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STEALTH INC. A CLONE IN THE DARK (VITA)
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Developer: Curve Studios.
Released: July 2013. Genre: Stealth Platformer; Puzzle. Other versions: PC; PS4; PS3. Posted 14th September 2014. By Tom Clare © 2014 |
Life is a short, unfulfilling, and infinitely perilous existence for a clone. Forced to tackle dozens of dangerous experiments in dingy, sinister laboratory environments under the guise of road-testing new stealth goggle technology, survival rates are almost non-existent. Scrape through one task, and you can expect another, even more sadistic one as your reward. What’s more, progress is accompanied by some marvellous visual pointers, which intermittently goad your failings, patronise your successes and cruelly suggest that your ordeals may soon be at an end. You won’t believe there’s a whiff of sincerity behind any of it.
But this cynicism is a part of Stealth Inc’s unusual appeal. Ostensibly a 2D platformer with stealth and puzzle elements, beneath its relatively simplistic veneer there lies a surprisingly heavy atmosphere, and a game with more to it than initially meets the eye. Levels carry a menacing undercurrent, in part thanks to the creepy lighting, devious traps, and unsettlingly bare test-zone environments which carry with them the blood-splattered memories of who-know-how-many lost souls who have gone before. It all serves to unsettle the player through a mix of very visible hazards, and a bunch of hidden ones that mean you can never relax. The cold, clinical veneer is further heightened by Ricky Honmong’s excellent, dark synth soundtrack, which proves an improbably ideal match for the action.
Nope, we're still taking them
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Must have been a curry they ate
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It’s a robust, intelligently built stealth adventure comprising of more than sixty pint-sized levels that require nothing more complex than opening and then reaching the exit door. As you likely suspect however, this simple feat is often devilishly difficult. At first glance, it sets out its stall as a 2D platformer with all manner of lasers, cameras and drones standing between your clone and the exit. It’s a lengthy journey however, and the game evolves over time, becoming a more cerebral experience – almost an out-and-out puzzler, in fact, by the final exchanges.
The latter half is populated with longer levels that are crammed with switches, blocks and teleportation devices, and require that the player breaks down the order of things and the logic behind the challenges, as much as beating them in straightforward platforming terms. The nature of Stealth Inc’s appeal shifts from instinctively fun to absorbing and thought-provoking, but despite showcasing consistent, quality design up until the end, it could be argued that this isn’t entirely in keeping with its strengths. The early levels feature more platforming than puzzling, and this encourages replay value by means of speed runs, chasing S ranks and otherwise chasing leaderboard notoriety, something that becomes steadily less compelling as levels become more bloated.
The controls work great and are very easy to pick up, as there’s nothing more elaborate to learn than to duck, jump and climb. Your greatest asset is a pair of stealth goggles, which turn green, orange or red depending on your character’s level of visibility within the environment. A simple but smart concept, they can be used as an instant means of identifying how watertight a hiding place you’ve found, as areas of shadow form the bedrock behind most successful level completions, as you’re regularly challenged to keep on the move to remain safe. A lot of clones will die on your watch, but fortunately, intelligent checkpoint placement and quick restarts alleviate a good deal of potential frustration.
The latter half is populated with longer levels that are crammed with switches, blocks and teleportation devices, and require that the player breaks down the order of things and the logic behind the challenges, as much as beating them in straightforward platforming terms. The nature of Stealth Inc’s appeal shifts from instinctively fun to absorbing and thought-provoking, but despite showcasing consistent, quality design up until the end, it could be argued that this isn’t entirely in keeping with its strengths. The early levels feature more platforming than puzzling, and this encourages replay value by means of speed runs, chasing S ranks and otherwise chasing leaderboard notoriety, something that becomes steadily less compelling as levels become more bloated.
The controls work great and are very easy to pick up, as there’s nothing more elaborate to learn than to duck, jump and climb. Your greatest asset is a pair of stealth goggles, which turn green, orange or red depending on your character’s level of visibility within the environment. A simple but smart concept, they can be used as an instant means of identifying how watertight a hiding place you’ve found, as areas of shadow form the bedrock behind most successful level completions, as you’re regularly challenged to keep on the move to remain safe. A lot of clones will die on your watch, but fortunately, intelligent checkpoint placement and quick restarts alleviate a good deal of potential frustration.
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Persistence pays. Usually.
Though that’s not to say there aren’t any irritations of course. The boss levels are particularly taxing, to the point of tiresome at times. Each sees the player working around a 360 degree camera located in the centre of the level that comes equipped with long-distance motion sensors and a hyper-sensitive, ultra trigger-happy laser beam that will fry you in an instant. The game is all about taking calculated risks, and sometimes it feels like you’re not always given the benefit of the doubt, which can be a strain when you’re repeatedly asked to make marginal calls.
Stealth Inc: A Clone In The Dark comes together pretty nicely on Vita. Whilst its graphics aren’t memorable either in terms of its thematics or pyrotechnics, it is smartly presented and hard to fault it from a technical point of view. Visually it’s tidy and blemish-free, if perhaps a tad short on variety (something that’s forgivable given the number of levels), though there are times when the action only occupies small fractions of the screen. This isn’t a problem on a 40 inch television or monitor, but in keeping to scale, it can sometimes seem a little too diddy on the portable screen for comfort. Still, Stealth Inc’s short, sharp stages feel very much at home on the Vita, and a considerable stack of challenging levels ensure that it should keep committed retro revivalists happy for quite some time.
Stealth Inc: A Clone In The Dark comes together pretty nicely on Vita. Whilst its graphics aren’t memorable either in terms of its thematics or pyrotechnics, it is smartly presented and hard to fault it from a technical point of view. Visually it’s tidy and blemish-free, if perhaps a tad short on variety (something that’s forgivable given the number of levels), though there are times when the action only occupies small fractions of the screen. This isn’t a problem on a 40 inch television or monitor, but in keeping to scale, it can sometimes seem a little too diddy on the portable screen for comfort. Still, Stealth Inc’s short, sharp stages feel very much at home on the Vita, and a considerable stack of challenging levels ensure that it should keep committed retro revivalists happy for quite some time.
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VERDICT
Visual: 6/10
Audio: 8/10 Gameplay: 7/10 Longevity: 7/10 OVERALL: 7/10 |