Agent RX review: a sexy, sneaky, stealth adventure

So the guys over at Malaysia’s Undercover Entertainment really like 90’s era Metal Gear Solid. I know this for a fact because their new game,Agent RX could be renamed “Metal Gear Homage” and no one would bat an eyelid. In fact the subtitle to the game reading “tap-tical espionage adventure” spells out the developer’s ambitions to bring Metal Gear-style gameplay to the iOS. And you know what, that’s no bad thing.

Agent RX is a top down stealth action game. You take control of the super-sneaky and stealthy Agent RX who must must take back control of the the hijacked spaceship and neutralize interstellar terrorists. Now that’s a tall order, and to accomplish your mission you are going to have to dodge killer robots, break necks and out-manoeuvre sniper fire. If that doesn’t sell it to you, I don’t know what will.

Oh yeah, and despite artwork to the contrary, Agent RX is completely unarmed, so you do all of this using only your bare hands! Stopping a spaceship with fists? Now that’s badass.

Sexy as hell

The first thing you are going to notice is that Agent RX looks great. Sure the graphics aren’t the shiniest you’ve ever seen but it has a great feel to it. The cold grey metal, the bright red lasers, and the oddly shaped fire all hark back to an older, simpler time. Unsurprisingly, Agent RX looks a lot like Metal Gear Solid even down to the color of the walls. I’m also pretty sure than Agent RX and Sold Snake go to the same tailor, because there’s no way that those rubber catsuits are store bought.

I want one of these outfits

What’s most impressive about Agent RX is that it was made by a team of five guys. That’s right, five. That’s less people than there are on my frisbee team! It is incredibly impressive to see a game that looks so damn good come from such a small team. If nothing else, Agent RX shows what indie developers should be doing with iOS technology.

“Tap-tical” action

Playing Agent RX is remarkably simple because everything is done via the same control input: tapping. You tap to move, tap to kill, and tap to activate. Double tapping makes Agent RX run, single tapping makes him sneak. Any questions? I thought not.

It might sound overly simple, but it’s the perfect control system for iOS. It’s simple and almost impossible to make a mistake, so the game feels very slick and fluid. I have are a few gripes with the controls, mainly that Agent RX is completely incapable of moving around obstacles. If you tap on the opposite side of something, the world-class, spaceship-punching ninja will grind to halt. It’s a small thing but it takes some getting used to for the first few minutes.

Once you get the hang of it though, you will be running from cover to cover, diving into lockers, jumping out, and snapping vertebrae like a boss. Agent RX may not do pathfinding well, but he is quick, responsive and has no problem engaging in stealthy carnage.