An excellent example of the tense, challenging and occasionally humorous world of a James Bond style spy.
This game holds a place in my heart since it was the first adventure game I really got into and one my whole family would play on our ever so outdated Amiga. Originally called Operation Stealth you control the actions of John Glames, a James Bond-esque CIA agent on a mission to locate a missing stealth plane in Latin America. In the US the game was altered slightly and James Bond himself was made the lead character, helping the CIA on behalf of MI6 and the game name was changed to ‘James Bond 007: The Stealth Affair’.
The change in character and game name seems to be mainly for better product awareness in the states however I feel the game suffers slightly from it due to it being a slight parody of the James Bond style world.
Onto the game itself, it works just like a regular point-and-click adventure to which I’m sure everyone is well acquainted. It is important to examine everything in this game as you never know what you might miss otherwise. The main path through the game will have you using objects on other objects, picking up items and talking to characters as per your usual point-and-click adventure. The game is very linear and certain objects won’t appear until the correct puzzle has been completed first. However at certain
points during the game you will have to play mini-games to guide your character safely through some obstacles; be it escaping from an underwater cave before running out of oxygen or navigating a maze of ventilation ducts, avoiding the giant rats on the way. These mini-games are a wonderful distraction from the main game play and really add very highly to the tension of the game, mainly as failure leads to your character dying and you having to restore your last saved game.
And so on to the main problem with the game, it’s very unforgiving nature. Be warned if you play this game you will need to save….. A LOT!!! The smallest mistake can lead to the game ending, a case in point being at the start of the game you have to pass through customs when you land in Santa Paragua, if you show the customs official the wrong passport then you will be sent to prison and the game will end. It is necessary to find out which country is accepted in Santa Paragua and then obtain a false passport from that country, I won’t tell you how, that’s for you to work out. There are quite a few instances in the game when the game will end if you do something wrong, worst of all sometimes certain parts of the game will require an item from a few scenes earlier, if you don’t have it you cannot proceed further. It could be argued that this does make the game more realistic to the highly dangerous world of espionage but it does detract from the games otherwise lovely features.
The graphics of the game are fantastic, beautiful lush scenes and wonderful depth to all animations. Even in the mini-games the animations and scenery are just as good graphically. The sound is wonderful and every location sounds and looks in place, although slightly caricatured to give a glamorous sense to the world in which you’re in.
If you are looking for a fun and very challenging adventure game then Operation Stealth must be looked at, just remember that saving is the word of the day!
