Spy Fiction (video game)

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Spy Fiction

Developer(s)	Access Games
Publisher(s)	Sammy Studios
Release date(s)	August 31, 2004 (NA)
Genre(s)	Action adventure, Stealth action
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	DVD

Spy Fiction is a stealth-based video game by Sammy Studios and Sega 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.

[edit] The Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Castle Wolfgang
The game begins with a briefing from Eve, the commanding officer of Phantom, an American espionage group. She vaguely details that a terror cell called Enigma is inside the Castle, and must be brought down. After the briefing, Agents Billy Bishop, Sheila Crawford, and Nicklaus Nightwood perform a HALO jump from a dropship over the Castle in Austria. Landing on the Castle roof, the trio exchange words and break inside by destroying a metal grate with compact explosives. During the infiltration, Nicklaus is captured by Enigma soldiers, resulting in a gunfight between his captors and either Billy or Sheila (Depending upon which of the two the player chose to play as). The soldiers retreat with Nicklaus in tow, shooting a pile of explosives beneath the walkway where Billy (Or Sheila, hereafter referred to as just Billy)is standing. Billy is knocked down and contacted by Michael Kwan, Phantom's tech expert, who is already inside Castle Wolfgang when the mission begins. He instructs Billy to escape to the Courtyard through the ventilation system. Doing so, Billy is nearly killed by an explosion in the vent. Michael confirms that Enigma knows of their presence, and urges Billy to infiltrate the Chapel in the Courtyard, where Enigma's leaders are. Using an Enigma soldier disguise, Billy takes a picture of an Enigma officer in a tower of the Chapel, from down in the Courtyard, and poses as him to get inside the high-security Chapel. Once inside, Billy (Disguised as the officer) and Sheila (As an Enigma soldier; or vice versa when playing as Sheila) are confronted by Enigma's leader, as well as the officer Billy is posing as (Revealed to be Dietrich Troy, Enigma's 2nd in Command) and a team of Enigma soldiers. The two have their disguises forcibly removed, and the unnamed leader leaves, stating that he is going to the 'airship'. Dietrich is left to 'do the dirty work'. Dietrich reveals Nicklaus, strapped to a metal platform on the wall of the Chapel, and shoots him. Billy curses Dietrich, who grows irritated and shoots Nicklaus again, killing him. Letting out a load scream, Billy reverts into a flashback.

NanotechDyne Inc.
The story begins two months prior to the raid on Castle Wolgang, at a pharmeceutical company called NanotechDyne. Eve briefs Billy (Or Sheila), who will be sent in alone. The briefing suggests that NanotechDyne is developing biochemical weapons. The main objective is to investigate this, but steps must be taken first. The main goal of the mission is to gain a retinal scan of Dr. Forrest Kaysen, a high-ranking scientist at the facility. Billy is deployed via truck in the building's parking garage, disguised as a maintenance worker by default. Using the guise of a security guard, he gains access to the kitchen, where Phantom Agent Samuel Berkeley is posing as the cook. He briefs Billy on a rendezvous within the facility. The mole, known only as 'The Middleman', will provided a Level 2 Access Card for Billy. The Go sign will be for Billy to wait in the lounge and read a Sports magazine. Billy meets with the Middleman, who supplies him with the card. Along the way, Billy can hear multiple references to a person called Dr. Coleman, who is apparently missing. This character comes into play later on. Billy collects the password for Kaysen's computer, which is the number on his lotto ticket, updated every week. Billy enters the Level 2 lab just as Kaysen is leaving for the cafeteria. From here, the player can either sneak into the main lab via the vent system, or pose as Kaysen by getting a frontal picture of him and recording his voice. Once in the lab, Billy plants the Retinal Scanner on Kaysen's microscope, and stands by for Kaysen to arrive. Using a close-range trigger, he scans the retina and prepares to leave once Kaysen exits the lab. However, on the way to exraction, Nicklaus calls and warns Billy that Kaysen might find the scanner. Billy has five minutes to return to the lab, collect the scanner, and escape via the van in the paring garage.

The next mission continues with a second assignment at NanotechDyne. Billy must infiltrate the building at midnight (Choosing whether to infiltrate via the roof or via the parking garage as in the first mission) and hack into Kaysen's computer, kept in a room with airtight security. Billy sneaks inside using the guise of a security guard and ends up in a maintenance area above the room where the computer is. Billy is briefed on the security in the room, which includes laser sensors, a temperature alarm, floor sensors, and a password and retinal scan on the computer. Using coolant spray to supress his temperature, Billy rappels into the room, evading the lasers, and uses the gained password and retinal data to breach the computer's software and download it's content to Phantom. Nicklaus notices a strange emblem on the desktop and goes to cross-reference it. On his way back up to the top of the room, the tripwires go off, and begin to lower toward Billy, risking an alarm. Billy flattens himself out right above the floor, barely evading the lasers as they shut off. However, a screw falls from the iron framing in the ceiling and falls. Billy manages to catch it before it falls and rappel back up out of the room. From there, he exfiltrates via the outside of the upper floors, evading animal defenses that taser anything near them. Extraction is via a hang glider placed in position before the assignment.

The Metropolis
Billy is sent to the Metropolis airship casino, that will soon be flying. Kaysen will be on board. By this time, Nicklaus has identified the logo on Kaysen's desktop to be that of Enigma, signifying that they are in league. Aboard the ship with Billy are Samuel, Nicklaus, and Sheila (Who plays a different role in the mission, so gameplay depends on the players character choice). Billy and Sheila pose as guests while Samuel poses as a bartender and Nicklaus as a guard. The owner of the Metropolis, Kelly Wong (A seductive businesswoman with cash and time), is also thought to be an Enigma officer. Kaysen and Wong are meeting on the Metropolis, and the main goal is to infiltrate the meeting. Billy begins by attending Wong's speech in the dining hall before starting with the main mission. Sheila takes on the guise of one of the strippers on the ship, which seems to embarrass her. She waits in the VIP show area while Billy poses as a bartender and gives Kaysen a VIP invitation to see Sheila. Sheila knocks Kaysen out with a tranquilizer, and Billy poses as him to take his place at the meeting. Gaining intel about a weapon called Lahder and a demonstration to take place on board, Billy leaves, Sheila having listened in from the air ducts. The two switch places next as Billy goes to awaken Kaysen by starting a fire in the VIP room, activating the sprinklers. Kaysen, thinking he's late, goes to the meeting while Samuel distracts Wong, allowing Sheila to take her place while Billy listens from the vent. Billy reports to Samuel, and he and Nicklaus move on to the next mission on board while Sheila and Samuel extract.

Nicklaus and Billy are tasked to infiltrate the Lahder demonstration and see what's going on. Taking care not to shoot out the blimp, Billy gains a guest disguise and sits in on the demo with numerous other guests. Wong shows that Lahder is biochemical weapon, and declares that is a virus capable of lying dormant to build pressure, eventually growing strong enough to irradicate an entire country. Kaysen toses a grenade-like sphere into a glass cage where a gorilla is sitting, in order to demonstrate the effect. However, Wong pushes Kaysen into the cage before it closes, killing him with the virus. The guests applaud, not knowing what else to do. Billy is contacted by Nicklaus, who says that the mission was compromised and they need to extract ASAP. Billy fights his way toward the exit, only to find that Nicklaus has been captured. he is then held at gunpoint by Dietrich, who was present at the demonstration, making his first chronological appearance before Billy. Wong rounds the corner and Billy points his gun at her, and Dietrich. Wong is shot and killed, and Billy is knocked unconscious by a third terrorist, dressed like a soldier.

Dante's Inferno
Billy wakes up in a wooden cell in the middle of the jungle, held captive by guerilla forces. He manages to kill his guards while they feed him, and escapes to find his missing gear. Upon finding it, Eve tells him that the man who captured him is Douglas Lysander, a Green Beret turned Enigma officer. Nicklaus has been captured and is being held somewhere in Lysander's HQ. Billy proceeds forward through the jungle paths, finding an Enigma compound where Lysander is meeting with Dietrich. He spies on the meeting from afar, and moves toward another compound, where Lysander tells his guard only to let Dietrich inside. Billy sneaks closer to the first compound, and disgises himself as Dietrich, recording his voice as well. Billy, posing as Dietrich, enters the second compound and meets with Lysander at the mouth of a cave.

Now inside the compound where the payload of Lahder is being stored, Eve instructs Billy to find Nicklaus, destroy Lahder, find Dr. Alice Coleman (The NanotechDyne employee who unwittingly discovered Lahder, and was subsequently handed over by Kaysen), and extract via boat outside the compound. Billy is successful in sneaking into the chemical lab to bring down the shielding around Lahder, using a compact jammer array, and overloads the system with a taser, destroying the Lahder payload. Proceeding deeper into the area, Billy frees Nicklaus, who is injured, from a locked supply crate. Billy moves to the lower floors to find Coleman, who panics when guerillas close in on them. Billy fights off the opposing force and finds that Coleman has fled. Following her back, Nicklaus announces that government forces are about to bomb the compound. Back on the upper floors, Lysander has placed Coleman in a cage lined with meet, dangling above the wading pool of water below, where a large amount of piranha await. Billy chases Lysander around the main compound, pushing him into a smaller area. Lysander, wielding two sawn-off shotguns, is forced into a fight. Billy succeeds in injuring him, but Lysander moves toward Coleman's cage, and prepares to shoot the cable holding her above the water. Just as he is about to fire, Nicklaus shoots Lysander in the back, and he falls over into the water, where the piranha eat his body. Nicklaus and Billy free Coleman and escape via the boat.

Rod't Rose Station
Billy is sent with Samuel to a train station, where there is a hostage situation. Enigma has sent out their ultimatum. They will launch ICBMs containing a much larger Lahder payload, unless the American government confesses its sins and sits in the general assembly. The leader shows his face, but remains nameless. He claims that a US op called Operation Desert Falcon ended with the government abandoning everyone involved. This man was on the team, but it is not made clear if Kaysen, Wong, Lysander, or Troy were involved in any way with Desert Falcon. Billy meets with Samuel inside the station, battling with a massive division of Enigma troops using a rocket launcher. When the dust settles, Billy goes to find the hostages while Samuel goes after Dietrich. Billy arrives to find that the hostages are holograms, and a hologram of Dietrich announces that there is a traitor in Phantom. Samuel contacts Billy, saying that Dietrich is escaping. Billy goes to find a train called the Traum leaving the station, and he gets on board before it leaves.

Billy, with Sheila now by his side, infiltrates the upper cars of the Traum, finding Dietrich at the second car, which is open and flat. Samuel is strapped to a metal contraption, seemingly injured. After a short argument about Enigma's motives, Dietrich jumps from the train and escapes. However, the train is careening towards a dead end. Samuel makes his final confessions at this point, revealing important plot details. It seems Samuel is the traitor, but is obviously regretting it if he is. He tells Billy that the leader of Enigma is Dimitri Verdernakov, aka Scarface, a legendary Phantom operative. Billy is informed that Scarface is his father. Sheila attempts to comfort him as Samuel reveals the endgame of Enigma's plan. The Metropolis is the Lahder payload, and Dimitri will ride it over the US and blow it. Samuel then explains that when he dies, a signal will be sent to the entire Phantom team, as well as Dimitri, to alert them to his death. With the train heading for a crash, Samuel tells Billy to seperate the train cars so they can escape. Samuel is unable to move from the metal contraption, on a cart that can't be detatched. Billy is reluctant, but Samuel orders him (Yelling "BILLY!" Instead of "Bishop"). The train cars are seperated, and the car Samuel is on crashes. A signal is sent to Billy and Sheila's Comm devices.

NOTE: If the player is playing as Sheila, Samuel tells her that Dimitri raised her, but is not her father.

Castle Wolfgang
The only remaining Enigma officers are Dietrich and Dimitri, who are holed up in Castle Wolfgang. This is essentially just like the first mission, but with a more detailed briefing and a longer way to go during the movement through the vents, including soldiers and traps. Billy also meets Michael in person in this playthrough. The briefing this time is that Coleman is helping Phantom by developing a serum to Lahder, called The Jacob. Billy has been given a bomb containing Jacob. After the scene where Nicklaus is shot in the Chapel, Billy breaks free from the Enigma soldiers and engages in a ginfight with Dietrich, who employs holograms to fool Billy into wasting ammo. When he is defeated, Dietrich praises Billy's skill, but an incomign SWAT team breaches the Chapel and kills Dietrich before he can be interrogated. Frustrated, Billy leaves the SWATs to their business and goes to confront his father on the top of the Metropolis.

The final battle begins when Billy steps onto the Metropolis's roof. Dimitri denounces the US and tells Billy that killing him will not be a problem at all. Dimitri removes his eye patch and cloak, revealing nano-augmentations, including a cybernetic arm with a gun attatched. A massive gun battle erupts on the Metropolis as Billy manages to weaken his father, who begins to suffer electrical damage. Preparing to activate the timed explosion that will release Lahder, Dimitri hits the button to initiate the countdown. Billy says his final goodbyes as he places the Jacob bomb on the blimp, and jumps, using a parachute to escape. Dimitri attempts to get to the Jacob to shut it down, but his battle damage hinders his movement and he fails, going up in flames with his work as a purple light (Lahder) in the sky is overtaken by the Jacob's green. Billy and Sheila watch from a snowy lot on the ground, and Sheila asks Billy if it's all over. Nicklaus's body is wheeled by on a stretcher,and Billy places his gun on Nicklaus, as a means of honor. "Yeah, it's over." Billy reassures her.

[edit] References to the spy genre

Most notable of this game is a multitude of references and concepts parodied in the game, predominantly originating from Metal Gear, James Bond, and Mission:Impossible. A large list of these are archived in a blog titled Third Echelon.

Some of them (Edited for encyclopedic style) include:

The whole alert [status] is [taken from] Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3. Instead of Alert, Evasion, Caution, and Normal, it's Danger, Search, Caution, and Safety.
The vault scene from Mission:Impossible is [parodied]. You spray your body with coolant to avoid setting off [a] temperature alarm, there's lasers, and [the agent] can't touch the floor. The only [difference] is that you have to pass a retinal scan to get the [terminal] to work.
Both agents carry a silenced Walther P99, the late-era James Bond handgun.
The ENIGMA organization which is dedicated to the conquering of the world through terrorist-style tactics is similar to that of the early-era James Bond organization SPECTRE.
There is a sequence on top of a speeding train that mimicks that of the Bullet-train sequence from Mission:Impossible