Stealth Inc. 2, an action puzzle platformer, sneaks onto the Wii U eshop tomorrow. Don’t let it get by you though! Let me tell you why Stealth is one of the best games coming to the eshop soon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stealth takes place in a factory where clones do all the hard work: they are thrown through test chambers filled with danger! This is done in order to test products (and also to torment the clones).
The game's story is told through static cut scenes (that have some animation) with dialogue appearing beneath them. These cutscenes are not bad but not great either. The story is also told through, much better, dialogue that is written on the walls during gameplay. The human overseer mocks you while you are trying to solve puzzles. This reminds me a lot of Portal. I love it. That said, the story is not the most important part of the game.
Gameplay is king in Stealth. The clone you play as gets to explore a wide open Metroidvania like environment and visits special test chambers too. The test chambers are action puzzle rooms. You have to figure out how to get through them as quickly and safely as possible. A lot of these test chambers are VERY hard. To say they are challenging may be an understatement. You also get graded for each test chamber. Good grades are nice to see but getting through levels with any grade can feel rewarding. If you get too frustrated with a puzzle, my advice is stop playing the game and come back later. I did this on several puzzles and it always worked. I got through a puzzle after a brief rest from the game. This worked almost every time. Thankfully, none of the frustration you may feel is because of the games controls.
The gamepad controls work really well and don't do anything to hinder gameplay. The touch screen is especially handy during the open environments because of the constant map on the gamepad. Off-TV mode is good but you won't have the map always on the touch screen screen. I enjoyed playing the game both ways. There is also two more game modes, other then the single player, that should be noted.
Stealth Inc. has a level editor. The editor is very complex and a bit hard to get into. There are no tutorials, so you have to figure out things yourself. The editor has a ton of Objects to create with and its tricky figuring out what each item does. The best part is that these levels can be uploaded to the internet so that others can play them. So if you can't figure out the editor, you can still go and play the levels others create! I imagine there are going to be some amazing levels from players after people learn how to use the creator. I do wish there were tutorials to help newbies like me, but I still think the editor is fun and pretty great. I can't wait to see what people create with it!
There is a two player local co-op mode that can be unlocked. I wasn't able to try it out for this review. Too bad it wasn't online co-op but I'm sure the local multiplayer is a nice extra for people who want it. This game has some really cool unlockables.
Finally, I should mention how much I liked the game's soundtrack. The music on the larger map is especially good. The game's sound effects are well done too. There are no voices in this game. I'm fine with that.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stealth Inc 2 is a fun, challenging game. I wish the cutscenes were better, the co-op was online, and that the level editor had tutorials & was more user friendly, but, these are small issues in the end. This game has so much great content.
Stealth Inc. 2 is a must buy Wii U eshop game.
MY SCORE: 9.9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment