Be it Kingsway, Her Story, or just about anything else, I love a good Windows 3.0/WindowsNT UI for a game. Set in 1985, at a point when Miami was run on snow, Ancient Machine’s VICE Undercover has you playing as a very conventionally attractive undercover agent (for an 80s cop) Vida for the Miami PD’s vice division. Sounds simple, but where does the Windows 3.0 thing come in? A bit of an alt-history, the narcos are employing hackers and using the internet before it became even 1/10th of what it is now, and your job is to do Hilary Clinton’s favorite topic, cyber.

We’ll cover it when we have more time (and energy), but as shown during the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted yesterday, Ancient Machine’s VICE Undercover got a new trailer. Putting aside the “The electronic crime unit has one chance – one hour a day to infiltrate the cartel’s supercomputer and take them down from the inside.” Unless you are a 12-year-old, you know a “supercomputer” in 1985 was the Cray-2, which had a peak speed of 1.9 gigaflops while your phone has about 115, a PS5 is 10,180, an Xbox Series X is 12,000, and your PC exceeds that further. Supercomputer my hole.

Poking fun at the past aside, I’ve been interested in VICE Undercover for a while now. From AMIGO’s version of Clippy, the overall 80s style, and the idea of undercover work with a twinge of Miami Vice, there is a lot that is appealing from VICE Undercover from the outside alone. The mystery of Vida’s role as an undercover cop in the cartel, getting access to the cartel’s brains basically, and having to do work without being noticed, it is an intriguing idea.

Producer on 2004 title, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and studio co-founder, Cos Lazouras, had this to say about the trailer and VICE Undercover: “This trailer isn’t just a glimpse—it’s a statement of what makes VICE Undercover so unique. It’s a game that challenges, pressures[,] and keeps you questioning everything you think you know. There’s nothing out there like it, or even on the horizon.”

After mentioning giving credit to the actor playing Vida, Kimberly Reyes, and her counterpart, Tamer Hassan, Lazouras goes on to say: “With over two decades of Hollywood experience, I’ve learned that ambitious stories demand incredible performances to succeed. Designing VICE Undercover with its intricate subplots and jaw-dropping twist ending was no easy feat, but Kimberly Reyes and Tamer Hassan’s exceptional talent are what truly bring it all together, elevating the game to a whole new level.”

I’m really excited to see more and possibly play some of VICE Undercover soon. Currently, there are no specifics on a release date, with the press release saying “The complete game is set to launch early next year, boasting over 20 hours of content across 24 episodes.” Steam is a little more specific saying Q1 of 2025, but with something a little unique I’d rather time was taken to make sure it is just right. Over on Steam, there is a demo available now to play, and hopefully, we’ll find out more in the coming weeks as the release of VICE Undercover nears.

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