James Bond: The Stealth Affair

Graphics, Music, FX and animation all wipe the floor with Sierra On-Line's games. And apart from some crap jokes and a few naff French-Anglais translations Delphine definitely beat Sierra at their own game(s). And once you get used to 'Operating' items, such as the ground, to get things done in the game you'll find the system works really well. You may notice how low sierra score this month, this reflects how they compare to this superior Delphine/Cinematique game. Perhaps this brilliant bit of competition for their 3-D adventures might make them look to their laurels and get them to produce slickier games. Meanwhile, enjoy Operation Stealth, it's great.

Adventure fanatics may be put off by the arcadey element but the game is challenging enough for the veteran without being inaccessible to the beginner. Brains as well as beauty. Coo.

Its scope is huge, its execution accomplished and absorbing. The game moves through several locations from the airport to the town, and even underwater where there is a small arcade-like interlude. Graphically, it looks as good as its predecessor, if not better. It now enlarges small objects you need to use in comic frames, which look good and make life easier, Operation Stealth is another classy interactive release from Delphine.

Operation Stealth is a worthy successor to Future Wars. With the improved Cinematique system, the game flows smoothly, maintaining pace and atmosphere. Once you are familiar with the character and his abilities, Glames is a flexible and friendly hero. Indulging a classic cinema genre that is readily suited to this style of game, Operation Stealth breathes life into those Bond fantasies where every woman is a sex kitten, every belt buckle is a bomb and dinner jackets are standard issue.

Alles in allem ist Operation Stealth ein erstklassiges Game - Grafik und Animationen sind von Feinsten, die Geräuschkulisse ist realistisch, und zwischendurch röhrt satter 16-Bit Sound aus den Boxen. Die Cinematique-Technik konnte beim Vorganger schon gefallen, jetzt macht die Sache einen wirklich ausgereiften Eindruck. Die Verbesserungen bringen es allerdings mit sich, daß das Spiel nun längst nicht mehr so leicht zu lösen ist wie „Future Wars“. Aber was ein wahrer Abenteurer ist, der freut sich über knifflige Herausforderungen – besonders in so ansprechender Verpackung!

All in all Operation Stealth is a pretty damn good adventure game. The depths of depression and frustration when you cannot solve a puzzle are surpassed by the raptures of joy when you finally untangle it. I would not regret mugging my piggbybank to buy the game and it has been interesting enough to keep me awake into the early hours of the morning on several occasions. And you cannot say fairer than that.

Seit Future Wars haben die Programmierer dazugelernt; die Story von Operation Stealth hat mehr Pep; dazu kommen ordentliche Grafik und für Adventure-Verhältnisse sehr guter Sound. Operation Stealth erreicht nicht den Spielwitz und das hohe Puzzle-Niveau von Klassikern wie "Zak McKracken", aber die Delphine-Leute sind auf dem richtigen Weg. Ihr neuer Titel ist ein elegantes Agenten-Abenteuer mit Witz und Spielkomfort. Die Amiga- und ST-Versionen sind spielerisch und grafisch übrigens identisch; lediglich bei der Musik müßt Ihr auf dem Atari einige Abstriche machen.

Seit Future Wars haben die Programmierer dazugelernt; die Story von Operation Stealth hat mehr Pep; dazu kommen ordentliche Grafik und für Adventure-Verhältnisse sehr guter Sound. Operation Stealth erreicht nicht den Spielwitz und das hohe Puzzle-Niveau von Klassikern wie "Zak McKracken", aber die Delphine-Leute sind auf dem richtigen Weg. Ihr neuer Titel ist ein elegantes Agenten-Abenteuer mit Witz und Spielkomfort. Die Amiga- und ST-Versionen sind spielerisch und grafisch übrigens identisch; lediglich bei der Musik müßt Ihr auf dem Atari einige Abstriche machen.

More of a James Bond feel than any official James Bond game. Not too much disk faffing about either (which makes a change). Arcade sequences will irritate the adventure purist. It's also tedious having to examine every pixel of every location by hand. The best game of its type so far. A reasonably friendly operating system and an immense challenge.

The shortcomings in the gameplay can't be balanced out by anything found in this game. Graphically, it's strangely incoherent. Some sceneries look very good, but on the other hand, it's impossible to tell the protagonist John and his nemesis Otto apart as they look exactly alike. The storytelling which relies more on quick cheap jokes than building up anything is quite weak, too. There's just nothing to save it.