One badass ninja… robot.
Overview
Plain Sight offers two of the coolest things on the planet, ninjas and robots. It combines these into a sweet mix of death and destruction that involves a little strategy and a lot of chaos. Like most multiplayer-based games, the object in Plain Sight is to destroy the other players. To do that, you’re given two options: a katana and a self-destruct button. This simple premise doesn’t feel like much of a game, but these two elements create a unique experience that offers more depth than you’d think.
Level design is top-notch.
Killing an opponent causes your ninja/robot to change color and increase in size and strength while also making you an easier target for the other players. There is some strategy involved here because of this and it can turn the tide in a match if you manage the changes well. Killing opponents also earns you energy points that can be spent on abilities like shields, quicker explosion times, and “spider-sense” like warning signals. The catch is that you have to die in order to use those points.
Dying is normally a bad thing, but Plain Sight uses this idea unlike a lot of other games and instead rewards you for dying. In order to use the energy points you’ve accumulated, you need to blow yourself up in an attempt to take out other players in the explosion. Doing this earns you multipliers for your score and ultimately, it’s what will get you winning matches. Once dead, you use your points to purchase upgrades, get back in the fight, and blow yourself up again. It may sound repetitive, but taking out several players at once with a well-timed explosion always feels awesome.
You'll die like this a lot, but it's not so bad.
Gamers liking the chaos of similar titles like Super Smash Bros Brawl and Small Arms will notice some similarities in Plain Sight, but not much. The amount of craziness happening on the screen at one time easily trumps the two titles I just mentioned. Mix in more than four players along with each levels own effects and it can be hard to follow everything going on. The cartoon-like design and feel of the characters and levels makes it easier to keep track of things, but newbies might be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff occurring on screen.
The standard multiplayer modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag found in similar games make an appearance here. In addition to that, there is the incredibly unique Ninja! Ninja! Botzilla! mode which outfits one player with a flaming sword and Godzilla mask. Beating Botzilla grants you the same abilities until you’re in turn defeated. There are 13 unique levels with moving and changing platforms and physics. Each level offers 20 player support for each of the modes.
The chase is on!
My only real gripe with Plain Sight is its lack of a solid community right now. I was unable to find a steady group of people to play with regularly and offline only offers some practice modes that wear thin quickly. This caused some frustration considering its heavy focus on multiplayer gameplay. I also had trouble connecting to some matches because of network security. I had more problems finding matches during the hours I played rather than accessing certain games, but it showed up a few times.
Overall
Plain Sight offers a unique multiplayer experience that fans of frantic chaotic gameplay will certainly love. It’s quick pick up and play mechanics allow anyone to jump right in and enjoy it. That is, if you can find a group of people to play with.
ComicsOnline gives Plain Sight 4 out of 5 explosive ninja robots.
