The Fourth Protocol is based on the magnificent 1984 spy thriller written by Frederick Forsythe. At first sight, the interface appears mundane - you are presented with a grey screen full of icons, no animation, and no action.
You are John Preston, the desk jockey spy master and there seem to be secrets leaking from H M Government somewhere. It is now up to you to find the leakier in chief.
You have a time limit, and to make matters worse, you don't even know what that time limit is! Also, other matters which may (or may not) be important are constantly clamoring for your attention.
Memos and phone calls come in from all sides, from your obnoxious boss who is trying to get you fired and from your bored “watchers” begging to be taken off what seems to be a total waste of time case. Your only guide to progress is the Assessment icon, which is vague at best and only indicates how much of the initial stage you have solved - not how fast you did it, nor how close you are to getting the boot.
In order to make any progress, you must uncover clues indirectly by using the resources at your command - initially your watchers via the Surveillance icon. But you only have a limited number of people that you can call on, you can't watch
everyone. Start scrutinizing the government files at the Cencom icon and work out who has had access to the leaked documents. You can now target your watchers more effectively, but don’t forget that when you target your watchers is just as important as where you target them.
All through the first section there are clues hidden which gradually reveal the existence of a dastardly Soviet plot to overthrow the Government from within. Even worse, there is a nuclear bomb about to be planted somewhere.
In order to discover where, you are now authorized to leave the office and travel round undercover “in the field”. This section plays similarly to the first, except that you are now able to visit locations personally, picking up clues and examining items at the scene of the crime, or taking them back to HQ for analysis by your tame experts. The time pressure never lets up, so you can’t afford to revisit many places.
Finally, you track down the bomb, and now its time to brief the SAS for their assault and give instructions on disarming the device.
All in all, really interesting spy game. Worth downloading.
