Review: Mission Impossible: Operation Surma
Ethan Hunt is no Sam Fisher, but he does stealth well enough that this Impossible Mission is worth choosing to accept.
Without a third Mission: Impossible movie on the horizon, making a licensed game is something of a risk for Atari, but it pays off nicely in this solid stealth game. Mission: Impossible?Operation Surma can?t hold a candle to Splinter Cell, but it?s a rousing, enjoyable adventure that?s worth playing while you wait for Pandora Tomorrow.
Clandestine Action Operation Surma puts Ethan Hunt on familiar ground: donning face masks, playing with slick gadgets, and slipping past security. The game?s story involves computer viruses, Eastern European dictators, and other standard mumbo-jumbo that adds up to fine excuse for infiltration. The game?s 29 levels span four sizable locations that are ripe for said infiltrating, and M:I deploys the standards of hiding in shadows, sneaking past cameras, and clobbering hapless guards with aplomb. The gameplay also provides some welcome variety with levels that involve run-n-gun combat and, near the end, an awesome and difficult skydiving/jetpack sequence that reminds you that this developer created Pilotwings N64.
As far as the standards go, M:I is wise and careful to one-up Splinter Cell, adding a needed sense of freshness. The hand-to-hand combat isn?t limited to just elbows; Ethan can punk fools in all kinds of ways. And the gadgets are really sweet, ranging from a floating spy camera to an electronics-warfare gun.
Impossible Mission A couple of downsides: The game uses checkpoint saves, but it?s painfully stingy with them. You have to be ready, willing, and able to muster the patience for try-die-repeat cycles, especially since M:I ain?t easy and some levels, like following Sofia into the compound, are downright unfair.
Also, platform-gaming elements elbow their way into the fray at regular intervals, which will give you Galaxy Quest flashbacks?why is the computer core always at the center of a maze of absurd traps? If the bad guys put it in the lobby, no one would ever find it?
Shadow Ops M:I?s rich environments and lighting are the best part of the graphics, creating eye-catching scenery. The characters look a little too tubular and round, and their animation is sometimes sketchy, but the visuals are very solid overall.
Great voice acting and sound effects keep the audio side strong, especially with Ving Rhames reprising his role as Luther, the mission controller. Tom Cruise is nowhere to be found, but Atari had no say in whether he?d participate.
On the control side, Hunt mostly handles just fine. It feels a little funky when you try to rotate the direction he?s facing (to deposit a body in the shadows, for instance), and the item switching is a little clumsy, but neither issue is serious.
Atari?s previous M:I games came out so long ago that the company was just settling into the Infogrames name, but this Mission soars head and shoulders above those PlayStation turkeys. Expect Sam Fisher to smoke Ethan Hunt like the Hollywood fop he is when Pandora Tomorrow comes out, but until then, Operation Surma is a great way to keep your stealth skills sharp.
![Screen Update: Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory [PC]](/screens/111246/183768-1-1.jpg)
![Screen Update: SOCOM: Confrontation [PS3]](/screens/131225/183708-1-1.jpg)
![Screen Update: Top Spin 3 [Xbox 360]](/screens/140562/183748-1-1.jpg)
![Screen Update: X-Blades [PC]](/screens/141241/183731-1-1.jpg)
