Sid Meier's Covert Action
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Sid Meier Triple Game Pack
(1992)
Description official descriptions
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 and 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 puzzles 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.
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Credits (DOS version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 76% (based on 20 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 43 ratings with 6 reviews)
The Good
Addictive, I loved to tap into phone lines and get all kinds of info. As usual Sid had created a game that you can play for years and years.
The Bad
more options could have been included.
The Bottom Line
Its a Sid Meier game duh!
just play it.
DOS · by Shawn McDonie (13) · 2000
The Good
This game was so original, it was destined to fail on the market. However, it's creativty makes it one of my all time favorite games.
My favorite "activities" to solve the cases are the cryptograms, the wire-tapping, and of course, searching the bad-guy's offices. Here, you not only get to "equip" yourself for the job, but you get to do cool things like duck under furniture to avoid being seen. Very Cool.
**The Bad**
The car chase and ally fight sequences were pretty lame. And its too bad the graphics were only low-res EGA.
**The Bottom Line**
The only cool spy game I have played on PC. I wish Sid would make another just like this one.
DOS · by Tony Van (2796) · 2000
The Good
The randomized nature of the game allows it to provide the player with a real-world non-linearity. Though the player is given many clues as to where to go and what to do, he can still travel to any city (in a list of about twenty) and break into or wiretap the facilities of any criminal organization (in a list of about seven per city), where he will encounter a different situation each time. One gets the feeling that, unlike in many games, the character is not in a tunnel propelling him to the goal. (i.e., a 3d first-person in which bushes and trees seem to form walls that restrict your movement into one general, desired direction.
The Bad
The gameplay in the action sequences is awkward and sticky, and certain aspects of the game seem unimportant or over-confusing and can be completely ignored. For example, there is a cryptology lab in each of the frequented CIA offices, in which the player is supposed to decode (very poorly) encrypted messages. However, this process takes a very long time (with respect to the "real-time" component of the game), and does not produce any results that cannot be gained elsewhere.
The Bottom Line
An intriguing game an with expansive scope whose flaws will not prevent you from playing it again and again.
DOS · by Richard Nixon (2) · 2001
Trivia
Backwards compatibility
The game seems to crash on modern computers when attempting to break into a building, but it actually does not. Because of bad programming, the code does hang when trying to enter a house - but only for a couple of seconds. After that, it continues. This delay occurs only the first time after running the program. This technical issue can be fixed by running the game with DOSBox. Be sure to set the "Cycles" value in DOSBox.conf to about 5500 for best gameplay.
Copy protection
The set of faces shown before each case is actually the game's copy protection, not a gameplay element.
Development
- Covert Action was first worked on by Bruce Shelley and 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.
The main character, Max Remington, is named after graphics artist Max Remington III who worked at MicroProse from 1988-1995.
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
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Tony Van.
Linux added by Sciere. Macintosh, Windows added by Foxhack. Amiga added by Katakis | カタキス.
Additional contributors: Terok Nor, Mark Langdahl, Kasey Chang, Patrick Bregger, Plok, Victor Vance.
Game added November 28, 1999. Last modified November 5, 2024.