History VideoGame / CodenameIceman

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The manual mentions some comfortable features that haven't been seen before in an SCI 0 game. For instance, typing just "look" gives you the description of the object directly in front of the player character (rather than the room), or making them walk up to the object when you type in a command related to it instead of just giving the message "You are not close enough".

* CreatorCameo: The man sitting at a table in Chi Chi Bar's dance room is Chris Hoyt, a fellow Creator/{{Sierra}} developer who was the programmer of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIVThePerilsOfRosella'' and ''VideoGame/TheColonelsBequest''.

* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: You have to save a woman from the surf early on in the game, and you have to perform CPR. Afterwards she just stands up and walks it off.
* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: It came out in 1989.

* SaveScumming: If you save and load too many times during the Yahtzee minigame, your opponent refuses to abide cheaters, takes the important item you're supposed to win from him, and leaves, rendering the game {{unwinnable}}.

* GuideDangIt: Oh so very much. Simply put, everything in the game that can go wrong, ''will'' go wrong unless you explicitly check for it. For instance, the submarine will malfunction unless you, the captain, perform maintenance work. The worst example is that, at the Pentagon, you are given ''the wrong ID card''. Unless you double-check it, you'll get through half the game before noticing this mistake, rendering your game {{Unwinnable}}.

** Before trying to cross the polar ice cap (and while serving as the acting captain of the ship) Westland must inspect and repair a malfunctioning torpedo tube. Even weirder, he must measure and manufacture the replacement parts all by himself. Failure to do all this leads to losing a confrontation with enemy submarines later in the game - no one else will discover the malfunction nor fix it for you.

!!Codename: Iceman provides examples of:

Part adventure and part submarine simulator, this Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure from the mind of ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' creator Jim Walls puts you in the shoes of a multi-qualified Commander in the United States Navy, during the late stages of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. A hostage situation at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia threatens to flare up into open conflict with the Soviet Union, enough to merit taking a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine from Hawaii into the Mediterranean, only to bring you (supposedly a part-time CIA operative or somesuch) ashore for a rescue operation.

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* WritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: As the U.S.S. Blackhawk sails east through the Bering Straits, Westland and Hawkins go up to the conning tower to take a look around. With his binoculars, Hawkins spots two ships on the horizon which turn out to be Russian warships, and one starts heading towards them. But when you get to your station a few minutes later, it turns out that the enemy is still about 17,000 yards away (about 15.5km) - which is ''well'' beyond visual range at sea level.

* GuideDangIt: Oh so very much. Simply put, everything in the game that can go wrong, ''will'' go wrong unless you explicitly check for it. For instance, the submarine will malfunction unless you, the captain, perform maintenance work. The worst example is that, at the Pentagon, you are given ''the wrong ID card''. Unless you double-check it, you'll get through half the game before noticing this mistake made it {{Unwinnable}}.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: If you refuse to help the arbitrary drowning woman at the beach, the game kills you for being an asshole.

* GuideDangIt: Oh so very much. Simply put, everything in the game that can go wrong, ''will'' go wrong unless you explicitly check for it. For instance, the submarine will malfunction unless you, the captain, perform maintenance work. The worst example is that, at CIA headquarters, you are given ''the wrong ID card''. Unless you double-check it, you'll get through half the game before noticing this mistake made it {{Unwinnable}}.

* SaveScumming: If you save and load too many times during the dice minigame, your opponent refuses to abide cheaters, takes the important item you're supposed to win from him, and leaves, rendering the game {{unwinnable}}.
* ShownTheirWork: This IS a [[VideoGame/PoliceQuest Jim Walls]] game after all, expect realistic procedures.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: If you refuse to help the arbitrary drowning woman at the beach, the game kills you for being an asshole.

In addition, the game requires you to win several games of Yahtzee against a fellow shipmate to win a [[PlotCoupon bottle]]. The designers were particularly devious with this one, as saving and reloading too many times during this game will cause you to lose the match automatically (apparently, your opponent is quite GenreSavvy). Doing this makes the game {{Unwinnable}}. In fact, there are at least two other places in the game where a wrong action does not immediately cause a GameOver, but rather lets you play on for quite some time, oblivious to your Dead Man Walking status.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: If you refuse to help the arbitrary drowning woman at the beach, the game kills you for being an asshole.
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* SaveScumming: There's an odd punishment for it, actually: your Yahtzee opponent deletes your save game if you save and load too many times.

Part adventure and part submarine simulator, this Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure puts you in the shoes of a multi-qualified Commander in the United States Navy, during the late stages of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. A hostage situation at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia threatens to flare up into open conflict with the Soviet Union, enough to merit taking a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine from Hawaii into the Mediterranean, only to bring you (supposedly a part-time CIA operative or somesuch) ashore for a rescue operation.

Part adventure and part submarine simulator, this Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure puts you in the shoes of a multi-qualified Commander in the United States Navy, during the late stages of the ColdWar. A hostage situation at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia threatens to flare up into open conflict with the Soviet Union, enough to merit taking a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine from Hawaii into the Mediterranean, only to bring you (supposedly a part-time CIA operative or somesuch) ashore for a rescue operation.

* ColdWar: It came out in 1989.

Part adventure and part submarine simulator, this {{Sierra}} adventure puts you in the shoes of a multi-qualified Commander in the United States Navy, during the late stages of the ColdWar. A hostage situation at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia threatens to flare up into open conflict with the Soviet Union, enough to merit taking a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine from Hawaii into the Mediterranean, only to bring you (supposedly a part-time CIA operative or somesuch) ashore for a rescue operation.

In addition, the game requires you to win several games of Yahtzee against a fellow shipmate to win a [[PlotCoupon bottle]]. The designers were particularly devious with this one, as saving and reloading too many times during this game will cause you to lose the match automatically (apparently, your opponent is quite GenreSavvy). Doing this makes the game UnWinnable. In fact, there are at least two other places in the game where a wrong action does not immediately cause a GameOver, but rather lets you play on for quite some time, oblivious to your Dead Man Walking status.

This is possibly one of the most difficult sierra adventures ever created, mostly due to the many difficult mini-games as well as the general obscurity of its puzzles, leading to GuideDangIt. However, the plot and writing, as well as its relative innovations at the time it was released, made it either very worthwhile or simply a piece of crap. Unfortunately, the multiple copy protection techniques (most of them requiring the original manual or a reasonable facsimile) as well as unexpected bugs render this game virtually unplayable today.

* SaveScumming: There's an odd punishment for it, actually: the opponent deletes your save game.

* UnexpectedGenreChange: Several.
* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: if you refuse to help the arbitrary drowning woman at the beach, the game kills you for being an asshole.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: "By not getting the '''Blackhwak''' under the USS Coontz in time, you lost your cover. Mission aborted."

This is possibly one of the most difficult sierra adventures ever created, mostly due to the many difficult mini-games as well as the general obscurity of its puzzles, leading to GuideDangIt. However, the plot and writing, as well as its relative innovations at the time it was released, made it [[YourMileageMayVary either very worthwhile or simply a piece of crap]]. Unfortunately, the multiple copy protection techniques (most of them requiring the original manual or a reasonable facsimile) as well as unexpected bugs render this game virtually unplayable today.