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« on: December 16, 2006, 04:55:39 PM »
This is a text review I wrote for another website. I know the game is old but I enjoyed the game so much that I decided to write a review for it!
Let me know if I made any mistakes or need to add something before posting it on my website.
Enjoy!
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The story of Geist’s development is as interesting as the story of its lead character John Raimi. The game was first unveiled at E3 2002 alongside big name games like Metroid Prime, Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. While it was definitely buried under the shadow of its big name brothering, the concept was exciting and had a promising future as a unique, mature Nintendo franchise. But after E3, the game surprisingly disappeared for 2 years. No new screens or updates arose, waking the suspicions that the game had become the victim of vaporware development. But in 2005, the game finally surfaced and would be released sometime during the fall gaming season.
So, did the extended development period help it along?
Review
Geist is a non-traditional FPS game, something akin to the Metroid Prime series on the Gamecube and Nintendo DS. Careful thinking alongside sneaky tricks and watchful techniques are preferred over melee combat and all out frag matches. In other words, it was considered to be “the thinking man’s FPS”.
When the game starts, you are a normal, run of the mill counter terrorism member investigating a weird corporation called Volks. In fact, the first few minutes of the game play like a tired FPS storyline. But once Raimi is captured and forced onto the soul extracting machine its where the game truly begins.
After being freed from a weird simulator that explains the basics of gameplay, you learn that you are nothing but a ghost, stripped of physical existence and fighting skills. But we quickly learn that being a ghost has its advantages and its what drives the game forth. As a ghost, you are able to take possession of objects and living beings like humans and animals. The last half, however, isn’t easy to posses. You must scare them first in order to make them vulnerable to your possession. In order to do that you must posses various objects then make them “come to life” in order to scare the crap out of them. Once they are scared and you posses them, their bodies and skills are yours to control.
This is a vital aspect of the gameplay, and one that turns the game into something truly special. You need to take control over a great deal of hosts in order to complete the missions and move the story forward. Sometimes these missions can be a delight once successfully completed. I won’t spoil the details for you, but there is something almost magical about taking possession of a TV, then calling some mice forward, then scaring them with a demonic picture of a cat, allowing you to posses THEM. Again, it’s a great feeling rarely seen in a game (which isn’t surprising, since Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s head developer, supervised the development and contributed ideas).
Being able to posses a host provides a puzzle element to the game. Scaring people can sometimes be a lengthy process, forcing you to posses various things at once. This can be very fun and frustrating at the same time. It can be fun because you must discover just what makes that person tick before you can carry on with your haunting, as well as determine the sequence you must do in order to perform a successful possession. But sometimes it can be frustrating because you must look EVERYWHERE for that one item that completes the puzzle. Keep in mind this doesn’t happen often, but it can be annoying spending more than 30 minutes looking around for that vital object, only to find it by sheer luck.
The thing that makes this truly unforgettable, though, is the authenticity of it all. You will feel like you have taken possession of a unique individual, rather than just feel like you are controlling the default character model. When taking possession of animals you will have limited vision as they would have and experience the once familiar world through their eyes.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a first person shooter without a shooting segment and even if it isn’t the entire emphasis of the game there’s still a lot of shooting to be done. This part of the game is very solid, but not without its flaws. Movement is done with the joystick while aiming is done with the C-stick. The controls just lack the fluidity seen on PC FPSs, sometimes adding to the frustration level. I admit that after a while I was able to get used to the aiming system, but even then I wished it was better (something that, hopefully, the Wii will be able to fix come November).
This aiming system can also get in the way even during the exploration and ghost sessions. In order to fully interact with something you need to aim your view precisely at that person, animal or item. Because the aiming can be so clunky it can sometimes take a while before that item is in your field of vision. It isn’t as annoying as in the shooting segments but it can get grating trying to get something and having the system get in the way of doing it.
Another problem the shooting portion has is the reloading. Simply put, it is far too slow, even with guns that require little effort when loading it. Again, to some it may not be a big deal, but there are timed missions that are crucial to the storyline. You can literally lose precious seconds because they were spent reloading.
As some have put it, compared to “true” FPS, the game is very sluggish; something that can turn potential fans off.
But even with those apparent issues it is a solid shooter, especially when it isn’t main focus in a game like Geist.
One overall problem I found in the game has is difficulty. There are times in which you will breeze through missions and bosses, while others can be controller breaking difficult. The best example of this are the last two bosses in the game. Without spoiling the surprise, one takes a lot of time and patience to defeat, while the other can be defeated in 10 minutes if you know how to control your character. Also, some of the bosses are rather straightforward and, dare I say it, un-original in its execution, while others actually require you to think and move fast while conserving those precious health packs.
To some, this might not be enough to break their enjoyment, but it is certainly there and I wish N-Space would’ve developed that further.
But perhaps the most annoying part of the gameplay is the button smashing. Right near the end of the game you will be faced against ghosts that will take possession of your host. If you don’t get rid of them they will destroy it by guiding it near danger. The only way you can free yourself from their grasp is by smashing the A button like it was a frenzied Mario Party game. After a while, my hands got tired and it became extremely annoying to do it more than once. Thankfully, this only happened at the end of the game, but had this been a crucial gameplay element, trust me when I say I would’ve taken a lot of points off.
The story is a mish mash of many clichéd science fiction archetypes, but it is intriguing, suspenseful and interesting through out. Unlike in RPGs and other story-based games, the game doesn’t slow down to a screeching halt in order to bring you a big chunk of the story. It is constantly developed through gameplay and small chunks of cutscenes here and there. It might not be something that you will cherish greatly, but one you shan’t easily forget.
As far as extras go, the game is limited. There are the standard multiplayer modes (which while breaking convention isn’t captivating enough) and hidden host and ghost collectibles that you can find throughout the game (which unlock multiplayer characters and stages).
Overall even with its flaws (which come from in-experienced development rather than laziness and malice), Geist can be one fun and engaging romp. The overall concept brings new life to the already tired FPS genre and one that would’ve taken off had it been released on brighter circumstances.
Gameplay score: 8 out of 10
Graphics and sound
Geist was meant to be a second/third generation Gamecube title, and the graphics are proof of that. Granted, they aren’t bad but certainly isn’t the best I’ve ever seen on the GC.
Character models have that nostalgic, early gen feel to them. It clearly proves that N-Space still working with character modeling on videogames. I have to admit, they aren’t as ugly as in other games, but still need some time to be worked on.
The game also suffers from frame rate issues. The game aims to run at a smooth 30 FPS but the game constantly switches between 30 and 60, sometimes going below 30 during heated shooting scenes.
The part where the game shines graphically, though, is on the ghost elements as well as the special effects. As I mentioned before, when you posses an animal the world will according to how that animal views it on a daily basis, so if the animal sees everything distorted and in black and white you will see it that way too. It adds to the overall excitement of the game.
Monster design is pretty neat, but something you haven’t already seen in movies, anime and TV shows.
So overall, the game will not win any awards for graphical prowess but its certainly above average, especially when coming from a small development house like this one.
Music and sound is rock solid. Nothing stands out as being truly unforgettable but like the graphics for a small game production is it quite impressive. The voices are perhaps the best element in the entire game. Once again, for a small game the cast did an excellent job. It avoids the pitfalls many games of this caliber suffer from (hell, even high profile, big name games suffer from this). No exaggerated accents or acting, or groan inducing voices here, folks. Again, I am quite impressed.
Graphics score: 7.5 out of 10
Music and sound score: 8 out of 10
Final thoughts
It is a great shame this game came out after being in development for so long and right at the end of the Gamecube’s life cycle. A long development cycle with a lack of hype from Nintendo made sure this game went under everyone’s radar, and the very late release in a lackluster console didn’t help it either. It’s almost a crime, really. Geist is perhaps one of the few FPS games that dare to tear down convention and try something new and daring, yet was heavily buried under the shadows of the Halos, the Dooms and even the Half lifes.
But still, you shouldn’t let this stop you from even trying the game out (especially with the Wii coming out with GC backwards comparability). Even if the game is marred down by gameplay execution flaws (some due to in-experience, others from typical console FPS issues), the immense you get from playing this game, successfully completing its missions and thinking your way out of a possession puzzle is one unlike anything ever seen on a videogame.
I recommend it!
Good things about Geist
- Innovative game concept
- Solid game mechanics
- Inventive puzzles
- Intriguing storyline
- A great deal of immersion and satisfaction
- Good voice acting
Bad things about Geist
- Aiming can be down par at times
- Reloading can be slow
- Un-even difficulty
- Annoying button smashing elements
- Somewhat above average graphics
Final score: 8 out of 10
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