Blasting Agent Video Game Review

Blasting Agent is a Flash animation action platformer created by Newgrounds.com users Robert Lupinek (bitpimp) and Tim Hely (SeiferTim2). This action adventure was submitted to Newgrounds.com on December 30, 2009 and won a Daily 4th Place award on December 31, 2009. During the week of this article's publication, Blasting Agent was also given first-page status on Newgrounds.com.

Game Background

An international terrorist organization called the Black Hand of Fate is planning to conquer the world using biologically engineered soldiers and monsters. Secretly hiding away in the scorching center of a volcano, their army grows to a massive number. As the Blasting Agent, stop the terrorists and their minions of doom.

Gameplay

The objective of Blasting Agent is to fight through each stage until you reach the end of the game.

Throughout the game, you will encounter enemies that you can shoot at. You may also encounter gun upgrades. These upgrades include:
R: speed and range
S: spread
E: damage

There are also coins for you to collect along the way.

At the top-left of the screen, you will see the amount of health you have as indicated by the number of hearts you have. Hearts may be dropped by some defeated enemies and can be picked up by touching them.

Under the health indicator, you can view the upgrades that you have picked up.
At the top-right of the screen, you can see two large symbols, a skull and gold. Each will have a value next to them. To increase the value next to the skull, simply kill more enemies. To increase the value of the gold, collect more gold. A larger combined total of these two values will result in great rewards.

When you lose all of your health, you will lose and be given the opportunity to continue from where you left off.

Play through the game to stop the Black Hand of Fate.

Game Controls

Use arrow keys or WASD to move around.
Press X or J to jump.
Press C or K to fire.
Press your Escape key to pause the game.

Game Review

Blasting Agent is a mediocre action platformer that could do with some improvements. The highly pixelated graphics may be appealing to some but can be a little dizzying to others. The many stages, however, are a plus. The music is also a nice touch. What could really bring this game together, though, would be a clearer idea of what the goal is and what the different items do. Also, a game map would be a nice addition.

Blasting Agent scores a 6/10 for some degree of entertainment. Blasting Agent lacks the replay value that keeps players coming back for more.