Game 48: Operation Stealth – Introduction

Written by Ilmari

Since we are now having a team of reviewers, we might as well be playing two games at the same time – that worked quite well, when Trickster shared the podium with a guest blogger. We'll skip the Spellcasting 101 for now (don't worry, its time will become later) and let Joe Pranevich get his hand on Operation Stealth or James Bond: The Stealth Affair, as it is also called. Joe is currently busy firing up his Dosbox, so I'll do the introduction this time.



"The title still lacks something..."

"That's it! James Bond will sell anything."

When regular readers hear that we are about play a French game, they will probably ask: how awful this is going to be? The best French effort thus far, Future Wars, was stunningly beautiful, but its plot was derivative and game play required inhumane efforts. Operation Stealth was actually published by the same company as Future Wars, Delphine Software. Most of the developers of Future Wars were still involved with Operation Stealth: Paul Cuisset was involved in design and programming, Jean Baudlot was responsible for music and Marc Minier provided the effects. Notable addition to the developer group is the co-designer and programmer Philippe Chastel, who would go on developing the scenario for the next Delphine Software adventure game, Cruise for a Corpse. None of this raises any hopes for Operation Stealth, but we can hope that the developers have learned from the failings of the first game.

The game title reveals that this will be a game of espionage and manual goes into great lengths describing all the various gadgets belonging to the tool kit of an average agent. I'll let Joe Pranevich reveal more about the game in the next post, but I should probably tell that the game has actually been sold under two names. Here in Europe the game was sold as Operation Stealth and that's the name I am familiar with. Apparently Delphine Software thought that American adventure gamers would not be so enthusiastic to step into the role of John Glames, so they bought a licence for the name of James Bond, just for US markets. It seems that nothing else was changed in the game itself, except the name of the hero, which caused the embarrassing detail that James Bond, an agent of British intelligence service, MI6, is for some reason working in CIA.



We all know this man...

...but who on Earth is this guy? He does look familiar...

...oh yes, he is Felix Leiter!

With these words, I'll step down from the podium and give the stage to Joe Pranevich, who will now get to play the role of a suave man of the world with a license to kill. Will he be John Glames or James Bond? We shall see...

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of the player requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that Joe Pranevich won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.