After 2015’s release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, I was unsure where stealth games could go next. The AI, level design, tight controls, and a multitude of innovative changes to sneaking and shooting, made me vie for that game’s greatness like no other. I still consider it one of the greatest stealth games of all time, yet I’m still curious to see how other stealth games will adapt to its new conventions. One of the more recent examples is Alekhine’s Gun, a Cold War and World War II stealth shooter. Alekhine’s Gun tries to accommodate for it’s shortcomings in the wake of the aforementioned juggernaut, by also bringing new aspects to it’s genre. As good as these are, they don’t save the game itself.
After reading about the long and troubled development of Alekhine’s Gun, the more the game becomes evocative of wasted potential. It was supposed to be a spiritual successor to the Death of Spies series, which were well-received sleeper-hits in the stealth genre. But after four years of countless failed contracts and crowdfunding attempts, Maximum Games picked the title up, for in-house development. I’ve always held quite an appreciation for Maximum Games for due to their diverse and successful portfolio of projects, (such as the Sherlock Holmes, Golf Club and Divinity series) and I felt Alekhine’s Gun would fit this bill. Instead of hitting this mark, Alekhine’s Gun wildly misses it.
Gameplay:
Considering it’s a stealth game, Alekhine’s Gun lacks a proper sense of pace or direction. While the game does attempt to craft it’s own personality, the tiredly slow sections lesser it’s importance in the stealth genre. There’s not many hints at a sprint button, making some sections incredibly dull and unpleasantly distressing. The game also feels cumbersome, thanks to a lousily implemented control scheme. These in-differences make the game be torturous to anyone wanting a clean-cut experience. It’s at this point where Alekhine’s Gun starts to feel like a slap in the face.
On top of this, the game’s gunplay falls into the same undeserving trap. Cycling weapons is either really easy or complicated; the result of a half-baked D-pad control system. There’s also noticeable input lag in taking cover and shooting, rapidly increasing a players chance of death in what should be an easy firefight. Weapons also feel too derived from genericity, and with limited access to a silencer in beginning stages, using guns feels like a curse instead of a blessing.
Alekhine’s Gun does introduce a myriad of unconventional ideas that actually seem less witless than the shooting or movement. They don’t change the game drastically, but are a nice addition to what is otherwise a shoddy experience in both mechanics and design. These include a circular map system, and refined reticle and health mechanics. (So players can observe how many shots they need to take and where) While this does work in separating the game from the rest of the pack, the absence of quality still arises.
Plot/ Design:
Since Alekhine’s Gun is a historical game, it relies pretty heavily on historical artifacts and rich settings. The game accomplishes this surprisingly well with a wide array of eleven stages, each with their own properties, further supplemented by the two time spans the game takes place in. This is one of the game’s sparse and strong features. While the game lacks it’s own true identity, this adds a bit more to it in parts.
This is also present in the plot. It’s a typical story with high stakes and turns throughout, and sets a good precedent that isn’t present in the gameplay. I would have appreciated if the cutscenes gave more context to the numerous objective on each level, and it’s also a shame this wasn’t implemented with audio tapes and the such.
Lastly, the enemy design felt like it was split in the middle for me. They can be overly aggressive, and other times glitch out and not notice anything at all. Even switching clothes or hiding bodies doesn’t completely finish the job! With the enemies tending to go awry, it leads to a much more frustrating experience.
Presentation/ Sound & Visuals:
Another major issue at hand with Alekhine’s Gun is the graphics, lighting, and frame-rate. The graphics are noticeably abecedarian and rough, giving the game a major transition from cutscenes to gameplay. The lighting looks hastily put together from start to finish, leaving an overall artistic experience that leaves much to be desired. With an unpredictable framerate, (the game can take nosedives in combat, shooting, or even opening logos) the game doesn’t present well on a visual scale.
The sound somewhat alleviates these issues, but can come across as generic, far too often. The game uses the alert sound accordingly, but rustling through bushes or doing mundane tasks makes a substantial disparity. Sounds can also continue after death, making the game seem unfinished in this respective area.
Lastly, presentation is also all over the place. The game’s options grace a wide variety for all players, and difficulty options are specific instead of vague. Unfortunately, this isn’t as spectacular in gameplay, as saves aren’t as pitch-perfect as they should have been, and death menus being laughably unacceptable. This is another segment of the game that lacked the proper polish and caress needed.
Conclusion:
Alekhine’s Gun isn’t a poor excuse for a stealth game, but is more or less a poor stealth game. It has good ideas that are present and shine through, but these are compounded to mediocrity by it’s tired and faulty logistics, present in gameplay, design, and visuals. This is what makes it’s graces un-salvageable and the overall game more forgettable.
Alekhine’s Gun gets a 4 /10. (Bad)
We’d like to thank Maximum Games for sending us a code for this one!
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