In the
densely populated landscape of iOS gaming, spending a penny more than
absolutely necessary, can be quite a commitment. Good job, then, that
fiscally well-endowed tap-em-up Beat Sneak Bandit is a game with the
shelf life, art style, and just-one-more-level gameplay that will
turn it from something to kill time with, on your daily commute, to a
full-time obsession.
The
town of Pulsebury (that's right) is under threat from the maniacal
Duke Clockface. In a turn of events that probably should have been
foreseen, the Duke has made off with all the clocks, leaving the
townsfolk without any way of knowing when the hell it is. In order to
prevent the Duke's crazy conceit – using the clocks to whip up some
kind of time-freeze device, you'll don the mask of titular hero Beat
Sneak Bandit and his unplayable companion Herbie.
Beat
Sneak Bandit is a game of throwaway simplicity. At first glance, it
might appear as if little effort was ever required to sew together
the cogs and dials that are its make-up. The more time spent with
BSB, however, the clearer it becomes that, in truth, it is an
intricate network of precisely crafted interior components. Beat
Sneak's controls rely on simply tapping any part of the touchscreen
in time with the music, each press will move Bandit one step forward,
and hitting the screen's walled edges will cause him to flip around,
facing the other way. Each level offers a perpetually more awkward
array of potential pitfalls. Security guards, searchlights, and
hovering vacuums attempt to derail your progress, while manipulating
time-stopping levers, pressure-pads and teleporters properly, will
help smooth your passage to each, multi-tiered level's end. Every
note is relevant, should you fail a level, stuttering piano keys will
clunk to a halt. The timing of a portal, or the moment a security
guard will turn around, are all tied to the relevant musical note in
the track. The game forces you to learn the tune and time your move
based on audio cues, rather than what can be seen on screen.
Beat
Sneak Bandit is a bastion of accessibility and addictiveness. Each
level holds five clocks, scattered at various longitudes and
latitudes, each one collected just by stepping on top. Four of them
are entirely optional, you might choose to take the easy route,
ignoring some in pursuit of the larger, level-ending timepiece and
driving your progress forward. Each of the smaller clocks act as
collectibles, the reward for their successful assimilation, is the
unlocking of shadow stages at the end of each of BSB's four
level-heavy chapters. These deviate nicely from Beat Sneak Bandit's
bright, colourful, pitch-perfect pastel aesthetic, heavy with
head-banging background artefacts -picture frames and candlesticks
nodding along to the tune. These are replaced instead by stripping
away the bracken and smoothing it out with ice-cool silhouettes.
There
are one hundred ways to muck it up amid the mire of rhythmic
booby-traps BSB has on offer, one push too many might leave you one
step either direction from where you intended, and renavigating or
even restarting the set piece might prove the quickest option. In
spite of this, Beat Sneak Bandit possesses the caution-to-the-wind
enjoyment of games such as Super Meat Boy or Joe Danger. Restarts
might mean a longer haul back to your objective than these games, but
delivering a press-perfect passage through a given level, is more
often than not, just too juicy an offer to turn down. Beat Sneak
Bandit's real joy is one of discovery, moments after being confronted
by a fit-inducing canvas of flashing security lights and
teleportation devices, at a glance, seemingly impassable, you'll
afford yourself a self-satisfied grin as the rhythmic brick-road to
clocks four and five unravels.
Equally
impressive is Beat Sneak Bandit's sheer quantity of content. Four
chapters, containing ten stages with four shadow stages each, that's
fifty six stages. But wait, there's extra stuff too, without
spoilerising (not a word) proceedings, there's more. Even if BSB is a
relatively costly iOS experience, value for money is something it
does very, very well. Its not as if its more of the same, either.
Aesthetic, challenge, and audio, evolve nicely as each level passes.
The go-to funk of the early mansion stages is replaced by upbeat, yet
comically spooky echoes in the clockwork mansion's basement. The
static humming, and clinking of test tubes in the laboratory levels,
escalates into the whimsical tick-tock clock chimes, of the clock
tower phase, and the unlockable shadow stages pulse with
finger-snapping bass.
There
are very few gripes to be had with this game at all. To nitpick, the
music throughout is not for everyone, and while it stops short of
being the same, most of it plays out to variations of the same
eight-bar beat. There's not much in the way of story, either. That
said, Beat Sneak Bandit doesn't need one. Clock-loving extrovert
steals clocks, sneaky bandit steals them back, big fight, end. At
times, Beat Sneak Bandit can be merciless, too. Usually though, it
stops short of frustration, in spite of plenty of grimaced, wry
smiles.
Beat
Sneak Bandit is as unforgiving as it is self aware. At regular
intervals, you'll be invited to pick up the phone and exchange
dialogue with Duke Clockface – an unapologetic narcissist and
typical wealthy super-villain. At other times, you'll chew the fat
with your bandit buddy, Herbie. Aside from explaining the method
behind the madness in the early stages, Herbie drops in by phone,
every now and then, to offer some largely useless words of advice,
more often than not, he serves as a witty commentator on events, as
they unfold. From the opening frame, where he references the
collectible smaller clocks as something 'like in a videogame' to the
preamble to the end game, pointing out how it would be awesome if
there was a 'big freaking boss battle' around the corner. The final
fight in question is typically unforgiving, but stays true to BSB's
pause-for-thought dynamic.
All of
this is really just seasoning for, what at the centre of it all, is a
cute, simple, engaging, joy of a title to behold. All you'll need is
one thumb and a few minutes, actually maybe a few hours. It's more
than likely that Beat Sneak Bandit will go from your go-to on-the-go
game, to play-at-home game. From foot tapping on the train, to
racking your brain, Simogo's Beat Sneak Bandit is a stylised,
addictive, stealth-em-up, unlike anything creeping around your iOS
device.
Mecha
Score 9.0
