I’ve mentioned in the past that making a retro-themed game that actually succeeds at looking and feeling like it was from the time it was emulating is really hard. Not every retro game can be like The Messenger or Shovel Knight, or even smaller titles like Cavern of Dreams. When you fail at that, the cracks are very apparent. The issues with it become even easier to notice. Case and point, let’s talk about a weird little retro-themed shooter called The Spy Who Shot Me, originally released on Steam in 2019, which has finally received a handful of console ports five years later.

This is a first-person shooter in which you play as Agent 7, a spy working for MI69. You can quickly realize two things: this is clearly trying to spoof 007, and the level of humor and jokes we’re gonna get in this game is low enough to make Borderlands 3 sound like a Mel Brooks classic. As for the retro aesthetics I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph, you may think this game tries to resemble GoldenEye, but I’d say that’s wrong. Whether it was the dev team’s actual original intention, or maybe such a massive miss that ended up being somewhat right in a bizarre kind of way, The Spy Who Shot Me‘s visuals reminded me a lot of The World is Not Enough, the other 007 shooter for the Nintendo 64, which is also pretty good, though not as fondly remembered.

The Spy Who Shot Me‘s level design feels nothing like GoldenEye, either. Too much voice acting and a less arcadey control scheme reminded me even more of The World is Not Enough. The objectives felt somewhat mundane; due to the limitations in the game’s gameplay, levels can summarised as going down some corridors, collecting floating icons which will unlock a door, which will lead you towards the next icon. Every now and then, you might need to rescue hostages (by shooting at them) or collecting documents (also by shooting at them).

In between these riveting action set pieces, there are lots of enemies to get rid of. Oddly enough, the first few levels are fully comprised of foes WITHOUT guns. They prefer to hit you with wine bottles or wrenches, which I thought was hilarious, considering the first few missions were set inside the White House during a hostage situation involving a nuclear device. Shooting mechanics are decent, in the sense that it feels good to down these suckas, but the aiming sensitivity never felt 100% ideal, no matter how often I’d pause the game and tinker with the game’s right stick sensitivity.

Other than that, I just somewhat enjoyed the presentation, which just barely resembled The World is Not Enough. It wasn’t very good looking, but there was some charm put into it. I can’t say The Spy Who Shot Me felt like a cheap cash grab. I did, however, eventually start playing it on mute, because its voice acting got on my nerves. It’s not funny. The protagonist barely sounded British. He sounded like a middle aged American dad trying to pull a Nigel Thornberry impression. Yes, he even says “smashing” every now and then.

The Spy Who Shot Me is an unpolished and unfunny take on Nintendo 64 shooters, but behind its boring puns and ultra-limited gameplay ideas, lies a cheap and harmless little game which can be enjoyed for a few hours on a single evening to satiate our never-ending hunger for retro-styled shooting action. Just make sure not to expect a lot from its level design or any revolutionary take on the source material. Play it, preferably on mute, have some fun, and then forget it exists afterwards. I’ve played worse.

 

Graphics: 6.0 It emulates the look of The World is Not Enough, and not GoldenEye. It’s not very good but it’s charming.	Gameplay: 6.5 The aiming sensitivity never felt completely adjusted to me, but the gameplay itself was simple enough. It’s not a particularly deep shooter, so there’s room for trial and error.
Sound: 5.0 The amateurish voice acting wouldn’t have been that big of an issue if it wasn’t for the constant barrage of unfunny puns.	Fun Factor: 6.0 It can be fun for a few minutes, especially if you’re looking for a nostalgia fix. It’s not very polished, and definitely not funny, but I’ve played worse.
Final Verdict: 6.0

The Spy Who Shot Me is available now on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of The Spy Who Shot Me was provided by the publisher.