Rats - Time Is Running Out

 
Developer: Citeremis Inc.
Released: Aug 2015
Hours Played: 2.9
Similar To: Dynamite Jack / Robbery Bob / Spy Chameleon
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Rats - Time Is Running Out is a stealth game that has clearly taken its cue from earlier titles such as The Marvellous Miss Take and Spy Chameleon that came out a year before it. Likewise, in top-down view, Rats has you sneaking around rooms and corridors with the goal of taking precious items that don't belong to you. The usual mechanic of patrolling guards makes an appearance as does their policy of chasing you down and fighting you should you alert their attention by crossing their line of sight. In Rats, your main goal is always to steal the blue crystal and then to head for the exit before the time runs out. Unlike the more cautious and circumspect angle required in Robbery Bob, as its title suggests Rats - Time Is Running Out is characterized by its race against time that abounds in every level.     

BALANCE & PACE

With its 2D art-style and cartoon-like appearance, Rats has a more arcade-like feel than the games mentioned and plays out more like Spy Chameleon than any other. With up to six objectives such as: collecting all coins, collecting the diamond,  collecting a key and picking up the cheese - you'll be under constant time pressure and a big fat evil teddy bear will chase you down and beat ten tons of crap out of you if the clock runs down to zero. Thankfully, inventive level designs and interesting power-ups keep the experience interesting: alarm clocks add vital seconds to the timer while fighting takes time off; well-placed tiles and keys unlock doors; yellow cheese gives you a speed boost; blue cheese makes you invisible, and abilities such as turning into a typewriter, fire-boots and donning goggles to see secret areas make an appearance. 
     

PRESENTATION & DESIGN 

Although cartoon-like in appearance, Rats is designed with a well polished art-style that's reminiscent of 1930s America. The menus are also tastefully done in classy fonts but I was annoyed to stumble across the common problem of finding it difficult to navigate the level-select screen with an Xbox controller and having to resort to using the mouse instead. Odd features also mar gaining a full understanding of the game: time goals are confusing; objectives are not shown until after level completion; an objective with a build icon is left unexplained, and one tip that reads "The white cheese reverses doors, guards but also clocks effect on time..." left me baffled and confused. Three clicks and ten seconds to endure between levels also mean restarts aren't exactly instant. 
  

PROGRESS SYSTEM

R-TIRO employs a map system covering the city of Swine Island. There are six districts altogether with the first - Deer Broke Falls - acting as a tutorial area. Clicking on a district brings up the levels which are shown in the form of buildings with a title. Above the building icons, are shown up to six stars which light up or get filled in once its corresponding objective has been achieved. Objectives range from such things as collecting coins, keys, diamonds and cheese. Although icons are flashed up at the beginning of a level, the message they convey is ambiguous and I felt I only knew what the objectives were once the level was complete. Anyway, the basic idea is to unlock the districts by achieving objectives and collecting those stars.

CONCLUSION

Despite those minor design faults and the ambiguity of those hard-to-understand objectives, Rats - Time Is Running Out still plays well and rates as a pretty decent stealth game. This is because it takes the elements from already established games of the genre and builds well-crafted arcade-like features into it that work well. It's a game with quick levels that you don't mind messing up because you'll know you'll swiftly get wiser and use insights gained next time to crush the level - and even achieve more objectives. True, like single-player Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine, you can rush through and brute force some levels - not a good thing in my book - but you also know you'll not get rewarded with stars and like Robbery Bob this is definitely a game you'll enjoy and care enough about to want to get those extra stars.  

 

Spy Chameleon

 
Developer: Unfinished Pixel

Steam Release: Jun 2014

Hours Played: 2.8

Similar To: Marvellous Miss Take / Monaco / Rats - Time Is Running Out / Robbery Bob

Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Like similar titles of this ilk such as Dynamite Jack and Robbery Bob this top-down stealth number adds a time-attack element to proceedings. However, with its fast-paced arcade-like gameplay, it's more in line with the little known Rats - Time Is Running Out. While taking control of a two-legged chameleon with anthropomorphic qualities, you enter rooms from a small vestibule and attempt to arrive at the exit door without getting spotted. To do this you must avoid mechanical searchlights that sweep areas with their conal light. These are fixed or attached to moving mechanisms that follow patterns. The main USP of Spy Chameleon though, comes in the form of a colour-switching dynamic where you can change into one of four colours to blend in with a corresponding rug or floor and to thus avoid detection from the lights.

BALANCE & PACE

There are also three secondary objectives to aim for in each level: (1) collect all the flies sprinkled around; (2) collect all tricky-to-reach ladybirds and (3) complete the level in the par time. Completionists will generally tend to go for these in separate runs. Like most top-down stealth games, it's about studying patterns of movement, anticipating where the opening opportunities lie and then carrying out your plan without getting detected. Your character is responsive and smooth to control and with the four colours corresponding to the yellow, blue, red and green button on you Xbox controller this is by far the best way to play the game. As mentioned it's fast-paced with levels coming at you thick and fast but unfortunately restarting is not instant - you'll need to wait for the five second intro to run its course each time.   

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

Unfortunately, the same amount of care and attention that went into making the main game has not gone into the design of the menu screens. With mixed fonts and font sizes that don't quite gel, these menus look a tad cheap - and it comes with one of the most plain and boring leaderboard pages I have ever seen. Thankfully, the music and sound-effects are not too bad. The start-screen features a shuffling spy-tune that suits the mood and you are rewarded with a buzzing riff on successfully completing the level. The levels themselves come with a small store of tunes randomly chosen.

 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

Spy Chameleon scores extremely well with its progress system as it keeps you well informed in many different ways. First off, the game is divided into five unlockable missions with each containing 15 levels represented by squares but you basically complete 75 levels one by one. Beneath each square are three icons showing if you have completed the challenges: a fly to show all flies have been collected; a stopwatch to show the par-time has been achieved and a ladybird to show they have all been collected. The game also records your best-time and gives you a global rank on its online leaderboard. Finally, after successful completion, you get a stat screen showing how many of the challenges have been done along with your best time and rank.  

CONCLUSION

If you want to try a decent top-down stealth game with an arcade coating, then I can't think of many better than Spy Chameleon. The levels themselves are well varied, the difficulty curve rises at a pitch-perfect rate and the overall pacing is spot-on. There are also regular checkpoints that can be activated at just the right locations which eliminates the need to do large chunks again. There are also other mechanics not mentioned above like nudging fish searchlights to make them swivel round and sliding objects which cast shadows acting as safe-spots. The game can be enjoyed both for its time-attack element or for simply completing levels one by one. Retailing at the price of a pint of beer, there is plenty to enjoy here with very little dent to your wallet. 

 

Puzzles

Like arcade games, this section proved quite hard when finding the right fits for the category. However, two disernable types arose: the first consisted of arcade elements where a response to moving NPCs or objects was necessary. Stealth style games such as Dynamite Jack, Rats-Time Is Running Out, Robbery Bob and Spy Chameleon were the obvious cases in point but Control Craft 2, Gravity Ghost, Plants Vs Zombies and Spirits are also prime examples leading to some who might call these "action-puzzlers" (a close relation to some of the more thinking-person's arcade games). Then there is the classic-style where you're looking at a static screen with little to no movement going on. These games, such as Blockwick 2, Hexcells and Quell require a more leisurely and ponderous approach to problem solving and tend to mirror the mindset used when completing puzzle books.

   

 

Robbery Bob: Man of Steal

Developer: Level Eight AB
Steam Release: Oct 2015
Hours Played: 2.6
Similar To: Monaco - What's Yours Is Mine / Rats - Time Is Running Out / Spy Chameleon
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
For better or worse top-down stealth games aren't rife in the Steam store at present but what there is of them and from those I've played, they're mostly solid and entertaining. On the one hand you've got the super-slick and well-produced ones like The Marvellous Miss Take and Volume while on the other you get the cartoon inspired variety like Rats-Time Is Running Out, Spy Chameleon and this one. In Robbery Bob, the same principles apply as in the other two: you creep around rooms taking what you shouldn't while staying out of sight of patrolling guards and cameras. Studying the pattern of movement, anticipating where the safe spots are and making dashes hither and thither is part of the routine. Get spotted and a small chase ensues where you'll either get caught and restart or run and hide but take a hit when receiving awards. 

BALANCE & PACE
You can purchase permanent upgrades to one of four attributes like speed and stamina between levels with your stolen cash. Alternatively, you might like to buy a gadget or toy to distract those with prying eyes or who get in your way. Throw in the ability to hide (ninja-style) inside bushes and toilets etc plus setting off distracting alarms - and it all adds up to an extremely well done package. Rooms light up as you enter and question marks appear to show where guards are heading. You may also choose to play with a complete lack of time-pressure or any type of time-attack feature at all. This means that rather then feeling rushed and having to administer moves quickly in arcade-like fashion, you can sit back, review the situation, sip a glass of wine and strategise in a calm and relaxing manner.
 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
Our man Bob is not evil, he's carrying out these break-ins under duress by unsavoury characters. Despite this, the world he inhabits and the rooms he sneaks around in are extremely colourful. You may zoom out at the touch of a button so a fuller picture and a cunning plan of action can be better carried-out but be warned - time does not stop and you cannot move while in zoomed-out mode. Inhabiting these buildings are also colourful characters who, as in most stealth games, happen to be incredibly stupid; they patrol areas in predictable patterns and stare into space motionlessly for eternity. Some sounds, as you'd also expect in a stealth game, have been enhanced for effect such as the creaky doors and the barking dogs. Additionally exclamations from some of the guards, as you're discovered, triggers a scarey "you've been caught" noise.

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Progress in RB is clear, transparent and uncryptic. There are three chapters in the main game entitled Suburbs, Downtown and Secret Labs. These appear as postcards on the start-screen with a percentage indicating how much of each have been completed. Each has a campaign map with a path of 15 circles to represent the 15 levels within. Three awards are given for each: a guard's head to show you were undetected; a sack of coins to show you stole all the treasures and a clock to show it was completed in the par-time. The latter award may contradict what I said earlier about the time-factor but I think most players will be happy to complete levels. In addition the game comes packaged with a further seven bonus chapters all with 15 levels in each. 

CONCLUSION

With the seven extra chapters giving the usual three awards for each level plus a score and an online rank, the game has bonus content that's well over twice as large as the main game itself which makes replay value enormous. However, the game stands up very well for generating the right stealthy atmosphere through its sound and visuals. My only reservation is that because the game requires such intense concentration, the sound triggered for getting caught may be too shrill which can genuinely make the player jump - and I'm still undecided if this is a good thing or not. Perhaps it could have been softer or more subtle. Additionally, for those speed-running for par-times, it may have been useful to include the option of having a countdown timer or clock to show how the player is doing.