CounterSpy Reviews
CounterSpy may have it flaws but what makes it stand out is the visual style and design. It is, however, short but with cross buy and cross save on PlayStation it might just be that Spy-filler your looking for.
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when first starting 'CounterSpy', but the theme and tone of the game immediately struck a chord that stayed with me throughout the experience. The easy-to-understand controls ensured that I was able to navigate the game quickly, while the shorter gameplay sessions fit nicely into my schedule and allowed me to accomplish as many missions as I may have had time for. I came away impressed with Dynamighty's first game and look forward to future offerings this small, yet determined, team may have in store for the future.
The crisp visuals render beautifully on the smaller [VITA] screen and the slick, fairly basic controls are well polished. However it is harder to recommend on the bigger sibling consoles due to short depth of gameplay and irritating AI.
CounterSpy doesn't really develop beyond its opening concepts. It's fun to play the spy game for a while, but it quickly falls victim to tedium and repetition, with an unrewarding ending that comes off as a smoldering dud.
CounterSpy revels in the consistency of its chaos. When its directed assemblage of menacing systems are behaving with candid sincerity, CounterSpy is an exciting model of action and reaction. When its pieces collude together in a remorseless coincidence, CounterSpy feels like it's coming apart at the seams. Drawing inspiration from a satirical appreciation of the Cold War, it's fair for CounterSpy to teeter on the edge of principled oblivion. Finding value in its eccentricity, however, controls whether you can hang on or fall off.
The early hours of CounterSpy's stylish combo of stealth and shooting are worth a playthrough, but after it leaves its sneakiness behind, it's a sub-par cover shooter that's half as fun.
If CounterSpy doesn't look like the kind of game you'd want to play, don't. Even for indie fanatics it's missable, though I doubt you'd want to give up the visuals or the procedurally generated levels.
CounterSpy is a stylish game with wonderful art direction and a humorous tone - it's just let down by a few sneaking flaws.
While CounterSpy is an excellent game in theory, it simply falls short. Featuring some cool ideas, it is a rather quick indie stealth game that doesn't live up to expectations.
CounterSpy nails its style. The angular art, the tight animation. Even the 2.5D cover mechanic stuff, the over-the-shoulder shooting, looks cool. But there is a weird tonal inconsistency to the whole thing that leaves it feeling unfinished despite the polish. The absurdist premise meant to invoke Dr. Strangelove is half-heartedly written with laziness that pretends at deadpan while the stealth is undercut by the stitched-together rooms used instead of careful design.
CounterSpy has two faces. Its presentation, its look and sound, is a victory hard to ignore. But its interactivity is ugly enough to make for an unfortunate pairing when the balance is measured.
CounterSpy goes heavy on style, by Dynamighty's bid for replayability fizzles around shallow shooting galleries.
Despite its seemingly vanilla exterior, CounterSpy is a remarkably ambitious title. It makes an admirable attempt at creating a new kind of 2D stealth game, but unfortunately the results just aren't particularly compelling. While its presentation is dapper and divine, its gameplay is clunky, and the whole experience gets tiresome very quickly.
One might be quick to dismiss CounterSpy as nothing more than a half-broken stealth game, but you'd be remiss for doing so. I for one prefer to look at it as a half-working stealth game, one that has passion and enthusiasm where it counts. Dynamighty may not have hit a home run the first time around, but based on the love of the medium of the team there, I wouldn't count them out just yet.
While CounterSpy's unique aesthetics and fun plot are sure to intrigue some, its frustrating and unfair gameplay make it hard to recommend to anyone but diehard fans of the genre.
There's a lot to like about CounterSpy, but not enough to love. Its interesting polygonal graphics spawn original PlayStation-era nostalgia, but its archaic shooting mechanics feel just as dated.
Had it gone with a more crafted experience, zeroing in on a consistent tone and a series of clearly defined challenges, CounterSpy could have been more Three Days Of The Condor rather than This Means War. All it needed to do was remember the 7 Ps, one of the British military's enduring adages: Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance.
CounterSpy could use more finesse with its controls, however: I had occasional inputs register incorrectly, which adds a frustrating layer of clumsiness. Luckily, it's not enough of an issue to take the shine off of this smart spy affair, which can pump some tense, tactical action into your day's more mundane moments.