Sid Meier's Covert Action

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Description

As special agent Maximilian (or Maxine) "Max" Remington, you are the premier anti-terror agent in the world. CIA have received tips and clues about some suspicious activities of some known bad guys. Gather enough evidence through house search, wiretaps, etc. Decode any messages you discover to unravel additional clues. Each operation will be handled by multiple people. Figure out the crime before it happens and get enough evidence to find the true mastermind behind the whole thing. Then chase down and arrest the suspects via car chases or go into the house arrest the suspect yourself. Can you arrest all the masterminds?

Covert Action is best described as a secret agent simulator, with a heavy dose of puzzle and some top-down shooter action. You'll follow the hints all over the world, surveil suspect safehouses, apply wiretaps (which is a puzzle sequence), even go inside and check each and every drawer without arousing suspicion (by keeping very quiet). If you're discovered, you'll need to avoid car chases or you'll end up shooting it out with the bad guys. You can also "tail" a suspect (with multiple cars) and see if you can find another safehouse or more headquarters to search for clues. You have a silenced pistol (or Uzi) and three different types of grenades, plus other high-tech toys. As you get closer to the mastermind, the plot gets more intricate, timeline gets shorter, code breaking is tougher, and enemies harder to take out.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Part of the Following Groups

• Game with Creator's name
• Sid Meier's licensees
• Theme: Hacking / Pseudohacking

User Reviews

Stupidly addictive fun	DOS	Afterburner (477)
The Spy Game of Our Epoch	DOS	Richard Nixon (3)
The only spy game thats worth coming back to.	DOS	Andrew Morris (6)
An Overlooked Gem	DOS	Tony Van (2665)
Great spy game.	DOS	Attila (495)
Sid Meier Strikes Again!	DOS	Shawn McDonie (15)

Critic Reviews

ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	DOS	Dec, 1990	902 out of 1000	90
The One	DOS	Nov, 1990	88 out of 100	88
Amiga Action	Amiga	Oct, 1991	85 out of 100	85
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	DOS	Dec, 1990	9.8 out of 12	82
PC Leisure	DOS	Nov, 1990		80
Amiga Joker	Amiga	Oct, 1991	68 out of 100	68
Power Play	Amiga	Sep, 1991	64 out of 100	64
Power Play	DOS	Feb, 1991	64 out of 100	64
Play Time	DOS	Feb, 1992	47 out of 100	47
Génération 4	Amiga	Jun, 1992	41 out of 100	41

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Trivia

Copy protection

The set of faces you are shown before each case is actually the game's copy protection, not a gameplay element. It is cracked in most abandonware versions of the game.

Development

Covert Action was first worked on by Bruce Shelley and Sid Meier">Sid Meier between the making of Railroad Tycoon and Civilization.

Sid Meier is quoted as having a rule of game design he calls "The Covert Action Rule," inspired by this game. He found that it was hard to keep track of the story in the midst of all the minigames, so he created this "rule" to prevent himself from making multiple games at once.

References

The Amiga version of Covert Action had a much higher resolution picture of the CIA Director (see screenshots for the PC version). In addition to more facial detail, the Amiga Director had a large "jelly stain" birthmark on his bald head which made him look exactly like former General Secretary of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.

Technical issues

A lot of nostalgic gamers are disappointed because Covert Action seems to crash on modern computers when you want to break into a building, but don't worry: It doesn't. Because of bad programming, the code does hang when you try to enter a house - but only for a couple of seconds. After that, you can continue. This delay occurs only the first time after you run the program, so it's not a big deal. This technical issue can be fixed by running the game with DOSBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net). Be sure to set the "Cycles" value in DOSBox.conf to about 5500 for best gameplay.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #12 Most Memorable Game Hero (Max Remington)

Information also contributed by ClydeFrog, EboMike, PCGamer77 and Zack Green

Related Web Sites

• IGCD Internet Game Cars Database (Game page on IGCD, a database that tries to archive vehicles found in video games.)