Taste-Test: Geist

Sitting in the Nintendo press conference, so many games came up that grabbed my attention, but one in particular really held on. A first-person shooter with strong roots in the paranormal, Geist attracted me and claimed a nook in my mind, repeatedly crying out "Play me."

The demo station had only one playable level, but it was very solidly built. Geist is an exclusive collaboration between Nintendo and n-Space. That's right, n-Space of Duke Nukem fame. So, suffice to say that their FPS credentials are in order. But I digress. I started as a disembodied spirit in a hallway, which looked subterranean. Moving was in line with the GoldenEye style, where the analog stick controlled front/back movement and turning, while the C-stick took care of strafing and up/down viewing.

Going down the hall, I learned how to affect objects in the physical world - withering plants and other such spooky stuff. Eventually I came to a guard grievously injured by some kind of beast. After using "soul energy" to slay the animal, I went over and possessed the dying guard. This is the core of the game, possessing people to use their physical and mental skills in order to further your goals. In this case, a soul barrier had been built (apparently spirits are a thing accepted and safeguarded against in this game), and I needed to use the guard's gun to shoot out the barrier projectors. In spirit and corporeal form, the A button tends to remain the action button - possessing people and moving objects as a ghost, opening doors and such things as a person - while the R button works the weapons

Since the guard was wounded, I couldn't move in him, so I had to leave the body and continue on into the complex. Later, I was given the task to possess a certain person who was uninjured. To possess the healthy, they must be scared first, which is where actions like plant withering and telekinesis come in handy. Something I had to watch out for were enemy spirits doing the same body-snatch job that I was doing. People with such spirits in them will recognize you in whatever body you may be in and open fire. One of the beauty parts - if you take out those people and leave just the normal guards, you can leave the body you were in, take over another, and walk away scot-free since everyone else is going after your old persona.

The art of the game was good. There were evidences of the Nukem blockiness, but nothing that couldn't be refined before the 2004 launch date. The innovative concepts of ghost movement, slipping through air ducts, soul blasts, etc. - really compliment the regular FPS action, allowing for the regular run-and-gun appeal while setting it off such that Geist is not a stereotype shooter. Geist is one game of a group I saw at E3 with a safe chance to really make a name for itself once it hits the street. I'll be keeping an eye out for news on Geist, so stay with us here at the Café for any updates.

Mike Twomey