Chris InglisDECEIVE INC. is a stealthy multiplayer FPS developed by Sweet Bandits Studios and published by Tripwire Presents. The game released on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on March 21 and blends stealth, subterfuge and gunplay wrapped in a shaggadelic 70’s spy cartoon aesthetic. As you unlock more of the eight total characters available, each with different abilities and weapons, you will be sneaking around undetected in plain clothes. Not knowing who around you are a player or NPC creates intense moments as you work to infiltrate a secure vault, disabling a terminal and extracting with the package.
DECEIVE INC. is set in a world where governments are prohibited from having their own intelligence services, which has led to a surge in privatized spy companies, including the titular DECEIVE INC. These agencies employ the best spies from across the globe, with each playable character having a distinct backstory and skillset to match a variety of different playstyles. Playing either solo in a 12-player lobby or four teams of three, we initially have a choice of three characters to play – Chavez, Ace and Squire. Chavez is a vanguard class that are well-rounded, self-reliant fighter and he uses a pistol. Ace is a tracker and she focuses on finding, singling out and hunting targets with a sniper rifle. Squire is also a vanguard and he has a silenced pistol.
We can then unlock five more through gameplay and with in-game money earned which gives good incentive to progress. I found the character models and maneurisms reminded me of playing Team Fortress 2 back in the day. It take a lot of getting used to the gunplay for each character, and I was thankful for the short practice time we get before a game launches with all players. The tutorial teaches you how to play in the three phases – insertion, infiltration and extraction. We start by blending in amongst the crowd as you collect intel from electronic devices like laptops and PDAs, and use them to unlock doors and containers for keycards or bonuses.
Different devices found around the environment and in drawers will offer varying amounts of intel, and the amount of intel you’re holding is indicated above a meter in the bottom middle of the user interface. It took me a fair while to notice this counter so I was just looting everything I came across. Security doors will be colour coded depending on the staff level access required. Green doors can be accessed by staff, so you will need to take a staff member’s disguise by running up to them and holding ‘e’, while not looking completely obvious.
To act cool and stay in your disguise, staff will do things such as watering plants or working at the bar. If you don’t have the correct disguise, other staff and guards will notice and blow your cover. When your cover is blown you change back to your original agent clothing and any other agents that see you will start opening fire. There are five security levels in DECEIVE INC. – civilian, staff, guard, technician and VIP. Guard rooms will have blue locked doors, technicians purple and finally VIPs are gold.
The higher the security level, the more risk of being uncovered, and the more chance that the NPC moving near you could be a player. On my first proper game after the tutorial, I made it all the way to a technician room which was right next to the vault room. I saw a technician standing at a table so ran over to grab their disguise, when all of a sudden they jumped, pulled out a pistol and blasted me dead. It was a player that was standing still as they must have seen me enter the previous room.
Not knowing who a player could be and who is just an NPC that moves like a player is where the suspense and sometimes confusion comes into play. Clearly there were some players that had mastered their disguises and knew how to look like an innocent NPC. But disguises aren’t just linked to fellow human characters. You can even disguise yourself as inanimate objects such as chairs, luggage and even a toilet! To do this though you will need to equip the holo-mimic gadget.
Other gadgets agents can use are the bounce mat which we use in the tutorial. This is useful for yourself to jump up to high places, but also can be used when escaping to bounce an assailant or two away from you. Then there’s the shield-brella and tripwires which are good defense and escape mechanisms. Remaining hidden and disguised is the name of the game, especially in the final extraction phase, and teamwork is key here if you can play with mates. I played majority of the game solo so it was much more stressful, but the couple of games I played with mates was great fun.
In the final extraction phase of DECEIVE INC., if you’re the one holding the package, your location is frequently pinged to other players. Also, if you sprint while holding the package, this increases the rate at which you are pinged, so it’s not just a cake walk out of there. On the flip side, being the package holders gives you the advantage of using intel collected to reveal all the remaining spies on the map. Then it’s a matter of holding down Q and picking the best of three extraction points and making it out of there alive. It’s a lot of fun but can be hard at first as you learn the tricks of the trade when it comes to acting disguised and knowing layouts of the four available locations.
Overall, DECEIVE Inc. is a heck of a lot of fun, made better when teaming up with your mates. The ability to take the disguise of anyone around you, as well as inanimate objects, makes this a suspenseful game of cat and mouse, all wrapped in a cartoony aesthetic. The characters are fun and reminded me of Team Fortress 2, though the gunplay took a bit of getting used to. I am keen to see how the game progresses from here but what’s already on offer is plenty of good quick fun.
#roundtablecoop
