STACK Aug #154

FEATURE GAMES

League of extraordinary Gentlepeople

Volition, the developers behind Saints Row, are back with a new franchise spin-off – Agents of Mayhem. Words Alesha Kolbe

While AoM exists as its own game – set in a futuristic Seoul, South Korea – you’ll still see some faces you recognise. Take Persephone Brimstone, referenced only briefly in one of the potential endings of Gat Out Of Hell DLC , or PierceWashington, first introduced in Saints Row 2 . And of course, the needs-no-introduction Johnny Gat himself. gat out of town

A n open-world action game, Agents of Mayhem features 21 Agents of, uh, MAYHEM – the Multinational AgencY Hunting Evil Masterminds. It’s the agents’ job to destroy LEGION – the League of Evil Gentlemen Intent on Obliterating Nations. As an agent, you're tasked with taking to the open world (with two other interchangeable agents – more on that later), to conquer missions and defeat the LEGION. STACK was recently lucky enough to go hands-on with Agents of Mayhem in Sydney, and first impressions prove it’s undoubtedly a Saints Row universe game; from the character and art design to the trademark witty humour, it has Volition written all over it. Entering a level partway through the game, we were given a quick rundown on the controls: D-pad to switch agents, triggers and bumpers to shoot/use abilities, and so on. Each agent has their own unique kit and play style, so you’ve really got to play them all to find out which one/three work best for you. Starting out in your base of operations known as the Ark, you can elect to do whatever you want from there; our chosen mission involved hunting down a member of LEGION by driving (which handles really well, by the way) around town, following clues. Our three agents were Rama, Joule, and Hollywood. Rama was easily the favourite; a ranged markswoman, she's the

Meanwhile, the level of customisation

Switching between your three squad members is a good way to keep momentum flowing

available in AoM is staggering – Agent

skins, weapon skins, vehicle skins... and

that's without even touching on the technical augmentations available. You'll need a lot of free time. The dialogue – in particular the toilet humour – is stand- out, and a great way to tie the game back to Saints;

Worth noting, too, that the open world you exist in when not doing missions features a mechanic similar to GTA police; LEGION forces will respond to your actions in real-time and send out bigger and badder reinforcements to shut you up. Full of self-aware humour and easy-to-grasp gameplay mechanics, Agents of Mayhem is a crazy

only agent with a bow, and landing headshots is

extremely satisfying – so much so that we almost missed our flight back to Melbourne. Switching between your three squad members is a good way to keep momentum flowing within the game, and you could conceivably spend hours working out a good team dynamic.

the voice acting is genuinely good. Many of the character skins and voice-lines are heavily pop culture-inspired, so be sure

amount of fun. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...

to keep an eye out for references that even Steve Rogers would understand.

• Agents of Mayhem is out Aug 18

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24/7/17 3:23 pm