Sid Meier's Covert Action

About

"Sid Meier's Covert Action" is a pixel-perfect remake of the classic spy thriller game, focusing on the Cryptography portion of the original. Players must solve letters and decipher codes to foil criminal and terrorist organizations' plans. The full game, featuring four spy-themed activities, is available for purchase on GoG and Steam, with the GoG version being more faithfully preserved.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 118 reviews

story5 positive mentions

stability3 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of espionage and puzzle-solving, providing a challenging and engaging experience for players who enjoy strategy and detective work.
Despite its age, the game has a nostalgic charm and retains replayability due to its procedurally generated plots and various gameplay mechanics.
Players appreciate the depth of gameplay, with multiple approaches to missions, including wiretapping, surveillance, and infiltration, allowing for a personalized experience.

The controls are clunky and outdated, often requiring a numpad and making the gameplay frustrating for modern players.
The graphics and sound design are significantly dated, which may deter new players who are accustomed to contemporary standards.
The tutorial and manual are not user-friendly, leading to confusion for players unfamiliar with the game mechanics, especially given the reliance on reading and memorization.

story
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
70%
11%
The story in "Covert Action" revolves around a procedurally generated criminal plot that players must investigate and dismantle, offering a unique experience with each playthrough. While the game provides a satisfying mystery-solving experience, some players find it challenging to keep track of the narrative amidst the action and mini-games. Overall, the blend of investigation and time-sensitive decision-making creates engaging and dynamic storytelling, though the dated mechanics may detract from the experience for some.
- “What is also cool is that as the game progresses from mission to mission, you start to get a feel for who the mastermind of your particular playthrough is. You'll gain clues as to their identity, and depending on your difficulty, this can be more or less challenging.”
- “It improves on the average procedurally generated whodunit game because you get to intercept a plot as it's being executed, and therefore change the course of events.”
- “I find this game to be well worth the price, and it ends up creating really satisfying stories by the end of your missions.”
- “The only real complaint that I have, outside of dated controls and the tutorial not being as 'focused' in directly assisting the player as it could be, is how the 'story' of keeping tabs on what is going on in your specific scenario is surprisingly hard to focus on. Although this is partially an investigation game, it is also part-action where combat takes up a good portion of what you do, resulting in not knowing what to do next or generally where to go to achieve the next objective.”
- “All the same story beats are there; you find out the crooks are up to no good, go to a city and ask around, hunt for evidence, make sure your case is solid, and take down as much of the crime ring as you can.”
- “The basic premise is investigation - no handholding here - you're given the basic details of a plot at the start of a mission, and depending on the difficulty level, you'll get some starter info - maybe a name or two, or a face and perhaps an intercepted communication.”
graphics
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
53%
17%
The graphics of the game are widely regarded as dated and janky by modern standards, reflecting its early 1990s origins. While some players appreciate the nostalgic charm and recognize that the gameplay remains engaging despite the visual shortcomings, many express a desire for a remake that updates the graphics and controls. Overall, the consensus is that while the graphics may not impress today, the depth and gameplay experience still hold significant value.
- “Sure the graphics are old-school, but this reminds me how good old-school can be.”
- “And despite its dated graphics, I think it holds up rather well.”
- “It has great graphics, depth, and functionality for the time period.”
- “A remake might be cool, but this old game features mostly EGA graphics and the clunkiest control scheme ever invented.”
- “Crap graphics, crap sound, no mouse support, very slow reactions to the controls, and despite all that - completely playable.”
- “All encompassing espionage puzzle/stealth-action game with terrible graphics.”
gameplay
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
61%
13%
The gameplay of "Sid Meier's Covert Action" offers a unique blend of tactical espionage, strategy, and mini-games, allowing players to engage in various covert operations while enhancing their character's skills. While the controls can feel clunky and the graphics are dated, the game provides a challenging and immersive experience with high replayability due to its randomized elements and diverse gameplay mechanics. Despite its age, it remains appealing to those who appreciate deep, thought-provoking gameplay, though many players feel it would benefit from a modern remake to improve its presentation and controls.
- “To touch upon the gameplay side of things here, Covert Action tasks you as 'Max Remington' (either Maximillian or Maxine depending on which gender you'd prefer to play as) as your goal is to put a stop to one of a dozen or so terrorist organizations' objectives that can vary from one scenario to the next, using various means of tactical action, espionage, and other government-approved methods to ensure that as many of the operatives involved are captured and arrested, with the ultimate goal being to apprehend each of the fifteen 'masterminds' behind each criminal organization.”
- “Ultimately, at the end of the day, Sid Meier's Covert Action offers a very specific experience with unique gameplay that aims to give its players a challenge coupled with realism thrown into the mix that, although in today's gaming standards it may seem outdated for a good portion of casual gamers, will no doubt appeal to those looking for something more 'involved' and keeping them on their toes.”
- “Incredible replayability, immersion, and emergent gameplay.”
- “While it does still have exciting scenarios where you've been surrounded and you have to take cover and make your way through a hailstorm of grenades and gunfire, the moment-to-moment gameplay is clunky, reminiscent of 'old computer game' action where the controls are spread all over the keyboard like a flight sim. There isn't quite enough animation, and things feel unresponsive for no particular reason.”
- “The controls are archaic, and the gameplay loop doesn't have a ton of depth.”
- “There's a weird sort of disconnect between the gameplay modes as each section of the game (combat, driving, cryptography, and electronics) feels separate, although the overall theme ties them together to make the player feel like they are indeed a spy working on uncovering some form of terrorist conspiracy.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, attributed to its randomized elements, diverse gameplay variety, and semi-randomly generated detective plots, which create numerous "aha!" moments. Many users express a desire for a remake, highlighting the game's brilliance and the nostalgic appeal of 90s video games known for their maximum replayability. Overall, it is regarded as a standout title with significant replay value.
- “It's heavily replayable due to randomized elements and the surprising amount of gameplay variety fit into such an old PC game.”
- “Add semi-randomly generated detective plots and you get a game that is very much replayable.”
- “I really miss the maximum replayability of 90s video games.”
- “90s ingenuity and maximum replayability are huge factors in this game.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The music in the game is generally described as catchy and fitting well with its tone, featuring crisp and authentic sound design for its time. While some reviewers note that the music can be primitive compared to modern standards, it is still considered impressive for a game over 20 years old, complementing the gameplay effectively.
- “Fairly catchy music that fits the tone of the game quite well, with the sound design being crisp and authentic for the time.”
- “I like the music and sounds.”
- “The music and graphics are top notch for a game that is over 20 years old.”
- “Big pixels, keyboard controls, and music from the dawn of audio cards.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game excels in creating a captivating atmosphere centered around international espionage, making it feel more authentic than many contemporary spy titles. Players find it immensely addictive, despite its structure as a collection of mini-games.
- “While it's basically a loose collection of mini-games centered around international espionage, it has tremendous atmosphere and is insanely addictive.”
- “Finally, the atmosphere for espionage is more believable than more modern spy games such as Alpha Protocol.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game shows potential but is hindered by several bugs that affect its overall stability.
- “The game is promising but a bit buggy.”
- “I encountered frequent crashes that ruined my experience.”
- “There are too many glitches that make it hard to enjoy the game.”

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1h Median play time

1h Average play time

1-1h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Sid Meier's Covert Action

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