Anomaly Agent is many issues. It’s half platformer, half brawler, and half shooter. It includes time journey, combo strikes, boss fights, and upgradeable weapons. It additionally has a rocking soundtrack. Briefly, it’s a enjoyable and fast-paced motion title from newcomers Phew Phew Video games. It occurs to be the primary title for this indie dev, and it’s a stellar technique to kick issues off.
In Anomaly Agent, you play the function of the famend Agent 70 as he embarks on his remaining mission earlier than a promotion. He works for a corporation referred to as TDAY, a peace-keeping outfit much like the TVA of Marvel’s world. Their job is to cease anomalies brought on by the misuse of artifacts that may, for instance, disrupt the stream of time. There’s one free finish that wants tying up earlier than Agent 70 can start his new job, and it simply occurs to be a doozy.
I gained’t spoil the plot; half the enjoyable is unraveling the story as you go. Put merely, somebody has messed with time, inflicting a number of anomalies to seem. Your aim is to cease them earlier than they trigger everlasting injury, and set issues proper once more. Issues get sophisticated, and there are selections to make alongside the best way about the place your loyalties lie. The story is well-written, creating an attention-grabbing and interesting narrative.
Whereas time-related shenanigans are nothing new, Anomaly Agent places its personal spin on issues. One such side comes about midway by when Agent 70 turns into caught in his personal private time loop. To rectify this case, gamers are despatched again to beforehand conquered areas (for causes I gained’t spoil). Revisiting ranges in a sport is dangerous, opening up room for repetition. Nonetheless, Anomaly Agent handles this properly, holding the degrees shorter the second time round. Moreover, you now transfer from left to proper, somewhat than the everyday proper to left, holding the expertise feeling recent.
Anomaly Agent options three issue ranges: simple, medium, and exhausting. Even on the bottom setting, I wouldn’t say it’s a very simple sport. Having mentioned that, Agent 70 comes geared up with an ungradable well being bar and limitless lives. Save factors are computerized and frequent. It creates an expertise that’s by no means irritating, even when issues go unsuitable. And so they usually do.
Boss fights are the proper instance. There are lots of all through the sport, together with halfway by the degrees. These massive baddies are sturdy, forcing you to search out the perfect strategy to take them down. Fortunately, most fights happen in a number of phases; when you deplete half of their well being bar, there’s a pause of some variety. Perhaps the struggle relocates, initiating a chase sequence. Maybe the temporary interlude consists of taunts or new weapon drops. Both approach, it breaks up the gameplay sufficient to maintain issues recent and provide you with a respawn level.
Common enemies principally tackle the type of “clones,” Agent Smith-like characters that may merge with one another to turn out to be extra highly effective. There are lots of variants, with stronger variations of every as you proceed. To fight them, you’re geared up with a number of weapons of your individual. These embrace melee weapons like your fists and a baseball bat, together with long-range objects like a boomerang. Whilst you don’t sport a gun of your individual, you need to use these dropped by enemies, creating some enjoyable and various fight types.
This results in two issues. Firstly, there’s a terrific combo system. Unlocking new combos offers you stronger methods to beat enemies. These not solely look cool, however they’re satisfying to drag off. Secondly, there’s a deep leveling-up system. You possibly can cease by the native robotic merchandising machine to swap cash for issues like further injury, further bullets, or including toxic gasoline to different weapons.
Graphically, Anomaly Agent seems nice. It sports activities a colourful cyberpunk type with pixelated characters and various environments. I admire the splash-screen intro to every new character, giving a comic-style vibe that works properly. Some background and foreground parts might use a bit of extra distinction at instances; there was the odd event once I wasn’t positive if one thing within the background was going to hit me, or if one thing within the foreground was a platform or a backdrop.
One other minor deficiency is a noticeable lag after prolonged play classes. When my jumps turned too gradual to be helpful, I restarted the sport and located no additional points. It’s almost certainly one thing to do with the restricted reminiscence of the Change, however it nonetheless feels prefer it might have been optimized higher.
The synthwave soundtrack is an actual deal with. The tunes bought caught in my head (in a great way), and I cherished revisiting ranges simply to listen to them once more. Every part of the sport options totally different songs, surging with adrenaline-pumping beats that hold you shifting alongside rapidly. When ranges function nightclubs, the audio turns into notably vital, however it rocks the entire approach by.
General, Anomaly Agent offers a quick, slick journey by time. The builders have finished an amazing job with this, their first sport, paving the best way for the staff’s promising future. Regardless of a number of little technical glitches, that is one title price testing.