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An inconsistent adventure that features an interesting plot hampered by poor
user interface, Secret Mission is a relatively unknown adventure game from French
developer Microid, who would go on to produce a much more solid and better-known
Amerzone CD adventure. Secret Mission opens with the tried-and-true adventure gaming
premise: you wake up in a nondescript hotel room with an amnesia, with no recollection
of who or where you are. After meeting a certain attractive young lady, you learn that
you are Jeff, a double agent who pretends to work for the Americans, but actually
works for the Russians. You are now in Opalia, an exotic Middle East country that is
about to be embroiled in a coup d'etat: Vishaka, the prime minister, is planning to
assassinate the King to usurp his power. Naturally, your mission is to find the
evidence of this scheme, so that Russia can use it to gain influence over the country.
The Americans are after the same goal, so you must not arouse their suspicion of your
traitorous acts while you carry out the secret mission. Similar to Alone in The Dark,
objects you can interact with are shown in a small window when you are close to them,
and pressing ESC brings up an action menu you can toggle to get, open, move, give,
etc. The number of verbs in the menu makes this interface very unwieldy, and using
items in your inventory is a cumbersome process. Interface weakness aside, though,
Secret Mission serves up an interesting espionage thriller, with many plot twists
and turns, shady characters, and several ulterior motives. The puzzles are, for the
most part, logical, although some (such as decrypting the hierogryphics) are quite
interesting. Overall, an above-average adventure that fans of the genre should take
a look, although don't expect another Last Express. |
