Stealth Inc 2: A Game of Clones Review
When you play Stealth Inc 2, you get the feeling that Curve Digital really like video game history. Throughout your time with the game, you will constantly see the influences of other games. The stealth and even the protagonist riffs on Splinter Cell, the platforming is clearly a Super Meat Boy clone, the overlord controlling the tests is obviously GLADOS from Portal, and the amount of death that you will face is clearly influenced by the Souls games. Unfortunately, the game never reaches the heights of any of its predecessors.
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Stealth Inc 2 revolves around a clone trying to escape a sinister facility that forces tests upon it, in order to improve their toys. Throughout 40+ levels, you play as the clone as he tries to release his friends and turn the tables on the tester. This simple story highlights Stealth Inc 2’s greatest problem- an almost complete lack of innovation. The story is an attempt to emulate the success that Portal had many years ago, and as a result, it comes across as a poor imitation. This means that, for the ten hours it took to complete the game, I honestly didn’t care about what happened because I had played it all before.
This lack of innovation can similarly be found in the gameplay. There are six different worlds, all of which involve the use of a different gadget. These gadgets are rather unimaginative. Aside from the cloning gadget, which was genuinely fun to use and felt like a good innovation from the developers, the rest bring nothing new to the player. Teleporters, hacking, a light and an inflatable platform are hardly innovative, and this makes for gameplay that is quite dull. Away from the levels, the game includes a Metroidvania style overworld, which the player must traverse to get to new levels. This world is also filled with collectibles, except they are the worst kind of collectibles. As far as I can tell, there is no point to them. There is no benefit, there is no addition of interesting equipment or lore, it’s simply there because it can be.
The core gameplay is entertaining, despite this lack of innovation. Puzzles are challenging, which means that, when you do overcome a particularly vexing puzzle, you get a genuine feeling of satisfaction. The way in which the game is set up is also particularly good. It allows you to play with each gadget for a certain number of levels before letting you use it in the overworld, which means that you really feel like an expert in the gadget by the time it is necessary to use to further progress in the game. This gameplay is strengthened by excellent level design. Each level feels perfectly set out. Not once throughout the game did I experience an issue where the level design prevented me from succeeding.
However, the gameplay can be frustrating at times. It works on a trial and error style of gameplay, which expects you to die many times before you realise how to succeed. Yet, thanks to clunky and imprecise controls, the errors often feel like the fault of the game, rather than you, a factor which is especially troubling when much of the puzzles require precision gameplay with certain gadgets. Aiming a gadget at a certain area needs to be simple if you want players to use it in fast-paced arenas, but this just isn’t the case. It is often unreliable, which makes certain levels a horrible slog to get through, due to multiple deaths that were not your fault. This is especially true in the boss levels, which can feel impossible at times, which really lets the game down.
Stealth Inc 2 cannot be faulted for value for money. For £12.99, you get between 5-12 hours of gameplay, depending on how good you are at the game (so it took me forever, because I’m awful at it.) This is strengthened by leaderboards for each level, which, if you enjoy that kind of thing, adds much replay value. However, leaderboards need fixing. For many of the levels, the number one time was often a completion in 0 seconds. Nobody is going to try to rise up leaderboards when the system is clearly broken, allowing for people to take advantage of this. (Despite this, it is always fun to see your name on the top few on a leaderboard, especially when you are above actual game critics.) It also includes a level editor, which needs work, thanks to confusing menu design and frankly uninspired editing style, as well as access to community levels, which will depend on the following that the game accrues.
On the technical side of things, the game runs pretty well. No bugs appeared throughout my playthrough, which is always nice (and increasingly rare) when you play a game. The soundtrack is pretty good, with its pulsating sounds helping add to the atmosphere which wants you to overcome the challenge, and this adds to the generally grim art style of the game. The art style however, is often uninspired. Much of the game takes place in dark corridors, which means that the background design is nothing special. This does change towards the endgame, but for most of the game, you are stuck in an often dull world. The one thing that the art style does have going for it is the protagonist. Wow, he is cute. It is a simplistic design, but for the clone, it is one that works to great effect, giving you an immediately likable hero. This cute design is used to add to shock when you die, which sees your cute little clone torn to shreds in a very visceral fashion, with his little organs flying across the room in a blood splattered mess, which is a nice idea.
Stealth Inc 2 is not a bad game. It is far from being a bad game. It does what it wants to do decently, especially for a smaller studio on a smaller budget. However, the game is let down by a generally uninspired feel, which makes it seem like the game has nothing new or fresh to offer, and particularly by controls that are horribly imprecise at times, causing deaths that feel unfair. If you enjoy stealth platformers, then you will probably enjoy Stealth Inc 2, but, if you do pick it up, prepare to be frustrated. A lot.
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