Double Cross from 13AM Games and Graffiti Games is a colorful and fun action platformer on Nintendo Switch that is a blast to play. Learn more about it in our Double Cross review!
In Double Cross you take on the role of interdimensional patrol agent Zahra Sinclair of R.I.F.T. (Regulators of Interdimensional Frontiers and Technology), who must solve an interdimensional crime by running, jumping and gunning her eat across dimensions as she collects clues and solves crimes with the help of the skills you will unlock as you play.
The game’s controls are easy to get the hang of. You move around with the left analog stick and can jump with the B button – there is also the option of doing a wall jump by pressing the B button after hugging a wall. The Y button is for your light attacks while the X button is for your heavy attacks. You have a dodge setup to the ZL button and a Proton Slinger on the ZR button that will allow you to swing from location to location in style as long as there are any available anchors, as well as introducing some fun combo possibilities into fights. The L button is for your Burst while the R button is for the Fireball attack. You can also heal a bit every now and then by pressing the A button. All three of these actions can be performed as long as you have some energy in your energy meter.
Your adventure starts right after Zahra has arrested a Zuggothian named V”!!K)-X who, unfortunately, ended up traveling between dimensions by mistake. Luckily she managed to get to him before anything bad happened, so she just needs to take care of some paperwork to sort things out so that she can send him back to his dimension. After a briefing session in the Portal Room, Zahra realizes she hasn’t taken care of her training session, which is why she was not assigned a new mission. This is the game’s way of sending you into a short tutorial in which you will get to test out all the things that your agent can do.
Once the tutorial is over, you will have to find a way to stop the intruders that have decided to infiltrate the R.I.F.T. headquarters. After this short platforming section in which you will get to put your skills to good use, you will find a rather large entity who seems to be in charge of the attack. You are knocked out, and can’t stop him from stealing the Metacatalyst, a dangerous energy that can be weaponized, with catastrophic results.
During missions, you will find checkpoint terminals that will allow you to respawn there if you die. Once you’ve leveled up once, and if you have collected enough upgradium, then you’ll be able to access their special function to equip the different upgrades you have unlocked. Each stage you visit has a set amount of upgradium for you to collect, and the more upgradium you collect, the more Zhara will level up. Leveling up is important since every time you level up you will unlock a permanent upgrade or an equippable upgrade that will boost your odds of survival. While permanent upgrades reward you with new abilities you can use at all times, equippable abilities have to, well, be equipped before they can be of any use to you. You can only equip three of these abilities at the same time, so be sure to mix and match to find the best combination to help you overcome each particular challenge you might run into.
What sets this apart from other, say, Mega Man-like, is how it mixes the 2D action platforming with some adventure game elements. As I mentioned before, as you play the game you will run into special objects that Zhara will collect to add them to her Clues tab inside of the Case Log. Items need to be shown to the right person to move your investigation forward, since showing it to said person will place the item in the corresponding case file. When you find enough clues, then you can submit the case file to Commissioner Wiseheart. If things are in order, then you can find and interrogate the suspect of that case.
The game has a Commendations system in place that will mark a variety of objectives to complete – think of it as something similar to the trophy or achievements systems on other consoles. The list of objectives, which you can find under the Extras menu, included doing things such as completing your training, finding enough pieces of upgradium, obtaining the high score in each game in Funky’s Arcadium, completing each mission in the game in under 15:00 a piece, to name a few examples. The Extras menu also has a tab for an Art Gallery and a Music Player, but you will need to finish the game first before they’re both unlocked.
I had fun with Double Cross thanks to its gameplay mechanics, quirky investigation stuff, and it’s solid and entertaining writing. The game is certainly very different from the last game from 13AM Games, but as a fan of 2D action platformers, especially those that look great and play great, I highly recommend that you take Double Cross for a spin on Nintendo Switch.
Disclaimer
This Double Cross review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by 13AM Games.
