Review: Agents of Mayhem offers lots of explosive action

Saint's Row developer Volition tackles an all-new IP in the form of Agents of Mayhem. The game offers explosive action set in the city of Seoul, South Korea.

Agents of Mayhem is different to Saint's Row, although it offers a similar tone of humour and wacky scenarios. Not to mention the cast of characters in this game are very likeable as most of them ooze charisma and personality.

The cast is one of the most diverse I have ever seen in a video game since Overwatch. There are 14 playable characters in total (two of them pre-order exclusives) and there is a healthy mix of ethnicities and genders represented here.

At the start of the game, only three characters are available. There's Hollywood who is a Johnny Cage rip-off. Fortune is a Hispanic version of Tracer from Overwatch while Hardtack is the muscular tough black guy. As you play further in the game, you can unlock several more characters including a ninja and an Indian assassin just to name a few.

The other refreshing thing about the game is the fact that it is set in a futuristic version of Seoul, South Korea. The city looks awesome with its fancy architecture. It's pretty to look at since most video games are set in only American cities.

In terms of the game's story, it's quite similar to the G.I. Joe series. You are a part of an organization called M.A.Y.H.E.M. (Multinational AgencY Hunting Evil Masterminds) and they have to stop the evil L.E.G.I.O.N. (the League of Evil Gentlemen Intent on Obliterating Nations) headed by the evil Doctor Babylon from overtaking the world.  Doctor Babylon is not alone as he has a huge army at his disposal plus several other comrades that serve as the game's main bosses. Each main chapter focuses on taking down one of the bosses until you go onto the next target. There is even a boss that seems like a parody of Justin Beiber and Milli Vanilli!

The humour and dialogue is where this game shines the most. Hollywood for example is a cocky actor while there was one scene in the game set in a Planetarium where all of the facts mentioned were about Uranus. The humour may not be to everyone's taste, although I liked it.

Gameplay wise there is a lot you can do in Agents of Mayhem. There is hours upon hours of missions that you can undertake. This includes main story content as well as several side missions where you can get to know the backstories for some of the characters.

The controls of the game are fairly easy to get used to as well. Many of the Agents in the game can jump really high in the air and can mow down enemies with ease. That being said, there is no cover system in the game so it plays more like an FPS than a third-person shooter.

In each mission, you can assign three members in your party. By pressing the D-pad, you can control a different character instantly. This is pretty helpful just in case one character is weak or losing health.

Speaking of characters, every one of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. It pays to have a balanced team and to level up whenever you can. As you further progress, you can get new abilities, weapons, vehicles to drive and more.

The main thing that prevents this game from being a masterpiece is the repetitive nature of the missions. There is no variety in the missions because you are pretty much doing the same thing over and over again. You are either shooting waves of enemies, hacking computers or destroying equipment.

The other thing that makes this game somewhat tiresome to play is the level design. There are so many missions that take place inside L.E.G.I.O.N's base. The base looks the same and there were times I thought I was repeating a mission due to the similar level layout.

There are also some missions where you have to take down enemy vehicles, although driving in this game is not too exciting. You do have a boost meter and you can drift, but driving doesn't feel engaging enough to feel exhilarating.

Even though I admire the fact that this game offers hours of single player gameplay, it's weird that Agents of Mayhem does not have a proper online multiplayer mode of any kind. This game could have easily had some co-op or competitive multiplayer modes to prolong the fun.

Anyway, Agents of Mayhem is a fun game that includes lots of action and many characters for you to choose from. It's enjoyable, although it may not be for everyone due to the repetitive nature of the missions.

Verdict: 7.0/10