A Quick Blast of Run-and-Gun Fun?
Big budget games often market themselves by advertising their dozens of hours of play time, expansive map sizes, and supposedly endless content. But sometimes you don’t have the time or energy to sit down for an “epic” game that is also going to cost $70 or $80.
After all, part of the experience of a game is the sense of accomplishment from completion, regardless of what kind of game it is. That’s why it’s great that short gaming experiences are still prevalent in the industry.
Agent Fall’s Mission
Agent Fall is a run and gun game that tells a short story with some goofy humour, with some quick-paced gameplay thrown in. It’s a side-scrolling game with enemies scattered throughout each level. You choose one of four agents to be your character as you play through this 45 minute affair. There are a handful of levels, starting off in a city and ending in an alien mothership.
From Cityscapes to Scientific Labs
The first level is the most basic, and ultimately the most forgettable compared to the rest of the game. That’s not to say the start of Agent Fell is bad, but it’s the classic setup of running around incomplete buildings as nameless bad guys constantly throw themselves in your way, seemingly with no sense of self-preservation. This level covers the basic mechanics, including the grenades.
Now, these grenades were the most deadly aspect of my playthrough. Not for my enemies, but for me. They are thrown in one arc, and that can’t be modified. The first level really focuses on introducing these grenades, so there are several spots where barrels are placed to block shots, making grenades the most practical way of progressing without taking damage or dying. However, lining up some of the throws felt more cumbersome than simply sacrificing a life and using the invincibility frames after respawning to move into place and defeat enemies.
At the end of this level, Agent Fall progresses into a scientific research facility, where the barren background is replaced with lasers, computer displays, and evil scientists. Here is where things become more visually interesting and the game starts to experiment more with unique gameplay segments.
Weapon Woes and Elevator Oddities
Weapon drops are spread throughout the levels, and these are often incredibly strong and fun to use, although dying will cause the weapon to disappear and unless you reset the level or run out of lives, the weapons don’t respawn. This means it’s possible to get a weapon while low on health, die without being able to use it, and then lose access to it. One downside to these weapons though is the spawns are fixed and are limited. Dying after getting a weapon, especially if that weapon only spawns once or twice, means some weapons can easily be lost and never accessed again.
There is an elevator segment where each floor features a variety of enemies that need to be cleared before progressing to the next floor. Which is funny to think about out of context, because it implies that right before your character got on the elevator, enemies on every other floor must’ve hit the button to force you to stop at their floor before progressing. That, or it is just the most inefficient elevator ever created and these scientists must spend half of their day just trying to get up and down the elevator. I’m probably just overthinking things now.
Clichés and Charm
After clearing this level’s boss, things progress to the sewers, with your agent making a tongue-in-cheek comment about a sewer level being a bit cliche. Some self-aware humour is evident in Agent Fall, and is always fun to see.
The game continues with more light platforming, enemies, and bosses, maintaining the quick pace and silly humour as seen in the first couple levels. After the sewer there is a short level where your agent rides a bike down a highway with hazards scattered around and enemies attacking.
The final two stages take place on a farm, followed by an alien mothership. Which, if we are talking about cliche setups, then you don’t get much more classic than aliens stealing a cow. Personally, I’ve never understood why this is a staple of science fiction, although I do know that if I didn’t have access to cheese, I would understand how I could come to the conclusion that stealing a cow is a good idea.
Again, I am overthinking things.
A Brief, Goofy, and Rewarding Run-and-Gun
All that being said, the level design is fairly straightforward and the game’s difficulty is very accessible to players of different skill levels. Checkpointing is generous and enough lives are provided that most players won’t have any issue beating the game in under an hour.
Agent Fall is a bite sized game with a bite sized price point to go along with it. It’s not going to redefine any genres, but it’s a fun, albeit short, experience that mixes things up, keeping everything fun from start to finish. It’s also an easy 1000 Gamerscore, due to the simple nature of the achievements and the short runtime.
If you’re looking for a quick, goofy, and fun game, then Agent Fall might be worth checking out.
Important Links
Agent Fall: A Retro-Inspired Mission of Espionage and Explosive Action – https://www.thexboxhub.com/agent-fall-a-retro-inspired-mission-of-espionage-and-explosive-action/
Buy Agent Fall on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/agent-fall/9NJWGM6VRNZ8
