Infiltrator
In infiltrator you play a spy who’s mission is to photograph secret plans and aircraft on an enemy base. You’ll have to sneak around acting inconspicious around guards while searching the buildings for information but first you’ll have to get into the base. Getting to the base is done in your helicopter in a sequence where you have to fight enemy aircraft and land safely near the enemy base.
The helicopter sequence is done in true simulator fashion and you have to do things like turning on the power, the engine and flying. After you get airborn the trouble starts because enemy aircraft will ask for your identification and if you don’t comply they will attack you. Given that the main part of the game is a stealthy affair it seems a bit out of place but a nice idea nonetheless. You can get the quickstart and control keys documentation as well if you’re having trouble flying.
After you land your helicopter near the base you’ll have to check the area for landmines with your metal detector or you’ll end the mission prematurely not to mention your life. When you arrive at the base there will be plenty of guards running around and any of them can stop to ask you about your papers so unless you want to start a riot you better do what they say. These outdoor levels are shown in a thirdperson view with the camera high above and only tiny sprites depicting you and the enemy soldiers but whenever you go inside a building it switches to a screen just big enough to show a single room and a map of the entire building. Here is where your mission really begins because you have to search each room for any usefull items like high security papers and any secret plans that you can photograph. You’ll have to be carefull because if a guard finds you searching through a cabinet he’ll likely set off the alarm in which case you have little chance of escape.
Infiltrator is an early stealth game and even though it seems fairly limited by todays standards it was a real departure from the standard action game that was so common in those days. The flying part is a bit annoying and in my opinion it does not add a lot to the game, luckily both the C64 and the NES version have ways of skipping it. The graphics in both sequences are fairly simple and there is no music to speak of so don’t except much in those areas. The game’s quite difficult because one wrong step is enough to end the game and unlike other games you only get a single life. If you’re in for something other than arcade action then you should give this game a try.
Overal rating: 7/10
This game was released for three different systems here are some notes:
| C64 | Released in 1987. Game has been tested but not completed with CCS64 v2.0 win. The original disk version does not allow you to skip the helicopter sequence but you can also try the hacked version which allows you to play both independently from each other. These are called |
| DOS | Released in 1987. Game has been tested but not completed on a DOS PC. Doesn’t show any graphics on my windows system but under dosbox it runs ok. |
| NES | Released in 1990 by Kemco. Game has been tested but not completed with FCE ultra v0.98.12. This features an option on the main screen to skip to the stealth part. |
| Date added | Apr-14-2005 19:39 |
| Name | Infiltrator |
| Developer | Chris Gray Enterprises |
| Publisher | Mindscape |
| First released | 1986 |
| Genre | Misc |
