Agent Intercept [Nintendo Switch] | REVIEW

I think anyone who played the classic video game Spy Hunter will feel a sense of familiarity from the get-go with Agent Intercept. Between its fast-paced vehicular gameplay that sees you speeding down roads and earning points whilst taking down enemies as well as the fact that your car can transform into a boat, it’s clear that the team at PikPok probably spent a good few hours with Midway’s arcade hit back in the day.

With its stylish and modernised twist on the formula, Agent Intercept is just as fun to play as the game that inspired it – even if the lack of depth can see the gameplay loop feeling a little formulaic after a few hours play.

Check out a gallery of screenshots down below:

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One thing that Agent Intercept has that Spy Hunter lacked is a full-fledged story, with the player taking on the role of a secret agent that has been given the keys to a super-vehicle known as the Sceptre. Your mission? To take down the villainous criminal organisation known as CLAW. There are plenty of fully-voiced interactions between characters as you progress through the game that push the story forward, and whilst it never goes all-out with its cinematic presence, it’s nice to have a little bit of over-the-top storytelling to keep players invested in the experience.

The action of the game keeps things pretty simple, with the Spectre itself taking an auto-runner style approach and automatically accelerating through levels. The player is in control of steering, boosting, and unleashing weapons, with boost and weapon pickups found across each level to keep them stocked up. There are plenty of enemy vehicles to take down along the way too (typically by smashing through them), though using the likes of homing missiles or a machine gun can be just as effective. You’ll also hit different types of terrain in levels that see your vehicle change form – not only do these transformations look great in-game, but they add an extra sense of variety and style to the action.

With levels having a linear approach, there’s not too much to worry about when it comes to exploration. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t perils to worry about though, with levels packed with obstacles to avoid (or sometimes speed over to give yourself some airtime), enemy mines to weave around, as well as incoming gunfire that can cause some serious damage. One early level sees you having to avoid machine gun fire from a helicopter for example, with the player having to be wary of both objects in their path as well as the blasts of bullets spreading across the ground. It can be pretty manic at times, but in a satisfying way that complements the gameplay and keeps the action pumping. I wouldn’t say Agent Intercept is a hard game at all, but it can be easy to see your health dwindle down if you’re not careful.

“It can be pretty manic at times, but in a satisfying way that complements the gameplay and keeps the action pumping.”

Players can earn points as they progress through levels, whether that’s by taking out an enemy, drifting by boosting across corners, weaving carefully between gunfire like a daredevil, or simply grabbing collectibles. It’s possible to get a multiplier combo going by constantly earning points in succession too, though some levels make this more difficult than others seeing as you’ll often hit sections of road with little to interact with. Either way, the scoring gives players a little something extra to work towards in levels, whilst hitting a specific score is typically one of your objectives too.

Agent Intercept isn’t a long game, with only fifteen missions to play through in total (and each mission isn’t especially long either). There are different objectives on offer that challenge the player to approach missions in different ways, but these are easy to complete naturally and typically might only take an additional playthrough of each level to unlock. You could easily be done with it in a couple of hours really, so it’s on the short side.

It works in the game’s favour though. Whilst highly enjoyable, the gameplay of Agent Intercept isn’t particularly deep, so it’s easy to see some missions feel a little bit repetitive as you progress further through the game. Whilst it does introduce a neat variety of environments (which all look vibrant and stylish) and there are some cool additional forms that the Spectre can take, the gameplay doesn’t really change up too much outside of a few set pieces. With the short length though, it never got tiresome or boring; by the time I started to feel the repetitive nature kick in, I had beaten the game and all of its objectives. It doesn’t outstay its welcome with padding and it ensures that the gameplay loop doesn’t get tedious, even IF you are doing a lot of the same things over and over.

“Whilst highly enjoyable, the gameplay of Agent Intercept isn’t particularly deep, so it’s easy to see some missions feel a little bit repetitive as you progress further through the game.”

Those who do want more will be glad to see some extra modes on offer though, including Side Missions that see you re-visiting previous areas to complete new tasks, Time Trials to beat levels as speedy as possible, Target Practice to show off your shooting skills, and Highscore Chase to compete against other players in a global leaderboard. There are unlockables to earn along the way too, so there’s no doubting that Agent Intercept offers plenty for players to do… if they want to.

I just found that I was done with the game after nearly four hours of play. Don’t get me wrong, I had a LOT of fun in that time and even enjoyed tackling the Side Missions, but doing a lot of the same things over and over again (as well as the auto-runner stylings of the game) did start to get a little bit wearing by the end and made the prospect of playing some of the extra game modes a little less appealing.

Developer: PikPok
Publisher: PikPok
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Website: https://pikpok.com/games/agent-intercept/