Undercover: Operation Wintersun Preview

From Lighthouse Interactive, Undercover: Operation Wintersun is a point-and-click adventure game that takes players behind enemy lines as a British scientist in Berlin in 1943. The game wears its old-school inspiration on its sleeve, harkening back to the golden days of the LucasArts adventure titles as well as those of Sierra. Undercover: Operation Wintersun is shaping up to be a nice addition to the waning adventure genre with some nice puzzles and classic gameplay.

Undercover: Operation Wintersun puts you in control of Dr. John Russell, a British scientist employed by MI6 in war-torn Europe during 1943. You are sent right into the lion’s den, Berlin, to infiltrate and investigate the Nazi’s and their attempts to manufacture an atomic bomb. You meet up with members of the anti-Nazi resistance within Germany, speaking with other characters and solving puzzles in your attempts to prevent the Nazi’s from gaining the ultimate power.

The game’s interface is standard fare for the adventure genre, meaning that fans will feel right at home instantly. You solve puzzles that are common to the adventure game universe, from concocting a potion to unlock a door to fashioning a means of listening in on a conversation through an unreachable window.

You’ll have the ability to use items that you find along your journey. The inventory interface is simple enough to grasp; simply roll your mouse cursor over the bottom of the screen and the items in your possession will pop-up.

The game is pretty dry, but does have some humorous moments. Your main character will let you know if you’re making a poor choice, but falls short of berating you. The voice acting could use a little work, as much of the dialog feels very stilted and falls to some poor localization issues.

Graphically, the game won’t overpower your computer by any means. The character models look decent enough, and the environments aren’t rendered too photorealistically that it will bog your computer. On the negative side, the game only supports two resolutions, and neither of them are widescreen.

Undercover: Operation Wintersun weaves an interesting yarn, and features some nice puzzle elements that shouldn’t frustrate the casual gaming set. Look for it later this month.