Some of the gadgets and computers found in the CIA offices are well designed and nicely detailed, but the outdoor levels are just plain ugly. No sky textures, tons of dithering and unfortunate color choices abound. Animation is generally smooth and lifelike, but the delayed reactions for your opponents whenever you hit them distracts from the overall action. There is even some experimentation with dynamic music in the embassy level. When you get closer to the piano, the piano tune will slowly drown out the regular game music.
Sound effects are a mixed bag.
I hate to compare the game to GoldenEye, but the differences in sound quality quickly become obvious when booting up the Rare shooter and firing a gun. Everything sounds a bit more muffled in Mission, and the gun shots are much less believable. On the upside, Infogrames squeezed in tons of speech for the mission briefings, accompanied by realtime cutscenes that show the amount of work, script writing and planning that went into this title. I do suggest you check this game out, mainly because it boasts a lot of originality, two difficulty modes, and a fair number of enjoyable missions. But the control problems, lack of balance and repetitive gameplay will turn off the majority of gamers spoiled by games like GoldenEye or Metal Gear.