Men in Black: Most Wanted is a stylish, lighthearted and genuinely fun adventure that mixes simple shooting, nostalgic charm and a surprising amount of personality
Men in Black: Most Wanted caught me by surprise in the best way. The MIB universe feels like a natural fit for VR, the gadgets, the aliens, the strange conspiracies hiding in plain sight, and Coatsink actually managed to take that vibe and turn it into something playful, punchy and easy to enjoy. This is not a complicated game and it does not pretend to be, but what is here is delivered with enough charm that I found myself smiling through most of it.
You play as Agent I, who starts the story in a way that instantly feels familiar to anyone who grew up with the movies. You wake up next to a dumpster, your memories have been wiped, and in the first minutes you are thrown right back into the Men in Black world after a new threat surfaces. It reminded me a bit of the setup from the second film where Agent K has to rejoin the agency, except this time you are the one rediscovering who you are and why you matter in all of this chaos. It is a smart way to introduce new players to the rules of the universe while still giving long time fans a little wink.
I do wish the game leaned a bit more into the shock of it all though. In the movies, the moment Agent K rediscovers that the aliens are real always had some humor or disbelief attached to it. Here, the game kind of speeds past that. You wake up, someone tells you aliens exist, and two minutes later you are holding a giant gattling gun and being told to shoot some aliens. I get why they do it, because pacing in VR is tricky, but a bit of that slower realization or a couple of genuine "what the hell" moments would have made the story feel richer. Still, as a whole the setup works well enough. There is a conspiracy brewing, things are not what they seem, and your job is to clean up the mess before humans notice anything strange.
The Men in Black headquarters is surprisingly fun to walk around. Agents roam the main reception area chatting about assignments or office gossip. Aliens stand in line at reception as if this is just another Tuesday. The worms return and they are exactly as they should be, loud, chaotic and funny. Their poses and dialogue land well and add a bit of personality to the downtime between missions.
From the HQ you pick missions, visit the armory and updgrade your gear. The armory is cool as it lets you try out the weapons in small challenges and unlock mods that change how they behave. The weapon system is not deep, but it is satisfying. Turning the SMG into a mini gattling gun was easily my favorite upgrade. Holding the trigger as it spins up faster and faster until everything in front of you becomes decorative goo... it just hits my monkey brain in the right way.
Once the mission begins, the structure becomes clear. You travel to various corners of New York, investigate and scan for clues to then track down aliens and either arrest them after slapping them around for a bit or just, you know, turn them into puddles of green slime. Locations range from motels to sewers to labs to street corners and they all have enough personality to keep things fresh. The human bystander system also adds a small touch of worldbuilding. If you wave around MIB tech or fire a blaster near civilians, they freak out. A quick flash of the neuralizer resets everything and they wander off confused but calm, which feels very on brand for the universe.
Movement is straightforward. You walk, crouch, climb ladders and interact with objects. There is no jump button though so you are kinda stuck to the ground and you cannot fall off edges. The game teleports you back to safety which keeps things accessible but removes some freedom that could have made levels a bit more dynamic.
Gadgets spice things up. The spider drone is fun to throw out and pilot, even though its puzzles are simple. The teleport grenade, which you get later in the game, is also cool, sure it's nothing more than just your typical teleportation movement option, but it is used in some interesting puzzles in the later missions. You also have a pair of magnetic gloves and these are the only system that really did not click for me. They let you pull or push metal objects and occasionally launch explosive barrels, but the gestures feel inconsistent and the responsiveness is hit or miss.
Combat is where Most Wanted feels the most confident. It is simple arcade shooting, but the feedback loop is strong. The pistol, shotgun and SMG all have punch and the way aliens burst into goo on impact is kinda satisfying. The AI is basic and sometimes stands in the open waiting for you to deal with them, but when multiple enemies appear or a few shielded heavy hitters join the fight, the action ramps up just enough to make you scramble for cover. The game never becomes difficult, but it stays entertaining. There's also a brief moment where you get the iconic "Noisy Cricket" or a rendition of it as it's not the exact tiny gun from the movies and I wish it was, but nonetheless it packs a massive punch basically obliterating any aliens you shoot at.
Stealth is optional. You can sneak behind aliens and pull a cord from their back that instantly neutralizes them. It works, but blasting them straight in the face is more just more satisfying. You feel like an unhinged MIB version of John Wick, clearing rooms with a grin on your face.
Boss fights appear throughout the campaign and while they are built on simple mechanics, they work surprisingly well. Each boss has a unique design and the arenas feel distinct enough to break up the regular missions.
Outside the main story there is a mode called Invasion. The name at first glance, to me, suggested something more dramatic than what it actually is. Instead of invading other players' games, which have been pretty cool, it is a co-op wave based mode with objectives like holding zones, escorting a payload or clearing waves thrown in to the mix. You earn currency, unlock upgrades and build a loadout, which gives the mode more depth than it initially seems. It is a solid distraction and definitely something you can enjoy with a friend for a couple of hours.
Visually, the game adopts a bold cell shaded art style similar to Coatsink's other VR game, Jurassic Park Aftermath. It works incredibly well inside the Quest 3. Environments look clean, characters pop with color and the whole presentation has a slight comic book quality that fits the license better than expected. It is not as detailed as what was served up in Marvel's Deadpool VR, which also used a cell shaded style, but it still looks cohesive and polished.
I did run into a few bugs though, including like 3 softlocks across 3 different missions that forced me to restart that whole mission. I was talking with another reviewer and they experienced the same exact thing happening to them on one mission. Now, we've reported these issues to the developers and they are aware of the problems so I expect these to be patched when the game officially releases.
Even with the rough edges, I genuinely liked Men in Black: Most Wanted. It captures the playful spirit of the films and delivers a VR experience that is light, approachable and fun to pick up in short bursts. The shooting is satisfying, the gadgets are amusing and the world has enough personality to keep you engaged. Given the tough moment Coatsink is going through with layoffs and uncertainty, it feels bittersweet reviewing a game where a lot of devs clearly put a lot of heart into it. They have made some great VR and non-VR projects and this one fits right alongside them and it kinda sucks that they are going through this tough time.
If you enjoyed the Men in Black movies (not MIB: International, we don't talk about that one) or want a sci fi shooter that does not overcomplicate things, or just simply like turning aliens into green goo, Men in Black: Most Wanted is easy to recommend. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Quest 3 via a promo copy provided by PR. Men in Black: Most Wanted is available exclusively on Meta Quest.
