The Spy Who Shot Me (Switch)

Powah Dunk | January 24, 2024 | Review | No Comments

The Spy Who Shot Me, developed by Retro Attack Limited originally released on Steam back in 2019 and is currently sitting at a respectable “Very Positive” rating with consumers. Now it is released on Xbox, PlayStation, and the Nintendo Switch which is the version we will be looking at today. Grab your Machine Gun Suitcase, Press your best suit, and make mine a double, shaken not stirred, we have a world to save Agent.

The Spy Who Shot Me is a parody title, mimicking the likes of Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64, the classic “Boomer shooter” style FPS genre in general, and of course James Bond films in a style akin to that of Air Plane or criminally underrated comedy film Spy Hard, something that I felt the game did a fantastic job of leaning into in such a way the main character could have been Leslie Neilson and it would have landed the same.

Agent 7 is tasked with taking down the evil S.C.U.M network which is always up to no good, usually involving nuclear bombs and placing them in suitably evil areas or mines. While the main story is a paint-by-numbers Spy adventure it is the characters that make the story, if you have a love of James Bond you’ll be chuckling from the second you meet “Mother” to the credits.

The main star of this game is the writing and delivery of the comedy, the name is a little more than a parody in that it’s your main way of interacting with everything. Throughout the stages and HUB areas you can explore your main way of interacting with anything is to shoot it, some people will hide, and some will react in unexpected ways the same with the environment which has near Duke Nukem 3D levels of interactivity, including a Snooker Table because us brits don’t play Pool old chap!

The Spy Who Shot Me leans heavily into a 90s polygon look to it, it feels a lot sharper than the game it is copying in that it feels like it would have been at home on the original PlayStation rather than the N64 which didn’t seem quite as “Jagged” visually. Some of the stages feel empty and confusing whereas others seem quite well designed and lean into the parody of Goldeneye. As you progress through the stages you need to look out for your agent’s logo, when you walk over it the game will allow you to progress, it’s a strange way of progressing the stages for sure but it becomes second nature very quickly, again some of the stages are designed around this more naturally than others.

While the game has a distinctive “Goldeneye on PSX” look to it, the gameplay on the other hand doesn’t reflect that. Yes it’s a competent FPS game and that’s about the best compliment I can give it, the guns don’t feel well with limited feedback and the lack of them starts to show where the budget of this title is cut. It has a distinctly “Unity” feel to it where it makes the movement of classic Boomer Shooters and while it isn’t completely egregious, it doesn’t have that certain spark that made titles like Goldeneye so special to people.

The only major issue I found with the game is every stage always ends with a mad dash to the exit, most of the time this isn’t explained as to why, and on a few of the stages it is very easy to get lost and be sent back to the last checkpoint. The only other thing and I mentioned it briefly earlier is the mini-games, while they don’t stick around for too long there are a few that can be quite infuriating, especially when you just want to get back to shooting people.

The above doesn’t feel overly positive but it is worth noting that not only is the game less than £10 but it is a parody title, much like Eat Lead: Matt Hazard on the Xbox 360 only with better writing and more consistency. There are a few mini-games sprinkled throughout the surprisingly lengthy campaign but for the most part, the game feels like a basic FPS with a sense of humor, and the fact it doesn’t dip below “Average” actually works in its favor as it keeps eyes on the main selling point which is the writing and humor.

Alongside the minigames there are secondary objectives on every stage to complete and also icons to find in each stage and shoot, you can replay any stage or HUB area throughout the campaign and you gain abilities throughout which boost the replayability as some of the icons hidden behind areas where you need to jump for example, this ability is unlocked a few missions in when you get spring shoes.

The Spy Who Shot Me is a cheap and cheerful parody FPS with a certain market in mind, it’s not going to be the next “Big thing” and nor does it need to, instead it is a fun pallet cleansing romp with some brilliant comedy writing, fun gameplay, and genuine creativity. For the asking price, I would suggest you spend some time with the Spy and find out what you can do with your gun.