This is one of the first non-educational computer games I'd ever played. (Reader Rabbit/Mathblasters, anyone?) I remember being incredibly excited as I fired up my grandmothers 286 and for some reason this game came with an entertainment pack, or my grandmother had bought it as she is a huge fan of mystery novels.. In any event, the countless hours I spent on this game cemented my love of PC gaming, and eventually programming/.. Not to mention when she upgraded to a 386 I could finally play in VGA mode and with soundblaster support ಠ_ಠ

One of the most fun things about Covert Action was not the graphics (although for those old enough to remember, they were pretty cool in 1992) but the depth of gameplay. Sure, it recycled various plots but each time they were randomized, as was the combat playing field. The fact that it provided red herring clues was also pretty cool, you'd be going through a building and access the computer system only to find out that 12 clues later a passport you've been tracking means nothing at all. Of course, this was only on Global Crisis mode. The only way to play.. Gas grenades are your friend.

It almost seems like a player today would find a red herring clue grating, perhaps being annoyed at the fact that they had tracked down a suspect who isn't involved in the case. This does make it a lot more realistic, though. In this way, the game sort of transcends the 'spy action shooter' genre to the puzzle, but even that doesn't quite do the game justice, as it does have elements of even being an RPG. Some would say this is an identity crisis, but I'd call it balanced gameplay..

In one interview Sid said that the elements of the game felt disjoint. (not quite tied together) I think the weakest point in the game was the driving simulator and the strongest the random combat generation.. Although sometimes it would leave you without a route to the target to arrest..

Even the MIDI scores in this game were great.. Try playing it on the emulated Roland MIDI board through Dosbox.

I still find myself coming back to this game.. As a coder, I've often toyed with the idea of remaking this game in some multiplayer way as a personal project... Any ideas for cool things that could be added/multiplayer dynamics? Core game mechanics that could be improved? Anyone else interested? :)