Gumboot Software


Double Agent

Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: Algray
Machine: Colour Genie

 
Published in Chewing Gum 8309

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a secret agent? Besides having beautiful girls forcing martinis (shaken not stirred) into your hands, perhaps you would like to wear disguises and enter top security buildings to steal vital information for your government.

Now is your chance! Double Agent is a machine code graphic adventure for the Colour Genie which allows you to do just that. You choose which agent you would like to be by consulting your dossier of available agents. Once you have decided which agent you wish to become, you must then decide on a disguise ranging from a cleaner or plumber to a civil servant or agent. Once chosen, you are given items appropriate for your disguise.

Now you can choose some of the real fancy hardware including cameras, explosives, automatic pistols, etc. Be careful though, too much hardware will make your disguise awkward and make you look suspicious. Finally, you must decide whether you wish to enter the building by day or by night remembering that this may affect your disguise. Whoever heard of a civil servant working evenings?

Double Agent

The adventure will then commence with you standing inside the building, just before the entrance. The display is a high quality 3-dimensional image of a corridor with doors on either side. The bottom portion of the display provides two different statistics. First is your "cover" percentage, i.e. how effective is your disguise? Secondly, your physical well-being is displayed as a percentage. If you move too quickly, or if you are involved in a fight, this value will drop.

The left and right arrow keys allow you to rotate left and right. This will let you LOOK at corridors or doors in other directions. The up arrow will allow you to move forward one place. When in front of a door (These are numbered) you may attempt to open it. If it is locked then you may have to use some of your hardware to open it, unless you have the right keys! If you don't move around often enough, then you become conspicuous and may be challenged by a guard. When this happens, you have the choice of retreating, bluffing or fighting.

The adventure is very good because it makes the most of the Colour Genie's features and it has a different angle on adventure playing. The graphics are some of the best I have ever seen for the Colour Genie. Inside some of the rooms behind the doors are very detailed offices and people. Even an ashtray can be seen on some tables. A save game feature is available, but this can only be used when you are in the corridors.

I have very few complaints about the game, although one bug is that if you turn left or right at the start of play, then the first corridor will disappear! Also, the fight portions of the game could be better balanced. I find it difficult to believe that if I shot a guard four times that he would be in any position to fight back!

Double Agent is one of the better programs around for the Colour Genie. I am sure seasoned and novice adventurers alike will have a lot of fun with it.