Players: 1 or 2
A Virtua Cop clone is where Confidential Mission finds its foundations,
but there's nothing wrong with that if you can pull it off.
Developed by Hitmaker and the follow-up to House of the Dead 2, this
game gets its stature by subtituting the "Impossible" in everything connected
with
Mission Impossible,
for "Confidential", which makes you part of the CMF: Confidential Mission
Force.
The basic premise is that terrorism is rife throughout the world at the end
of the 20th Century (so what's new?) and you have to put paid to the dictators
as either special agent Howard Gibson or Jean Clifford through all of
three stages.
And there's the problem. Only three stages. Even on my first go with the maximum
number of lives allowed - 8 - and no gun to play with (I would buy one but if
Sega are stopping support of the Dreamcast within the year and certainly seem
to have given up with any kind of online support outside of
Phantasy Star Online
then what's the point?), I managed to get part-way through the second stage
and did just as well with my second go, thus hanging a question mark over the
game's longevity.
By the way I've compared the game with Virtua Cop, you'll know exactly
what to expect and it plays out with arcade-perfect graphics and sound,
but these days we need more. Just look at an arcade game like Police 24/7,
which can be found in the Trafford Centre, Manchester, where I played it.
Yes, it's the same style of action, but sensors are placed all around the front
of the player and it actually responds to you moving about yourself to dodge
the bullets, much to the amusement of those watching.
So, in each stage you fire your gun, kill the cops and SAS guys who run or
roll in front, trying to avoid the real people who occasionally move into
view for which you'll lose a life if shot, but then the hostages are so stupid
at times that they deserve everything they get for getting in the way.
In short, Confidential Mission is very enjoyable, but is a short-lived
experience.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ORIGINALITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
And there's the problem. Only three stages. Even on my first go with the maximum
number of lives allowed - 8 - and no gun to play with (I would buy one but if
Sega are stopping support of the Dreamcast within the year and certainly seem
to have given up with any kind of online support outside of
So, in each stage you fire your gun, kill the cops and SAS guys who run or
roll in front, trying to avoid the real people who occasionally move into
view for which you'll lose a life if shot, but then the hostages are so stupid
at times that they deserve everything they get for getting in the way.
