Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
- July 01, 2004 00:00 AM PST
Put spoon-bending government agents in a room together, and heads are gonna explode.
You�re deep inside the enemy base, surrounded by five heavily armed soldiers. Nearby, there are three wooden crates and two combustible tanks, but you�re dangerously low on ammo, and your life gauge is near empty. Do you use telekinesis to toss the soldiers around and take their guns, or do you squash them with crates and immolate them with the tanks while grabbing health packs from across the walkway with your mind? Or, do you possess the guard nearest you and open fire on the rest before taking a nosedive through the window?
My Brain Is Better Than Your Brain
Despite its linear formula, Psi-Ops gives you a surprising amount of latitude as these are the types of on-the-fly choices you continually make before and during each encounter. The typical comic-book narrative has enough freaky fare like disembodied floating crabs, secret bunker mirages, phantasmagoric corporate labyrinths, and zombies to keep things interesting, while the gameplay is challenging in that you will die often but not annoyingly so. A big part of the fun lies in retrying missions to see how much better you�ll do by utilizing psychic martial arts differently. Psi-Ops� brains-over-brawn gameplay isn�t necessarily limited to your psychic skills as strategy plays a big part in your missions, such as keeping enemies alive so you can suck their brain juice or use them later on (be sure you don�t telepathically toss the sniper off the roof before first mind-tricking him into dismantling the alarm).
Uri Geller Solid
Besides strong production values, the game showcases some of the most amazing physics seen on a console�nearly every object and person can be levitated, pushed, pulled, thrown, mind-controlled, and set on fire, while fantastic controls make you almost feel like you�re really doing it. This could�ve been another run-of-the-mill third-person shooter, but you�ll take great joy in coming up with dozens upon dozens of ways to mess up enemies, while the all-out psychic boss wars will burst your brain. Worth the cash.
