Tactical Espionage Action or Just Tactical Frustration? Spy Drops Review

Spy Drops is a 3D stealth action title from Rainy Night Creations that serves as a massive love letter to the original Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation 1. Players undertake a series of covert ops across randomised levels to save the world from a global terrorist threat, utilising modern equipment and classic sneaking mechanics. It features both a standalone mission-based story mode and a head-to-head local multiplayer PvP experience for those who want to test their skills against others.

Specs & HUD | Gameplay Review | Performance & Fidelity | Settings & Control

Spy Drops Steam Review: Specs & HUD

• Developer: Rainy Night Creations
• Publisher: Rainy Frog Co., Ltd.
• Official Website: spy-drops.com
• UK Store Link: Steam Store
• Genre: Action, Indie, Stealth
• Release Date: July 30, 2025
• Download Size: 1.68GB (2.3GB installed)
• Mini-map: Shows doors, enemies, and mission markers. The outer frame changes colour based on alert status: safe, hunting, or red for full alert.
• Enemy Indicators: Arrows above heads show vision direction; cones of sight are visible on cameras and turrets.
• XP Pop-ups: Real-time feedback as you earn experience.
• Intel Bar: Fill this by finishing missions to push the story forward.

Gameplay Review & Mechanics Breakdown

This game is a massive love letter and inspiration from the original Metal Gear Solid game on Playstation 1. You get that stealth action gameplay where sticking to a wall lets you walk along it, peek around corners, and perform takedowns. The opening segment of the game is a tutorial zone where you learn the basics, with info coming through via in-game comms from the Colonel or on signs and paper. When you grab an enemy from behind, you can go for the insta-kill, or grab them, then interrogate, knock out, or kill. One thing that is cool is when against the wall, the enemy won’t see you, and when they walk past you, a bar comes up showing the probability of you taking them out.

The mission select screen lets you pick what you play, and each one has a difficulty rating and reward. Levels, missions, and layouts are all randomised, so you never know exactly what you are getting into. To push the story forward, you fill the intel bar by finishing missions. In between missions, you can buy equipment and items, spend exp on upgrades for your health, stamina, combat, and luck, and spend cash in the shop. The Dreamcatcher is a cool piece of kit that lets you fly enemies off the map and back to the base for Intel points, and you can even upgrade it with new abilities. When in-game, you can call in air drops for ammo and weapons, though it costs double the money or exp if you are broke.

You play in third person with full 360-degree camera control, but you can temporarily go into first person. The camera lets you scan enemies to get info like health and weapons, and you can even take pictures. There is a stamina-based system for managing your run ability, and quick-access shortcuts for weapons and items on the d-pad. You’ll hit big boss encounters as you go, and at the end of a mission, you get a breakdown showing rewards, no killing bonuses, undetected bonuses, items resold, and your overall rank. I like the game, but it’s not as tight and smooth as I would like; little niggles constantly trickle in.

Spy Drops Steam Review: Performance & Fidelity

• Awesome polygonal graphics that nail the retro 32-bit aesthetic.
• Awesome polygonal in-game cutscenes and character interactions (skippable and clickable).
• Two visual style choices: chunky pixels or a toned-down look, with preview videos for both.
• Two camera styles: orbital camera and top-down camera, including video previews before selecting.
• Awesome polygonal graphics and character models.
• Performance can feel off; I don’t know exactly what it is, but movement feels loose.
• The top-down camera is wobbly and not a great way to play.
• Extraction points are hard to see because the escape pod blends into the scenery.
• Intel text from grabbing enemies is white and very difficult to read.

Settings, Customisation & Control Details

• Full controller support (recommended) and Mouse/Keyboard support with remappable keys.
• Display settings: Brightness slider, light and shadows, window size/mode, and v-sync.
• Rendering settings: CRT effects toggle and increase visual fidelity option.
• General settings: Screenshake, camera height, camera adjustment sliders, enemy indicator distance, and hide overhead text toggle.
• Controller settings: Invert axis, sensitivity sliders, hold button for first person, and full control remapping.
• Audio and text settings: Font size slider, auto skip dialogue toggle, subtitles, character voice volume, SFX, music, and master sound volume.
• Pause functionality: Available in single player; gives a reminder of your current mission.

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