Logic Artists appeared a few years ago with the successful kickstarter and game Expeditions: Conquistadors which combined multiple genres into a very unique game experience. This time the developers are going in a completely different direction in an attempt to produce a unique co-op experience and from what I’ve played they are definitely getting there.
(This spotlight is based on the early access build of Clandestine. Screenshots and impressions may not match the current version. At this time there isn’t an exact date for when the game will be released but they are hoping for sometime in 2015.)
A Hot War:
The game takes place during the early 90s where after the cold war, someone is killing former operatives from both sides and it’s up to the team of Katya Kozlova and Martin Symborski to figure out what’s going on.
Katya and Martin make up a spy/hacker team where Katya infiltrates targets while Martin provides backup from a mobile command center. The pitch of Clandestine is that this is a hardcore stealth game. Enemies and the player go down quickly from a few bullets and your best bet is to take out guards one at a time.
Playing as Katya, you can equip her with weapons and gear before each mission to suit different play styles from pure stealth to run and gun. The game promotes that there will be different ways to play each mission in the full game but at the moment each mission is about taking out all the enemies in a given space.
With the current build, controlling Katya is a little clunky as the game wants you to use cover to avoid detection but the context sensitive action sometimes didn’t work or I got stuck for a few seconds when I was trying to get out. As you are taking out your targets, you can find intel and other items lying around that will improve your mission ranking and allow you to buy upgrades (this isn’t in the spotlighted version.)
The other side of Clandestine is what Martin does and how he really directs things from behind the scenes.
Hack Job:
Martin’s gameplay is all about providing backup and manipulating things from behind the scene. His UI takes the form of monitors of information that show the network, camera view and most importantly the floor map of the entire level.
Playing as Katya is all about traditional stealth gameplay and taking enemies out one at a time
As Martin, you can maneuver a virtual icon across the network to specific points to hack and use to aid Katya.
Hacking an alarm will allow you to turn them on and off to distract guards or hacking doors will get you the password needed to get around.
But Martin’s best use is providing knowledge on enemy movement and patrol patterns. By hacking cameras, you can detect enemies that will appear on your floor plan map, allowing you to mark them so that Katya can see them from anywhere in the level. You can only mark three guards at a time so it’s important to keep track of where the player is to provide relevant info.
You also have special back up options which include dropping off health and ammo, bribing guards to take them out of the action and more which the developers promotes will have a greater impact in the full version.
Martin’s hacking ability and purpose makes Clandestine quite different from other stealth games where the infiltrator is the one in charge. Because of Martin’s area awareness and information, the player who controls him is really the one in charge as Katya is not a one woman army. You really need to let the hacker do their thing to disable cameras and alert you to nearby guards.
This interplay of both characters makes the co-op a unique package and something that we haven’t seen before. Even the excellent Splinter Cell co-op mode featured two symmetrical characters whereas Clandestine is asymmetrical. For single player gamers out there, you can play Clandestine solo by switching between the two at the press of a button but the game is at its best with co-op. From what I’ve played with a buddy, the co-op interaction between Katya and Martin holds a lot of promise and could be one of the best up and coming co-op games around.
However coming is the important word as Clandestine is very much still in an early phase at the moment.
Lack of Intel:
The biggest problems facing Clandestine at this moment in time is the fact that the game is still considered alpha. As mentioned, the controls for both Katya and Martin are very clunky and could do with some streamlining. The stealth detection is still very basic with guards having unusual sight lines or not seeing dead bodies across the way. Regarding content, the game only has a few challenge maps with the story based levels not in yet, nor are there any other modes of play other than kill all enemies.
While Martin controls the pacing of the mission and provides important backup and info.
The developers are teasing the ability to manipulate situations using social engineering, but other than guards not being alerted in public areas there weren’t any other examples currently in the game.
The worse thing is that the game is not optimized at all and both my friend and I despite having computers that beat the specifications, had frame rate issues to the point of Clandestine becoming unplayable.
The developers are aware of this but they are waiting until more content is done before they go back over to work on the game engine so keep that in mind for anyone wanting to play this now.
Group Activity:
Clandestine may be rough at the moment but it holds a lot of promise for a very different co-op experience along with challenging stealth game play. My friend and I look forward to returning to Clandestine when all the bells, whistles and spy tools are fully integrated. And make sure to check back soon for my podcast with Logic Artists about Clandestine and more.
