Code-Name: Iceman

The Good
Well as the summary hints at this game started out great. When this game came out my brother was a 30 year old Army officer (and gamer) that had this new exciting game. However he could never beat it. So I the younger brother (15) gave it a shot. I loved the opening and though that the sound was good. I liked the grapics and the gameplay. But the best part of this game had to be the plot. It had so much potiental I could hardly wait to find out what happend next.

The Bad
.... And then I got to the sub part of the game. On the way to the sub I had a hard time and resorted to my usual tatic when I cant figure out something... I cheated. I bought the hint book and after much effort got in the sub. But once in the sub not even the hint book could save me. I very very rarely not finish a game. For me it is more important to finish than to stay true to the gaming experience. But in this game I could never ever get that sub working. To this day this game sits on my hard drive. (Now 3 computers later) I dont remember all the problems it had but I do remember the game getting worse and worse as it went on.

The Bottom Line
First of all no offence to the first reviewer but I wonder if they have the right game. I can not immagine it only took 2 hours to beat this game. I cant say that I would recommend this game but for the die-hards and can-do gamers here is a good challenge.

The Good
This game was sort of a change of pace from the usual police quest's in that all of the sudden you graduated from the Police force to military intelligence. Changes of pace are often a very good thing but don't always live up to its predecessors. The main thing I liked about this game was that it wasn't a Police Quest or any other kind of quest. It was a new kind of character in a new kind of scenario and sometimes thats all that is required in a game to be deserved to be checked out and given a try. Graphics and Sound were pretty good for the day too...

The Bad
The storyline just wasn't that interesting to me. I thought it was kind of blah... but that is just personal thing. One thing I thought was ridiculous was the little arcade kind of sequences you must to do move on through the game like playing boss dice or controlling that submarine. I felt like throwing the game away when I had to stop, refer to the manual (as sierra always does as copy protection) and learn how to play boss-dice before I could get on with the real game. Just one more annoyance from Sierra because of copy-protection. Copy-protection is fine! But just don't let it interfere with game play for example... King's Quest 3 and its spells. This is probably one of the only sierra adventure games I did not finish due to the fact that it was just kinda boring to me.

The Bottom Line
A decent breath of fresh air for classic Sierra adventure games... not all that exciting and probably will leave you bored after awhile. None the less, still worth a try from the creator of the amazing Police Quest series. Definitely worth a try!

The Good
Firstly, I'm in doubt that any gamer could finish Codename: ICEMAN in only a couple short hours without a hint book. While the game may be overly short, simple is one thing it's not. What's good about it? Enough to warrant a look, if little more. To my knowledge, an adventure game based on this kind of modern political intrigue hadn't been attempted before. That alone gives it some sort of value. The "mysterious girl" subplot was also interesting, and could have been developed further.

The Bad
It ends up feeling like a skeleton of an adventure game. Political intrigue, unrest in the middle east, a mysterious female spy, a silent running submarine, a secret mission... these are all things that ought to add up to a classic game, but none of these elements are as fully developed as they could have been. There are also too "few" adventure portions - too much of the game is played in the submarine simulator. And while the underdeveloped plot is still interesting, the game doesn't explain enough to you. Sometimes you find yourself wondering either what you need to do, or what you need to do to accomplish it. There's no sense of urgency in your mission.

The Bottom Line
It's not so much that I disagree with Mr. Gabel's review, but I think that to dismiss Codename: ICEMAN as a "ridiculous failiure" is to overlook its good elements. In playing the game, you can see what Jim Walls and Sierra were attempting. Unfortunately, the game never quite lives up to expectations.