I played a game called Shadows of Doubt last year. In it, I hunted down criminals by finding clues, interviewing suspects, and doing whatever was necessary to catch the perp. There’s something about being an investigator that fascinates me. We don’t see it a lot in gaming, especially when that game has you solve crimes at a desk job, but VICE Undercover is one of the most exciting titles I’ve played in some time. You’re not out in the field with a handgun and a badge. Instead, your brain is the weapon and your quick-thinking is the trigger.
Set in an alternate 1980s Miami, you play as an undercover agent who has access to a cartel’s computer for one hour every day. The majority of your time is spent sat at this PC, using various programs to find clues and information about members of a cartel through missions where you use a fully operational operating system called Amigo OS. It’s a smart idea and one that never gets boring thanks to its realism and attention to detail. This preview gave me a taste for what could be a standout in 2025.
There’s a database of potential criminals that have plenty of information on them such as alias, current addresses, mugshots, license plates, and job roles. Early missions will have you scour the database to find this info and report back to your superiors, all while trying to do so within a set time. A new program called Spectrum delves deeper into the dark web and provides further information on locations and important people. While communicating with cops, you’ll also be in contact with the cartel itself.
When you have time to scroll through the walls of information, that pressure to find answers is non-existent. However, some missions are timed and if you don’t get what you need, it’s right back to the start of a chapter. I pray that this is something that gets changed when the full game releases because having to go through previous missions all over again is a huge inconvenience. Searching through databases, clicking on the various programs, and copying information is laborious when repeating the same missions.
It got to the point when I dreaded these timed missions. One such mission had me searching for a woman with red hair and green eyes. There was no obvious way to syphon out sex, hair colour, and eye colour, so if I couldn’t find an image that matched the one sent to me, it was back to the drawing board. Pressure through missions is a given, but threatening you with having to restart the chapter isn’t fair. Maybe there was a quicker way to find the information I needed, but if there was, it wasn’t obvious in the slightest.
Despite that, VICE Undercover is still great. It’s aesthetic is realistic to the 80s, with an operating system that runs like Windows 3.1. Sometimes the power trips out and you’ll go to the server room to power back up. There are other minor things to do outside of the computer, but the proper job is searching the different computer programs for answers. Getting to listen to a banging 80s soundtrack while investigating is great, thanks to your little in-game music player. It has a lot going for it, and I got addicted to uncovering the truth.
VICE Undercover gradually gets harder when it comes to finding the answers. It’s impressive how Ancient Machine manages to turn a desk job into such an exciting way to solve crimes an get to the truth. I only played a short part of the overall game, which is set to feature over 20 hours of gameplay. So far, I love the way these programs feel real, how the story grows larger as the plot thickens, and its authenticity as far as Miami in the 1980s must have felt like. Bring on the full release!
VICE Undercover is coming to PC on Steam in Q2 2025.