(Vita) Blasting Agent: Ultimate Edition review

A fun little time-waster that offers nothing more than a blast of completely forgettable run ‘n’ gunning.

Developer	Axol Studio; Ratalaika Games
Publisher	Ratalaika Games
Franchise	N/A
Genre	2D Platformer
PSTV	Yes
Physical English	No

 

World-building & Story

Blasting Agent features very little in the way of plot – you play as the titular character as you infiltrate a terrorist organisation inside a volcano. While I might have been able to work this out from the locales, I didn’t – it was only from looking at the title’s Steam page after I played it that things clicked.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing – these type of run ‘n’ gun games typically don’t rely heavily on narrative and it was fun enough exploring the locations from snowy mountains to the inside of a rocket. I’d have liked a little more, but given the game’s length it makes sense.

 

Presentation & Sound

Despite little flourishes of graphical detail in some of its levels, Blasting Agent does very little to differentiate itself from a sea of other pixel art platformers available on Vita.

What’s immediately noticeable is the game’s environments – you start out in an outdoor area with snow falling and quickly progress to indoor environments full of tractor beams and interesting effects. Yet repetition soon comes in – you’ll see repeated tiles everywhere; un-inventive designs and a lack of detail. And then it’ll change back to being impressive again as you ascend a rocket, but the flitting back and forth is jarring.

Elsewhere, enemy designs are a similar mix – your standard foes barely stick out against the backdrops, but bosses are much better animated including a very impressive final boss (even if the true reveal about them is hilariously poorly hidden). It’s functional pixel art, but nothing more than this.

Sound is at least a little better featuring chiptune music that can be quite catchy at times and a variety of interesting sound effects. Sadly some of the loops from the soundtrack are repeated far too often meaning you’ll be sick of them after only a few minutes.

 

Gameplay & Content

Following a very traditional run ‘n’ gun formula, Blasting Agent provides a fun yet brief and ultimately forgettable experience – nothing about it is bad, but equally nothing it does really causes much to impress either.

As the agent, you’ll progress through six levels collecting coins and defeating bad guys. Levels are often straight runs from left to right, but begin to branch out into open rooms with multiple areas and exits – providing a slightly more open experience than it initially appears. These extra areas will include upgrades to your health or extra coins which are used for unlocking new skills if 100% are found (although the game gives you no indication this is the case until it happens and the skills are pretty crucial to progression).

The playable character is fairly easy to control, zipping around the screen and shooting at enemies with ease (and the addition of tractor beams to move between layers is a nice touch) – although I did run into a number of frustrations while playing. His inability to turn while shooting caused me a fair bit of grief, but the way he bounces off enemies taking damage (until you unlock the spike boots – which again is never explained to you) made me confused on multiple occasions. Certainly, Blasting Agent doesn’t do a fantastic job of explaining things.

After dispatching all the foes on your way and exploring until you find the exit, each level is concluded by a giant boss fight – these are generally very well handled, mixing multiple mechanics in with a great deal of spectacle. For example, you might have to run away from one while jumping on platforms to be able to shoot at his head; while others rely on simple pattern recognition. The second boss, however, is a poorly balanced mess that almost caused me to quit the game altogether – mixing RNG with just rubbish mechanics – it was surprisingly to see something so poorly balanced in the game, but nice that the subsequent bosses improve so greatly.

… And then it’s over. Blasting Agent is a very brief offering (reflected in the price tag) that’ll only take you an hour or two to see it all. After completion you unlock a new character as well as hard mode, but as this means replaying the same levels with enemies now buffed to be bullet sponges, I found myself tuning out of this pretty quickly. Considering how cheap the game is I can hardly say I feel ripped off, but I can’t help but wish for a bit more polish and a bit more content to make this into a true Ultimate Edition.

 

Conclusion

Blasting Agent is a run ‘n’ gun platformer that offers a short blast of enjoyment, but does nothing memorable enough to leave a lasting impression on the player. The lack of plot; serviceable graphics and frustrating gameplay elements mean this isn’t something I can really recommend, even though the cheap price point means you certainly won’t regret your purchase.

5.0/10