Ay...this game is a must-play for action fans, sci-fi fans and anyone who
thinks gaming lacks innovation these days.
My original plan was to get it for PC when it's eventually released, but I
saw it out for PS2 and I couldn't resist. More on that later.
The game is basically about a government-backed psionic task force that
plants one of its operatives undercover into the headquarters of a psionic
terrorist organisation (which, ironically, is made up of turncoat psionic
mercenaries trained by the same government). To make the cover total, they
wipe his memory clean so that the enemy psychics won't know who he
is...since he doesn't even know. Once he's inside, he starts to regain his
memories, and his abilities, and starts to wreak havoc from the inside.
Decent story so far, although the voice-acting coulda been better.
The true meat of the game though is the gameplay. This is the best
implementation of psychic powers I've seen in a game so far, easily
surpassing even Jedi Academy.
The game's protagonist has several psychic abilities, including telekinesis,
pyrokinesis, astral projection, mind control and astral aura detection. He
can also drain psionic energy from unsuspecting or fallen foes.
The telekinesis is the first power that reawakens, and so far the best. You
can lift and control most of the objects in the game, including crates,
tables, benches, debris, and people.
Now that mightn't be mindblowing, but what is terrific about the game is the
way it's implemented. The possible uses for your powers, and the way they
can help you out in situations are wide and deep, and it gives you a wide
variety of approaches to any situation.
Of course you can pick people up and bash them against things, or bash
things against them. But how about setting a guy on fire with your pyro, and
throwing him back into a group of his buddies? Hold a guy up and shoot him
while he's in the air. Too many guys shooting at you? Pick up a metal crate,
hold it in front of you, and walk behind it as it blocks the bullets. Then
fling it into them and shoot the rest. There's tons of explosive stuff,
crates and barrels, as well as fire extinguishers etc. You can even pull
guns from across the room to pick them up or take their ammo.
And then there's my personal favorite: TK Surfing. Climb onto any object
large enough to hold you, then simply lift it with your TK. There's no limit
to how high or where you can go, and you can even make the object float in
the air while you shoot from the vantage point, or pick other stuff up.
Madness.
Just a few minutes ago I was trapped in this room with a glass door, and the
place was filling up with gas. A soldier was on the other side of the door
looking at me about to die. The solution to the "puzzle" made perfect sense.
I picked him up with the TK and slammed him into the glass door a few times.
Broke it open. Walked out. He didn't get up.
There was this room with a motion-activated gun and a guard. It took me a
while to figure it out, but after a while I pulled some crates around the
room, and while the gun was busy shooting at them, I ran for cover.
Eventually I ran out of crates (most crates, barrels etc are destructible)
and moved this barrel next to the guard. It was explosive. Bye bye guard.
While all that bachanal was going on I ran out of the room.
And all of this isn't "the way" to beat particular places. Every firefight
has multiple options...plenty of the stuff here I did by accident, like when
I broke the glass door with the guy. Even with the motion sensor gun...I
could have simply sneaked around and taken a few bullets but survived.
I haven't gotten the power yet, but eventually you'll be able to control
people's minds, use their weapons, turn them against their friends, and
eventually against themselves.
Game also has decent gunplay...you'll need to hide behind stuff for cover,
and since most crates are destructible, you'll need to keep moving around.
This e-mail turning into a full-blown review though...too early for that,
but so far the game is great.
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