CounterSpy is one of the best games I’ve played all year. Simple as that.
Set in the Cold War era, you’re a spy with the C.O.U.N.T.E.R. agency, infiltrating missile bases in America and the USSR alike – though technically, the nations aren’t called that – in an attempt to disarm nuclear weapons that threaten to wipe out major population centres.
Seriously guys, this is like Metal Gear Solid at its finest, but without all the over-the-top dialogue and stupid cardboard boxes. As the agent, you’re armed with a variety of stealth and loud-but-deadly weaponry in order to clear through randomly-generated, side-scrolling levels. Affiliated with neither nation, you can choose to spy on either the USA or the USSR, gathering dossiers, blueprints and all-too-important launch plans. Said launch plans are the lifeblood of the game’s campaign; you need to gather a certain amount to kick-off CounterSpy’s endgame, ejecting all warheads into space and finishing the Cold War once and for all.
Both nations’ DEFCON counters begin at level 3 and your goal is try prevent that level from increasing to 1. If unsuccessful, you’re fighting against a literal Doomsday Clock that counts down until nuclear devices devastate North America and Eurasia. Each DEFCON level has a finite amount of ‘spotted’ damage that you can take; you can’t really correct it in normal play, save for isolating and sticking up special Officers to drop it by one whole level. Finding special formula plans also are super-important; one, unlocked and able to be bought and applied at the start of any infiltration mission, will take you down a much-needed extra level.
Obviously, stealth is highly rewarded in-game; headshots and isolated takedowns are utterly essential. All levels have ample cover spots that can help you sneak past enemies in the fore- or back-ground around you, or at least can provide a chance to catch your breath and reload if you decide to go in, guns-blazing. As is all the rage, facilities usually have a bunch of red barrels littered about, just asking to be shot and blown up. Therein lies the problem; blowing stuff up is fun, but is it worth it when you can just sneak around instead?
Each facility is represented by a map on your HUD that shows each room as a segmented cube; if others in that particular cube – clearly shown with on-screen indicators — can see you or hear you, they go on alert. You’ll also have to worry about dancing around security cameras… or, at least have to decide if you can afford to waste a silenced-pistol bullet to take out said camera. If spotted, and you don’t deal with whatever caught you fast enough, Captains will call into HQ and begin to raise the facility’s pesky DEFCON level. Dying also raises your DEFCON level by a whole increment, which the game says is far less realistic than actually getting shot and dying. T’is true, too.
As stated, if you blunder through a facility and hit DEFCON 1, things hit the fan. You’re given around a minute to rush through the entire map, regardless of where you are, and reach the end. Once there, you have to deal with any enemies there and have to hack into a final computer to erase every trace of your presence. Don’t worry: you don’t have some special mini-game to complete to do so; sometimes, just getting to the end of a facility is more than hard enough.
Each faction has its own quirks – the USSR side, while randomly-generated, seemed to have more linear paths and more baddies, which the US missions were more jumbled, littered with secret paths and chances for stealth. At times, the randomly-generated nature of the game really can screw you over. With some configurations, expect to enter a room and have about ten guards instantly spot you. On the whole though, the game is usually balanced and quite fair. The fact you can take a game between PS3 to PS Vita and PS4 via Sony’s cross-save functionality means CounterSpy is good for a night on the couch or a ride to work on the train.
Unlike Hohokum, which seemed to want to get by on charm alone, CounterSpy has charm AND gameplay. Its music will have you feeling like James Bond, if for some reason breaking into secure facilities wasn’t already doing that for you. The art-deco graphics are simply icing on the cake.
CounterSpy comes highly recommended.
