Spycraft: The Great Game Released by Activision in 1996, Spycraft was an innovative game using an interactive movie format, an internet based side game and resource as well as a great cast.
From the opening introduction by William Colby talking about the reality of what Kipling called: "The Great Game" as contrasted with the recited credo of the CIA - you know you are in for something different.
Imagine that you find yourself on a park bench on a nice spring day in Washington. Suddenly there is a call on your PDA and your whole world is turned upside down.
You are summoned to the Director's office at the CIA and told that the fate of our President and perhaps the entire world may well rest in your hands. Once your team has assembled it is off to "the Farm" for a refresher course in high tech spy gadgets and field operations. However nothing will be easy about this mission - no one is safe and perhaps no one can even be trusted. You learn the hard way with the first of many assasinations that occurs.
As head of Operation Eagle Shield, you will travel the world. You will have at your disposal a variety of high tech tools along with your PDA to try and unravel the conspiracy that is rooted within the agency itself and expands to an internatonal criminal organization run by a union of highly dangerous rogue agents, international terrorists and mercenaries.
In the end - it comes down to your skills and wit in this race for global domination.
Now for the basics. Spycraft loads well on W98 and earlier. You will need to re-size your desk top to 480x640 and make sure that your toolbar is not set to "always on top" The interface is standard point and click. The puzzles in this game are based on using a wide variety of high tech tools along with your PDA and ingame PC. You will use cypher tools, photo doctoring, track named suspects through the use of tagged money and airline reservations. In other words the way that it is done in the real world of counter - espionage. In fact, the game was developed with the input of William Colby: former head of the CIA and Oleg Kalugin, former Major General of the KGB.
At the time the game was released there was an excellent online resource center with another Spycraft related game and links to all the intelligence community agencies. Unfortunately this is no longer available. I mention it just as another indication of the attention to detail and factual diligence with which this game was developed. Even without this resource the game is a lot of fun, extremely immersive and has definitely aged well.
In fact I have realized after this replay that the game was non-linear and there were other ways to get things done as well as a variety of cut scenes I had missed the first time around. So I would add that it has a great deal of replay value.
I am actually trying to figure out how to trigger a location that I have never accessed before in my current game.
The quality of the acting is first rate. I tried to find a list of the cast members - but I am sure that many of them will be familiar to you. I just wish I could recall who exactly they are.
The locations are varied ranging from Washington to Tunesia, Moscow and even a country garden in England. The music is very unobtrusive, but effective in setting the mood. I really enjoyed the sound effects in the game. Footsteps approaching on a dark street, a sudden shot rings out. Made me jump more than once
I would say that if you are a fan of reality based games, have always had the urge to engage in some cloak and dagger intrigue - then you will enjoy this game very much.
The better news is that you can still get this game and at a reasonable price. I found it available online at CD Access for $14.95.
Go here: [URLhttp://www.cdaccess.com/html/pc/spycraft.htm]Spycraft[/URL]
Well that is about all I can think of at this moment about this great game - shhhhhh I hear someone coming - It may just be the person I have been hunting......
Laura
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