Geist

The last thread about this title died out, without anyone telling about their experience with the game.

Well, I rented it Monday night, and I gotta say, it's awesome. I'm really glad that this was still released, even with underdeveloped graphics, and some bad sound at times. It's a great game that really might be one of the most unique gaming concepts I've ever played. The story's pretty good, and the possession system is simply perfect. The puzzles that revolved around it are not only challenging, but they're fun to figure out, especially the times when you possess something like a rat, bat or even the dog.

People have said that the shooting portions are stale, and to an extent they're right. They're no where near the calibur of those like Timesplitters, Metroid Prime or Half-Life, and the lag doesn't help much either. But, when the time comes to go shooting, you can always expect a ton of action, with a nice variety of weapons. The enemy AI is also something that can be really dumb and easy at times, but for the most part they have some of the best aiming I've seen. As I've said, the framerate can be a little annoying, but the fights are still a lot of fun, and boss fights are pretty nice, too.

Multiplayer is very interesting. The three modes (Possession Death Match, Capture the Host, and Hunt) are a trio of the most unique gaming methods you'll ever see, and they're all pretty fun, too. Some levels are small, while others are pretty large, and as I said before, the weapon variety is nice. Then, being able to have up to three other human-play, or seven CPU enemies makes it a great source of enjoyable replay value.

It's got its problems, for sure, but it's a good game that everyone should try, even a rent as I did. It's definitely a breath of fresh-air into the FPS genre. When I get a little more money, I'll probably be buying this.

I got Geist for Christmas, and I must say that this game is one of the most unique and fun games I have ever played, albeit a bit short.

As far as graphics go, you're not gona see this game beating out RE4, but they do what they need to to help the game and portray the games different area's atmospheres almost perfectly.

The music does much to help this as well. While the majority of the music in game is subtle and sometimes more of an ambience, if you're anything like me, you'll have the battle music stuck in your head for a long time to come. The sound effects could be slightly better, but again, they do just fine for what they have to portray.

As far as gameplay goes, yes the shooting isn't the best in the world, but it's not the worst either and is quite fun, almost in an arcade kind of way. The games focus is obviously on the puzzles. While sometimes simple, they'll almost always leave you with a feeling of "that was really clever."
Possesing things works perfectly and seamlessly, with time slowing as you become a ghost. I loved the subtleties of being a ghost, alongside the slowed time, a blue tint is plastered over everything in the visible spectrum. While this may not seem like much, that coupled with the slight wind-like sound when a ghost, really makes it seem as if you can't be seen, and are a ghost.
Along with that is a mechanism that prevents you from staying a ghost forever. As odd as it seems it was needed, else the only way you can die is if a required host is killed. While it really is a health meter that lowers as time goes on, it is explained as being pulled toward the afterlife.

Oops...instead of telling my simple opinions I gave a semi-review. Oh well, my point is, this is a great game and everyone that gets a chance should play it, though others that are spoiled by other fast paced FPS may be turned off by the games slower pace. I'd say the best way to avoid that is to not go into this game expecting the next Goldeneye, Halo, or Half - Life. Just take it for what it is. A fun, solid game, that'l keep you occupied for hours.

Now I haven't really got a chance to fool around seriously in multiplayer yet, though I unlocked roughly 5,000 things for it during the course of my first play through. However, from what I did get to play of it it seems like alot of fun.

Oh! I saw an article of this in CUBE magazine and i thought it would be interesting. Having read your opinions it seems that it would be worthwhile to buy it. Isn't it a shooter game though? The only shooter games i liked were goldeneye and perfectdark :S

It is a shooter, but not so much as other shooters. The puzzle elements are really the bulk of the game. That being said, while not as fleshed out as other FPS, the shooting segments shouldn't leave you too dissapointed. Just remember, this game isn't Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, just take it for what it is and base your oppinions on that. If you like it, great. If not, great. But my guess is, you will like it. As said many times before, it really is a breath of fresh air, not just to FPS, but to games in general.

I'm thinking about getting it. It looks to be a really original game and I'm glad that it's got multiplayer, but does anyone know if the single player lasts long?

Originally Posted by EternalFish

Obviously not.

Does it have extra features to unlock though?

^ It has all kinds of multiplayer levels and characters to unlock, you'll find that stuff as you search through the game for Host Collectibles, but either simply finding them where they're hidden or if you complete size-puzzles and missions. The story-mode is nine chapters, and in all it comes out to be around five to six hours I believe. But as I said, multi adds a lot of value.

Don't forget Ghost collectibles. And yes, the extra's are aplenty, and so far that I've seen (at the last boss right now)it's all multiplayer stuff.

This game never became available at my local Blockbuster, so I'm either going to have to wait for one of my friends to get it or buy it myself. Anyway, I was actually anticipating this title for awhile, since it seemed to be one of the most innovative and weird titles I've ever seen. Though it did some mediocre reviews, I was kind of turned off from it, though I'm probably going to check it out once it drops in price.

Anyway, it sounds like a great game that puts an interesting twist on the FPS genre.

man that was an amazing game best bosses amazing storyline which for me can pretty much make or break a game for me the only problem was the very last boss (not the man) but the ultimate ghost it was to crazy you couldn't even see wat you were doing i was pretty much shooting up and down. They should have made the parts where you had to scare the people a little more harder though

I've heard the game has some really novel ideas, but it's technology is a big limiter. I haven't played or bought it, and I don't plan to. I can't stand playing games with poor framerates and controls, because it really ends up ruining the overally experience the most in relation to other factors (assuming the game is indeed good).