Geist is making its third appearance at the Electronics Entertainment Expo this year. The very first thing you will notice about the game is the beautiful title screen, which is similar to the one seen in Metroid Prime. The graphics have seen quite a lot of improvement since last year’s show, but textures could still use improvement. The demo is also showing some slowdown in both the cut-scenes and gameplay. However, with Geist so close to release, it’s unclear how much (if any) improvement we'll see by the time it’s finished.

One of the coolest things about Geist is the game’s interface. The aiming reticule is context-sensitive, changing its look to indicate what actions can be performed. The PDA scanning device is also very cool, although it seems to be mainly used in the intro level. There are little touches all over the game that give it a wonderful presentation.

Geist starts out with the player in a human form. It’s really hard to die at this point in the game. The slowly depleting life bar and the med packs scattered about the world make sure of that. However, once in ghost form, the life bar drains constantly. It can be refilled by feeding on the life energy of plants and other life forms that can’t be possessed.

When in ghost form, at first you are trapped inside a computer simulation. This tutorial teaches you how use some of your new abilities. The whole simulation is absolutely stunning and appears very dreamlike. The simulation looks totally different compared to the rest of the game. After spending some time in the simulation, something goes wrong in the real world. The system begins to crash, and everything turns into wire-frames. The computer’s voice goes insane, instructing you to, “kill kill kill,” before it finally zaps you into the real world.

If you can’t tell from the previous paragraph, Geist is heavily story based. There are tons of real-time voiced cinemas and in-mission text dialogue. The story revolves around an evil corporation and just might involve aliens or some other sort of paranormal monsters.

As a ghost, you can interact with other ghosts, including one incredibly creepy little girl named Gigi. She acts as your guide early on in the game. She’ll teach you how to possess inanimate objects such as a power dynamo, an explosive crate, and an antique arcade machine (the mechanical kind, with moving parts), which serves as a target practice mini-game. The ghost form also allows you to float upwards a bit. Everything occurs in slow-motion while in ghost form. Characters walk very slowly and explosions look like those from the Matrix movies. This slow motion effect will probably not be used in multiplayer, as it would be impossible to implement with some players being in slow-motion and others not. Speaking of multiplayer, it seems to pit human characters versus ghost characters, and each side will have different tactics.

Geist will not be at E3 next year, as it releases on June 22nd.

Last updated: 05/11/2004 by Mike Sklens

Geist has arisen from silence and made a return at E3 2004.The n-Space developed shooter has received a graphical bump, though it is still not very impressive in the looks department. In addition to taking control of people and animals, this year the ghostly main character was shown possessing a laptop computer and staring out at the user through the monitor. In another scene an automatic turret was under control of the spectre. Even zanier, the ghost can even possess a bowl of dog food!

As far as enemies go, both humans and monsters were shown. One monster was a very large spider that looked particularly vicious.

Geist includes a multiplayer mode which is going to be a very unique experience. It combines the standard first person shooter style gameplay with the game's possession style game-play.

Geist is due out in the fourth quarter of 2004 and is well along it's way to being one of the most original first person shooters out there.

Last updated: 05/13/2003

Geist is a first person adventure with an interesting twist. You take the form of a ghost who gallivants around possessing organisms and using their abilities to explore a compound. The types of creatures that can be possessed range from soldiers and technicians to dogs and little crawly things. However, in your ghost form you are virtually invisible and can screw around with the electronics and move things in a spooky and eerie manner. In the preview at the Nintendo Press Conference, they showed the ghost in question closing a laptop on the person working on it, with a nice reaction from the shocked victim. In addition to the single-player, there is a multiplayer mode that also incorporates the possession techniques with first-person shooter action.