PlanetDreamcast | Games | Reviews | Confidential Mission

Confidential Mission The Bomb will explode and he will get away! - Review By Mr. Domino Page 2/2 The train ride is pretty fun, though it doesn't top the car chase in Virtua Cop 2. Yes, you read that right: Confidential Mission supports the mouse. It's actually not that bad, but, well, it's still just a mouse. The gun is still much better to control and eons more fun to use to play. You need a gun to really enjoy Confidential Mission just as you need some maracas to make Samba de Amigo worth playing. Once you get a gun or two, you'll find Confidential Mission to be a great gun game, especially with others since the game is quite a bit more forgiving than House of the Dead 2 and can be made easier in the options screen. (You can adjust the lives, continues, hit target size, and more, although most options are not initially available.) Confidential Mission also has some nice improvements to the existing Virtua Cop score system. Shooting an enemy's arm will still reward you with a Justice Shot just as you can shoot an enemy three times in a row for a Combo Shot, even though all enemies except bosses go down in one hit. Sometimes a briefcase will pop out of an enemy (don't know how they planned on passing that through their rectum) and you can shoot it for 3,000 points and the disks which pop out for 5,000 points a piece. Continues greatly subtract from your score, which should hopefully discourage people from just being satisfied from simply beating the game. As in any other shooter, the challenge is the make it through without dying and with as high a score as possible. While Confidential Mission's scoring system isn't all that incredible, it still a nice improvement over older games. Still, while the game takes many steps forward, it does stumble a bit backwards as well. The Bad Confidential Mission is far more linear than either House of the Dead or Virtua Cop 2. While Virtua Cop 2 introduced branching stages into the series which would split a level midway into two different paths and House of the Dead took that idea one step further by introducing even more paths, many which were skill-based, Confidential Mission unfortunately offers none. Well, that's not entirely true, since the first two levels do have some plot-based mini-games which do impact the level, but the change is typically short-lived and uneventful. For example, on board the roof of the train the enemies will attempt to pull Irina through the window. Fail the mission and you'll dive into the car to save her, confronting a handful of additional enemies; if you pass the mission, the scene is viewed upside-down while you clear the room of enemies anyway and gain some bonus points. The lack of paths make Confidential Mission seem really linear, especially in light of the other games. This is rather disappointing for what is already a short game. There are also fewer weapons available in the game than either Virtua Cop although still more than any Namco game. You have a standard six shooter and can pick up (re: shoot at and acquire) an assault rifle and sometimes a grenade (not a grenade launcher). Having fewer weapons isn't a huge disappointment, but still somewhat odd considering the "source." Of course, more annoying is how difficult it can be to try to "pick up" the available weapons since the game moves so fast and the screen often jerks around, typically long enough for the items to vanish before you even get a good chance to target them. While the quick camera movements make for an exciting game, you'll often find yourself regretting shooting that last enemy before grabbing that body armor as the screen violently shifts and focuses the action elsewhere. Even your rifle isn't powerful enough to shoot through the stair railing or destroy a bowl. The music also never quite seems to focus on the action, making it seem a bit odd at times. What else could explain the almost hip hop music being played in the final boss sequence? Despite all the effort to create a movie within the game, Confidential Mission's soundtrack completely misses the mark, instead relying on the traditional, weird Virtua Cop style sounds of old. It's not that the music is poor in quality, but none of it is memorable and what is present is often out of place. I also don't care for how few sound effects there are. There's not enough screams from the enemies and victims, and the gun shots all sound similar no matter what kind of object they strike. Shoot a wall. Bap! Shoot a window. Bap! Shoot a vase. Bap! That's another thing which really bugs me about the game -- there's hardly any objects which react to bullets, and what is available never animates properly. Remember that scene in Virtua Cop 2 onboard the cruise ship's kitchen when you can shoot pans, cans, watermelons, and more, all with accurate accompanying sound effects and reactions? Nope, not in Confidential Mission. Never mind the game whizzes by so fast that any possible moment could be enjoyed, but the few available items just aren't worth shooting. You shoot a vase and it just flies off. There's only one breakable window in the entire game, right at the beginning; every other glass surface appears to be bulletproof. There is no reason for this, and it hurts the overall atmosphere of the game. As mentioned a bit earlier, Confidential Mission is a gun game meant to be played with a gun. While you can use a mouse (which works pretty well overall) and the controller to play the game, the simple fact is that you'll be at a big disadvantage doing so. Many enemies that appear on the screen, especially in later levels, are far away and so tiny that the cursor easily obscures the very things you're trying to aim at. Not having the quick reaction time of the gun also really hurts when trying to move from one side of the screen to the other, and the increased accuracy of controller or mouse rarely makes up for it. Buy a gun or you will never get to play "Another World" since you will never complete all of the initial Agent Academy trials. Thankfully, this shouldn't be a problem with the game selling for a measly $20. Most guns tested worked quite well when calibrated, though a few did seem to aim a bit higher than what they should have registered. That can be fixed just by re-calibrating the gun a bit lower, but depending on the severity of the problem that still can make aiming difficult. Considering how difficult the game can be, you'll need all the precision and speed you can get. The Final Word Face it: If you own a Dreamcast and a gun, then how could you possibly pass up Confidential Mission? Although the length is a bit disappointing, "Another World" and the Agent Academy do help keep things interesting beyond the (very fun) main game. Consider it a very solid sequel to Virtua Cop 2. Developer: Hitmaker Publisher: Sega Genre: Gun Shooter Highs: Great graphics, pretty challenging, and loads of fun. Lows: Sometimes just too fast, fairly short despite extras, and very linear. Other: 1-2 players, VMU Compatible (3 blocks), Light Gun, Mouse, VGA Box. Final Score: (out of a possible 10) Visit this Game's Dreamcast Database Entry Previous Reviews Comments on this review? Mail Feedback.