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The Cold War had nothing to do with snowballs!

Spycraft: The Great Game, an original cold war adventure game with puzzle and simulation elements, is now available on GOG.com for only $5.99.

So, you want to know the details? You don't have the proper clearance, but I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore. Back in the day, I would have to "silence" you, even with the little knowledge you already have. Nothing personal, of course--just the usual procedure. There's just too much at stake here, you see? No, I don't just mean national security. I'm referring to global safety. This went way beyond CIA, KGB, and their little games. Or, should I rather say: our great game. They had the bomb, we had the bomb. Then someone shot one of their most prominent politicians. Things became tense and crisis escalated. You're a reporter, you're familiar with the term "MAD", right? Yes, Mutual Assured Destruction. The assurance was supposed to prevent the war, you know. But there were some people on both sides who liked to push buttons a little bit too much. Here's the story of how we almost evaporated the mankind from the face of the Earth.

Spycraft: The Great Game is an adventure game that puts you in the shoes of a rookie CIA agent involved in a conspiracy much greater than he could ever imagine. The game creates an disturbingly believable image of the cold war thanks to the substantial input from actual ex-heads of CIA and KGB. Spycraft's original gameplay combines classic adventure, investigative fiction, and puzzles that form an authentic experience of a cold-war spy struggle. The multitude of FMV cinematics brings even more flare to this ambitious title, that no adventure fan or conspiracy hunter can afford to miss!

Become a CIA agent and prevent two nations' mutual nuclear destruction in Spycraft: The Great Game, for only $5.99 (that's almost nothing compared to the actual CIA budget!).
Awesome release! I never got a chance to play this back in the day, but it always seemed really interesting.
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DProject: Lol, the developers sure had GREAT balls when they decided on the title.
They're not actually saying their game is great you know. "The Great Game" is what people often called the whole spy thing during the cold war, which is what Spycraft is about.

That being said, it is a great game imo, especially since it's very original. Most spy games are steath shooters of some kind, or maybe classic point&click adventure games, while this one has plenty of very original puzzles with the use of modern (for the mid-90s anyway) spying tools like Satellite imaging, modifying photographs, etc...


Anyway, this is a great addition to the GOG catalog, it's one of the few adventure games I really loved. Good job!

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Tarhiel: Oh, thanks for clarification. You know, that´s exactly the same thing I hate about XIII - great game, terrible finale - because they left their doors opened for a sequel and never did one - and it really wasn´t necessary. That´s why I think new IP should have their first (and if good one, hopefully not only) game with concluded story - just to show they know how to write a complex and closed story.
You do know that XIII is based on an actual French comic book series, right? If you want to know the rest of the story, just buy the books. The devs probably just failed to get the rights to make another game since the first one sold pretty badly as I recall.
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Titanium: It was just awful to get our hopes up like that.
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grviper: Still better than going *oh, shit!* and cramming an entire series worth of plot into a single game.
You really think that's worse?

I'm moving you to the bullpen.
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Tarhiel: Oh, thanks for clarification. You know, that´s exactly the same thing I hate about XIII - great game, terrible finale - because they left their doors opened for a sequel and never did one - and it really wasn´t necessary. That´s why I think new IP should have their first (and if good one, hopefully not only) game with concluded story - just to show they know how to write a complex and closed story.
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Telika: Have you played Undying ? You would love Undying.

Also, Manhunter San Fransisco. Nice ending, there.
No, I have not, good sir, but now that you mentioned it...one more reason to give Undying a go :)

It´s Clive Barker´s Undying I take it, right?
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DProject: Lol, the developers sure had GREAT balls when they decided on the title.
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mystral: They're not actually saying their game is great you know. "The Great Game" is what people often called the whole spy thing during the cold war, which is what Spycraft is about.

That being said, it is a great game imo, especially since it's very original. Most spy games are steath shooters of some kind, or maybe classic point&click adventure games, while this one has plenty of very original puzzles with the use of modern (for the mid-90s anyway) spying tools like Satellite imaging, modifying photographs, etc...


Anyway, this is a great addition to the GOG catalog, it's one of the few adventure games I really loved. Good job!

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Tarhiel: Oh, thanks for clarification. You know, that´s exactly the same thing I hate about XIII - great game, terrible finale - because they left their doors opened for a sequel and never did one - and it really wasn´t necessary. That´s why I think new IP should have their first (and if good one, hopefully not only) game with concluded story - just to show they know how to write a complex and closed story.
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mystral: You do know that XIII is based on an actual French comic book series, right? If you want to know the rest of the story, just buy the books. The devs probably just failed to get the rights to make another game since the first one sold pretty badly as I recall.
No, I didn´t knew that, but that´s not the point. The point is, they should have made a concluded story. Player should be able to comprehend the fictional universe completely, without resorting to books, comics or any other media.

That should be left only to real hard-core fans.
Post edited October 02, 2012 by Tarhiel
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Telika: Have you played Undying ? You would love Undying.

Also, Manhunter San Fransisco. Nice ending, there.
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Tarhiel: No, I have not, good sir, but now that you mentioned it...one more reason to give Undying a go :)

It´s Clive Barker´s Undying I take it, right?
Uh, yes. It's a very cool, pleasant game but... Let's just say the comparison will make you appreciate XIII more in retrospect. My suggestion was a tad sarcastic (if not downright evil).

Like Manhunter San Francisco, it does more than end on a cliffhanger. It really feels like it ends mid-sentence.
Post edited October 02, 2012 by Telika
Specifically, Undying sold poorly and thus went the plans for a sequel out the window.
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Tarhiel: No, I didn´t knew that, but that´s not the point. The point is, they should have made a concluded story. Player should be able to comprehend the fictional universe completely, without resorting to books, comics or any other media.

That should be left only to real hard-core fans.
Maybe, but my point was that you got it backwards.
The story is complete in the books, Ubi Soft tried to get the rights to make a video games adaptation since it was a very successful series (at least in France), but the original game just didn't sell well enough to warrant making a sequel. And the 13-book-long comic book series' convoluted plot just can't be summarized in only 1 game.

If anything, the game was made for the hardcore fans of the comics, not the other way around.
My mouth dropped wide open when I saw the thread for this game. I watched my cousin play this as a kid and never got the chance to play it myself. I bet the game is only okay now, but I can't wait to play through this. My only problem is that I still remember the solutions to every puzzle I watched him solve, even though this was about 16 years ago. I've wanted to revisit this so bad that I remembered what I saw for that long.
Great news. Any idea why it's not the DVD version? It had WAY better video quality but being one of the first DVD games using MPEG2 vidoes it is a real pain getting it to work :(
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Neilk40: I don't think there was a DVD version, i've never seen one.
YES there was :) I OWN IT! And believe me: The video quality is SO MUCH better. But as I said: it's difficult to get it running because it's using MCI as WC4 did...
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Tarhiel: No, I have not, good sir, but now that you mentioned it...one more reason to give Undying a go :)

It´s Clive Barker´s Undying I take it, right?
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Telika: Uh, yes. It's a very cool, pleasant game but... Let's just say the comparison will make you appreciate XIII more in retrospect. My suggestion was a tad sarcastic (if not downright evil).

Like Manhunter San Francisco, it does more than end on a cliffhanger. It really feels like it ends mid-sentence.
A-HA! Now I feel like Benny, the guard from Thief :) Okay, but I´ll try the Undying nonetheless :)
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Tarhiel: No, I didn´t knew that, but that´s not the point. The point is, they should have made a concluded story. Player should be able to comprehend the fictional universe completely, without resorting to books, comics or any other media.

That should be left only to real hard-core fans.
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mystral: Maybe, but my point was that you got it backwards.
The story is complete in the books, Ubi Soft tried to get the rights to make a video games adaptation since it was a very successful series (at least in France), but the original game just didn't sell well enough to warrant making a sequel. And the 13-book-long comic book series' convoluted plot just can't be summarized in only 1 game.

If anything, the game was made for the hardcore fans of the comics, not the other way around.
Well, if that´s the case, I can understand the cliffhanger ending (although, as I said, I still deem it unnecessary). I wanna second (and final) game ASAP! That little puzzle thing called XIII 2 or something like that doesn´t count.

I was checking it out a bit and new issues of comic are coming out even today. Does that mean the story is not finished yet? Or are those some new adventures?
Post edited October 02, 2012 by Tarhiel
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Tarhiel: A-HA! Now I feel like Benny, the guard from Thief :) Okay, but I´ll try the Undying nonetheless :)
Nice clean, unsoiled pants you've got there. It'd be a shame if anything happened to them.
A comparison between the CD and DVD Version

CD:

http://imageshack.us/a/img515/2026/vlc2012100219453468.jpg


Enhanced DVD-ROM Edition:

http://imageshack.us/a/img221/8048/vlc2012100219441040.jpg
YES there was :) I OWN IT! And believe me: The video quality is SO MUCH better. But as I said: it's difficult to get it running because it's using MCI as WC4 did...
WOW i really didnt know they released it on DVD, what year was the DVD version released?

Must be one of the first games released on DVD, i think the US got DVD movie releases in 1997.

I really really want the DVD version, have to look around the net to find it.
Post edited October 02, 2012 by Neilk40
Good, more activision stuff, still waiting on NOLF.
According to the booklet the game is from 1997. Add you are right. It was one of the (few) first DVD games: WC4, Starfleet Academy and Zork Grand Inquistor...I guess that's it in 1997.

Spycraft DVD is hard to get. I seached for along time and finally found it on ebay.

I had always hoped that the MCI wrapper written for WC4 would finally be able to play this game...but until now nothing has happened.
Post edited October 02, 2012 by Silver83