Back in November of 2012, a peculiar game called Stealth Bastard made its appearance on the PC. Apparently its review was so well-received that it sneaked its way over to both the Playstation 3 and Vita thanks to Curve Studios. Now we get to see this game titled Stealth Inc: A Clone In The Dark as it offers its 2D platforming fun complete with challenging puzzles. You’ll be avoiding obstacles and figuring out ways to safely escape numerous rooms. But beware as the game can be mighty difficult and thus will put your patience and perseverance to the test.
Stealth Inc presents itself as a dark and eerie atmosphere filled with dangerous weapons and implements of death. The colors are pretty vibrant and solid with plenty of stimulating graphics and details on screen. Whether on the big screen or the Vita’s OLED, Stealth Inc gives off a good vibe visually. The lighting effects along with the shading gives a good balance of darkness and excitement. The animations from the characters and the lasers run at a constantly smooth rate.
A nice touch to Stealth Inc are how the messages appear in the background. They actually help with your mission. But they also blend in quite well without obstructing your view. The sound effects are pretty standard and do their job while the soundtrack fits well with the game’s environment. Sometimes, the music does get a bit repetitive, but there are other tracks that can be quite catchy and fun to listen to.
Stealth Inc has plenty of content considering that there are 80 levels in total. Each will have you controlling your character in a 2D platforming fashion as you try to hack some terminals in order to unlock the necessary doors to escape. When you begin, you’ll find the game to be really easy, but this will change drastically soon enough as more types of traps start appearing. At some point, you’ll be stuck as you watch your character get wiped out one life after the other. Considering the degree of difficulty behind Stealth Inc, you’ll be performing a lot of trial and error as you come up with possible solutions. It can get frustrating to the point that you may want to shun away from the game. But for those who are up to the challenge, it may have an opposite effect and induce you to play the game even more despite the insanity.
There will be many moments of instant death. Luckily the controls are standard and easy to figure out. Movement is quite responsive and accurate while the face buttons pertaining to the necessary action are laid out in an appropriate fashion. This is important since precision is key especially with your jumps. If you don’t time your actions correctly, you’ll be spending even more lives with this frustrating moment.
As you progress further in Stealth Inc, you’ll face new elements such as robots equipped with lasers and sensors that can activate traps. Because of these, you’ll need to come up with different strategies and approaches to your platforming skills. Regardless of what obstacles you’ll face, it’s never a dull moment with every level that you encounter. The level design is unique for each and will really exercise your brain power.
But it’s not all gloom and doom here. You will come across some helpful items and gadgets that will help you get through the gameplay behind Stealth Inc. However, you’ll need to earn them by fulfilling certain criteria such as completing a mission within a certain time limit. You can even unlock certain suits that will give you a kickback temporarily.
At the end of the day, Stealth Inc offers some good challenges coupled with an effective implementation of graphical and audio effects. While some players may rage quit from such difficulty, that doesn’t go without saying that the game has some replay value. With Stealth Inc: A Clone In The Dark being available for purchase at the Playstation store for $9.99, you’ve got a great deal here especially when you get both the PS3 and Vita versions for one price! Try to sneak this game in to your library if you enjoy the stealth type of games.
