| Spy Fiction | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Access Games |
| Publisher(s) | Access Games Sammy Studios Sega Europe |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Action adventure, Stealth action |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | DVD |
Spy Fiction (スパイフィクション) is a stealth-based video game by Access Games, Sammy Studios and Sega, released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2.
The game is promoted as "stealth action inspired by genre-defined espionage classics" and gives players the ability to disguise themselves as any character in the game. The lack of advertising before release and realism in the game are commonly cited as reasons why this game was outshone by its competitors in the stealth genre and sold poorly.
Contents |
The games place in an undisclosed year, through the months of October through December. Beginning in medias res, the story starts on Christmas Eve. The fictional Special Execution Agency (S.E.A.) sends three operatives from their Phantom Unit, Billy Bishop, Sheila Crawford and Nicklaus Nightwood; onto the roof of Castle Wolfgang in Austria. Eve, SEA's commanding officer, informs them that the terrorist group Enigma is inside the castle, and they must be stopped before they can utilize their bio-weapon "Lahder". The trio are successful in infiltrating the castle, but Nicklaus is captured in the process. The player (taking the role of either Bishop or Sheila, making the character who is not selected an NPC.) infiltrates a chapel within the castle by posing as Enigma's second-in-command, Dietrich Troy. Inside, Bishop and Sheila are confronted by the real Dietrich, as well as Enigma's anonymous leader and a group of guards. Dietrich displays Nicklaus hung upon a crucifix, shooting and killing him as the leader leaves. A flashback commences once Nicklaus has died.
The story proper begins two months prior to the game's opening. The player is heading a covert invesitgation into NanotechDyne Inc, a pharmaceutical company suspected of developing biochemical weapons. The SEA needs to access files on the computer of the new Research Director, Forrest Kaysen, who recently displaced a now missing Dr. Alice Coleman. The player must retrieve a password for the computer, as well as a scan of Kaysen's retina to access the computer. The plan is a success, and the player is extracted and sent back in at midnight to access the computer. Despite a close call with the advanced security, the player secures the files, seeing the emblem of Enigma on the desktop.
Days later, the player is placed on the Metropolis airship to conduct another investigation. The player is teamed up with the other possible player character as well as Nicklaus and Phantom's team leader, Samuel Berkeley. Kaysen has been linked to the Metropolis' owner, Kelly Wong, and Phantom must observe a meeting between the doctor and the businesswoman. Bishop sends Kaysen to Sheila, disguised as one of the ship's dancers. She knocks him out, allowing Billy to pose as him and take his place at the meeting while Sheila eavesdrops. Billy then wakes Kaysen up, and he goes to the meeting with Sheila, disguised as Wong. Once the meetings have taken place, Samuel and the second playable character leave the ship, while Nicklaus and the player move to see the upcoming demonstration of the Lahder virus that Kaysen and Wong talked about.
The player makes it to the demonstration without Nicklaus. Lahder turns out to be a small grenade-like sphere, emitting purple gas. Kaysen prepares to test the device on a monkey before an audience, mostly consisting of arms dealers and criminals. However, Wong nods to Troy, standing behind the scenes, and pushes Kaysen into isolation with Lahder and the monkey. Kaysen is gruesomly killed, and the audience applauds. However, Nicklaus contacts the player stating that they've been discovered. The player attempts to escape, finding Wong surrounded by guards. The player disarms Wong and neutralizes her men, holding her at gunpoint. Troy appears, holding the player at gunpoint as well, and shoots Wong when she attempts to cut the player with a knife. A third terrorist appears, and knocks the player out.
The player wakes in a cage in the jungle, held captive. Escaping when the guards bring food, the player finds their equipment, and contacts Eve. Eve sends the player to the terrorist's biochemical plant to destroy the Lahder payload. Over the radio, Samuel recognizes the third terrorist from the airship as General Douglas Lysander when the player sees him through their camera; and suggests that if Lysander, a former Green Beret hero disavowed by the US when he was taken as a POW, is working for the terrorist "this mission just got a lot harder."
Disguising themselves as Troy to enter the plant, the player destroys the payload and sets out to escape before US forces bomb the facility. The player then finds a wounded Nicklaus locked in a storage crate. He tells the player that Dr. Coleman is in the holding cells, and the player goes to rescue her. After a gunfight, Coleman runs, and is captured by Lysander. The player chases and then battles Lysander before Nicklaus fatally shoots him, allowing them to secure Coleman and escape.
Enigma announces their ultimatum, demanding the US "confess its sins" and resign from the UN Security Council. Bishop, Sheila and Samuel are then sent to the Rodt Rose Train Station in Austria to resolve a hostage situation caused by Enigma. Samuel is wounded in combat, and sends the player to free the hostages. The hostage situation turns out to be staged, and the player is ambushed after Troy suggests that there is a traitor in Phantom. Returning to Samuel, the player finds he has gone to chase Troy before he escapes via train and destroys the station. The player manages to land on top of the train, and get to its front car, where Troy has Samuel strapped to the front car. Troy elaborates on Enigma's plans, saying that they intend to trigger a third World War. Troy escapes, and Samuel reveals that Enigma's leader is actually a former Phantom leader named Dimitri Vedernikov, aka Scarface, and that Vedernikov was once Samuel's partner, and is the player's father. Bishop and Sheila are unable to free Samuel, and instead are forced to save themselves by detaching the train cars, sending Samuel toward a bridge rigged with explosives.
The player then replays the introduction, with added difficulty, before returning to the Nicklaus's death in the chapel. The player disarms the guards, and wounds Troy in battle, before special forces arrive and fatally shoot him. The player continues to forward to confront Scarface, who is preparing to fly the Metropolis (revealed to be a "Lahder Bomb".) over the US. Scarface reveals a cyborg body, but the player defeats him, and uses a Lahder vaccine created by Coleman to destroy the virus, while Scarface is killed in the explosion.
If the game is played a second time with a completed save file already present, the game continues on with another mission. Eve reports that Nicklaus is actually still alive, and the body recovered from the chapel is actually Phantom's tech officer, Michael Kwan. Bishop and Sheila track Nicklaus to an Airbase, where he intends to flee, now revealed as double agent for Enigma. During the confrontation, Nicklaus exposes his true colors as he turns out to be Dietrich Troy himself. (It is never revealed who the man seeming to be Troy special forces killed in the chapel.) Nicklaus explains that he was against both Enigma and Phantom, acting for his own motives of revenge against Scarface and the player, of whom he is the half-brother. Nicklaus had been seeking revenge on Scarface for killing his mother, and on the player out of spite. ("While I froze in a Siberian orphanage, you grew up with a mother who loved you.) Nicklaus uses a flash greande to escape, prompting Bishop and Sheila to chase him as he boards a plane and starts down the runway. The player shoots a hole in the gas tank, and uses a flare to ignite it as Nicklaus takes off. The flare burns along the gas trail, reaching the plane and destroying it, killing Nicklaus as well. The game ends with the player wondering who "the battle was really against."
Spy Fiction has a score of 61/100 on Metacritic. Joe Dodson of Game Revolution gave it a "D", citing poor gunplay, bad writing and poor AI. Ed Lewis of IGN praised the game for its boldness, stating "The traditional spy games that have been on the market have favored stealth over gunfights. While this is more realistic, Spy Fiction aims to provide a game that has more action than hiding around in shadows." While he does recognize its poor gameplay and numerous flaws, he gives the game a positive review for its interesting storytelling and uniqueness.