|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Platform: GameCube Genre: Shooter/Action Publisher: Nintendo Developer: n-Space, Inc. ETA: Q4 2004
Related Links: Review: Psi-Ops - The Mindgate Conspiracy (PS2)
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: |
Geist
Nintendo may not have the reputation as a publisher of first-person shooters, but some of the console world’s best shooters have been published by the big N. GoldenEye and Perfect Dark (on the N64) and Metroid Prime (on GameCube) are shining examples of Nintendo doing the first-person shooter (FPS) genre proud. In somewhat of a different take on the genre, Geist is a FPS with a body-jacking bent.
|
|
|
Like the PC game Messiah – where you controlled a cherub that could take control of people – Geist features body and object-jacking with some gunplay thrown in, but lets get the facts straight:
An
unseen supernatural power prowls the hallways, laboratories and chambers
of a shadowy corporate compound, terrorizing living beings wherever it
lurks. That unseen power is YOU! Prepare for a hauntingly innovative
first-person adventure with a supernatural twist! |
Advertisement
|
|
|
Haunt and horrify humans and
animals as a ghost, possess their physical bodies and assume their
identities! Possess a dog and scamper around the compound, bypassing
security. Possess a guard and use his own assault rifle against your
enemies! Inhabit a camera or computer and use the technology to your
benefit. Exploit the unique abilities and equipment of your victims to
access and explore new areas of the compound, solve puzzles and unravel
your own ghostly fate! Inventive multiplayer modes
combine fierce first-person combat with unique character possession game
play. You
are John Raimi, a disease-control agent with the federal government, on
loan to an elite counterterrorism unit. Your team is sent to investigate
the shadowy Volks Corporation. When the operation goes horribly wrong,
you are captured and subjected to a ghastly experiment that rips your
spirit from your physical body. You now roam the halls of the Volks
Corporation compound as a spectral phantom, using your powers to scare
and possess any human or animal that crosses your path.
If
you're going to have any hope of finding your own body, you must employ
your hair-raising power of possession to control humans, animals and
objects, using the unique abilities of each to explore the compound,
solve puzzles and strike at your enemies. Along the way, you must
discover the secret of the Volks Corporation to unravel the mystery of
your condition and find a way to recover your human form. How to progress through the game: As a powerful specter, you can deviously manipulate objects in the environment to scare humans and animals. Once you have struck terror in the heart of your prey, you can possess and control their physical bodies and use them to accomplish your objectives. Possess more than a dozen unique character types, and use their unique skills, equipment and even memories to complete your goals. Possession targets range from heavily-armed soldiers to dogs and mice that can reach out-of-the-way areas. Different characters react to the world from different perspectives: As an engineer, you may have access to restricted areas and computers, while as a mouse you may find yourself inexplicitly drawn to mouse traps baited with cheese.
Special
powers/weapons/moves/features: As a ghost, you are invisible to humans
and move so fast that everything around you appears in slow motion.
While in this phantom form, you can effortlessly pass through chain-link
fences or through small cracks in walls. Most importantly, you can
possess everyday objects like lights, computers and fire extinguishers
and manipulate them to terrify nearby humans or animals. Once a living
creature has been frightened, you can possess and control its body. As
you play, you'll need to face challenges from two unique angles – as a
lurking spirit and as a possessed human or animal. Geist, it would seem, has everything you want in a first-person shooter, including multiplayer. I did play a little of Geist while at E3. Everything seemed to be firmly in place except for a couple of things. The first is the repetitive animation of each possession. Every time you take possession of a soldier or animal there’s a little light show animation that looks cool a few times but after a dozen times, it can become annoying. The obvious solution would be to show the transition only sporadically or at least be able to skip the animation with a button press. (If there was a way to skip this animation, I wasn’t aware of it.) The other issue, a critical one at that, is control, which felt “off” or at least slightly “floaty.” Of course, there’s some distance between “playable” and “on store shelves” so it would be misleading for me to render a verdict now (particularly when it would be based on a memory of something I played for 15 minutes 2 ½ months ago). Like Messiah, I really like the possibilities that Geist opens for both gameplay and puzzles. Will it be on the same level as Metroid Prime? Time will tell – Geist ships Q4 2004. - Omni (August 7, 2004) |
||
|
|
||
