Spyborgs wants to be a beat ’em up with a twist. It wants you to feel like a secret agent, one with a team of allies at your back, each with a different skill. It mostly gets there, but the twist only goes so far.
The Team of Spies
Spyborgs lets you pick two out of three agents for every level. Each agent is built for a different kind of play.
- Clandestine, a former agent named Kuno Ichi, moves fast and deals quick blows.
- Bouncer, a heavy robot, moves slowly but hits hard.
- Stinger, a soldier with a mechanical arm, mixes gun fire with melee strikes.
The game is built for two players. If you’re alone, the computer takes over the second agent. You can gain experience points to make your agent stronger as you go.
The Wii Remote Idea
This is where Spyborgs tries to stand out. The Wii Remote controls everything, and the idea is that you can make special moves by moving the controller in the right way. You can also play with the buttons on the Wii Remote instead.
The motion controls work well enough when they’re simple. A quick flick of the arm gives you a rush attack. A turn of the controller gives you a spinning strike. The problem is that the controls are slow to react and get in the way when you’re surrounded by enemies and trying to time a move.
That’s the main problem with Spyborgs. The motion controls are meant to be the hook, and they do work, but they are not built for quick play. You’re often better off turning them off and using the buttons instead.
Level Design and Feel
Each level is full of enemies, and the three agents do different jobs against them. Clandestine’s quick strikes work best against a crowd. Bouncer’s heavy blows take down bosses. Stinger’s gun arm keeps enemies at a distance.
The levels themselves are short and easy to finish. That isn’t always a bad thing, but it also means Spyborgs doesn’t ask much of you once you’ve learned the controls. The game is at its best when you’re fighting with a friend, using two agents together and watching the screen fill with strikes and hits.
On your own, the game gets dull fast. The computer’s agent isn’t smart enough to make up for your own mistakes, and you end up doing the same attacks over and over while the enemies keep coming.
Where It Falls Short
The motion controls are the biggest problem, but they’re not the only one. The levels are short and they repeat themselves. The three agents have different skills on paper, but in practice they feel close enough that picking one over another rarely matters.
The game also leans too hard on its hook. It’s made for the Wii Remote’s motion controls, and when those controls get in the way, the game doesn’t have a strong enough foundation to fall back on. It’s a beat ’em up that depends on a control scheme that often fails, and there’s no real depth beneath that scheme to carry the game when it does.
Spyborgs is a small game with a clear idea. It’s a beat ’em up built around motion controls and a team of secret agents, and it mostly succeeds at what it sets out to do. But the controls are the weak point, and they keep the experience from being as good as it could have been.
It’s a game you can finish in a sitting or two, and it’s one you’ll likely forget about soon after. There’s nothing here that will change your mind about the beat ’em up genre, and there’s nothing here that makes the motion controls feel necessary.
That’s why Spyborgs scores 5.1 out of 10. It’s a pleasant, short game when it works, and a frustrating one when it doesn’t, and the two sides never quite balance each other out.
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