Although it is useless without the other half, the embassy possesses a powerful super-computer that may be capable of breaking the code to open the document. While this is happening, Alexander Golystine, a worker at the Embassy of Russia in Prague, kidnaps IMF agent Candice Parker and steals one half of the CIA non-official cover (NOC) list, which holds the real and false names of all IMF agents. Phelps deploys IMF agents Ethan Hunt, John Clutter and Andrew Dowey to stop the terrorists' plans by infiltrating the base and destroying the submarine holding the missiles. Jim Phelps, leader of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), receives a message about a terrorist plot at an abandoned World War II submarine base in the 70th parallel north, where they plan to send missiles to a rival country. The game supports the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak. In the game's hard difficulty, Hunt is more vulnerable to enemy damage, enemies are more resilient, and there are more objectives to complete in each level. The game can be played in two difficulty modes: Possible (easy) and Impossible (hard). If Hunt's health is fully depleted, the player must restart the corresponding level from the beginning. Hunt has a certain amount of health which decreases when attacked by enemies.
In one level, Hunt is attached to a cable and the player must help him go down while avoiding obstacles in another level, the player assumes the role of a team member who must cover Hunt with a sniper rifle from a higher position and in the last one, the player must control a cannon and destroy buildings while Hunt is on a gunboat. Three of the game's 20 levels are played in a special way. When the player is in aiming mode, Hunt becomes translucent and a crosshair is visible on the screen, allowing the player to shoot in any direction.
Combat takes place in real-time and the player is free to set on a manual aiming mode that uses an over the shoulder perspective. To neutralize enemies, the player can use a variety of weapons, including a silenced pistol, an Uzi submachine gun, a dartgun, an electroshock weapon, and a mini- rocket launcher. Other notable gadgets like night vision glasses, smoke generators, and a fingerprint scanner are also featured. For example, the Facemaker gadget disguises Hunt as another character, allowing the player to infiltrate restricted areas. Many levels can be completed in a nonlinear order and require players to use numerous high-tech gadgets. Outright use of violence is generally discouraged and it is easy to fail a level by accidentally shooting the wrong non-player character.
The game generally requires the player to exercise caution and restraint in carrying out these objectives. In each level, the player must complete a number of objectives that include collecting items, interacting with computers, setting explosives on targets, and neutralizing specific enemies. Mission: Impossible is a single-player action-adventure game loosely based on the 1996 film of the same name, where the player controls Ethan Hunt from a third-person perspective through 20 levels. The player's health is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Hunt holding the dartgun in the CIA Rooftop level. A port of the game, with lighting effects, voice acting, and other minor improvements, was released for the PlayStation console in 1999. Although its varied levels and objectives received some praise, the game was generally criticized for its inconsistent gameplay and slow controls. The game received mixed reviews from critics and was frequently compared to Rare's 1997 game GoldenEye 007.
Mission: Impossible was considered a commercial success and sold more than one million copies as of February 1999. Although the game features the same premise as the film, it is not meant to be a direct translation and has its own story. In 1997, after Infogrames bought Ocean, the company opted to put a new team based in Lyon in charge of its completion. Originally envisioned as an ambitious PC game by an Ocean team based in San Jose, California, Mission: Impossible was under development for three years and suffered a troublesome development cycle, partially due to an overestimation of what the Nintendo 64 could do. The game features 20 levels where the player must complete several mission objectives with the use of numerous high-tech gadgets. In the game, the player assumes the role of Ethan Hunt, an Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent who must clear his name after a mole has infiltrated the IMF team. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 video game console in 1998. Mission: Impossible is an action-adventure video game developed by Infogrames and loosely based on the 1996 film of the same name.