When it comes to first-person shooter games, arguably few could call them innovative or original; considering the genre, the bulk of FPS titles have players running around a large map either looking for bad guys to shoot, or shooting said bad guys. You may do so on an alien planet, or while traveling through time, or when en route to kill Hitler, or while tracking down terrorists, but no matter the franchise it’s the same premise – run and gun. Shoot to kill. Nintendo and N-Space’s Geist, however, takes on a much more refreshing approach to the FPS genre and supplements the run and gun formula with a novel twist – possession. To mow down enemies, players must first possess a host, assuming control of the host’s faculties and – of course – his weaponry. Love it or hate it, it’s the first breathtaking modification that the genre has undergone in years, and while it’s implemented well, one leaves the game satisfied but a touch disappointed. Expect a sequel.

Geist’s presented plot is simple but soon becomes engaging enough to draw the player in and keep his attention throughout the rest of the game. Players are cast as John Raimi, a specialist who’s teamed up with a government team to infiltrate the headquarters of Volks Corporation, a scientific entity thought to have created a powerful biological or chemical weapon that could deal damage to countries around the world. Typical of government operatives, they stroll into Volks territory completely unaware of what horrible scheme Volks has prepared for every major nation on the globe, and are immediately swept up in the company’s new, otherworldly experiment. Gamers control Raimi and learn the very basics – medical kits restore health, this is how you shoot a gun, this is how you talk to people, et al – as they’re thrown into their first firefight; as the team nears the exit nearly every member is dead, and soon it’s just Raimi knocked to the ground. Volks himself, founder of his company, decides to conduct his ethereal experiment on Raimi to see if he’d make a fine Volks employee, but just as soon as Raimi’s soul is ripped from his body, he is “rescued” by another ghost, Gigi, a small girl who reminds Raimi of his real identity and encourages him to save his friend and escape. Numerous twists and turns abound, such that by the game’s end players have experienced an enjoyable, unusual FPS – something the market desperately needs.

As obvious from the above paragraph, there are really two distinct modes of play – you can float around as a ghost on a possessing binge, or you can grab a reliable body and start gunning. In between the two are strewn light puzzles to test your mental capacities, and bosses your mettle. That said, Geist’s gameplay still focuses the majority of its content on managing Raimi’s ghost capabilities, which are the game’s true highlights. Players start off learning the basics from Gigi, the local spirit mentor. She’ll instruct you on how to keep up your ghost vitality by sucking up plants, as well as how to float around, how to examine the immediate environment, and how to possess. Raimi can possess both living and inanimate objects, and whatever a gamer observes that is “possessable” gains a red sheen. As usual, though, there’s a catch: to grab a living host you’ve got to scare it to death, which means you’ve got to possess whatever objects are around the host and start wreaking spiritual havoc in its direct vicinity. This involves tossing plates, exploding paint cans, reflecting ghastly images, and so forth, which makes it great fun to observe the living’s reaction. To keep it interesting N-Space added animal possession, and it’s a treat to walk around barking at guards or informing a trainer you’re going to kill her. The same prank is never used twice, which keeps the player guessing and enriches the gameplay.

For those who enjoy a challenge but shriek at spending two hours on a puzzle, Geist offers a lighter alternative with its possession and scare tactics, and expands on it with minor dilemmas that are essentially broken down into stages. As you can’t save the game until you die – when you’re finally offered to save from the last stage completed before restarting the level – the stages are effectively split and move the game along at a steady pace. Players use whatever objects are at hand (rat poison, scientists, etc) to progress, which usually involves possessing this or that object to grab a host, and then using the host to access a new area to grab an item that’s required at another crossroads. Geist features an updated list of objectives for stage guidance as well as a convenient 3D map, which you won’t even need. If you’re just exploring in ghost form (because you’re stuck) you can always slide through the tiny cracks in doors and walls to glimpse what’s ahead. If you shudder at the thought of a strict puzzle-FPS, Geist quickly puts aside the concern.

Once you’ve possessed a host, and particularly a human one, the game leans toward its shooting aspects and performs like any other FPS on the market. You utilize the host’s available weaponry (a primary gun and sometimes a secondary option, like a stack of grenades) to kill other guards or creatures. Some hosts are strategically useful for gaining access to secured areas or clearing a pathway to the nearest exit. The first time you shoot at a guard, however, the other enemies know they’ve got a “spirit breach” and that your host is possessed, and turn on him. Hosts die quickly in Geist, so prepare to run, twist, turn, shoot, toss grenades, and switch hosts often. This is quite a cool aspect, because as the player moves between hosts time literally stands still until she’s entered a new corporal body. When the guards have killed off the previous host and imagine that all is finally calm, popping off a few rounds into another guard’s head retriggers the alert status, and the action begins again. There are actually some areas (and boss fights) where this trick is as required as it is handy, but I can think of more boring ways to progress.

Another intriguing aspect of Geist is its inclusion of fun minigames and gameplay asides. You can actually walk the company’s favorite dog, Phantom; help the overworked engineers by pounding out rivets; restore power for the weapons scientists; take a terrified rat for a pleasure stroll around dreaded mousetraps; and so on. By no means do they heavily supplement the gameplay, but they’re interesting nonetheless.

Boss fights, which I have mentioned briefly, mostly involve properly timed possession/attacking and all feature a little trick for success. They’re not easy, and you’ll die several times before you finally figure out a correct killing method, but they’re definitely entertaining and provide the player with a sense of real progress.

In part to compensate for a shorter single-player experience, Geist offers some multiplayer fun in a split-screen option via three modes: deathmatch, capture the host, and hunt. In the former you grab a host and start killing, and the last person standing wins; in capture the host you lead a host to a particular area (with heavy escorts); and in hunt you’re granted a ghost versus human match. The game allows up to four (human) players and four AI controlled characters per mode, and awards the inquisitive gamer with tokens that are instantly redeemed for either multiplayer bonuses or ghost vitality extensions.

Geist’s visuals aren’t state of the art, but they’re adequate for an FPS and provide detailed character models, detailed environments, and some graphical flash for spectral play, casting everything in a dreary blue haze. Lighting effects were handled well when they’re actually used, and come in the form of miscellaneous lights, lamps, and bright patches in the spectral world. Facial models are a tad stuffy and unrealistic, with an almost expressionless feeling to them, but as most of the guards wear masks (don’t ask me why, as breathing in toxic chemicals is the absolute least concern of a Volks employee) it’s an issue in passing. The colorblind cast for certain animals is an interesting treat that enhances the sense of co-inhabiting puppies, but it’s not a real highlight. Most of the environments, though intricate, feature gray walls, flooring, and ceiling, so you won’t find much graphical splendor here. I did particularly enjoy the vivid colors used during the initial training program, but the fun ended there shortly.

As for Geist’s audio it’s effective and enjoyable, cluttered with regular ambient noises – footsteps, gunfire, explosions, monster hisses, the occasional blood-curdling scream – and supported by a decent soundtrack that, while far from extraordinary, works to create a subtle mood that appropriately matches its visual atmosphere. The voicework is nicely done, if not a tad exaggerated for a comedic/creepy effect, and boss themes are especially intense. The musical score is definitely suitable.

Geist’s faults are surprisingly simple and direct, but by no means cripple its gameplay. It’s not an open-ended game; you don’t wander around for hours deciding what you want to do next or searching for clues – you complete it section by section, piece by piece, linearly. This linearity gives players a boundary so they know when they’ve gotten way too far ahead of themselves and what they should be focused on next, but it kills a lot of its spontaneity and freedom.

Regular bad guys have enough AI to stand and shoot at Raimi, but not enough to dodge his bullets as he shoots back; you’ll be lucky if you run across an opponent who bothers to toss some grenades at you, and you’ll be ecstatic when you reach the end and encounter ghost enemies, which are much harder to kill. Boss fights make up for some of this, but honestly it’s time that our shooters got some brains like the rest of our Mature games and gave us some baddies that fight back. What fun is shooting a static guard if he doesn’t even retaliate intelligently?

Some online play, though obviously incapable of operating on the GameCube, would make for an excellent addition to Geist’s Revolution counterpart. Toss in some more multiplayer modes, up the gore, and actually try to frighten players with demons and you’ve got yourself a unique online game.

Though Geist has a nice graphical quality you will encounter some framerate issues, but mostly your graphical qualms will be with the title’s visual dullness. Then again, how visually stimulating can you make a military base/laboratory? Here’s a cement floor, a white ceiling, some gray walls, and some big blue doors for kicks – not exactly Picasso.

If you like your games long you’ll be disappointed in Geist’s 10+ hours of gameplay, especially considering that experienced players and FPS fans (at least those with brains, and I specifically mean the latter) can fly through this game in six-eight hours. A really good player whom possession just falls naturally to can take Geist down in a single sitting, which doesn’t encourage repeat performances. Another regret is that even though there are many objects available for possession, you’re still somewhat limited; a higher offering here would greatly improve the sequel. When a game has a solid, innovative leg to stand on, it should take as much advantage of it as possible, and Geist doesn’t.

The only feature I absolutely loathe is Geist’s game over screen, because you can’t directly restart the level; you’ve got to opt to save your progress up to the last completed stage (read: puzzle) or not before the restart option shows. Here’s an idea: let us save whenever we want, and when we die just automatically reload from our last save, like almost every game on the market. Quit asking me if I want to save whenever I die because if I’m dying, it’s during a boss fight, which means that I haven’t progressed onto the next stage in the last fifteen minutes and hence, you’re just wasting my time – time better spent fighting bosses or possessing parrots.

Geist is quite impressive, as it’s a first-person shooter that involves an interesting theme (possession) and brainpower (puzzles). You won’t find a plethora of intense weaponry or a gripping, daunting plot, but you’ll enjoy the gameplay and be intrigued enough to finish the product. Sadly the game is completed in one-three sittings and features barely 10+ hours of play (I completed my record in eight), which for experienced gamers is a letdown. On the whole, though, it’s a good FPS with a twist that N-Space will hopefully better extend in the inevitable sequel. If you’ve got a GameCube you should definitely pick up Geist and get haunting – it’ll grow on you.

Enjoyable, innovative, and unique, but a touch too short. Possessing is cool.

A slight framerate issue combined with dullness. Get over the gray already!

Not perfect, but suitable. Decent voiceovers. Like the screams. Okay gunfire.

You’ll be drawn in enough to finish it and toy with multiplayer.

How much do you enjoy FPS puzzles, possession, and good boss fights?

]]> Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:15:00 -0500 Aaron Dunlap http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_geist_ngc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_geist_ngc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_geist_ngc1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

“So there’s this guy, right, and he kinda gets this wacky experiment done on him that sucks his metaphysical essence out of his cold, dead body. Sounds gross, obviously, but because this guy is nothing but a floating soul with glowy eyes – he can totally possess people and animals. Also, toilet paper rolls.”

That was the meeting at N-Space that set Geist off onto its hectic and adventurous three-year development process. I know because I was there. I was possessing the potted plant on the conference room table.

That’s what Geist, the mostly first-person shooter coming in August for the GameCube, is all about. You start the game as John Raimi, a classic elite soldier who gets captured during an infiltration mission at a bizarre and creepy research facility owned by the corrupt and nefarious Volks Corporation. Once captured, he’s put through an experiment that separates his soul/aura/spirit/essence from his physical body. As a roaming spirit John has the ability to “possess” and control pretty much anything from bunny rabbits to assault cannons. Using this new… power, John needs to escape the facility and perhaps find a way to reunite with his flesh and blood.

Just because you’re pretty much a ghost doesn’t mean you can just float out of the complex. No, you’re bound to some physical restrictions, so when you want to move around you need a physical host to do it for you. This whole aspect adds a dynamic level of puzzle-solving to the game from the start, but still gives you a powerful arsenal to accomplish your tasks. The ideal mode of transit is inside a person you’ve possessed, but before you can actually claim someone’s body you need to weaken his spirit to allow for the possession. This most arduous of tasks is performed by scaring – yes, scaring – your target until he’s so freaked out you can just grab ahold of his body and get moving. To scare people, you do what any ghost would do: make creepy noises and make stuff move around the room.

The game’s engine makes that rather simple, as pretty much any object in the game can be possessed. In one demo we were shown, we had to possess a piece of paper that a guard was carrying and when he started to read it, mess around with the words to freak him out. Little critters like mice and rats can be possessed easily too, both for some puzzle elements and to scare some of the more skittish enemies on the base.

Once you’ve possessed a guard the game becomes a pretty straightforward FPS. Any weapons he has become yours, and if your unwilling host happens to take on a few more bullets than he can stand, he dies and you just float away and look for another life to ruin. That means, by conventional definition, you can’t die in this game (one of the advantages of being technically dead already).

Geist’s interface and control scheme is sharpened down to a real noticeable level of precision. Seemingly complicated tasks like possessing things and manipulating specific environmental elements are made easy by using a context-sensitive control scheme with a very helpful HUD interface that shows what button will do what, much like previous Zelda games and the like. Typically, the A button is reserved for possessing and dispossessing while the B and Y buttons are used for context-sensitive actions used to scare people. The left and right shoulder buttons are used for primary and secondary fire when you happen to have both a body and a gun. The FPS element of the game is quite polished, and feels just like a console shooter should feel.

You can’t exactly just grab a gun and blow your way through the hundreds and hundreds of guards and checkpoints, so you need to use some tact to make it out of the building. Guard dogs can tell when a person is being possessed by you, and there are various security checkpoints where people are scanned for possession as well, so there are parts where you need to be on your best behavior to avoid detection or find a way to subvert the dogs and checkpoints; you could always just throw caution to the wind and try the guns-blazin’ approach. Hey, it’s not your body... you’re just borrowing it.

Geist also includes a two to four-player split screen multiplayer mode, which is less about spirits and possessing things and more about just running around and killing your friends, though some possession elements are carried over for a dash of flavor, like the ability to take over giant turrets and cannons.

Save a few Medal of Honor ports, the GameCube’s first party-heavy library is mostly bare of decent shooters (especially if you don’t consider the Metroid Prime games to be first-person shooters; we don’t) and it’s nice to see a good, innovative, and action-packed game like Geist come around for the withering and oft-overlooked little cousin of the game console world. The preview builds we looked at were a bit early and featured some common hiccups like graphical glitches and framerate slumps, but we’re pretty confident that GameCube owners should definitely give this game a second glance on the store shelves. And if you don’t have a GameCube yet, what are they now, six bucks?]]> Thu, 23 Jun 2005 11:17:00 -0500