Traitor's Gate by Brice Unland Remember the good ol' days when you were a little tyke and enjoyed running around in the sun for hours on end? Playing marbles with your buddies? Running to your mother with gushing tears because your big brother had kicked you below the belt while imitating the Karate Kid? Oh yeah, the good ol' days—times of free play and little worry. Yet, while those activities gave you many hours of enjoyment, you longed for the next chance to play cops and robbers. The sheer element of surprise and sneaking around just like real cops and robbers was the ultimate in excitement—well, next to spying on that mysterious little old lady who lived next door and who you swore turned into a witch at night. With excitement in mind, I am glad to bring you a preview of a game that embodies thrilling fun—no spying on old ladies, though. I'm talking about Traitor's Gate, an upcoming game produced by Daydream Software. According to a pre-release press snippet: “It is considered to be the most valuable treasure in the world, however its symbolic value by far exceeds its material value. Literally millions have been spent to protect it. There has been only one attempt to steal it in the last 500 years, and that attempt failed. Now it is under threat and you have to steal it with the utmost discretion and the minimum of force. You have only 12 hours to manage it. They will shoot to kill…you mustn't harm them.” Sure sounds intriguing, doesn't it? The plot resonates like a James Bond film: You are a Pentagon field officer, and one of the members of ORPHIA, a top-secret force, has defected, taking top-secret Pentagon documents on how to recover articles of a priceless value. Now, this fellow, Major D. G. Anderson, is suspected of using these classified files to plan to steal the world's most coveted treasure, the Crown Jewels of England. Think the Thomas Crown Affair. Well, ORPHIA finds it politically embarrassing and dangerous to have to admit to this development, therefore it wants to take care of that situation discreetly. What's your job in this tale of intrigue? You have to sneak into the Tower of London, a 900-year-old fortress, which is guarded by the absolutely latest security equipment and patrolled 24 hours every day by security guards with the license to kill. Once you are in, you must locate the Crown Jewels, replace them with exact replicas that have trackers in them, then get out without letting anyone notice you—and you must harm no personnel. The catch? You have 12 hours to do the job. Thus is born the covert operation code-named "Traitor's Gate." Hey, no one said working for the Pentagon would be easy. But let me tell you, it is exciting! Traitor's Gate's graphics alone make it a hit. Beautiful photo-realistic environments, mapped with virtual reality controls (e.g. you can look anywhere), are going to make this title a sure buy on any gamer's list. I was lucky enough to receive a preview copy (beta to be exact) of Traitor's Gate. After hours of gameplay, all I have to say is, I need sleep, and wow! The feel of the game is quite incredible: you are right there in the action. And the cutscenes are fabulous. At the game's beginning, you are equipped with some tools to help you out (not to forget some gum, which can serve other purposes). You can pick up more tools on the way as well—you'll need them. While the grappling hook and leatherman are a great help, the most valuable tool available to you is the PDA, a small personal computer with a map, picture capabilities, sound recording, information on all your tools, an e-mail link with the Pentagon (useful for getting info on the pictures you take), a notes section (finally, someone put together that we keep notes in games like this and like them handy), and many other handy features. This is an in-game milestone for computing, as the PDA is the handiest little thing next to an empty refrigerator box, which also has many uses. Lastly, I hate to break it to you but that is about all I can tell you until Traitor's Gate is final and sent to the distributors (which my sources say won’t be long). In the meantime, check out the demo, and keep an eye out for its release, because this game is well worth your while, VERY well worth your while. I wish I could tell you more, but that would take the excitement away, now wouldn't it?