Sci-fi espionage sim Sigma Theory starts snooping out early access
I spy spies
Future spies are the best kind of spies. What they lack in self-contained underwater [duck] breathing apparatus, they more than make up for with mind control and scary drones. By crazy random happenstance, those are just two of the tools available in Sigma Theory, a sci-fi cold war 'em up about espionage and global domination. It just launched in early access.
It's made by Mi-Clos Studio, the same gang behind peaceful FTL-like Out There. I haven't played that yet, but if Sigma Theory impresses me half as much as Out There impressed Alec (RPS in peace), I could wind up being a very happy spy indeed.
You're the head of your country's "Sigma division", an elite agency tasked with tracking down "The Sigma Theory". It's a discovery that lets whoever controls it "destroy the global financial system, wipe out entire countries or even gain access to immortality". Every other country has also called dibs.
You're in charge of recruiting a four-strong spy network, then sending them off to do spy stuff like seduction, blackmail and kidnapping. Each of the fifty possible hires has their own story and traits. If those stories are bare bones, that still sounds neat. If there's more to them, it sounds great.
That all happens on the turn-based strategic layer, but there also exfiltration missions where you get up to something turn-based with drones. The blurb only mentions positioning them wisely, so the best I can do is gesture at this trailer.
That's a lot of moving parts, and I haven't even mentioned the diplomacy system or the tech tree. Will each of those parts be a piston, powering Sigma Theory forward like a train into the utopian night? Or will they get tangled up in dystopian clumsiness? I dunno. I'm trying not to think too hard about how disappointed I was with The Phantom Doctrine.
Mi-Clos plan on tinkering with Sigma Theory for 3-6 months of early access, during which time they'll add a story mode for each playable country, different exfiltration mission types and "more exciting stuff" that's yet to be unveiled.
You can grab it on Steam for £14/$16/€16.