Shaken but Not Stirred!
released on Dec 31, 1982
A UK only 007 text adventure for the ZX Spectrum.
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Shaken but Not Stirred is an unofficial adventure game for the ZX Spectrum. It was quickly rebranded as “Super Spy” (possibly to avoid a lawsuit), however the game itself was not altered, just the cover.
A jet carrying mysterious cargo has gone missing when the secret service get a ransom note from Dr. Death demanding payment or else he’ll flatten London. James Bond is sent to stop him, picking a few weapons for getting through the game. The game is split into four distinct parts, each having completely different gameplay.
The first part of the game is a text adventure. You have to search the world for clues. You type in a location you want to go to, encounter a random event and try to get clues that form an anagram. These letters may be out of alignment – for example, you may receive an F, but because the letters are five steps ahead, it actually means an A. You have to use this to work out the location of Dr. Death’s secret base.
Some of these encounters are fights, which I could not get to work as none of my prompts were accepted. I found someone else having similar problems, but their situation doesn’t work, so I just died on those parts. Luckily, the solution is the same, so you can combine your knowledge from previous attempts.
Once you reach the secret island, it continues with the text-based interface, but you have to navigate a maze. You move in directions and occasionally fight. Luckily, the prompts worked for these fights, but it’s a very simple system where any weapon will kill in one hit (you so really need to have picked the weapons with more ammo). The layout of the map is consistent, however the “connections” between areas are random, so even if you know where you want to head, you can reach dead ends.
Once you locate the secret base, you then play a very different kind of made. This is a 3D style made where you navigate using the arrow keys to turn and move forward. This part is incredibly frustrating, and it seemed like button presses didn’t work a lot, and some turns didn’t match up with the doors (for example, there can be a door to your right, but when you turn right there isn’t one in front of you). To make matters worse, PAWS (a renamed Jaws) randomly pops up to kill you, with no way to evade.
The final “chapter” of this game is incredibly disappointing: it’s the board game Mastermind. Enter four numbers and you’ll see if any are correct, and if any are in the right place. You need to work out the secret code to beat the game.
Shaken but Not Stirred has some interesting ideas, and having different gameplay for different chapters does make sense for a Bond game. Unfortunately, this game is just annoying, partly due to things not working, others due to the complete randomness. Still, for the first James Bond video game (even unofficial), it’s not an atrocious first attempt.
A jet carrying mysterious cargo has gone missing when the secret service get a ransom note from Dr. Death demanding payment or else he’ll flatten London. James Bond is sent to stop him, picking a few weapons for getting through the game. The game is split into four distinct parts, each having completely different gameplay.
The first part of the game is a text adventure. You have to search the world for clues. You type in a location you want to go to, encounter a random event and try to get clues that form an anagram. These letters may be out of alignment – for example, you may receive an F, but because the letters are five steps ahead, it actually means an A. You have to use this to work out the location of Dr. Death’s secret base.
Some of these encounters are fights, which I could not get to work as none of my prompts were accepted. I found someone else having similar problems, but their situation doesn’t work, so I just died on those parts. Luckily, the solution is the same, so you can combine your knowledge from previous attempts.
Once you reach the secret island, it continues with the text-based interface, but you have to navigate a maze. You move in directions and occasionally fight. Luckily, the prompts worked for these fights, but it’s a very simple system where any weapon will kill in one hit (you so really need to have picked the weapons with more ammo). The layout of the map is consistent, however the “connections” between areas are random, so even if you know where you want to head, you can reach dead ends.
Once you locate the secret base, you then play a very different kind of made. This is a 3D style made where you navigate using the arrow keys to turn and move forward. This part is incredibly frustrating, and it seemed like button presses didn’t work a lot, and some turns didn’t match up with the doors (for example, there can be a door to your right, but when you turn right there isn’t one in front of you). To make matters worse, PAWS (a renamed Jaws) randomly pops up to kill you, with no way to evade.
The final “chapter” of this game is incredibly disappointing: it’s the board game Mastermind. Enter four numbers and you’ll see if any are correct, and if any are in the right place. You need to work out the secret code to beat the game.
Shaken but Not Stirred has some interesting ideas, and having different gameplay for different chapters does make sense for a Bond game. Unfortunately, this game is just annoying, partly due to things not working, others due to the complete randomness. Still, for the first James Bond video game (even unofficial), it’s not an atrocious first attempt.