Equally important is the ability to mark enemies. Here you simply line up a tango and press the right bumper — when hidden, this targets them for a quiet kill, whereas in firefights it instructs your squad to concentrate fire on that enemy or vehicle. It works great and brings a lot of satisfaction when you can quietly sweep and clear an area. If you target four enemies at once and take them down (known as a Sync Shot) you’ll be rewarded with a temporary slowing of time, allowing you to finish off stragglers before they can raise the alarm. If anything, though, it can be a little too effective in combat as even distant snipers are quickly disposed of with midrange weaponry when marked.

Combat is based on under-the-hood dice rolls where attacks can be queued up and success is based on offensive and defensive skills. Once again you can switch freely between party members and pressing the bumper slows time dramatically. Pressing the bumper also brings up an ability wheel that allows you to select your attacks. Targets can be cycled through with the d-pad. It’s a decent setup.

Another maddening occurrence is when you get “downed” in cover, which happens when you lose the last of your health from a bullet but have at least one bottle of painkillers remaining. The game switches into slow motion at that point, and if you can line up a shot on an enemy the pills are automatically ingested and you live to fight on. The issue is after standard gameplay resumes you’re left vulnerable on the ground, which is fine except that Max won’t get up directly into cover. Instead you have to stand up and probably get shot again before he nonchalantly ducks behind something.

There are three distinct methods of travel (and combat): plane, ground vehicle and on foot. Each one has its own unique setup with the core on-foot shooting mechanics taking top honours. Shooting in particular is tight and responsive, which makes for good accuracy when aiming down the sight. The triggers control sprinting (left) and grenade throwing (right), while the face buttons cover jumping, crouching and reloading.

The soundtrack is generally calm and serene; at first I didn’t think I’d like it. It grew on me, though, and fits perfectly with the generally leisurely pace of the game. Sound effects are good with all the basic animal noises covered and even a surprisingly creepy zombie moan.

That is exactly what the controls here are like. Even when you want to be precise you move and attack at such a frenetic pace that it’s not even really an option. As noted, it’s not a big deal early on. However, as you and your enemies grow faster, the combat — and to a lesser extent navigating the city — can become a dizzying affair to keep track of.

With only a few commands to keep track of here there are actually several redundancies found on the Vita’s setup. Specifically there are three different ways to cycle through your selection of spells: the right analog stick, the left and right bumpers or by touching the spell wheel with your finger. Casting is done with the square; up to three targets can be painted, or you can hold down the button and lock-on with a more powerful version of your spell. You can also jump (X), switch between characters (triangle) and interact with the environment (O).