Level 22: Gary’s Misadventure

Freebie Feelers is a series where we download the free monthly console-specific or newly released free-to-play games to test their worth.This series will contain some useful information as well as plenty of personal opinion. While these articles may not be reviews, we hope that you will be able to use them to help decide whether that free download is worth it.

What is it?

Level 22 is an interesting concept. Most stealth games tend to put you in the shoes of a spy, an assassin, or some other kind of militia. This title bucks that trend by instead giving you the opportunity to play as a bloke called Gary who’s been out on the piss, and is late for work. He’s trying to avoid getting fired so his only option is to sneak in and hope nobody notices his absence. As a man bearing that name who tends to be a little slack with regards to my timekeeping (just ask my editor how long this article took), this seems a perfect example of art imitating life, and it was clear that I was destined to cover this title. Also, no other bugger at GameGrin has a Vita and PS Plus.

What did you think?

Subtitle

The first thing that struck me about Level 22 was the style. It’s a very retro themed game, but rather than the now-ubiquitous 2D pixel art, it takes an isometric approach. Characters in the game fall into the category of “kind of two dimensional, but not quite”. The final result is that they end up looking a bit like human-styled scotch pancakes and it’s quite a nice aesthetic, giving the game something that makes it a little different.

The mechanics are pretty simple; you’re sneaking around the office, trying to get to the titular 22nd floor without anybody spotting you. Along the way you’ll use newspapers, doughnuts, cupboards, and of course cardboard boxes to hide yourself. Despite the simple mechanics though, it’s super tough, and its retro charm is supplemented by a vintage gaming approach to difficulty.

Is it worth downloading?

Absolutely. The Vita is slowly becoming a home for visual novels and hentai, so anything that does things a little differently is worth getting a copy of. This is also a great title for mobile playing; being split into small, easy to manage levels makes this a perfect match for the Vita. It’s a really fun little indie game that I’d happily recommend at full price, so at no price at all in August's PS Plus freebies, it’s a shoe-in.