Spyhunter, James Bond, Chase HQ and Outrun all have a certain spy espionage je ne sais quoi to them. They have style, class, and a chefs kiss of excellence when it comes to vehicle chases. Now we can add Agent Intercept to the selection. Its a high octane chase movie where you do the chasing and the villain takedowns in style.
Each level sees you take control of the Sceptre. It is a transforming vehicle that can be used on and off-road, on water and in the air. As chases progress, you’ll be flipping from terrain types in hot pursuit of timed goals or to smash or shoot enemy vehicles down. Agent Intercept is a pure arcade experience and it goes out of its way to entertain you. If the over the top plot doesn’t make you laugh then chaining takedowns and events to ramp up your boost meter will. It’s beautifully self-aware and wears its b-movie craziness on its sleeve.
Playing Agent Intercept feels rewarding and fun. You are always on an automatic forward motion but you’ll rarely stay at that pace as in order to make the time limits, you’ll need to boost. Boost can be acquired by collecting pickups, taking down enemies with weapons or ramming them (with no health damage to you) or by drifting around corners. You’ll soon notice that drifts keep your multiplier intact as if you don’t do something within three seconds of collecting something or destroying an enemy, the multiplier stops. You’ll quickly get into a pattern where straights are for boosting and takedowns, corners are showmanship. Everything feels fast and responsive and reminds me of arcade classics like CHase HQ and Outrun Coast to Coast.
Story mode is where you’ll start and it is straight out of a 90’s cheesy James Bond movie about missiles and saving the world. You and your team are thrown into impossible set pieces that made me laugh out loud and have a giant grin on my face as I drove up a missile that’s just launched into space. Who needs plot holes when you’ve got this level of fun to be had. The story mode can be completed in about three hours if you get the hang of the game but it is only half of the content. Side missions are then unlocked and they have just as much carnage and originality as the actual story mode itself – they feel like directors cut scenes from the story itself. I’m glad they are included as they were just as fun as the main story arc.
Progression in the game and side missions are tied to mission objectives. There are five per level and completing the level is only one of them. The others usually ask you to drift for a certain length, get a certain multiplier, take down X amount of enemies or beat a certain time. They stack but you’ll need to complete between half and two-thirds of them to unlock the final level in each of the three chapters in story mode. I didn’t need to backtrack but would have been happy to given just how much fun the game was.
I also appreciated the little details too. The story is almost fully voice acted. The graphics have a sense of speed and vibrance. The camera pans out to show dramatic flips and over the top cinematic events. Your vehicle the Sceptre is a beast and the game makes sure you know that at every turn. It is just pure arcade hedonism. Weapons could have been a sticky point but they auto lock on and so it is just down to you to fire them and focus on looking cool. Some might feel this takes away from the game and often I’d agree. Here is an exception to the rule. Agent Intercept is all about style and class and giving you the feeling of being invincible. I certainly felt that throughout playing.
Anyone who wants to enjoy five or six hours of some of the finest arcade octane thrills needs to get onto Agent Intercept immediately. It is one of the best slices of James Bond inspired driving I’ve had in years. Now if you don’t mind me, I’ll be at the bar with a Martini…
Review copy provided by Developer.
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