When a Soviet spy manages to infiltrate a NATO military base, anything can happen. Frederick Forsyth's The Fourth Protocol was a best seller that was released on PC by Ariolasoft, coinciding with the release of the film. This launch of the new game full of fun in the British counterintelligence.

Our task will be to stop a group of Russian agents assembling, activating and detonating a nuclear device in a basement in the UK, before the general election and blame the imperialist capitalists, the Americans.

We will play John Preston, MI5 investigator and the new head of security. While we try to discover the mole and our task will be to thwart the cowardly plan of the Soviets: Plan Aurora and discover the whereabouts of the Russian bomb.

This is one of the most exciting strategy games produced, capable of generating an incredibly realistic sense of suspense. This is a spy adventure of great dimensions, an adventure in which you will have to think and behave like a real spy if you want to achieve something. An icon-based adventure that works magnificently well. The program consists of three clearly differentiated parts: The NATO papers, the Bomb and the assault of the special forces, of the SAS. There are three games in total packed with code breaking and brain teasers to keep your brain thinking for hours. These can be played randomly initially, but must be played in order for the trilogy to be successfully completed. Clues found in one game may prove essential in the next. The first two missions are accessible at the beginning of the game, their completion gives access to the third and final battle.

The entire game is played from a single screen that contains nine icons, but these allow you to access a world of intrigue and complication. The basic idea is that you already know some information that sets you on the path of the leak, while other matters come to your attention as time passes. When trying to deal with problems, you spend most of your time keeping an eye on people, and if that produces some information, you may be able to track it. The other thing that takes up a lot of your time is searching the filing system for interesting files about people and things that may also provide important evidence.

To give you an idea of what's in store for you, you'll have to deal with a murder, a desertion, paranoid employees, building security officers, and lovesick operatives, all in one day's work. While trying to deal with it, he has gel to identify the source of the leek and track it down to expose the entire network. You have to continue with your other job; otherwise, the number of surveillance personnel is reduced and the leak must be resolved before the time limit runs out and you are fired from the job.

The main menu options are as follows:

 • Surveillance: Assign guards to and from suspects.
 • Cencom File System: Contains the files created by the player, along with some of your own, you need to find out what they are.
 • Phone: Rings for an incoming call, calls can be made but you must know which number to dial.
 • Information: Three computer terminals display memos, reports, and status reports from your agents.
 • Calendar: Updates throughout the game, 75 seconds equals approximately one day. You can advance the date if necessary.
 • Rating: Indicates your progress and prestige within MI5. If this drops too low, you will lose agents.
 • Utilities: Allows you to save, load or freeze your game position.

When they give you some information you must decide what action to take, whether to assign guards or perhaps delve into Cencom to obtain more information. Not everything reported or what you do is relevant to the main problem, but some action must be taken or your rating will be too low to be effective.

You shouldn't expect to solve any game worth its salt in the first session, or even in the second or third. What you should expect is a growing awareness of the correct approach. This is particularly true here, with more than a dozen subplots that, while they don't lead you directly to the knowledge of the bomb, do create a desperate sense of tension.

The memos or reports will mention places and people and you will need to remember these names in order to assign agents. Help is at hand in the form of Cencom. Not only can you read your existing files, but you can also save incoming reports or notes with your own file names. Among other things, you will be asked to check the security of Building 17. You will be given a map of the building and you must decide where the security locks will be placed. Don't ignore the requests or you will be plagued with memo after memo! The correct action here is unlikely to help you with the main task, but failure will affect your prestige.

Once he's read the phone numbers at Cencom, he'll also have access to the main security computer at Blenheim. Of course, he must find out the names of people or places before he can retrieve the files to look for possible clues to follow.

The pressure builds. You have until July 11 and are gripped by the frustrating feeling that red tape is bogging down a vital investigation. You may be sitting behind a desk, but what an exciting desk.

Having made her deductions and double-checked her files, she reports his suspicions to his superiors. Do it right and you get it. the password to the next station. Wrong, and you better start over.

The MOVE icons not only cover the usual four cardinal directions, but also stairs and doors and even allow you to hail a taxi. Telephones can be used and you must also TALK to anyone present.

You know that a nuclear device has been smuggled into the country. For this part of the game, you have to find where it is hidden, fast. There are more than 100 locations to visit and there are no agents to help you this time.

Learning to travel can take some time. Taxis are plentiful, just grab one again if you don't succeed the first time. Drivers will ask you where you are going, but they don't always seem to understand what you are saying, maybe the stress is getting to you. However, be careful spending your money too soon - the London Underground is cheaper than taxis.

The first section will give you an idea of where to visit, and more clues will appear as you progress. Start by going through everything and pick up the items you might need. Not all of these are in the building you start in, so you need to visit other Ministry buildings in the surrounding area.

So that you can situate yourself a bit in the game, we will try to explain more or less the plot of the game, the movie or the book, since they are all the same.

1st part “The Nato Documents”

The Russians and consequently the KGB hatch a plan to undermine the foundations of NATO and return to the cold war. For this they get information indirectly from an official of the South African embassy, some important papers have leaked. This one steals secret information that ends up falling into the hands of the Soviets. The English are suspicious and send a spy after the official's footsteps. To find out who the ghost leaker is, so to speak, you need to familiarize yourself with the Cencom (central communication system) indicated on the screen by various icons. Using them, you can access memos, reports, and files, use the surveillance system, and even receive or make phone calls. For example, you need to constantly turn on computer icons for agency reports, and the memo option will print the memo on the screen and display an additional menu. This shows you a filing cabinet to hold the memo, a trash can to throw it away, an eye to read it, and a picture of a computer to return to the command center. Certain memos require immediate action and then you access more submenus. Three computer terminals display status reports, notes, etc. When there is a message waiting, an icon is displayed on the terminal screen. Moving an icon with your pointing finger to the relevant option and pressing Enter will give you an additional menu with more icons. These though are quickly stowed away in the office. it must remain present in your mind. The success of the mission depends on your deductions, and therefore the confrontation of all available research elements.

Taking advantage of New Year's Eve, the English spy enters his house to look for evidence. By then the KGB already has enough information, but the British take the opportunity to send false information through the same channel. Up to here would come what we could call the first part, that is, the paperwork, the espionage.

The game, while abstract, has a compelling realism to it. The phone, for example, will ring regularly. It is then necessary to suspend your occupation and respond. It is possible to contact certain people, put others under surveillance. etc Everything is complex, subtle and delicate. We are often surprised at the end of the game. of the imagination displayed in such an adventure under the sole support of an immutable game screen.

2nd part “The Bomb”

The Russian goal is to plant an atomic bomb at an American NATO airbase in England. By blowing it up, the Russian secret service wants to make everything look like an accident before public opinion and force them to remove all installed nuclear warheads. The Russians infiltrate a spy in the base whose mission is to collect the parts of the bomb that are sent to him from the USSR. But the English are on the trail and in a moment they recover one of the pieces.

Meanwhile, in the USSR there are several senior officials who do not agree with the project, so they contact the head of NATO in Europe and tell him what is happening to see if they themselves can abort the project.

Little by little the siege tightens around the Russian spy. And that's when a specialist arrives from Moscow who is the one who has to assemble the bomb so that it can later be activated by her partner. However, the Russian brings other orders: she has to advance the explosion time of the bomb so that as soon as it is activated by the spy, it will explode. In turn, he has the order to kill her as soon as she finishes setting up the bomb, and kill her, with which the KGB would have eliminated the only two witnesses and knowledgeable of the plan. This would have happened if the Russian had not been suspicious and had opened the clockwork of the bomb.

It's more like a traditional adventure, but an icon system replaces the more common simple text commands, and to great effect.In this game, your far-from-easy task is to locate the bomb, which could be in anywhere in Great Britain. Luckily there are taxis, buses and trains you can travel on, but don't forget your metro map!

Consult your notes from Part One to get started. Once you have found the bomb, you will be given a password to allow access to the next part.

Again, the simple context of the menu continues to create an engaging atmosphere.

3rd part “The SAS Assault”

The third and last part is related to the assault by the SAS.

The English spy manages to follow the Russian to his house without being discovered. He starts a hasty escape but the roads are blocked by protesters and he has to turn back. Back at his house, where the bomb is, he is followed by the British, who had planted a detector on his motorcycle. This is where the assault occurs. The two spies get into a hand-to-hand fight but the SAS kill the Russian. It is useless to the English spy to ask for explanations. He leaves.

You have found the building where the bomb is hidden and you have called the SAS. Your job is to find and defuse the bomb using the information you have obtained in the first two parts.

They give you a map of the building where the bomb is hidden. Equipped with weapons, tools, and of course a Geiger counter, you must get past the KGB guards who are there to defend the nuclear device and disable it.

The arsenal of weapons you'll find when you open INVENTORY is impressive, to say the least, and necessary. There are KGB men at almost every turn and they are all very hostile. This section is more of a wear ganifi. There are relatively few locations, so it's a matter of finding the right weapon or moving for the right situation. Once you get that far, you will win in the end. It's just a case of how long it takes you.

Conclusion

One of the most important actions is to assign surveillance teams to various suspects that come up in the course of your investigations. This is done through a camera icon. 'Observers' make regular reports of 'friends' activities, allowing you to make various decisions along the way: arrest, pass on false information, deport, etc. Constant vigilance in the command center is necessary, as it is all too easy to miss an important phone call or message and lose a vital clue. Codes, phone numbers, limited resources, staff morale, and success rates add to the complexity and realism of the game.

All control is done with the cursor and enter keys, with the cursor advancing to each icon in turn. There is no joystick option, but there is a function to pause, save and load the game.

The Fourth Protocol is a complicated game but with an exciting theme. Apart from everything, the program is in English. The Fourth Protocol is icon controlled, it is not a conversational game. The player realizes very quickly that most of the work here lies in strategy and reflection. It will take him a bit of time to get familiar with all three games, but it's worth it in the end. They require a lot of reflection, the future of the world can be in your hands. It's a very fun and novel game that has a lot of depth. It will not be to everyone's taste because it can be quite complicated. But if you are looking for a challenge and a good exercise for the brain cells, then this is ideal.

In the following images you can check the original packaging.

• Original cover

Here you have the front of the original cover.

• Retouched cover

Its measurements are: Length: 31,00 cm x Height: 20,80 cm.

• Original disc supplied with The Fourth Protocol.

Custom labels to print them. Over the years due to its use, the labels are spoiled and lose their color and quality. Now we try to adapt the closest thing to the best of our abilities, the labels so that they can be printed and replaced or for those who work with a copy of the program and preserve the original disk. Measure in 3 “high: 7.00 cm - width: 7.10 cm. The first image corresponds to the original label of the game, the second is the same label modified to replace the broken one and the third and fourth image is for the 3.5 “discs.

Pending

User's Guide

Here you have the user guide that accompanies the game. Measures: Width: 14.60 cm x Height: 20.90 cm.

Handbook

Here you have the handbook that accompanies the game. Measures: Width: 14.70 cm x Height: 20.90 cm.

Cheats

Thorn is not the real problem - try putting 10 spotters on the person complaining about him.

Only one person has access to the BIF from NATO documents, so put observers on it no later than 10 days after the start of the game or things will start to fall apart.

Pasternak must receive a positive and rapid response. Although an umbrella may be the bane of it, it's actually for the best.

When Telecom offers help, he takes it quickly. Try a voice copy of the traitor who has access to NATO documents.

When a person disappears, there's no point in putting guards on him, but his wife, on the other hand, is a different matter.

Put at least 25 observers in ABBS. It is better not to touch his neck: bad publicity ruins the image, and all that can bring another lost sheep into the fold.

Building 17 security is simply a matter of common sense: Also remember that emergency exits must be kept clear at all times.

When a high-ranking official calls you, don't hang around, call him right away, but you better have all the answers.

Get as much information as possible from Blenheim, and if it is a foreign data exchange. possible, then use it too.

Do you have a problem with hackers? 3421 It's a possible way to stop them.

On June 8th you receive a memorandum message (MEMO) asking if you want to install a security system in the CO Data Analyst building. Of course you should answer yes. The basement must have the following places closed: both doors to the computer room, the office and the data storage area (Data Storage), while a guard must be located at the second door of the computer room.

The ground floor must be as follows: the main entrance doors must be closed, as well as the office and the key room, the photocopies room, the office, the security door and the conference or meeting room. Once everything is like this, you can return to Cencon.

If you have done this correctly, on June 17 you will receive a new MEMO, but this time to secure the computer. Here you will have to decide the order of importance of the following:

1. Intervention in the computer of systems analysts. 2. Use only A1 security personnel. 3. Password (changed every week). 4. Special keys for security areas. 5. Telephone connections. 6. Escort visitors inside the building.

The correct order of importance is 2341, which could prevent hackers from breaking into the system. and no one will be able to make any changes to the system.

Cencom contains the Telephone file which uses three numbers: Blenheim Computer 04382731, Medical Security 71288989, and Sir Anthony Plumb 12377563. The last number should be used when the player knows all the details about the traitor and his contact. Do not check it if you are not sure because you will lose valuable prestige points.

Medical security personnel can only be called after Bracton has called you. Bracton seems obsessed with calling you, so he reads his file along with Thorn's. ' The Blenheim computer can be called at any time; By providing the decoded password provided at the beginning, you can transfer files to Cencon, where they can be examined.

Among the files you can obtain from Blenheim are: Nato. paper 1, paper 2, paper 3, paper 4, paper 5, MoD. Cabinet, Foreign, Abbs. Starustav, pizza, Maras, Pastemak, Faulkner, Bracton, Thorn, Blodwyn, trad, names, delivery, Nilson, Ompardo, Shoukir and Fox. For the analysis of files papers 1-6 MoD. Cabinet and Foreign Relations can reduce the traitor to one of the five men who had access to all the documents and a photocopier.

In general, the more observers you have on a target, the faster you will get results. Always answer the phone quickly because some of the calls are very important. Never have lookouts on targets that have already been eliminated, as you will lose prestige points. Some targets, like Warburton and Banister, require the full 25 spotters to get results.

From this moment your Prestige and Achievement will increase considerably.

Game

The disk images, of disk, have been obtained from the original version of The Fourth Protocol, have been recorded and verified.

• The Fourth Protocol (Compressed .DSK file in ZIP format)

User Guide and Handbook

The accompanying user guide and handbook for The Fourth Protocol can be downloaded below or viewed online.

• User Guide (PDF file)

• Handbook (PDF file)