Don't you love it when a game title is straight and to the point? Take, for example, Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate, a game about you playing as a secret agent wizard boy trying to take down a crime syndicate. Who would have guessed?
Secret Agent Wizard Boy is a goofy, outrageous, and hilariously jank simulation/adventure Early Access game that takes place within totally not-Hogwarts. Co-developed by the Szymanski brothers (John and Evan) and published by the third, David of Dusk fame, you can expect a zany and unconventional game from these fellas.
Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate Brings Out the Child in Us
Secret Agent Wizard Boy is quite literally a sandbox. It's like a parent, dropping their kid in the box and telling them to "do stuff." In similar fashion, this game drops players smack dab in the middle of the school courtyard, and it's your job to figure things out from there.
Sure, there is an objective, and that is to investigate a mysterious door, but that's about it. The most important thing to note here is that Secret Agent Wizard Boy is very much an Early Access game. It takes roughly three or so hours to see everything it has to offer, and your one objective can be completed quite quickly.
I was able to get access to this door and open it pretty fast, thereby "completing" all Early Access has to offer, and that's honestly fine- the main source of fun in Secret Agent Wizard Boy stems from its ridiculousness. It's a game that can be broken by the player with the flick of a hand, and it's intentionally and cleverly designed to be this way.
Physics are absolutely overturned, and you'll probably come across several ways to die without feeling like you did anything wrong. You just have to accept that Secret Agent Wizard Boy doesn't take itself seriously, and that's the key to letting loose and having fun.
Exploring Not-Hogwarts in Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate
The castle itself is inhabited by students, some of whom have their own quirky lines of dialogue. There are various objects to interact with, a plethora of rooms and areas to explore in the castle, and even new spells to discover.
Here's what I love about Secret Agent Wizard Boy: You can just be exploring the castle, and oh look, there's a small missile sitting in the teacher's office. It looked like a toy, so why wouldn't you throw it? And next thing you know, you explode, and your corpse just ragdolls all over the place.
That's really the tip of the iceberg, though. There are various deathtraps waiting for you throughout this castle if you're the curious sort, as well as various secrets that make exploration enjoyable. Even though the game isn't all that serious, it captures the vibe of exploring a Hogwarts-like castle pretty damn well, actually.
After all, in the books and movies, Harry Potter and his friends would explore Hogwarts and get into all sorts of trouble. Hidden rooms, deathtraps, and making mischief? That's the Harry Potter books to a tee, and that's what you'll get here, too.
The castle itself isn't that big, yet. It'll get fleshed out during Early Access, as I understand it, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing new areas. There are courtyards, dungeons, a big ol' tower filled with explosives for some reason, and even student common rooms in its current state.
Speaking of student common rooms, this reminds me of one funny moment. One area in the basement of the castle, clearly meant to be the "Slytherin" common area, has a student that blocks players off if they aren't wearing a green hat. I didn't have a green hat, nor did I know where to find one. What I did know is this: I can kill.
My sociopathic little wizard boy went to the potions classroom across the basement and concocted an exploding potion. From there, I grabbed it and threw it at the gate operator. Well, he died, of course. I went into his little booth through a vent and stole his hat, and the other green hats accepted me as their own. Genius, I tell you!
Spellbound by Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate
As I had previously mentioned, Secret Agent Wizard Boy has unlockable spells. You'll find spellbooks hidden throughout the castle, and those are how you learn new spells to use. Most of them feel useless at first, but we have to remember that this game is all about having fun and messing around.
So, I learned spells that could set things on fire, make things larger, or even allow me to swap bodies with another person. I learned that you can just swap bodies with a whole suit of armor and play as that. It didn't really give the player any benefit, but it's hilarious nonetheless.
The spell to enlarge things, called Biggify, is probably my favorite. You can make tons of objects gargantuan if you keep casting on it. I cast it on a student and made him become a behemoth and switched bodies with him, just because I could. I was so big, I couldn't leave the room I was in. Fantastic stuff.
Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate Preview | Final Thoughts
If everything I've said so far sounds appealing to you, I've done my job. For a game that is as purposefully jank as it is, Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate contains a good few hours of fun. It definitely needs to be fleshed out more, and that'll come in due time. For now, I'm just happy to find out how I can break this game in different ways.
Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate was previewed over approximately 3 hours of gameplay with a key provided by the developer. All screenshots were taken during the preview process.
Previews you can trust: To ensure you're getting a fair, accurate, and informed review, our experienced team spends a significant amount of time on everything we preview. Read more about how we review games and products.
Austin cut his teeth writing various fan-fiction stories on the RuneScape forums when he was in elementary school. Later on, he developed a deep love for… More about Austin
