Sid Meier's Covert Action (0)

Overview

Players control an anti-terror agent named Max Remington (Maximilian or Maxine at their choice). A great portion of the game is spent finding clues and evidence in different locations in order to prevent a crime from happening. There are some puzzles and some top down action sequences. Generally considered one of the weaker Sid Meier games, but still fun in its own right. Released by Microprose in 1990.

The game was re-released on Steam on October 9th, 2014.

Gameplay

The game splits itself into missions, where we have to capture a mastermind. In order to catch him/her though, the player must play through some mini-games to find clues on the mastermind's whereabouts.

Infiltrate a Facility

This mode, the primary attraction for the game, is played top down, and the player has to disable any guard and cameras that come in his way with the tools chosen before entering, clearing the map towards the goal. There are many things that can be done once inside the facility, like putting bugs on the phones, photographing incriminating evidence, or capturing the suspected mastermind.

If the character loses consciousness while inside the facility, the player is faced with a conumdrum: lose some time that could be used to find the mastermind, or agree to a prisoner exchange with that faction.

Cryptography

This mini-game is played inside the CIA building. The player is given a scrambled message and key letters used to decipher it. The message must be deciphered before the clock runs out.

Tailing a Car

In this mode the player must follow the suspect's car to a new location and use simple diversion methods to not be caught. This mini-game is played top-down and the cars are represented by small dots.

Wiretapping/Car Tracing

Both these spying methods involved playing the same mini-game. The player must solve a circuit board in a pipes kind-of game, where the current flow must reach its destination without sounding any alarms.