Thoughts by Mr Creosote (09 00 2000) – PC (DOS)
Putting this game into a genre is almost impossible as it is a mixture of everything you can think of. But it’s this point that makes the game so special!
You are Max (or Maxine) Remington, agent at the CIA. Your boss calls you to his office to give you a mission. He introduces you to the basic problem and the available information. Then you’re on your own. Well, not really. There are CIA-analysts who support you. They collect all the data and filter out the important stuff.
Usually, one or more terrorist group or foreign secret services are involved. So maybe you can check out their local office/hideout. It’s your choice which way to go to get the information you need. Place wiretaps to hear their phone calls? Simply observe the building and follow suspicious-looking persons? You can also just break in and steal everything you want.
Now all these methods start an action sequence. You either fight your way through a building, follow cars or try to interrupt phone lines. Depending on your skill (which you could choose at the beginning) it’s easier or harder. A lot of thinking is also required sometimes.
But you can’t solve everything from Washington. You have to travel around the world to uncover everything. All this takes time of course, time for the bad guys to continue their plan or to hide if they know about you. The more direct you approach them (e.g. by just breaking into buildings), the faster they’ll be gone forever. So if you want to catch all the involved persons (especially the ‘mastermind’, i.e. the head of the gang), you have to be a bit more subtle…
Covert Action requires a lot of reading. And you also should be open for very much differing parts of the game. Some people may be repulsed by that. But if you’re not, you’ll find a true masterpiece. Sid Meier’s ‘soul’ is clearly visible here: Not only the typical features like a career mode and the graphics but also the load of innovation which he put in each of his games back then. Too bad these days are over…
