Sid Meier's Covert Action (1991)
One of the most neglected subgenres in all of gaming is that of espionage. Now that technology has progressed to allow similar "special effects" to those found in movies, we can enjoy action thrillers like GoldenEye and fulfill our James Bond fantasies - at least on console platforms (and eventually on PCs, if we're lucky).
Design: Sid Meier
Publisher: MicroProse
Genre: Strategy/
Adventure
Difficulty: Intermediate
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In the early '90s, however, there was little available, other than insipid arcade rehashes of car chases and the occasional badly drawn polygonal spy lamely looking for clues in tired old adventure game style. Sid Meier thought he could change all that and bring the fun and mystery of techno-spies to the PC, much as he did in Pirates!
Unlike most of Sid's games, however, the initial great idea didn't pan out into classic, addictive gameplay. Sid Meier's Covert Action couldn't decide whether it wanted to be Mata Hari or James Bond:
 | "Covert Action integrated a story and action poorly, because the action was actually too intense."
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The sleuthing was interesting, and at times the action was good, but the dichotomy between the two styles meant that you often forgot where you were in the game. This was a problem Sid would later have with his Civil War game, which he solved by limiting the focus to a single battle.
There were other problems, most notably the use of rubber bullets by your spies. Whatever happened to "license to kill?" The villains weren't particularly memorable, either. Still, there are enough good ideas in Covert Action that it would be nice to see Sid take another crack at it - especially since the game's most intriguing question has yet to be answered: Was supersleuth Max Remington the dapper male or the sexy female on the box's cover?
Next: CPU Bach 
