English
Gamereactor
reviews
Reagan Gorbachev

Reagan Gorbachev

History gets a poison dart in the neck in this playful take on the cold war.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

It was in 1986 that two of the last century's most iconic politicians met on Iceland for the famous summit, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Secretary General Michael Gorbachev. It didn't end as it should have; the negotiations broke down, although it still led to the beginning of the disarmament of the world's nuclear arsenal.

It's a tiny anecdote from the world of yesterday's politics that Team2Bit apparently felt needed to be spiced up a bit. In their version of events, terrorists attacked during the meeting and kidnapped the two leaders so as to try to get them to hand over their nuclear weapons. Clever indeed. They only had overlooked two puny little details. The well-trained Reagan was apparently a master of swinging katana swords and Gorbachev was an ace with darts (spruced up with KGB poison) and blowpipes. A lethal combination.

The only catch is that they didn't particularly trust each other. The Cold War was raging and it's capitalist 'Dutch' against communist 'Gorby'. But they want both to survive and save the world, they have no choice, and that makes up the core of Reagan Gorbachev. Reagan can also, for reasons unclear, pick locks, and Gorbachev can hack computers. They therefore initiate a joint operation to escape and voilá, we have the basic concept for a game that feels like a typical "buddy movie" from the '80s.

The presentation is wonderfully well put together, with a lot of arguing between the two big shots, and it's obvious that the developers know their history. During the loading screens, we get to answer questions about the two, where good knowledge of history is rewarded with Achievements. For someone who loves history and politics, the theme really fits like a glove.

This is an ad:

Fortunately, you don't have to do that to appreciate this, it's more like icing on the cake. The setup is borrowed from Hotline Miami, with the same kind of music and graphics, the game controls are similar and if you appreciated that game, you'll also like this. However, there are a few major differences. One of them is that this is largely based on stealth. If you're going to escape and enjoy freedom with these two old men, you can't attract the attention of all enemies along the way.

Reagan Gorbachev
Reagan GorbachevReagan GorbachevReagan Gorbachev

Moreover - and this is crucial - it has been put together with local co-op in mind. Sure, you can play alone, but you control two characters, one at a time. It feels unnatural and the whole idea is not only to finish the levels, but also do so very quickly. When we tried it solo at first, we didn't like it at all, but with a friend the experience really came into its own.

This is an ad:

To play through a level typically takes 40-50 seconds, but in doing so you might realise your friend has done this in 15 seconds, which will make you want to replay the stage and beat this time. Thus, we played several levels several times. A typical level might have 'The Gipper' (Reagan) running forward with his katana and slaying an unsuspecting scientist so Gorby can quickly rush past and hack a door, where Reagan has, in the meantime, already moved, and as soon as it opens he rushes in, and grabs a bazooka which he uses to blow a hole in a wall. An enemy rushes through the hole but Gorby has prepared by moving to the right, grabs his blowgun to kills the guy with a poisoned dart, and then both leaders jump into the ventilation shaft. 18 seconds! Good, but could be faster!

And this is how it works. The first pass at a new level often ends in bloodshed, where a guard is slaughtered and his gun looted to be used to kill everyone in sight. It's effective but very slow, and the enemy will fire back. One shot kills Reagan and Gorbachev, and the game is immediately over. Stealth, speed and a dash of imagination is usually the key to success.

It would have been nicer if it was faster to immediately restart a level. Also, the controls are not always super accurate and there are moments in the latter parts of the game where we died a few times for what we consider to be unfair reasons. Another minus is the fact that the same enemy on a level will drop different weapons on different play-throughs. Get a silenced gun and you'll be lighting fast, get a noisy Uzi and you'll have a much harder time. It's thus sometimes fortune that determines whether you set a personal best or not, which isn't something we appreciated.

Despite those unnecessary missteps, Reagan Gorbachev is a decent retro-styled game that we had great fun with - albeit only when we had people to play with. We can definitely recommend this cooperative treat thanks to the playful take on history and the graphics, and of course the experience that's reminiscent of an old arcade game. To get a small history lesson as part of the deal is just a bonus.

HQ
Reagan GorbachevReagan GorbachevReagan GorbachevReagan Gorbachev
Reagan GorbachevReagan GorbachevReagan GorbachevReagan Gorbachev
07 Gamereactor UK
7 / 10
+
Great co-op action, fun spin on history, arcade-style fun.
-
Not brilliant played solo, some random elements detracted from the fun.
overall score
is our network score. What's yours? The network score is the average of every country's score

Related texts

0
Reagan GorbachevScore

Reagan Gorbachev

REVIEW. Written by Jonas Mäki

"Despite some unnecessary missteps, Reagan Gorbachev is a decent retro-styled game that we had great fun with."



Loading next content