GAME
Geist

Format: GameCube
Nintendo
£39.99

0 45496 96199 2
Age Restrictions: 15+
Available
07 October 2005


In the hallways, labs and chambers of a shadowy compound, an unseen power is lurking. As a ghostly spectral operative, you must search for your physical body, which is mysteriously being kept alive somewhere in the enormous complex. On your travels you must collect the energies of indigenous spirits to help unravel a mystery and build your own power. Some will help... but beware, for not all the spirits are friendly. Prepare for a first-person adventure with a spectral twist! Explore the compound as a ghost, then possess more than a dozen unique character types using their weapons, equipment, skills, and even memories, to complete your goals...

You play John Raimi, a specialist in the field of biological and chemical attacks. While on a mission to retrieve a deadly viral sample you, and your team are killed. But, there's no afterlife for you just yet. You awake to discover that you are still very much alive, only there's one slight problem - you don't have a body. But that's not a problem for too long as you are soon able to possess other bodies in a bid to find your own.

You are helped by the spirit of a young girl, called Gigi. In fact, she acts as a sort of guide throughout the game, explaining how to progress through the levels.

The great thing about this game is the fact that you can't just leap into anyone's body. You can only take control of people that are frightened enough. And, once you've chosen your vessel, you have to be careful how you treat them. Some characters you can take into the middle of a fire fight and let them get killed, but other characters you have to treat with a bit more care. If you possess a person whose skills will help you in your quest, you are going to have to make sure you keep them alive.

So how do you scare someone? Well, as an example, you can possess a telephone and make it ring. When your victim picks up the phone there is no one there... and that sets them on edge. Then you can leap into their body. You can jump into any other living lifeform without scaring them first, as well as numerous inanimate objects including crates, phones and grenades.

The game looks and sounds pretty good, but I did notice that there are some problems when there is too much going on on the screen in the First Person Shooter sections of the game. Too much movement and everything slows down a little and becomes slightly jerky.

As well as the single player mode, there are several multiplayer options which are great fun. The deathmatch mode is great. You don't need to scare the people to jump into their bodies, and running around possessing different creatures in a bid to kill your opponent is great fun.

All in all, Geist is a bit of a winner.

Nick Smithson

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