Geist (GameCube) Preview

What immediately strikes you about this game is how it is totally unique. The idea of being a spirit is not something that is dealt with much in games, especially in what is essentially a shoot-'em-up with similar styling to Metroid Prime. Now, we say that with a certain reluctance, as comparisons to a title that is widely considered to be one of the greatest ever are way off the mark when it comes to this game. Whilst the basic feel and approach to genre are similar, there are a number of factors that make Geist a bit of a let down. First up, the controls in the version we played were quite unresponsive, you use a combination of the main control stick and C-stick to move and strafe, which works well, but feels far too twitchy and awkward.

For example, we had to possess a security guard, to do this we possessed a phone and our ghost friend possessed a bin, a combination of both shaking and moving about of their own accord certainly gave him the willies and we were able to take control of his body and further infiltrate the base.

Where the game falls flat on its face is that it is too obscure and insular. The environments are very enclosed, leaving little opening for exploration, but the nature of the game calls for you to look about your surroundings. So, it is either painfully obvious what you have to do next, or totally mind-boggling. We spent about fifteen minutes in a room before we worked out what we had to possess and destroy, not because we're dumb, but because the task itself was unclear, confusing and didn't really make any sense.

Graphically, Geist has improved vastly over last year's build. There are more textures on display, a lot more detail and all the character models are up to the sort of standard we have all come to expect from top-tier GameCube titles. The game seems to be more plot driven than before, and there were some quite extensive cut-scenes in the version we played, but with this came one annoying aspect: loading times. We were always under the impression the GameCube wasn't meant to have them, but Geist delivers them in abundance which is annoying to say the least.

We were quite impressed with the single player experience of Geist, but it still leaves a number of questions unanswered. Whilst the possessing element of the game is an interesting one, the title lacks identity and at times feels like too many other games that have been on the market for years, if it is to fulfil its quote as an innovative and stunning title, it will need to discover a spark in terms of gameplay. The whole experience is good enough; it just feels stale and mediocre.

Multiplayer-wise, the same applies. We had a full five-minute, two-player deathmatch in the only arena the game would let us play, we were far from impressed. It seemed that whoever picked up the shotgun, won the game. One player had it for the first two minutes and picked up three kills, the other player had it for the rest of the match and picked up five. All other weapons became redundant. The arena too was fairly uninspiring. A two level maze that had no distinguishing features, meaning locating and chasing your enemy was confusing and annoying. It felt soulless, empty, boring and generally disappointing. Which sums up Geist quite concisely in our opinion.