"Because Virtua Secret Agent just didn't fit."

As the tagline might have suggested to you, Confidential Mission is pretty much similar in vein to the Virtua Cop series (both of which were produced by Sega, not to mention,) with quite a few noticeable differences. Like the fact that instead of being a pair of police officers within a fictional city, you play as a pair of secret agents trying to save the world (what else?) And there's also how you are given a few 'minigames' for a slight change of pace. In the end, it's nothing really groundbreaking, but for its time it was a pretty solid game.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics of the game are rather fluid and well animated, but that doesn't mean that they're perfect. Some of the animations, notably during cinematic sequences, are a tad bit on the stiff side, and the fact the lips of the characters really don't move when the're talking is a bit of a bummer. On the flipside, the enemy characters do have more realism to them when in battle. Depending on where you shoot them, they will react accordingly. If you shoot one in the hand, they'll reel back in pain and hold their hand, while shooting them in the leg will cause them to drop down. The ability to shoot at some parts of the background and destroy them is also a nice touch.

Sounds: 6/10
The sound department is a very mixed bag in this situation. First, let's get the voice acting out of the way. It's not the worst dialogue I've seen, but it is a tad bit on the cheesy side (e.g. "Let's look at this disc. It may give us some clues!") And the way the voices are done, it sounds like the voice actors are a bit on the amateur side, not showing too much in terms of emotion on their part, which only adds to the cheapness of the dialogue.

On the positive side, however, the sound effects and music are better. Things like gunshots ringing out, jars shattering when they're destroyed, and people screaming as they run for their lives are well done and are a bit more believable in terms of realism. While you can't always hear it, the soundtrack for the game has a campy yet energetic feel to it, which helps to suit the game in a big way.

Controls: 8/10
The guns that are used for this game are simple and rather lightweight, with the ability to reload by just pointing offscreen briefly. However, there are times where you find you don't shoot where you want to, causing you to end up missing a critical shot or ending up getting shot because you missed out on a bad guy that got the drop on you. Fortunately, the game allows you to calibrate the gun when you start your game, as well as take a few practice shots before it starts. Even then there are a few minor misses here and there, but it's nothing too serious.

Story: 4/10
While the game itself may be on the original side (in some ways, anyhow,) the story isn't what I'd exactly call too original. Basically, there's a group that's trying to take over the world (what else?) and is using some kind of new weapon to do so. In order to stop the enemy from doing so, the CMF (Confidential Mission Force, how original,) has deployed their best agents, Howard Gibson and Jean Clifford, to find out where the enemy's base is and stop them at all costs. Standard fare.

Replay: 6/10
The game only has about three stages to play through, and while there are some minor variations, depending on how you do during the minigames (which usually involve shooting at a certain target, pressing a button rapidly, or something like that,) the story remains the same regardless. There are really no branching paths to speak of, and no hidden areas or anything of that sort. The game itself is a bit on the challenging side, meaning that you might be pumping a few tokens into it in order to complete it, but other than that, it's the same regardless how much you play it.

Overall: 7/10
Confidential Mission is a unique take on the classic formula made popular by Virtua Cop and applied to a secret agent setting. While it's nothing too spectacular, and there's a real lack in terms of replay value, it's still worth a play at least once. Just don't expect it to be an easy mission.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/01, Updated 08/13/07