In addition to the first-person controls there is a tactical map mode with its own interface. Hitting the space bar pauses the game and brings up a tactical map showing the terrain, the position of your soldiers, and the positions of enemy soldiers in view. Using an iconic interface, you can issue orders to your soldiers, telling them where to go, where to attack, where to guard, and so on. The interface is designed so that you can orchestrate assaults on the enemy. You tell your soldiers to wait for your signal before performing the tasks you tell them to.

The tactical map is the heart of Hidden and Dangerous game play, and it fails to do the job well. The problem is not in the tactical map itself, nor is it in the concept. The problem is in the AI that controls your soldiers. You can set up elaborate plans of attack that would work perfectly if followed by insane rhesus monkeys. Too bad the AI isn't modeled after crazy primates.

Your soldiers, in addition to following your orders poorly, do stupid things like shooting into their cover instead of at the enemy right past it. Several times we saw our soldiers shooting at the ground between them and an enemy they could not see. One time we had a soldier situated on a wall above an enemy who was facing away. Our soldier shot the wall they were laying on five times, reloaded, and continued to shoot the wall as the enemy turned around, drew it's gun, and shot back killing our guy. Often, if you manually situate a soldier behind cover, when an enemy comes in site, they will leave their cover and start crawling around as if they lost a contact. That is, of course, right before they get nailed with a sub-machine gun. The AI is really pitiful to tell the truth.