The game places you in the shoes of Dr John Vattic. The good Dr has been called on a mission by the US army that is of the utmost secrecy. Their aim is to extract a Russian scientist that has been missing from the earth’s face since the Second World War. He just happened to appear out of the blue in Siberia and a team has been sent to get him back. Why? Because he has apparently been performing nasty psychic experiments on the innocent little children from a remote village. So what does this have to do with Dr Vattic? Especially since he’s a Dr that specialises in disproving the existence of psychics. Well, Jayne Wilde, the advisor for the military as well as a highly regarded psychic and old acquaintance of John, is the one who recommended him. The reason being, he is the key to saving them all.
Though when you actually start the game, you’re led to believe otherwise. At the absolute start of the game, John is locked in a medical facility, with obvious signs of mass operations and experiments. To top it off, he’s left with no memory of what’s happened. This event takes place six months after the mission to Siberia and you take John on a journey through facilities, asylums, back streets and corporate buildings. This is all in the process of attempting to remember what happened in Siberia to leave him in such a shocking state. Though the game is not about to retell the story through cut scenes. No, you actually play through the Siberia portions as well. You’ll need to in order to figure out the whole conspiracy and the reason as to why John was taken on this mission. In all, the story is very good. It’s not enthralling but it will keep you guessing and everything comes together in a nice, neat, unambiguous package, where at one stage it seemed like it might not.
There are three aspects to the gameplay, these being the psychic, sneaking and shooting aspects. Though John was originally skeptic, to his shock and horror and your dastardly advantage, psychic powers will be unlocked your as you play. However, most of them are unlocked quite early on in the game, so you’re playing most of the way through with a full arsenal of powers.
What a Tosser
The powers cover your basic psychic fantasies, telekinesis, self-healing, psi-attack, charm and projection. Through the game, all these powers are necessary for getting through. Unfortunately, there’s no telepathy (not that there would be anything interesting to hear) and no pyrokinesis, even though you can use telekinesis to toss explosive cans. Though powers not just for solving puzzles, finding keys and opening door ways. They’re great for messing with your enemies as well. You can use telekinesis to toss objects and scare enemies, and later when your powers develop, toss enemies themselves. Charm can be used to turn invisible for a period of time and sneak past enemies while projection sends out a transparent model of John that will allow you to possess other enemies (to be used to your advantage) and scout areas.
Besides that, your powers are half of what get you through from point A to B. Telekinesis allows you to mess with circuits (read: cameras and electric doors) or lift obtrusive blocks. Charm and projection are best for getting about in the most efficient manner. In case you aren’t able to get away from a situation without forced aggression, you have two psi-attacks at your disposal. One is a concentrated ball of energy thrown from your hand and the other an area attack. Each is ideal for sticky situations though they consume a lot of energy. Your final power is undoubtedly the most useful, as long as you have the energy, you can heal on the spot.
The amount that you can use your psychic powers depends on a meter. Unlike the token health meter, your energy meter refills itself very quickly. And unless you’re being hounded down by several enemies at once, the speed at which the bar refills makes the game relatively easy. On the flipside, you’re often placed in situations where you’ve eliminated all threats and are aimlessly wandering trying to figure the next point to go to. Then you’ll find it only to realise that you need a key or item to get through. The game often throws cryptic and ambiguous clues but in the end, the puzzles and situations are transparent enough to figure out, despite the bit of pain involved.
The game is also heavily dependant on sneaking. Using similar mechanics to the grand-daddy of stealth (Metal Gear), getting through situations undetected is crucial. With the press of a button, you lean against a wall and you have the usual peeking and sneaking mechanics at your disposal. The best part is that they work and work reasonably well. Though if your cover is blown, things can get inconvenient.
Ever get that beside yourself feeling?
While sneaking is both useful and effective, it isn’t really exciting. This is probably because it’s nothing new. Many games have been there and done that. Another issue that there are portions of levels that really aren’t that well designed for stealth. Sure, you have the occasional locker or cupboard that you can hide in but sometimes you are left high and dry. Regardless, players are definitely advised to stick with it because when an alarm goes off, enemies can be notoriously hard to get rid of.
From a game that was designed by the same team that designed Goldeneye and Timesplitters, it’s a bit surprising that the shooting portion of the game is a bit weak. Controlled from a 3rd-person perspective, you left trigger/button to set up the lock-on reticule that centers on the closest enemy. You can then use the right thumb-stick to aim at different parts of the enemy’s body. An interesting twist comes with sniping, as a box appears in the bottom right corner that displays the view through the sniper scope. It also locks onto visible enemies and allows the same freedom of limb targeting choice. The game has a very effective system by where you can pop out from behind the pillar/wall/crate/hiding place and shoot at enemies while they’re reloading. Though it’s virtually standard, that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective.
However, when you are in one of the constant alarm set-offs, the swarm of enemies can be very overwhelming and the guns at your disposal often feel like peashooters. Not to mention that the variety of guns is hardly helpful as there are about five in all and ammo is scarce and reloading takes too long. That and the right thumbstick aiming is cumbersome because it is very imprecise to use in tight situations (GC owners suffer the worst from this).
That’s not to say that the controls are bad. There are definitely workable but not as precise or as sharp as some people may be accustomed to. Still, working the psychic powers is a breeze, as you select them by cycling through them using the d-pad then selecting and using with the right trigger/button. Telekinesis uses the right thumbstick/c-stick to control the movement of objects or people that you’re flinging around. You can choose between three camera angles, a fixed perspective, one that follows you or a 1st person that allows you to look around. At least you have the choice. However, the physics in the game are excellent. There are several objects in each area that you can use to toss around and it’s great to watch an enemy being dropped at the top of the stairs and watch as he tumbles down or just tossing people across a room for kicks is great as well.
Hide and Seek time
Graphically, the game adopts a similar style to cousin Timesplitters with almost cartoon like characters. It doesn’t detract from the graphics too much though, as the game still looks very good. They are still able to retain a fair amount of detail, reasonable texturing and the overall familiar feel of other Free Radical games. Cut scenes are well directed and the style is unique enough to look good. It’s a shame that the locations are dull enough to dampen the effectiveness and the framerate suffers in the snow and under heavy fire. Sound-wise, the game is excellent. The music for each level is superb and gets the emotional feeling absolutely spot-on. Voicing is good but the dialogue is at times a bit arbitrary. General sound effects are solid and get the job done.
The games greatest downfall is probably the length. There are 17 level but we clocked in at under eight hours. Part of this can be attributed to the game's relative ease. That and there is no multiplayer and are only two unlockable mini-games. You can improve you stats for each level, but in general the game has little replay value.
Overall, while Second Sight can be frustrating at time due to inherent lack of direction at times and slightly imprecise controls, it is a unique but relatively short and easy experience. It successfully fuses different styles of gameplay with a good story that isn’t going to leave you dazed and bemused for some odd meaning or message. Though not entrallung, you'd be hard pressed to find a game that has a story that's relatively straight forward yet so satisfying when completed. If you are able find it for a nice price or even as rent, this is a game that shouldn’t be passed up. Well not without a second glance.
This review is brought to you courtesy of Infinite Gameplay, with unlimited game rentals starting from $19.95 a month.
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