Aaron ThomasThe EyeToy is a great peripheral that has never quite reached its potential. Nearly every game released has been a mish-mash of mini-games that while fun for awhile, never stand on their own as a full game. Unfortunately, EyeToy: Operation Spy suffers from the same flaws. It's interesting for an hour or so, but unless you're under twelve years old, you're not likely to get any extended playtime out of the game.
Operation Spy takes the "security" features from EyeToy Play 2 and adds in a light story mode, as well as more mini-games. You start off by taking your picture and inputting a personal code, creating a secure login for your character. Every time you want to login to your profile, the game does a facial scan that works remarkably well. After a brief training mode you'll begin your work as an agent for the Strategic Intelligence Agency (S.I.A). There is a basic story here, but essentially you'll be playing mini-games to catch criminals. Some of the games include:
Skydiving: Just like you did in Pilotwings, you'll have to guide your character through rings on the way down to the target. You can speed up by putting your arms down by your side, and you slow down by moving them out and forward. Turning is done by moving one up while moving the other down. This is one of the less entertaining games, because there's not much too it, and it can be frustrating. You have to do all the game in the mission over if you fail any of them, and you can't practice skydiving until you beat at least one level, which again, is frustrating.
Code Breaking: This can best be compared to how Tom Cruise manipulated data in Minority Report (though not quite as cool). You're shown a symbol, and then you have to turn around a multi-sided die until you find the symbol. As you progress the die gets more sides, and since you're being timed, it gets pretty intense. This is one of the better games.
Photo Fit: Here you look at a picture of a suspect and for some reason, in order for you to identify them, you make another picture of the suspect that looks less like them. This is done by scrolling through different necks, mouths, noses, eyes, and hairstyles – kind of like making your own Mr. Potato Head. It's lame.
World Map: In world map you've got to maneuver a cursor over your target and keep it there long enough for your satellite to zoom in (a la Enemy of the State). You'll have to zoom in different levels and avoid enemy radar. It's fun once, but gets old very quickly.
In addition to the missions, there are several "security" features that you can utilize to defend your room against unwanted siblings and/or parents. The EyeToy can be setup as a motion detector to secretly record any intruders, or you can have it sound a loud alert when someone enters your secure zone. In addition, you can record video messages, as well as double the camera's normal resolution and take pictures.
As is always the case with an EyeToy game, it won't work unless you're in a well-lit room. Even in the right conditions, the camera's detection system doesn't seem to be as accurate as it has been in other games.
Other than your own gorgeous mug, there isn't much to the game's visuals. The menus are pretty standard, but like all EyeToy game menus, they're a pain in the butt to navigate. Everything else is average – at best. Other than some iffy voice-acting and some basic sound effects, there's not much to listen to at all.
If you've got a child or sibling under twelve with a good imagination, they might have a good time with Operation Spy. Anyone else will likely find the game uninteresting, especially since most of the content is locked. Since you constantly have to re-try them, the mission modes are frustrating, so you might not ever see all the game has to offer.