Spy Fiction Hands-On

With two playable characters and an assortment of missions, Spy Fiction should keep stealth fans happy for a while. Click "Stream for Free" for higher resolution.

Spy Fiction is an upcoming stealth action game from Sammy and newbie developer Access Games. Though Spy Fiction is its first game, Access isn't too green, since many of its members have worked on other projects before. In any event, the game casts you as Billy or Sheila, operatives in the Phantom organization, which will send them out to take care of risky spy jobs in a number of exotic locales over the course of the mission-based game. We've spent a little time with a near-final build of the English version of Spy Fiction to see how it's shaped up. You can also see a new video preview and some new footage of the game in action on the media page.

The presentation and gameplay in Spy Fiction seem to be quite similar to those of Metal Gear Solid 2, which shouldn't be too surprising--some members of the team at Access have in fact worked on the Metal Gear series. A few of the game's backgrounds that we've seen so far even bear a slight resemblance to the techno-office backdrops of the Big Shell (and, to be fair, any number of other similar games). You've got a standard assortment of stealth-game moves at your disposal, too. You can back up against a wall, for instance, and peer around corners to see what's coming. When you stand still while you're up against a wall, an optic camouflage system will activate that renders you more or less invisible so incoming foes can't see you. And whereas Metal Gear Solid shows enemies' cones of vision on a small minimap, Spy Fiction sticks them right into the gameworld--you'll see a grayish field that fans out from an enemy's head to indicate what he or she can and can't see.

Despite its similarities to MGS, Spy Fiction seems to be substantially more focused on using gadgets to accomplish your mission, which should no doubt please the James Bond crowd. Even in the brief time we've spent with the game so far, we've seen everything from a stun gun-style device disguised as an electric shaver to a "flash pencil," which looks like a writing implement but actually delivers a flashbang-like effect to blind enemies as you make your escape. As your missions progress, you'll be able to pick up new equipment on-site to keep the bad guys guessing.

The game also uses a disguise system whereby you'll be able to don various outfits and so on to cover up your identity and safely infiltrate various situations. Interestingly, Billy will only be able to imitate male characters, while Sheila will have access to all disguise options. The disguises also open up an eavesdropping mechanic that requires you to stand near a conversation you need to hear and hold L1 to act nonchalant (dressed in a tuxedo, Billy sipped a drink; as a janitor, he swept the floor). While you're hanging around, acting casual, the dialogue will become clear so you can pick up whatever clues you need and move on. But be careful--standing around too long will alert the people you're listening to that something weird is going on.

Interestingly enough, it seems that some of the more unique sequences in Spy Fiction are made playable using different sets of minigame-style mechanics. For instance, when we had to perform a HALO (high altitude, low opening) skydive into an enemy base, the game presented an overhead view that required us to maneuver through the air to avoid configurations of hovering explosives while staying on target to land in the proper area. All the while, we had to keep an eye on our altitude so we could pull the ripcord and deploy our parachute early enough to land safely, but not so early that enemies could see us coming in. Another sequence had us rappelling down a tight vertical shaft filled with laser trip wires. Some of these could be disabled when we went to a first-person view and shot the emitters with our silenced pistol, while others had an on/off blink pattern that allowed us to sneak by with the proper timing.

Visually, Spy Fiction is looking pretty solid at this late stage of development. The character models for Billy, Sheila, and the other main characters are quite highly detailed in a simple, animelike style, and while the backgrounds are pretty basic in terms of design, they fit the setting pretty well. The frame rate has also been extremely smooth the entire time we've played, which is a welcome plus. There aren't a ton of whiz-bang graphical effects, though the optic-camouflage transparency is pretty appealing since it renders your character almost invisible with a sort of refractive effect.

Based on our time with Spy Fiction so far, it looks like stealth action fans will have something to tide themselves over with until heavy hitters like Metal Gear Solid 3 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory show up later this year. Look for more on the game soon.