CounterSpy

Throughout CounterSpy’s lifespan, you will die a whole lot, and with that comes frustration. But on the other end of that frustration is an immense feeling of satisfaction as you get one step closer to saving our precious little moon.

Get Smart, Dr Strangelove and Sean Connery-era Bond collide in order to inspire one martini-smooth spy escapade. [November 2014, p74]

CounterSpy is an interesting stealth-game, with a mix between 2D- and 3D-gameplay. The graphical style and music top this amazing, little game off.

Counterspy is all the best parts and all the worst parts of a great downloadable stealth game with delightful visuals. It's those worst parts of the stealth genre that keep me from recommending it wholeheartedly.

An entertaining stealth platformer. There's some visibility issues in certain situations, though. [Nov 2014]

It's a short game and the 3D perspective is lacking at times. However, those are the only flaws in an otherwise highly enjoyable title in a well-designed Cold War setting. Recommended.

CounterSpy is stealthy, charming and clever, not only in its graphical style, but also in the way it handles the somewhat clichéd cold war spy drama gig.

Humorous and well-designed, Counterspy is certainly worth investigating if you like your espionage in short, fast-paced chunks.

It might be short, but I enjoyed almost every minute of my time with CounterSpy. The movement and gunplay are smooth and responsive, and the lovingly crafted presentation remains stunning throughout. This is a stealth game that makes you feel as silent as you are deadly, and is wonderfully, wholly refreshing.

And in the end, that’s really what it all comes down to. Counterspy succeeds because it takes a concept that everyone is familiar with, and delivers something a bit unexpected in its ability to capitalize on those familiar aspects.

Its later levels can be a bit frustrating, but its espionage challenges are enough fun that you'll want to keep trying until you reach the final mission.

CounterSpy is a nicely designed and presented game with a lot of appeal. You’ll have a lot of fun sneaking through these challenging military installations, and you’ll appreciate the character customization and relative depth.

CounterSpy touches on the gravity of the cold war while presenting it in a polished game that many will enjoy, if they choose to accept the mission.

Flaws in gameplay and storyline are compensated by the great skill of designers who have managed to deliver the spirit of spy adventure. Each level reminds the satirical Cold War Museum, whose exhibits can be examined for hours, and even angular character models do not spoil the experience. Of course, CounterSpy cannot boast of Evil Genius’ madness or No One Lives Forever’ charm, but it definitely shows the romance of the sixties. [Oct 2014, p.90]

A good stealth game with a mix between 2D and 3D Gameplay. Its arts are lovely, but is far too short and has a lack of depth.

I don’t like stealth games, because I find most of them boring. I launched CounterSpy just because its visuals caught my eye, but I put the controller away only after I saved the world. [Nov 2014, p.60]

Despite some issues, CounterSpy is a good action/stealth game from a new, tiny studio formed by ex Pixar and LucasArts artists. Too bad the procedurally generated levels are not enough to forget poor gameplay variety.

CounterSpy has a lot going for it, its unique take on the Cold War is one we very much enjoyed and the cel-shaded art style definitely caught our attention and demanded we admire it. However, a few too many annoyances got in our way of truly enjoying the game, such as the occasional awkward placement of an enemy and the unfair situations you can find yourself in when you are overwhelmed with guards.

Counterspy is a platform consisting of small procedurally generated levels , with vague hints of stealth, some shooting here and there and a system of weaponry and upgrades. It is not a masterpiece and, to be honest, it does not fall into one genre. The truth is that it is a good pastime, disengaging and challenging.

The mixture of side scrolling stealth with the cover-based 3D shooting is quite an ingenious one, but simple enough that when combined with the randomly generated levels, you can hop into the game for a few minutes and, ignoring a few flaws, find yourself staying for an hour.

A good game with its heart in the right place. Its Cold War premise is brilliant, its art is beautiful, and its music is lovely. When it comes to gameplay, the stealth action sputters a bit in its inconsistent AI and inaccurate aiming, but it still delivers a fun experience.

Counterspy successfully gives you the feeling of being a powerful and deadly third wheel in a Spy vs. Spy game of one-upmanship. Moving to and removing your target of choice amounts to the most gratifying stealth since 2012’s Mark of the Ninja. But the problems start flying as soon as the bullets do.

Because of the way the story progressions are designed, with most missions clocking in at around fifteen minutes, CounterSpy would be a decent PS Vita title.

If you used to love the long gone spy-movies, you'll find an incredible atmosphere in this project, unfortunately spoiled by a disastrous AI.

CounterSpy doesn’t really develop beyond its opening concepts. It’s fun to play the spy game for a while, but it quickly falls victim to tedium and repetition, with an unrewarding ending that comes off as a smoldering dud.

When the stakes are low, the incongruity between CounterSpy’s stealth and action components matters little, but at DEFCON 1, you’re looking at mutual assured destruction. It’s a bit ironic that a game about escalating international tensions stumbles when it comes to its own escalating action.

In the beginning this almost feels like a side-scrolling No One Lives Forever. But the longer you play, the more you realize that it lacks depth and finishing touches.

CounterSpy primarily relies on its looks. The use of propaganda in the dialogue, an overly communist style and countless references to spy tactics depict a Cold War atmosphere not unlike in the Bond movies with Sean Connery. The cartoony art style helps to distinguish the game from other similar titles, but its not enough to cover up a lack of complex gameplay.

CounterSpy is a very interesting play under the artistic profile, but it fails the stealth experience promised to the gamer since the beginning. The whole sounds like a paradox, because the game stages a classical spy-story.

Drawing inspiration from a satirical appreciation of the Cold War, it's fair for CounterSpy to teeter on the edge of principled oblivion. Finding value in its eccentricity, however, controls whether you can hang on or fall off.

Unlike a good spy, however, it flubs its final execution. [Nov 2014, p.116]

The game taper[s] off into mediocrity after a few hours. [Issue#152, p.118]

It's a good game to kill if you have nothing more to play at the moment but I would advise waiting for a promotion to buy it.

Counterspy is a fun and challenging adventure during the short time it lasts. The game looks stunning and does a good job conveying the 60's vibe thanks to an amazing soundtrack. Unfortunately, Counterspy is far too short and the level design comes with almost no variation whatsoever. At the end of the day it remains a solid game with a few hours of great entertainment.

The adventure is finished in under two hours and with a few other shortcomings, this prevents his highly original title from better grades.

Even before the half-way point you know: just like the old Bond movies, this game lives and dies by its charm. It's pretty, but shallow and doesn't quite feel complete.

The early hours of CounterSpy's stylish combo of stealth and shooting are worth a playthrough, but after it leaves its sneakiness behind, it's a sub-par cover shooter that's half as fun.

It has all the elements to be a success, but if fails to mix them properly. The concept is original and we think it deserves a try, but it's a shame it doesn't get it right.

CounterSpy is a stylish game with wonderful art direction and a humorous tone - it's just let down by a few sneaking flaws.

While CounterSpy is an excellent game in theory, it simply falls short. Featuring some cool ideas, it is a rather quick indie stealth game that doesn't live up to expectations.

The core gameplay of sneaking, assessing the situation, downing enemies, disabling cameras, pilfering plans and occasionally snapping necks is great fun. Setting up a string of sticky bombs for a connect-the-dots series of explosions is especially satisfying, but delights like these are weighed down by CounterSpy's random structure and, in particular, its "more more more" approach to difficulty.

CounterSpy just doesn't have enough content to sustain its initial premise. Give it too much time and attention and it'll bore the living daylights out of you.

If CounterSpy doesn’t look like the kind of game you’d want to play, don’t. Even for indie fanatics it’s missable, though I doubt you’d want to give up the visuals or the procedurally generated levels.

Its interesting polygonal graphics spawn original PlayStation-era nostalgia, but its archaic shooting mechanics feel just as dated. The campy dialogue should provide players with a few smiles, but there simply isn’t enough of it.

CounterSpy nails its style. The angular art, the tight animation. Even the 2.5D cover mechanic stuff, the over-the-shoulder shooting, looks cool. But there is a weird tonal inconsistency to the whole thing that leaves it feeling unfinished despite the polish.

Hampered by inconsistency and a lack of depth, CounterSpy ends up being painfully average, though it does at least have some good ideas, particularly its player-controlled campaign pacing. [Issue#248, p.70]

Counterspy promised much more than what it actually delivers. Its visual design is mesmerizing, but gameplay wise it can be disheartening.

One might be quick to dismiss CounterSpy as nothing more than a half-broken stealth game, but you’d be remiss for doing so. I for one prefer to look at it as a half-working stealth game, one that has passion and enthusiasm where it counts. Dynamighty may not have hit a home run the first time around, but based on the love of the medium of the team there, I wouldn’t count them out just yet.

Despite its seemingly vanilla exterior, CounterSpy is a remarkably ambitious title. It makes an admirable attempt at creating a new kind of 2D stealth game, but unfortunately the results just aren't particularly compelling. While its presentation is dapper and divine, its gameplay is clunky, and the whole experience gets tiresome very quickly.

CounterSpy has two faces. Its presentation, its look and sound, is a victory hard to ignore. But its interactivity is ugly enough to make for an unfortunate pairing when the balance is measured.