Agent A: A Puzzle In Disguise review for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One

If you were to watch the trailer for Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise, you might expect that it?s a jaunty, retro-fuelled spy game, where you?re solving puzzles and engaging in a cat-and-mouse battle of wits with an evil super spy. And, if you?re anything like me, you?re super-excited by the prospect of playing a game like that.

Unfortunately, Agent A is not that game. What Agent A is is hinted at right in its full name: it?s an adventure game with a bunch of puzzles, which are loosely tied together by a spy story that?s told through a couple of cutscenes here and there. It?s definitely got a sense of style, but when you get down to it, it?s basically all go to this room, get that object, go to another room, use the object to solve a puzzle, get a new object you can use back in the first room. Repeat that for a couple of hours, and you have a good idea of what?s in store for you here.

That, I admit, sounds much more negative than it probably should. Agent A is by no means a bad game. Indeed, the puzzles in has on offer are enjoyably varied, and require you to keep separate notes to help you keep track of important patterns and numbers. It?s all fairly linear and set in a fairly small environment, too, so even if there?s some backtracking, it feels reasonable enough (though make no mistake, you?ll be seeing a lot of the same rooms over and over again).

Plus, as I said, it?s a fairly stylish game. Notwithstanding my complaints about its somewhat misleading trailer, the score (which is silent far too frequently) and art all do a good job of evoking Saul Bass, which is what I assume they were going for.

Still, if you want anything more than a few nice-looking puzzles, you won?t really find that in Agent A. It?s a fine little puzzle game that you can fly through in five hours or so, but if you expect anything more than that you?ll be disappointed.

YAK provided us with an Agent A: A Puzzle In Disguise Switch code for review purposes.