Posted October 12, 2008
You wake up trapped in the middle of a mysterious building, all strapped in bandages and with a serious case of amnesia, and you quickly discover that you have crazy psychic powers. When attempting to escape, you discover that pretty much everybody wants you dead, police included. The only things you can remember are flashbacks of a military mission in which you participated as a civilian expert, but the information you gather in the present appears to alter your actions while you experience a flashback, which itself changes the past and the present. What's going on? What really happened during that mission? Can you escape your fate as a fugitive? That is the setting of Second Sight, and the story only gets better as the game goes on.
The game itself is separated in 2 timelines: the present, in which you must visit various locations to gather more information about you and attempt to save yourself, and the past, during the top-secret military mission. Even though the controls are identical during both time periods, the gameplay itself is not, since you don't have your psychic powers in the past, but you do have several teammates and lots of guns to compensate. And since the game always switches between present and past, and since you constantly discover new psychic abilities, the experience is always fresh and never gets boring.
Even though the game is played in a 3rd-person perspective, aiming and shooting is surprisingly easy, and you can usually find cover when you need it. Stealth, melee combat, and some tricky platforming are also all integral to the gameplay, and the 3rd-person perspective is an advantage in these cases. As for the psychic powers, you have a psychic bar that refills slowly over time, and the trick is to know when to use your powers versus standard stealth/melee/gunning gameplay, as it may well save your life in desperate situations.
The psychic powers are diverse and always fun to use. You can use them to either attack your enemies, distract them, have access to unreachable objects, heal you and/or your allies, or just have a good laugh at confusing and scaring grunts. Some powers may appear too powerful, but use them too often or unwisely and the first thing you know is that you become defenseless.
The AI of allies and enemies does a pretty good job, and even the most insignificant NPC feels like a real person. The physics sometimes are a bit arkward, but it never detracts from the experience. The story sequences are usually integrated within the game, so you never feel like watching a movie. The game isn't too punishing when you die, so it never becomes a frustrating experience, but unfortunately it makes the game relatively easy. Therefore I recommend playing at the Hard difficulty setting right away.
Finally, even though this game is only about 15-hours long and lacks a bit on the replay value department, the experience is so unique and thrilling that it's worth every second of it. This is easily the best 3rd-person shooter game I have ever played, and it even puts the Metal Gear Solid series to shame. Definitely an overlooked title.
Buy this game, you won't regret it.
NOTE: This review is based on the GameCube version. I know that some people have issues with a mouse/keyboard setup, so you might want to play this game with a controller.
The game itself is separated in 2 timelines: the present, in which you must visit various locations to gather more information about you and attempt to save yourself, and the past, during the top-secret military mission. Even though the controls are identical during both time periods, the gameplay itself is not, since you don't have your psychic powers in the past, but you do have several teammates and lots of guns to compensate. And since the game always switches between present and past, and since you constantly discover new psychic abilities, the experience is always fresh and never gets boring.
Even though the game is played in a 3rd-person perspective, aiming and shooting is surprisingly easy, and you can usually find cover when you need it. Stealth, melee combat, and some tricky platforming are also all integral to the gameplay, and the 3rd-person perspective is an advantage in these cases. As for the psychic powers, you have a psychic bar that refills slowly over time, and the trick is to know when to use your powers versus standard stealth/melee/gunning gameplay, as it may well save your life in desperate situations.
The psychic powers are diverse and always fun to use. You can use them to either attack your enemies, distract them, have access to unreachable objects, heal you and/or your allies, or just have a good laugh at confusing and scaring grunts. Some powers may appear too powerful, but use them too often or unwisely and the first thing you know is that you become defenseless.
The AI of allies and enemies does a pretty good job, and even the most insignificant NPC feels like a real person. The physics sometimes are a bit arkward, but it never detracts from the experience. The story sequences are usually integrated within the game, so you never feel like watching a movie. The game isn't too punishing when you die, so it never becomes a frustrating experience, but unfortunately it makes the game relatively easy. Therefore I recommend playing at the Hard difficulty setting right away.
Finally, even though this game is only about 15-hours long and lacks a bit on the replay value department, the experience is so unique and thrilling that it's worth every second of it. This is easily the best 3rd-person shooter game I have ever played, and it even puts the Metal Gear Solid series to shame. Definitely an overlooked title.
Buy this game, you won't regret it.
NOTE: This review is based on the GameCube version. I know that some people have issues with a mouse/keyboard setup, so you might want to play this game with a controller.