Spy Fiction

This was an interesting experience to revisit. As a child, Spy Fiction was probably one of my favourite games. I can remember finding it intensely frustrating at times, but its unsettling narrative and general feel got under my skin in a major way, to the point where I recall replaying it multiple times over a period of a few years. It also had some quite distinctive moments that I still remembered to this day. Replaying it as an adult player in 2024, my expectations were set quite low, but I thought it might still be a fun experience nonetheless. This is probably a slightly overkill review, tbh, given the kind of game Spy Fiction is, but I've written it now, so I might as well post it.

My biggest criticism would probably be that, after now having played the Metal Gear Solid games (which I never did as a child), it's abundantly clear how derivative this game is of that series, and of spy fiction more generally (the first Mission: Impossible film, for example), to an extent that borders on plagiarism. It also doesn't really do anything that hasn't been done better in the works it takes heavy inspiration from. That being said, it was released one year prior to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which is surprising given how it pre-empts several significant elements of that game - the postmodern content, for example, with its pastiching of the troupes of mid-twentieth century, cold war-era spy fiction (something I've heard comes across more clearly in the Japanese original), or the mid-game jungle setting. Did Hideo Kojima take minor inspiration from Swery? Who knows. Nonetheless, there's no doubt that MGS 3 executes its similar elements better overall. Unfortunately, the game also inherits many of the worst qualities of the early Metal Gear Solid games as well, specifically the clunky, frustrating gameplay, convoluted writing, and an overall tone that too often veers towards adolescent cartoonishness. The first of these issues is arguably worse than in MGS in several places. There are multiple levels which have terribly designed moments in them, where the only way of progressing is basically just endless trial and error. It's also fair to say that the issues with the writing may in part be a product of the English localisation, which apparently makes a lot of inexplicable script changes, and leaves key elements unexplained or glossed over.

Despite all this, the game does still inherit some of the MGS series' positive qualities as well - its aesthetically arresting and auterish approach to narrative and film-making, for example. Unlike with Deadly Premonition, though, which had a more distinct and unbridled left-field creative vision that allowed it to feel distinct from its influences (namely Twin Peaks and Silent Hill), Spy Fiction feels more constrained by comparison, at least in its English language release.

As with all of Swery's games, it would be unfair to call this a work without earnest intent or a clear creative vision, and that alone elevates it to a degree. There's also something undeniably haunting about its overall effect. Perhaps I'm biased by the way it affected me as a child, but there you go. Taken as a whole, I'm not fully convinced I'd recommend Spy Fiction to anyone beyond the already initiated, but if you do decide to check it out, there's likely to be moments within that stick with you. That one pre-rendered cutscene with Forrest Kaysen and Lahder (if you've played the game, you know the one I mean) will always haunt me.