[7] Davis shared the lead single "Ozone Scraper" on August 18, a "peppy, synth-powered" track accompanied by a video filmed in Uzbekistan.

[14] AllMusic's Paul Simpson wrote that Action Adventure "doesn't sound like DJ Shadow's other records, but it's exactly the type of album he would make—a risky, expectation-bucking set that only fully makes sense to the artist himself".

[11] The Irish Times' Lauren Murphy found the album to have "an undoubted sense of nostalgia" and called it "a reminder that DJ Shadow still has plenty to offer".

[13] Mojo commented that "even when further adrift from the lost funk sampledelia that made his name, Shadow's production brilliance shines through",[15] and Uncut felt that "the album flags a bit in the middle but maintains enough propulsion to easily glide past those saggy moments".

[19] Matthew Ismael Ruiz of Pitchfork remarked that "some of the beats [...] feel hollow without a charismatic rapper to float over them" and "much of the album's early runtime builds towards a climax that never comes", although felt that "the drums are captivating enough to save more than one song from sleeping at the wheel".