Level 22 Gary’s Misadventures Review

Moving Players releases its stealth em up game Level 22 Gary’s Misadventures on consoles and PC via Steam and with it comes some entertaining creeping around the office as you do after a night out on the town and being late for work the following day. That’s the unlikely premise behind the game. Gary has to sneak all the way to the top floor of his workplace to avoid being discovered that he’s late for work – punishable by firing from an over bearing boss. Along the way there’s lots to overcome and in some ways the game uses some of the stealth tropes we’ve seen in games like Metal Gear Solid.

Events begin fairly subdued where Gary can easily sneak past snoozing security staff or those dosing off at their desks on the lower floors. However, moving up the building and more deftly challenges await where there’s a more puzzle like flavour to the sneaking. Gary has to use various items to make headway here such as cardboard boxes to hide in, laxatives to add to the unsuspecting’s coffee and even the brown stuff to sabotage electronic equipment. It all adds up to distracting workers and security from their posts allowing Gary the chance to sneak past to the exit and onto the next level. At the end of each world there’s a boss character to overcome that’ll test your nerves and patience. The onus remains on defeating them without being spotted. It’s a clever game overall despite its basic looks and certainly features a plentiful supply of humour.

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Level 22 opts for a basic looking game with simple repeated characters and locations filled with office equipment and such like. The top down perspective works well although it’s hard to look around you as the viewpoint is limited. You’re able to pan the camera for a better view of what’s around you but this isn’t always helpful. Sadly the cheery music and odd sound effect is the only audio you’ll be privy to as the conversations between characters are text only which is a shame. There’s some neat banter between Gary and his helper Marty which could have been voice acted for greater effect.

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Whilst the game isn’t the longest experience out there, you’re able to replay any completed level and try to obtain secret items from locked safes or even find Marty’s collectible figurines. These often require moving into areas off the beaten track and feature added potential for being rumbled. The safe combinations are also pretty hard to spot as well making for an additional layer to the puzzling.

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Level 22 is a fun, tongue in cheek simple game that’s cheap on price (£5.59 on console) and engaging enough to provide some hours of entertainment for those who like a bit of stealth gameplay. Whilst it lacks the cool finesse of the games it emulates, there’s still an accomplished game here that’s likeable and well worth a shot.

Review code supplied by Microsoft Xbox.

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.