Confidential Mission

"It may not be Virtua Cop 3, but it works anyway..."

Sega is trying to rebound after Namco and Konami took the whole deluxe Light Gun spotlight away from them. The last reasonable light gun game ever released by Sega was Virtua Cop 2, which introduced the Justice Shot system. Confidential Mission is actually an AM2 (I think) project running under Naomi with the built-in GD-ROM and using the Infrared Stunners first used in Jurassic Park. Let's see if Confidential Mission can help heal the wounds it received from Namco and Konami...

Graphics

Smooth, presentable polygons and textures are the highest points for this category. As the Naomi Board suggests, everything should now move at 60FPS or so. With more memory, the enemies are even faster than ever, forcing you to learn from your mistakes. Unlike Virtua Cop 2 (which runs under Model 2), there is virtually no slowdown at all (thanks to the increased RAM) which allows flicker-free gameplay in all areas of the game and even more mesmerizing special effects in some scenes.

Sound

The sound effects are good compared to Virtua Cop and Virtua Cop 2. The voice acting is somewhat depressing (The lips of the polygons don't move during conversations) but it isn't as cheesey as with House of the Dead 2. All the gun sounds, grenade explosions, you name it, are really good to hear, so the sounds are never annoying, thanks to the ''annoyance control'' of the Naomi's Dolby Surround System. Unfortunately, with no ''Choir'' BGMs in some points of the game (all of the BGs are insturmental), you don't feel tensed when reaching a certain part of the game...

Play Control

You use the same Stunner first used in Jurassic Park Lost World and in House of the Dead 2. All you need to do is to point the gun outside of the screen to reload your gun because the muzzle will read where you are pointing the gun at. The ''Reactive Muzzle'' system allows you to shoot anywhere without ''twisting up the gun'' in any turn. However, I had a little difficulty trying to shoot at some points of the screen, but the play control is still great. The muzzle will really ''know'' where you are pointing at, and best of all, you can adjust the calibration of your gun at the beginning of the game. For the first time in a light gun game, you can customize your calibration without asking an operator to fix it. Nice feature. Be aware that the calibration of this gun is kind of lousy at times and the play control of these Type 2 Stunners take a little time to get used to because you have to ''swivel'' your hands all around the screen in order to get a clean shot. The ''Reactive Muzzle'' feature really helps playability fuel up. Whenever you need to shoot at a certain place and even though you are pointing the muzzle at a certain spot, sometimes the shots aren't that accurate at all...

Challenge

The game is a little bit too easy because I've played a lot of Virtua Cop 2 and if you are used to the ''Time Sight'' system, then the challenge is kind of too familiar--All you need to do is to watch your aim (so that you don't hit innocents by accident) and to hit the enemies anywhere before the lock-on sight synchornizes. If you are new to the Lock-On Sight system, then it will be new but if you have played Virtua Cop or Virtua Cop 2, then it will be too familiar. However, there will be plenty of Lock-On Sights (due to the Naomi's increased RAM) that will keep you on your toes on the higher levels so you will need a good reaction time in order to ''remove the sights'' in the shortest amount of time. Also, a feature that separates Virtua Cop from Confidential Mission are the 5 mini-games that you have to play throughout the game. The mini-games determine the path that you will take, and what you will have to do next. The mini-games are tough to master, but easy to learn. Basically, the Virtua Lock-On Sight system should be self-explanatory to learn, but the mini-games take more time to master because it's pretty much a challenge. The Mini-Games tests your reasoning of the Lock-On Sight system and such-such.

Lasting Interest

The only thing I really hate about the game is that there is only one power-up weapon (The others are support items) and like Virtua Cop 2, there is a lack of Power-Ups in the game so power-ups are kind of rare in this game. Confidential Mission is built on a linear track, but the mini-games help you select your paths. Unfortunately, you won't be able to choose the path at the order you please as opposed to Virtua Cop 2, so you are required to go from Start to Finish. Not being able to select a stage at the order you please is the game's problem.

Story

Confidential Mission is pretty much like a ''Virtua Cop meets James Bond 007''. It's sort of overused to my tastes but the plot isn't as disgusting as opposed to the plots from Crisis Zone, Dark Silhouette: Silent Scope 2, and LA Machine Guns. Sega should've used a more disgusting plot to keep us in a lot of suspense, and rather than using James Bond-style characters, Sega should've used ragtag special operation agents who seek the truth instead. Because the plot is not suspenseful and since some of the aspects of the plot has been spoiled by the earlier levels of the game, plot tameness is Confidential Mission's main problem.

Overall

Confidential Mission's got some challenging mini-games that will appeal to the average shooter, but the story and plot problems might turn off those who prefer heavy story emphasis on gun games. If Sega took the time to make the plot in Confidential Mission more disgusting in nature (i.e. the plot in Crisis Zone), then Sega would've earned a higher score with this one. The mini-games save this game from a rather disturbing score, but otherwise, I can't give this game a perfect score, because the plot is a bit too tame for such a good game. However, I do have to express that this game presents a fair challenge (thanks to the Lock-On Sight System), so I've decided to raise my personal score by one point.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/01, Updated 04/07/02