For the free play week I ended up playing Specter Ops. The asymmetrical and hidden traitor aspects of the game were familiar enough, but the hidden movement feature was new to me and was very interesting. The agent tracked their movement on a piece of paper while the agents, including myself, moved around the board trying to track him down. Unfortunately we ran out of time to finish the game but based on the game so far the agent was likely to win the game. While I am very interested in playing the game again I wonder if the agent only had such an easy time because we were all new to the game. With all experienced players I am unsure how the agent would stand a chance.

The main challenge of Specter Ops is figuring out where the agent is as a team. You only have so many actions to locate the agent before they move and you have to start over again. Each character has their method of tracking the agent that when combined can be very effective. Or at least they would be if there wasn’t also a hidden traitor. I was initially the most suspicious player of being the traitor due to the agent using an item to sneak past me when I would have otherwise caught him. It wasn’t until just before we had to end that I regained the trust of my teammates.

The unique character abilities in Spector Ops highlights how people on leadership teams fulfill different roles. Everyone has their own set of skills best suited for different tasks. Tracking down the agent requires careful planning of where to look and when to use which abilities to use. The agent also has a special leadership role in how they interact with the traitor. Any open communication between the two would blow their cover. There is also a balancing act of not always lying about the traitor’s info to protect them. Poor leadership as the agent greatly increases the difficulty of the mission.