WWII is no stranger to the gaming community. In fact, a fair share of titles released in recent years from a broad array of genres, has been firmly rooted in this unforgettable, multifaceted conflict. This is quite understandable, given that many have argued that no other period in modern history can boast as clear a demarcation between “good” and “evil.” Sticking it to the Nazis just feels good, doesn’t it? Lighthouse Interactive’s newest addition to the adventure genre “Undercover: Operation Wintersun” gives gamers a crack at the Nazi war machine a safe distance from the frontlines. While the title is neither a revolutionary or evolutionary step forward for the genre, it will offer point-and-click aficionados a somewhat entertaining opportunity to one-up those treacherous Nazis.

You are John Russell, a well-respected nuclear physicist, who is asked to work with the British secret service (M16) to uncover rumored Nazi involvement in advanced weapons research which could lead to a nuclear weapon. It’s up to you to find out what they are working on and, if possible, to throw a monkey wrench in their plans. The setting spans several locations in 1943, including London and Berlin.

Gamers familiar with the adventure genre will be right at home with U:OW’s core gameplay. As fans of the genre know, puzzles are paramount to this particular gaming niche. U:OW offers up a mixed bag in this respect. Many of the puzzles can be solved with a mixture of careful, logical thinking and keen situational awareness, but there are some that feel a little too contrived and unnecessary. For example, early on in the game you will visit Germany, and one of the first tasks you will be asked to complete is to find a way into a guarded research facility. Without giving away too much, it becomes necessary to use a certain powerful corrosive liquid on the locked entry door leading to the research facility. In order to create this solution, you have to find its component parts and combine them in your inventory. Well, if I am working with/for a secret British agency, and they send along a couple of chaps to act as support team, wouldn’t they at least provide us with a lock pick, or, if corroding locks tends to come in handy, why not have the solution made already? I do not wish to nitpick here, but it seems to me that some puzzles that I encountered might have been rather extraneous. To be fair, it is important to note such puzzles are not in the majority, but gamers may themselves scratching their heads as to why some were included.

As is the case in many adventure games, dialogue is both important to the narrative but also to solving some of the title’s puzzles. Taking advantage of the opportunity to talk with different character s will enrich gamers’ contextual understanding, as well as better prepare them for the various challenges they will face, as sometimes useful items can be a obtained from conversation. This is, as always, a double-edged sword, because if you fail to go down the requisite dialogue tree, you might be stuck for quite some time without an item that can only be obtained via a specific spot of dialogue. However, it is important to note that most of the items you’ll collect and put to use will be found outside of dialogue.

While U:OW won’t have you writing home about its visuals, it is generally on par with what gamers would expect, though some characters can appear a bit pale and rather washed out. The pre-rendered environments are very nicely detailed and have their own distinct character. The team obviously took great care in creating a nuanced and immersive game world rife with detail and atmosphere. Animations are generally smooth and realistic, though the protagonist’s run animation could probably use a bit of tweaking.

Overall, the voiceovers in U:OW are a bit underwhelming. It’s not that the imitations of the various accents that are portrayed or the dialogue are poor; rather, the problem is some of them seem to fall a bit flat. In particular, the protagonist’s voice work often seems uninspiring, resulting in lines delivered in a monotonous tone that carries no emotional punch. It’s almost as if the actor is trying too hard to sound “professorial,” and it is likely to make gamers wonder if Russell has a heart or a cardboard box in his chest. One of the consequences of this is that gamers may be hard pressed to actually care about Russell, thus lessening their immersion and investment in the game. Ironically, though, this is not the showstopper it could potentially be, because the potential threat of Hitler having an atomic bomb at his disposal will likely serve as an effective counterbalance for an often uninspiring protagonist.

One another note (pun intended), the soundtrack is well-suited to the gameplay, and strikes a nice balance between intrigue and a more subdued tone in other instances. It’s not stunning, but it serves its purpose well enough.

One of the title’s strong suits, however, is its interface, which is actually quite elegant and non-intrusive. Mousing over the bottom of the screen brings up your current inventory while mousing over the top portion of the screen will allow you to go the main menu. This setup works quite well for game that will have you hopping in and out your inventory quite frequently to examine, use or combine various items as the situation demands. The only hitch here is, depending on how many items you’re carrying around, you might have pan through your items for sometime before you find the one(s) you need.

At the end of the day, U:OW is a generally worthwhile, though status quo, candidate for an adventure gamer’s collection, but its not without its cons. The gameplay is on par with what one would expect for the genre. The puzzles generally require some thought without being overbearingly difficult. If you have some spare time on your hands and want to take a shot at the heart of Nazi Germany using your wits rather than guns and grenades, U:OW is your game.

Gameplay: 7.0
Standard fare here for point-and-click adventure gaming. Puzzles are generally challenging and thoughtful, though some that feel rather extraneous may have been left out.

Graphics: 7.0
Environments are quite well done. Lighting is also generally well done. Some characters can appear a bit washed out on occasion.

Sound: 6.0
The soundtrack is generally up to snuff, but the voice acting, particularly the main character’s, can sometimes leave something to be desired.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
This of course varies from puzzle to puzzle, but gamers won’t find themselves tearing their hair out trying to beat U:OW

Concept: 7.0
Welcome back to WWII. This setting and context are becoming quite familiar to gamers, but that doesn’t take away from U:OW’s entertainment value.

Overall: 7.0
U:OW is worth a buy for those seeking to use brain over brawn to dash the hopes of the Nazis. In order to get the most out of the game, however, gamers will likely have to overlook the spotty voice acting and a generally uninteresting protagonist and focus more on the larger goal of disrupting the Nazis’ plans.