First release on the controversial Electric Dreams label
(this is the Ocean/US Gold one, not the Rod Cousens
/ Activision one) is a double game pack featuring two
games that made the rounds on the American market about
a year ago. Spy's Demise and its follow up, The
Spy Strikes Back, were originally written by Penguin
Software, the famous publisher's computer games arm.
First
of the two, Spy's Demise, has you playing a world
weary secret agent. While sipping upon a cocktail in
the Bangkok Hilton you overhear two enemy agents talking
about a highly vital encoded message, parts of which
are hidden on separate floors of the diplomatic mission
in Pyongyang. The decoded message is a key to limitless
wealth but till now the Ukraine's best cryptologists
have been unable to make any sense of it. World weary
as you are, tired of the day to day existence as a spy
for hire, you see that if you manage to infiltrate the
building and find the answer to the mystery you will
never have to work another day for the rest of your
life.
Upon
reaching the Pyongyang mission you find that to find
each part of the clue you need to get to the top of
each respective floor. Every floor is subdivided into
many different levels and to travel between these you
have to cross to the opposite side from where you start
off. Barring your way are a number of lifts patrolling
up and down the floor. The lifts move vertically and
are best avoided since they contain Embassy guards.
The difficulty becomes apparent as soon as you try to
move, because once started, there's no way of stopping.
When
you've completed a screen by reaching the top, a part
of the code is displayed and you are transported to
the next floor. This is exactly the same as the first,
except you start a level higher.
After
your hectic exploits in Spy's Demise, you have
been confined to a desk job at the office for recuperation
purposes. Things are getting dull until late one night
you receive a call from the chief. You stumble out of
bed and make it to the offices where chief explains
that the notorious terrorist, Dr Xavier Tortion, has
been tracked down to a castle in the East German town
of Aichenbach. Dr X's latest diabolical plan is to destroy
a famous city with a nuclear device if his demands aren't
met by a frighteningly imminent deadline. The chief
explains how your desk job is over and you are being
sent to try and recover Xavier's secret plans. Several
operatives have been sent in but to date none have managed
to return alive. It's time The Spy Strikes Back.
[This
screenshot was not in the original review]
The
aim is to collect nine clues scattered about the Doctor's
well-guarded castle. Once collected, these clues enable
the Secret Service to defeat Dr X. The plan is for you
to get in and out as quickly as possible, hopefully
your presence will go undetected but if Dr X's minions
do catch sight of you the security becomes more intense.
The
Doctor's castle is made up from five floors, each containing
twenty four vaulted sections. You can move between each
vaulted section, and within you find sixteen small rooms.
Patrolling the sections are security droids on the lookout
for any prowlers or intruders. Normally wandering about
aimlessly, they set their sirens howling and give chase
if one is in line of sight with you. The droid can easily
be avoided by ducking into one of the sixteen sub-rooms.
Once it has lost sight of you, the droid resumes its
patrol.
On
entering a section there are no visible exits and to
find a gateway to the next room you have to collect
a flashing ring that is placed in the corridors somewhere.
Occasionally a small spy replica will appear instead,
collect this and you are in possession of one of the
nine clues needed to defeat Dr X.
You
control a small spy sprite around the top three quarters
of the display containing an aerial view of one of the
vaulted sections. At the bottom of the screen there
is a status box containing a plan view of the floor
you're on, highlighting the room you're in, plus a side
showing which of the five floors you're currently on.
Lifts
connect the floors, the liftshafts are within one of
the sixteen roomlets. Also within the mini rooms you
come across various articles that boost your score.
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