I expected great results from Second
Sight, I really did. I had read some of the “other” reviews for the game and
thought that no matter what anyone said the game still had to be good. In fact,
I was thinking the same thing I’m sure most of you have (or should have) when
reading a review “That’s just one opinion of the game, it has to be better than
that.” This sentiment is the essence of any review, a synopsis of one person’s
opinion on a game. You never have to agree with reviews I type up or the reviews
of other writers. Take our words with a grain of salt since you have never
played the game. Just because a game gets an average/good score doesn’t make it
a bad game. But with the case of Second Sight the bar wasn’t raised high enough
for an incredible game.
The story of Second Sight revolves
around your character, John Vattic. He awakens inside of a medical facility
without any memories as to why he’s there. However, Vattic has changed, he now
posses the ability to control items with his mind. Soon Vattic discovers that
controlling objects with his mind isn’t the only psi-power he posses. Vattic
must use all of his psi-powers to escape from the medical facility and unlock
the mysteries of who he is and why he’s at the facility.
The game starts off as you (Vattic)
wake up in the medical facility. Vattic mumbles to himself that he doesn’t know
who he is and where he is. Vattic is locked inside of a room that is locked from
the outside. One of the first psi-powers you learn how to use is telekinesis,
the ability to control items with your mind. The game offers on-screen
instructions on how to use the psi-powers, which are controlled by pressing the
right mouse button. With the psi-powers you hold the right mouse button while
moving the mouse to select and item. The item will be highlighted with a circle
around it once you’ve chosen an item to control. Then you press the left mouse
button to pick up or move the object around, while controlling the movement with
the mouse.
Sounds simple and easy enough but
the game makes it “feel” much more difficult than it should be. The controls of
the characters makes selecting an item and moving it around very difficult. For
example, even though I was standing right in front of the first item I had to
control I couldn’t select the item. I had to move my character around the screen
until I reached an exact, precise location before I was able to select the item.
If I see the item why shouldn’t I be able to pick it up and move it? Why do I
have to move around the stage until I find the right spot to select the item,
even though the item is right in front of me?
The other psi-powers available in
the game are a healing option, psi-blast (a destructive blast of energy), charm
(disappearance) and projection (leaving your body to become a ghost-like
figure). Each of the different psi-powers have their own function within the
game and most of the powers become available early in the game. I would say the
healing function is probably the best psi-power in the game since it’s actual
very helpful. Some of the other psi-powers are critical to the game but never
seem useful past certain parts of the game. For example, you have a psi-blast
where you can shoot forth a wave of energy at an enemy. But why wait to use the
psi-blast when you can just punch someone (or better yet shoot them if you have
a gun)?
The game is played out in a
third-person perspective and Vattic is controlled by the classic mouse and
keyboard combination. The camera angle is controlled by the mouse while Vattic’s
movements are controlled with the “W, S, D and A” keys. Vattic controls well and
responds right away to the movements of the mouse and keyboard. But I found when
trying to use the telekinesis psi-powers I never felt in control of the objects
I was trying to pickup. Either I would have a hard time selecting an item (as I
mentioned earlier) or after I selected an item it felt like I was trying to pick
up the Titanic instead of a computer monitor.
The actual gameplay can be described
as an action game with some touches of stealth thrown in. After waking up in the
medical facility and discovering your powers, you will then run around the
hospital beating up the security guards and doctors, or asking the doctors for
information. You can use computers located throughout the different parts of the
medical facility to uncover information about you and the facility. The action
in the game is done by either hand-to-hand combat, psi-powers or guns. There are
several different types of guns available in the game ranging from pistols,
sniper rifles and machine guns.
The AI of the guards and doctors
isn’t what I would call extraordinary. The guards would keep chasing after you
when an alarm is sounded no matter how many guards you’ve taken out. In fact in
several missions I was standing right next to some of the computer controlled
characters and the computer didn’t have a clue. The doctors in the game would
always run away from me every time I would get near them. But for some reason
they always went back to the same rooms, over and over again. The game allows
you to talk to the doctors by pressing the space bar key, but it never seemed
useful to the outcome of the levels.
The game is played out over several
different levels with a strange and almost out-of-place pacing. The first
mission starts off in the medical facility after Vattic wakes up but the next
mission takes place six months earlier. To make matters even more unusual the
second mission is actual the tutorial for the weapons in the game. I thought
most games kept the tutorials at the early parts of the game, but the second
mission was still early in the game. The second mission (from six months
earlier) revolves around Vattic joining a Special Forces team getting ready to
head out on a mission. Their mission is to uncover a scientist long thought dead
and the secrets behind his experiments. All the military will say to Vattic is
that the information on the scientist and most of the mission is classified. A
nice twist to the game is the fact that the Vattic from six months ago doesn’t
believe in psi-powers or that anyone can posses such powers. But then six months
later Vattic has the ability to heal himself or hurt others by using his mind.
Some of the missions will switch back and forth between the six months and the
present time for Vattic. Along the way you will interact with several different
NPC’s that will help you with your training or fight along your side in the
game. In fact the gameplay seemed repetitive after a while. You have most of the
psi-powers almost right away so there isn’t much to unlock and after a while it
seems as if the game is repeating itself.
The graphics in the game are top
notch and have the excellent Free Radical look. The characters look fantastic
and were nicely detailed. The Free Radical look is what I would describe as
realistic characters with an animation quality look to them. Once you see one of
their games you will know the look. I was very impressed with the lip synching
of the characters to the spoken dialogue. The animation of the character’s
mouths matched the words almost perfectly. The graphics for the stages were good
but didn’t have a huge variety of textures and looks for the stages. The stages
were well done but nothing that gives off a “wow” factor.
The framerate was smooth and steady
through most of the game except for one issue. It seemed every time I walked
through a door the camera would get stuck in a spot and stutter until I moved
out of the doorway. This happened frequently and was annoying. The sound
effects, music and voice acting in the game were nicely done. I thought the
voice acting was very top notch with no corny dialogue or moments of cringe
because of the actors. Some of the characters sounded similar to each other and
Vattic didn’t know how to shut up sometimes.
Second Sight is a good game, but not
the type of game that everyone will enjoy. The great graphics, excellent voice
acting and interesting psi-powers will satisfy some gamers. However the computer
AI, occasional framerate problem and repetitive gameplay might be enough of a
deterrent for gamers to look in another direction. The other issue revolves
around the premise of the game; a character using psi-powers isn’t new to
gaming. A couple of years ago it might have been a novel idea but now psi-powers
have already been incorporated into other games. It’s still a fairly new genre
of gaming but Second Sight doesn’t do anything unique enough to make it stand
out from some of the other games.
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Gameplay 7.4
Sure you have psi-powers but what use are they when the game doesn’t give you
enough opportunity to use them. I didn’t want to use the psi-powers in the game
because it took longer to use the powers than it did for me to either run away
or punch someone. The psi-powers in the game seem limited compared to similar
type of games. Changing the pacing of the game by going back in time to a Vattic
without psi-powers helped keep the game interesting.
Graphics 7.7
The character graphics all looked great. The characters had the same Free
Radical look of their previous games (Time Splitters). The stages looked good
but didn’t have a noticeable “wow” factor. The animation of the character voices
to the dialogue was very impressive.
Sound 7.5
The sound effects and music in the game were well done. The voice acting was
very impressive with great dialogue and excellent presentation by the actors.
Vattic’s phrases did become repetitive after a while, as did the other phrases
of some of the other NPCs during the game.
Difficulty Medium
You can select between two modes of difficulty in the game, normal and hard. I
didn’t find the game that difficult but the repetitive gameplay will probably be
a little frustrating to some players.
Concept 7.5
This isn’t the first psychic power game that’s been released. Still having the
ability to blow something up with your mind is always fun. The way the game
played out by flashing back six months was interesting, especially when you
learn the back-story to Vattic. A few more psi-powers in the game would have
been a nice treat, along with some more variety in the gameplay.
Overall 7.5
Second Sight will probably find its audience as time goes on. It’s not a perfect
game but sometimes a few blemishes aren’t enough to keep gamers away. In fact,
gamers looking for an another title to add to their collection can do much worse
than Second Sight. Just don’t expect a revolutionary, mind-blowing title.
