Anomaly Agent is many issues. It’s half platformer, half brawler, and half shooter. It entails time journey, combo strikes, boss fights, and upgradeable weapons. It additionally has a rocking soundtrack. In brief, 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 method to kick issues off.
In Anomaly Agent, you play the function of the famend Agent 70 as he embarks on his ultimate mission earlier than a promotion. He works for an organization known as TDAY, a peace-keeping outfit just like the TVA of Marvel’s world. Their job is to cease anomalies attributable to the misuse of artifacts that may, for instance, disrupt the circulate of time. There’s one unfastened finish that wants tying up earlier than Agent 70 can start his new job, and it simply occurs to be a doozy.
I received’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 objective 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 way in which 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 facet 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 received’t spoil). Revisiting ranges in a recreation is dangerous, opening up room for repetition. Nevertheless, Anomaly Agent handles this nicely, preserving the degrees shorter the second time round. Moreover, you now transfer from left to proper, slightly than the everyday proper to left, preserving the expertise feeling recent.
Anomaly Agent options three issue ranges: simple, medium, and laborious. Even on the bottom setting, I wouldn’t say it’s a very simple recreation. Having mentioned that, Agent 70 comes outfitted with an ungradable well being bar and limitless lives. Save factors are automated and frequent. It creates an expertise that’s by no means irritating, even when issues go improper. And so they typically do.
Boss fights are the proper instance. There are numerous all through the sport, together with halfway by the degrees. These huge baddies are sturdy, forcing you to seek out one of the best method 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 type. Possibly the combat relocates, initiating a chase sequence. Maybe the temporary interlude contains taunts or new weapon drops. Both method, it breaks up the gameplay sufficient to maintain issues recent and provide you with a respawn level.
Normal enemies largely 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 numerous variants, with stronger variations of every as you proceed. To fight them, you’re outfitted with a number of weapons of your individual. These embody 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 should utilize 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 additional injury, additional bullets, or including toxic gasoline to different weapons.
Graphically, Anomaly Agent seems nice. It sports activities a colourful cyberpunk fashion with pixelated characters and diversified environments. I admire the splash-screen intro to every new character, giving a comic-style vibe that works nicely. Some background and foreground components may use slightly extra distinction at occasions; there was the odd event after I wasn’t certain 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 sluggish to be helpful, I restarted the sport and located no additional points. It’s most definitely one thing to do with the restricted reminiscence of the Change, but it surely nonetheless feels prefer it may have been optimized higher.
The synthwave soundtrack is an actual deal with. The tunes obtained caught in my head (in a great way), and I liked revisiting ranges simply to listen to them once more. Every part of the sport options totally different songs, surging with adrenaline-pumping beats that preserve you transferring alongside shortly. When ranges characteristic nightclubs, the audio turns into significantly essential, but it surely rocks the entire method by.
Total, Anomaly Agent supplies a quick, slick journey by time. The builders have carried out an amazing job with this, their first recreation, paving the way in which for the group’s promising future. Regardless of a number of little technical glitches, that is one title price trying out.