Geist
A reason to dust off the Game Cube.
Tags: Geist Categories: Game Cube Reviews, Reviews
Posted by David Hinkle on Sep 2nd, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Geist (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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John Raimi just isn’t having a good day. Part of the nerdier end of an elite task force (see: scientist), an undercover operative friend of his is deep inside the maniacal scientist who heads the Volks Coporations underground laboratories in France, so John and the others go in to extract him. Of course everything goes wrong and Raimi and his pal are captured. Once captured, Raimi is thrust into the scientist’s mad invention essentially having his spectral self ripped from his mortal body.
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Sam manages to escape, however, thanks to the spirit of a small child who shows him the ropes with his new abilities. The coolest thing spectral Raimi can do is possess things, whether they be inanimate (keypads, boxes, paint cans and the like), or living organisms (mice, dogs, and people). Possessing inanimate objects is a simple affair, easily done by just walking right up to it and jumping in. Living things are a bit tougher though, as they first must be scared into submission.
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Each living thing puts off an aura, which initially is green. For example, should you wish to take possession of a lone guard standing around some piping, you could first take possession of the pipe controls and increase the pressure so that the pipe bursts, scaring the soldier with a hot gust of steam. That might not be enough either, as checking out the soldier’s aura it is only yellow, with an aura of red needed in order to possess. So to hike up the fear factor a bit more, you can jump into the fire extinguisher in the corner and cause it to go off. These scenarios are what the game is all about, and the further you go along the more fun they become.
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So once you take control of something, you’ll see everything through their eyes and gain any special abilities they have. For example, jumping into a bunny allows you to hop, jumping into a soldier allows you to use whatever firearm they have as well, and taking over someone such as an engineer allows you to have access to their special profession. This ties into the story by being explained as Raimi possessing not only their physical self, but their mind as well. This allows him to view recent memories they have that tie into the game’s story (such as why a certain area is unaccessible and how access may be gained).
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All possession aspects aside, the rest of the game plays much like your cookie-cutter first-person-shooter. All of the game’s flair and distinction come from its spectral play, making the gamer count the minutes between each spectral segment. It isn’t so bad as that the game isn’t enjoyed when you’re spraying bullets without caution, it’s just the shooting segments are heavily outshadowed by the extremely fun possessive stints.
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Multiplayer allows for 4-player split-screen action across three different game modes. Possession Deathmatch allows you to possess several NPCs littered throughout the level and gain firearms and abilities cooresponding to the host. Capture the Host pits the player with the task of possessing a host body and getting it to a designated area for points, as well as gaining points for each kill you make as the host. Finally there is Hunt, my personal favorite of the lot. A team-based game, there are both humans and spectres littered throughout a level. The spectres are charged with possessing the humans and forcing them into certain doom by one of each levels various hazard. The humans are armed with anti-ghost weaponry and simply must shoot to kill.
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Graphically the game runs and looks smooth, although there isn’t as much definition in the textures as say Resident Evil 4. Explosions look nice, as well as some of the enemy designs you come across during play. There really isn’t anything visually that will jump out at you and cause your jaw to hit the floor, but overall things get the job done and create a visually believable environment. The same can be said for sound, as much of the sound effects and speech in the game aren’t top shelf.
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Geist delivers an abstract prize dressed in tried-and-true bow. With such inventive scenarios for possession and such bland scenarios for bullet-spraying action, Geist ends up being a fun game that could’ve been legendary. The key component of ferocious action is naturally where one would assume the game would shine, but it’s the slow-paced, thoughtful segments that make this game so charming. For those that love their Game Cube and long to see its unchallenged success, they already bought and beat this. What’s keeping you?
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Spectral possession + Inventive multiplayer game modes + Fun from start to finish |
8.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Bland FPS action - Graphics and sound need a boost |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A game that does what every other first-party Nintendo title does, offers a fun play from start to finish through inventive gameplay mechanics and premise. | |
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Tags: Geist
Posted by David Hinkle on Sep 2nd, 2005 and is filed under Game Cube Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
