Confidential Mission

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• Developer - Hitmaker (SEGA AM3)

• Director - Mie Kumagai

• Producers - Mie Kumagai

• Chief Designer - Kyoshi Ieizumi

• Composer - Seiichiro Matsumura

• Genre - Rail shooter; one to two players

• Release Dates - May 14, 2001 (North America);  May 25, 2001 (Europe); June 14, 2001 (Japan)

• Additional Releases - SEGA NAOMI arcade cabinet (2000)

• Current Average Price - $50

Confidential Mission is an on-rails light gun shooting game similar in style to the Virtua Cop series. Unlike others of SEGA’s light gun games, CM doesn’t take itself very seriously. Instead, it offers an almost comic take on the James Bond and Mission: Impossible tropes. Produced by Hitmaker and published by SEGA, it is one of the last official games released for the SEGA Dreamcast.

Plot

In classic action movie fashion, the plot of Confidential Mission is pretty light and predictable. A group of terrorists have stolen a satellite equipped with some sort of destructive laser. Their plan is to use it to blow stuff up. To counteract this threat, the Confidential Mission Force sends two of its best agents, Howard Gibson and Jean Clifford.

The two CMF agents investigate the terrorist plot, free a kidnapped satellite programmer, and eventually fight their way to the terrorist base and an explosive encounter with the terrorists’ leader. After the final confrontation, the CMF agents use the satellite to destroy the submarine within which the terrorist leader was attempting to escape.

What Makes it Special

Truthfully, Confidential Mission isn’t going to shake things up or change anyone’s world. It’s a fairly bare bones port of a somewhat forgettable video game.

It’s a short experience which can be completed in under an hour. The dialogue is fine. The graphics are good. The gameplay is solid. But there’s nothing new or vastly different from other light gun games that I’ve played. On SEGA’s own Dreamcast, I class Virtua Cop 2 and The House of the Dead 2 in a higher tier. And outside of Dreamcast games, well, there are plenty better light gun games.

Still, there’s nothing wrong with Confidential Mission. It’s a fun game, and worth playing, if only for the blooper reel that rolls with the credits.

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