus and are planning to do evil terrorist stuff. Billy is stronger, so he can take and dish out more damage, but he is a bit insecure, so he can't disguise as female NPCs. Sheila, however, can disguise as male NPCs, and nobody even notices how she shakes her hips as she moves, go figure! While both characters get the same missions, they get some different cutscenes, and one mission even plays out differently depending on which character you picked. The story plays itself straight, although characters sometimes exhibit the same quirkiness that the folk of Deadly Premonition were so fond of, although this time around, it also has to do with the terrible voice acting and awkward-sounding dialogue. The game also holds a secret ending for beating the game with both characters, and rewards for up to four different playthroughs.

 At a first glance, this is a Metal Gear Solid clone, up to the 'Alarm' system 'n everything. Being stopped by an enemy will make you enter 'Alarm Mode'... unless you enter another area fast enough. While in Alarm mode, enemies will pour endlessly, so you have to hide. After a while, you'll enter 'Search Mode', in which enemies will, well, search for you.... and then comes Caution Mode which lasts about 1:30 minutes and during which enemies will be extra alert. OK, first problem with the system, there are certain doors that will get locked until you go back to 'Safety Mode', which means, if you screw up, more than 1:30 minutes WAITING until the friggin' door opens. And it's not a 'fun' waiting, it means holding L1 the whole time, against a wall(Since it makes you turn invisible) until you go from Alarm to Search to Caution and finally Safety Mode, so that the damned door will open. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds, but for someone as impatient as me, it was torture. I'd find something to read or watch as I held L1 and waited. Not fun. Oh, and even better, if you enter a new area while in 'Caution Mode', the 100-0% gauge will reset itself back to 100%, which means... even MORE waiting. Fun.

 So, it sounds like a vile rip-off, but the game does offer its own take on the formula. For starters, there's a ton more spy stuff in this one. Flares disguised as cigarettes, an electric stunner disguised as a shaver, bombs that look like band-aids! While I relied mostly on my fists and guns, I appreciate the creativity that went into designed the rest of your tools, it feels very James Bond-ish. But then again, they also took a page from Mission Impossible, by taking photos of any of the NPCs that populate each mission, you can actually disguise as them. Mind you, you can only disguise if you find containers, closets or other places in which you can enter, and if you are seen while existing, or doing suspicious stuff while disguised, the enemies will put an alert on your disguise, so you'll have to find a new one(Or wait a while. Ten minutes maybe?). And there's even a scene in which you must rappel down a wire while avoiding laser alarms... which is one of the most frustrating moments in the game, but hey!

 Moving around feels a bit stiff, particularly when compared with Metal Gear Solid(And why wouldn't you, when the game borrows so much from it!), but you can get used to it. Combat is a bit wonky though, the 2-punch, 2-kick combo is a bit finicky, so you might have to stop mid-combo in order to properly direct your attacks to your assailants. And it was never clear to me if enemies where taking damage while shot during their 'getting hit' animations or not. I know that bosses did take damage, but as far as enemies go, there was not clear indication if they were taking more damage or no. Oh, and the shooting takes a while getting used to, you either go into first person, which roots you on the spot, or hold Square, until it auto-aims and then let go to shoot. Sometimes, during the last boss battles, my character sometimes failed to aim properly as well.

 When you finally get used to the game's quirks and mechanics, and when everything works properly, the game can be a blast... however, when you are waiting for the alarms to pass by, when you are struggling with the combat, or when you try to take the story as seriously as the game wants you to... it shows just how dull it can get.
 7.5 out of 10