Covert Action

• Title — Sid Meier's Covert Action • Developer — MPS Labs • Publisher — MicroProse • Designer — Sid Meier Bruce Shelley • Programmer — Sid Meier • Writer — Bruce Shelley • Composer — Jeff Briggs • Released — 1990 • Genre — Action, strategy • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — Amiga, MS-DOS

The gameplay is similar to the 1987 release Pirates!, by the same developer, Sid Meier, in that the gameplay is made up of several self-directed, distinct, and unique modes of play. During the course of a game, the player will be tasked with installing wiretaps, infiltrating enemy safehouses, intercepting and decoding secret messages and interrogating prisoners. The plots are randomly generated each game, which enhances replayability. The game is broken down into missions, with players possibly receiving promotions after each successful mission. The primary goal of each mission is to uncover details about a criminal conspiracy. Players race against the clock to discover who is involved and their roles before it's too late. When a campaign is started, there are 26 "masterminds" who initiate plots; capturing all 26 of them ends the game successfully. Many of the pieces of data which the player needs are gathered through various mini-games. Successfully completing a mini-game often reveals one or more pieces of data, including the names and photos of those involved, as well as locations connected to the plot. The player is allowed to decide which skills his agent has mastered ahead of time, making the associated mini-games easier. • Illustration — Selecting the equipment to use to infiltrate a building. On the left is shown the equipment available and on the right the floor print of the building (already explored) The longest mini-game is combat, which involves infiltrating an enemy building. Players select their equipment, including guns, various types of grenades, and body armor. Once inside, players search desks, safes, and cabinets for clues and photograph them. Enemy agents must be avoided, slain, or knocked unconscious. If the character runs out of health, he is knocked unconscious and must either lose precious time escaping, or agree to a prisoner exchange by freeing captured enemy agents. The driving mini-game involves either the player tailing a suspect or the player fleeing from cars to avoid a confrontation. Cars are represented by small dots on maze-like streets. During the cryptography mini-game, players attempt to decode a scrambled message within the time limit. Players are given certain known letters to begin with, but must figure out the remaining letter mappings in a substitution cipher. In the electronics mini-game, players attempt to either cut or connect current flowing through a set of power lines to a number of phone icons while avoiding connecting the current to alarms. By doing so, the player listens in on conversations to obtain clues and evidence. The game is played by rearranging the junctions through which power flows to produce the desired results.

Sid Meier was reportedly dissatisfied with the final product, because he believed that the disparate elements of the game, however good they were individually, detracted from game play. As a result, he developed what he called the "Covert Action Rule": "It's better to have one good game than two great games." He described the origins of this rule in an interview with GameSpot: