Geist

The spirit is willing but the controls and graphics are a little weak.

"Geist" means "ghost" in German. And that is exactly what you become when you assume the role of John Raimi, a disease-control agent on loan to a counterterrorism unit that's investigating the weird goings-on at the Volks Corporation in an unnamed Germanic country. Unfortunately, this covert operation turns out to be about the worst kept secret ever, and as a result, you're captured and subjected to a soul-separating experiment.

This intriguing game is about 50 percent first-person, disembodied puzzle-solving and 50 percent first-person combat. Unfortunately, about 30 percent of one side of that equation serves to vaporize the FunFactor.

A Haunting You Will Go
The spectral gameplay is actually interesting. From a first-person view, you're challenged to possess persons, creatures, and things to beat enemies and overcome obstacles. In order to track down your missing body and uncover the Volks mystery, dogs, rats, bats, grandfather clocks, dishes, showerheads, and more all become candidates to do your ghostly bidding.

Much of your progress requires you to possess living creatures. Of course, whether it be man or beast, you must first scare the beejesus out of your unwilling hosts in order to make them compliant to your demands. In poltergeist fashion, you have to use your brains to make all manner of mischief for the living.

The visuals take on a creepy, black and white, misty effect as you glide effortlessly around the terrain. It's fun to explore the rooms of the eerie Volks mansion as an invisible man in order to discover objects you can control and figure out how to use them to solve the puzzles.

Spirits in the Material World
There's a fair share of gunplay in Geist, too, and for that you inhabit unsuspecting guards and other armed Volks employees. You can even possess the weapons themselves, if need be. The first-person combat is lively, but decidedly average. The controls are overly-sensitive and a little imprecise, particularly for movement up and down (the y-axis). Oddly there are no adjustments to dampen or even this out. The graphics and animation of your attackers is also mundane and often repetitive. For instance, a recurring mid-level boss creature falls to the same shot pattern every time it appears. Volks guards look like Volkswagens as they charge you with the same stance and speed.

That's All, Volks!
There's plenty to enjoy and explore in Geist, but that fidgety FPS gameplay is going to dampen the spirits of any regular combat gamer. Still, it's great to encounter an adventure game that tries to offer something different. You could at least give Geist a ghost of a chance.

KEY MOMENT: You prepare to float invisibly by some oddly outfitted Volks guards only to discover that these ghost-busters can "see" you.

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