Agent Intercept Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fast Facts

INTRODUCTION

Claw is back, up to their old tricks again, causing havoc across the globe with new technologies to cause panic and unrest. Thankfully our new agent has been given the green light to intercept our enemies head-on in his high-tech vehicle called the sceptre. It has the ability to transform into several different configurations allowing it to travel on sea, air and land. While your driving skills will be at the front of each mission you’ll never be outgunned as you’ll able to pick up new weapon attachments and blast your enemies away with precision shots!

It’s time to take on Claw, and show them that you’re not gonna back-down!

Secret Agent for Hire

The story in Agent Intercept is about an organisation called Claw trying to take over the world using new-found technology. However, a lone agent has been drafted into the service by HQ to take them down by any means. As a secret agent you’ll be using high-tech technologies in the form of the sceptre, which is a unique vehicle that can be equipped with multiple different armaments and transform into different configurations, making it a valid piece of kit in all situations.

Beginning your adventure, you’ll notices a few options unavailable (don’t fret – playing through the campaign will allow you to unlock these extra modes, online leader-boards etc. later on). Upon starting the campaign mode you will be taken on multiple missions across three chapters.  There will always be a main objective to complete as well as side objectives to try to complete, allowing quite a bit of replayablilty. Completing these extra objectives – like drifting for certain amount of time, or destroying a certain amount of targets – will unlock additional information on your enemy and unlock new intel, allowing you take down the bosses and enemies more effectively. So it’s definitely worth your while to try and complete as many as possible throughout the campaign.

While at beginning it wasn’t hugely essential to unlock a lot of intel, I found once I reached chapter three I wasn’t able to get any further into the game without additional intel. This required me to replay multiple missions again and earn the extra side challenges to unlock the extra information that I needed to unlock the rest of the stages. I felt like this was a little needless grind to earn enough side objectives that I failed getting the first time around. It also felt a little like padding to extend the gameplay.

FAST, FURIOUS

One thing the game doesn’t lack in is its gameplay department. Agent Intercept is a fast and really fluid racer with a lot gun-toting action that never gets dull. As you move through a series of stages it’s a non-stop thrill ride with every enemy imaginable being thrown your way.

Your car is always driving forward and you have no real ability to stop it, however you can move it from left to right as well as drifting and using pick-up weapons that you find scattered on the road, as well as points that can be be added to your overall score at the end of the stage. You also come across multiple paths you can take now and again, and when the time calls for it your ride will automatically transform into either a boat, or plane which not only looks really cool but adds new game mechanics, keeping things exciting. For example, driving a boat feels like you’re actually on the water, with the current against you and you’ll need to let off the acceleration to turn more sharply around corners. The plane feels distinctly different from other transformations. It’s these little variations in control that made me really enjoy Agent Intercept‘s combat.

There is also voice acting present here which was a nice implementation and helps flesh out each new character you meet, explaining their motivations. This is your typical James bond affair, bad guys want to destroy the world and you’re the only one who can stop them. It may be little cliché but it’s all good fun. The set pieces and mission variety is never dull. There are even missions that are against the clock or rival drivers adding in extra excitement, changing things up.

Extra Modes

Not only will you be playing campaign mode but you will unlock additional modes, such as side missions which allow you to play extra missions from side characters. These can be quite challenging, further adding extra replayablilty for those who seek it. There’s also score attack that has lots of different mission variety with three types of actions in each; high-score chase, target practice and time trial. For example, the time trial feels more like a traditional time trial mode in any racer, as it’s more about getting to the end as quickly as possible, whereas target practice sees you hitting targets precisely while driving around. All these extra modes offers extra incentive to keep playing and throw in robust online leader-boards and you’ve got a package that is well worth your time and money.

With the extra data cards to unlock and extra modes to play there’s a lot to do here. The gameplay is exciting and I really enjoyed the boss encounters with the killer AI helicopter (that fights you through a tunnel) or the fight with giant space laser that is literally destroying mountains and other vehicles on the road. Meanwhile, you are dodging and weaving around until you get the chance to jump onto the side of a space rocket and blow it up. It just kept the action going and made you really feel as though you were a secret agent.

Self-destruction

While gameplay and exciting missions never seem to stop, I did find a few little things annoying. Such as the halt in gameplay once I’d reached a certain point and needed to replay stages again to unlock more intel. while this can be seen as good thing for some, I found it a way to just prolong the gameplay loop instead of adding to it. Having to complete all the additional objectives is fine, but some of them are really hard to complete and I did get little frustrated that I needed to do them all to progress. It’s not a huge problem but just something to be aware of.

VERDICT

Agent Intercept is a great title and worthwhile playing. There is a lot of extra content and online leader-boards that will keep you hooked for hours on end. The fast, furious gameplay is not only thrilling to play but also to witness. Plus, there’s an extra incentive to keep playing allowing you to climb the online leader-boards. Just be aware that some of the side objectives at certain points are needed to progress further. Other than that, it’s another title worth your salt and should be added to your ever growing indie game dream machine!

4 out of 5

4

You can purchase Agent Intercept from the Nintendo eShop.