Violent Agent is a 2d retro pixel top down arcade shooter released on Steam Oct 6, 2021 and which has not been given away before on GOTD. It is similar in several ways to Best Miner released also by the same developer given away previously on GOTD recently. Controls are WASD or ARROW keys for movement which is good having the choice, spacebar to switch weapons, and the Mouse is used to aim and fire/attack and as a plus the controls are responsive and work well for this title.

In "Violent Agent" you will encounter 3 short worlds of gameplay but only 3 different types of enemies it looks like currently to deal with. There is no save, and if you die then you revert back to world 1 level 1 difficulty 1 so it feels more like a how far can you go at this moment. After beating all three worlds if you are able, you will repeat them over again until your health is gone indicated by the red bar, HOWEVER the difficulty level increases by 1 so it wont be as easy as the first playthrough which many should be able to handle. Strangely there appears to be a lack of ability to increase your health with a lack of health pickups. The levels also appear to be randomly generated giving a slight amount of difference just like best miner, but generally look the same otherwise. You can move around in the levels unlike say a single screen shooter like Robotron 2084 in the arcade but there isnt a lot of 'level' that requires a map or like a platformer for example.

Two weapons, a knife and a distance shooting gun are available in the game. Here I think having the shooting gun should be delayed a level or two so you experience the melee weapon first, and additional weapon shooters, melee weapons, or a couple others you can find mapped to the 2nd button when you have would be a nice add. There are no further pickups or upgrades besides the money that enemies drop on death and appear to not have any use for purchasing other weapons, enhancing them, or health boosting. Cash is collected after defeating the enemies but there is no in game purpose, although the description says you need to get rid of enemies and return the money to the company as the reason for the collecting. Perhaps usage as upgrade of the weapon or new weapons after a level would be good to add. Joystick controls with using two sticks might be ideal.

The gameplay is pretty standard but ok for a quick indie effort, between the two I liked best miner slightly a bit better after replaying both, the end of each level in that one you warp out in that one which reminded me of another excellent old arcade game time pilot. That brings another idea such as time pilot with top down shooting in different time periods since the gun looks futuristic.

Clearly this is not a major title to likely keep all the time after a few playthroughs. It plays well enough and no reason to avoid just like best miner but really doesnt have a lot of added content to it once you've tried a few times due to just shooting enemies mainly in a small level is what it has to offer, but it is fun for a bit if you get an itch for a mindless shooter type of game and dont have other options handy or Best Miner already between the two. Maybe if it were changed to at least remaining in the same world or at least difficulty level or resuming from a save after dying people would be more likely to continue from where they left off as the base shooting gameplay is ok and has some enjoyment as mentioned that just to me needs some polishing. Not for the kiddies.
Rating: D+

Today's game is inspired by dual analog shooters, most notably Smash TV, Total Carnage, Robotron, etc Gameplay wise.

You play the role of an agent with a gun and use the WSAD or arrow keys to move around while using the mouse to shoot your gun. You have to defeat enemies to go to other rooms.

Enemies defeated leave cash behind sometimes and you collect it in game. There is no score indicator so I have no clue on it's intended effect gameplay wise.

One thing that I noticed is that if you lose all your life, the game seems to spawn in a different area than the one you played, at least this was my experience. I managed to survive 6 waves.

But otherwise the gameplay is pretty simple and actually makes sense on the controls it uses for once. The game in reality is not that difficult once you master the controls.

It's not a game with deep gameplay but it may help pass the time if you have your laptop on the go and are waiting for something, ex doctors appointments, lunch breaks etc.

Worth looking at but it's just missing many elements to be a decent top down shooter.