If you guys have played Hotline Miami, you can really say that this game- Mr. Shifty is highly influenced from it. You get to play as Mr. Shifty, a thief who possesses teleportation abilities which enables him to break through highly secured buildings to steal a plutonium core. There’s actually a plot for this game but it actually doesn’t show any importance. Basically, Mr. Shifty’s job is to teleport through walls and punch a lot of guys, by the way guys Mr. Shifty is only limited to three abilities; he can teleport to a short distance, he can super punch and pick up melee weapons which you can use when striking your enemies.
Mr. Shifty has lady boss (Nyx) who is going to be commanding him throughout the game, giving him advices to keep kicking ass just when something goes wrong. This boss is full of herself who keeps making jokes about how your gameplan is “certain death”. It actually adds to the game’s amusement, it makes you giggle, sometimes it just pisses you off, which gets away your focus on each challenge in the game.
The scenario of this game that makes this so wonderful and interesting is that you will need to deal with proximity mines, rocket-launching enemies, turrets, moving laser grids, and zones that hinder shifting. The fun factor of Mr. Shifty is that you can only plan so far ahead, especially in later levels. You can have the perfect game plan for how to deal with the first 10 foes in an area, but one of them might use a surprising new tactic and fuck you over- or more enemies might flood in, and then you suddenly need to adjust your strategy. when you are warping around–be careful not to use five warps in quick succession or else you’ll end up depleting your shift meter–for carnage will likely unfurl around you, and it’s up to you to corral your enemies while also being aware of any nearby hazards. this game feels very varied, even as you are performing the same actions repeatedly.
Mr. Shifty is a busy, yet challenging game, it makes you feel for a moment that the game is unfair but then checkpoints are really spread throughout the game so there’s no worry about losing a minute of progress. Some puzzles in the game don’t actually line up with the game’s usual scenarios, some solutions require specific AI actions and some don’t. There are lots of missions briefs are too uncommon that becomes a big problem. It gets a hold of you and makes you linger with your arcade for a little while just until you figure out a solution.
To be honest, Mr. Shifty, in terms of visual design isn’t really great, I mean to the point where most players can straightforwardly say that it’s not presentable. The game developers rendered everything simply, and especially the camera view, it’s on top view all the time. We can notice lots of performance issues whenever the screen is full of elements and other effects and that’s kinda frustrating. There’s actually a good a catch from experiencing these kinds of issues because it grants you time to plan your way out of a difficult level.
The game’s quite short, offering a few campaigns. Though the game’s performance flaws is what would make you not want to play the game, it’s the intense experience that gives it away. The game is actually fun and there are some levels that are pretty creative,. Although the theme never changes throughout the game, it’s the game’s idea that i dig. I love how the game requires a lot of thinking and improvising. Game music is also repetitive but it’s not really that big’a deal. You’d love how simple this game’s mechanic is but it gives you this kind of James Bond feeling.
Mr. Shifty is a game you’d play when you are bored or you just got no other game to play anymore. If you just wanna get those braincells working, give it a GO for this game.
Pros :
Creative level solutions
Simple yet challenging levels
Cons :
In game performance issues
Stagnant game theme
Score: 6.5
