Second Sight

[jimtendo]

Whereabouts are you?

Describe the setting.

[Paleface]

Boris: climb in through the window that's open, middle right.

[Eight Rooks]

I'm enjoying this a lot; it's not perfect, with glitches and a certain lack of gravity (though that does contribute to the comic-book feel), but it's very consistent and engrossing. The lock-on from behind obstacles is particularly well implemented.

The lock-on was useful if it worked the way it was meant to work, but I found far too often this wasn't the case, since sticking to any wall, no matter where or how high, usually jammed the (supposedly) movable camera two feet in front of you with a range of about six inches either side, making it near impossible to see anything. I stopped doing the MGS moves after about an hour or so of frustration.

Oh, and Rambo-ing through the asylum was a pain, too. Those guards never stopped coming, and I could only handle it once I'd shot out all the security cameras, which seemed to stop the alarm going off quite so often. Go in, run away, heal up, go in, run away, heal up... eh. And my unending admiration to anyone who can Rambo the final levels, particularly the offices with the G-men; they never, ever stop coming once you've set off the alarms, their SMGs drain your health at a frightening rate and if they knock you down you're pretty much dead instantly.

[MonkeyWrench]

Just this minute completed it. The way the story evolved through out this game is most definitely it's strongest point, it gets a bit Donnie Darko near the end

[Eight Rooks]

Just this minute completed it. The way the story evolved through out this game is most definitely it's strongest point, it gets a bit Donnie Darko near the end

Yes, like Edge said, it's not that much more than a decent episode of the X-Files or some such (and the voice acting is frequently awful... /sigh... decent VAs would have elevated this game so much) but the way the story is told is quite frequently masterful. There were only one or two cutscenes I didn't like, or would have done differently. It could have used a bit more cinematic flair, maybe. For example
I particularly wanted more of a fanfare when Vattic actually got the psychic powers.
But overall it's one of the better SP experiences out there, and one of the few games to do the
It was all a dream!
thing rather well.

The voice acting, sound design and general fury of the combat in The Suffering still flattens it, though, as far as I'm concerned.

So what's been going on in the industry lately, then? I thought all these interminable third-person action-adventures were supposed to be interchangeable rubbish... Still, I'm not complaining.

[EvilBoris]

I've walked all around the place, killed everyone inside, unlocked the upper library (is anything actually in there?) read all the books. I don't know where to go still

[Eight Rooks]

I've walked all around the place, killed everyone inside, unlocked the upper library (is anything actually in there?) read all the books. I don't know where to go still

There's a crawlspace in the upper library you have to get into IIRC. It's the empty cul-de-sac room with the two doors at either end and no books in there, right? Look for the grate near the floor.

[Paleface]

Yep. Crawl through from the upper library.

I finished Madness, which I wasn't so hot on; you were right, just TK the doorswitch. Once you're through the first door, guards become finite.

However, I thought the escape from the asylum was excellent; really liked the bring-Jayne/leave-Jayne dynamic, and the edging-round-the-windows sequence. I'm not sure why, but I'm enjoying this game probably slightly more than it deserves.

Voice acting is patchy. Vattic just isn't quite on the mark; the script is good but he's just too chirpy at points. He seems bewildered, but never frightened or bitter, during the present-sequences, which isn't what I imagined the script demanded. Wilde is good, but the rest of the squad are too generic and Timesplittersy.

Ah well. It's still fun, and I think it's easier to control than the RSI-nightmare of Psi-ops.

[EvilBoris]

Well I found it, somehow dispite managing to not look anyway near big enough when crouchinh, pressing punch magical makes him fit

[Eight Rooks]

Well I found it, somehow dispite managing to not look anyway near big enough when crouchinh, pressing punch magical makes him fit

Heh, yes, totally in agreement there. I thought that from the first time he got in one. "There's nowhere to go! I mean, there's that silly grate down there, but no way he can fit inside that thing - wait - what the?" An eighth psi-power they didn't put on the back of the box?

Again, it's annoying how there are no unlockables (well, other than two little minigames) since with the level stats, there's scope for replaying... I'd love to have some kind of reward for playing through some of these levels without killing anyone. Whilst it's fun trying nonetheless, the frustrations of the stealth (crap camera, flaky AI and so on) make it more of a chore than it ought to be.

Damn it, I want Psi-Ops even more now! I want to have something to compare this to (well, there's the OXM demo, but I'm a little reluctant to say PO is clearly better based just on that ).

[EvilBoris]

psi ops is funny, you can float on stuff like magneto

[revisedgenocide]

Just completed it myself. 7 hours 21 minutes so not that long a game at all. Not really much i can add since im in total agreement with whats been said. definately a 6 or 7 . Nice story too. The mutliple endings when you died early were a nice touch but i didnt see them at all until i completed the game and had a look through the cutscenes since it was a bit easy once you got past the cheapness.
One thing i did find annoying is that you could never really mix psi powers and weapons. It was either one or the other most of the time. The respawning did get on my tits until you realise its just a case of popping 5-6 of the off with a gun then making a dash until you break that invisible line and they toddle off. Shame they didnt have time to give the enemies decent AI instead of constant respawning
The locker/cupboard/toilet variants were amusing (even the toilets had viewscreens ) and somewhat worringly i always nipped into the ladies .
I did slip in the familiar patter of, reaching an area, projection to scout the place, then a mixture of charm and projection. Plus hiding when i was spotted.
The squad levels were fun and were quite exciting at times. Anyone find more than the two mini games?

[Dezm0nd]

Bah! this game is doing my head in, it's good, but this level Madness is terrible, i get to a door which needs a pass from one of the staff, Vattic himself says "This door needs a pass, i'm sure the staff have them"

I'm bimbling around and there's no staff left! Can anyone give me a hand?

Woops, 2 minutes later after posting this, i realised the door is time based, so it's scan run through door and done.

30 minutes on that piece of toss, GRRRR!!

[revisedgenocide]

Thinking about it a bit more there is something about Second sight which i like alot. The fact that here and there there are certain things which hint of a world bigger than the one your exploring. That ouside of your adventure theres another world passing you by. This is something ive always liked in games.
For example the first level is bigger than is needed but not illogically so. theres no vast empty spaces or corridors to nowhere but areas where youd imagine people to genuinely work in the day when you not there.
also at the start of the asylum level theres a guards hut, since guards arent always just standing about when your there. those kind of things are good for the imagination in a 'what do they do when im not here' kind of way.
If theres one part of the game that really sums it up for me it would be this. at the start of the asylum level behing the guard hut theres a smaller hut, open it and theres a basketball inside. Thats pretty cool, a nice little extra and shows the hidden fun within the game and the care and attention done in places. I pick up the ball with my psi powers, lob it at a wall only for it to glitch through the wall lost forever. says it all really.

[Eight Rooks]

(stuff)

Yes, fairly nicely put. So much of the game hints at a lot of care and attention planned, yet not quite finished or fleshed out fully, but what there is proves a lot more compelling than a lot of supposedly done and dusted games all the same. I have been messing about with one or two levels trying out different psi-powers in different situations, and it is a curious mix of glitchy, near game-breaking tiny bugs yet with details that do still make you think "heh, nice".

Once you're done in the multi-media room at the start of "Confrontation", for example, I liked the fact that sure, you can take the G-men head on, but if you Charm your way past them, you do actually hear them saying (to paraphrase) "well, they said he was in here, but... guess not..." A tiny thing, but it did amuse me. And things like the Soviet base, where you hear the guards playing on the arcade machine, and one of them says "how come that thing's still on, anyway? I thought the power was off?"

Oh, and (it's paraphrasing again, but anyone who's finished the game should know what I mean)

"My work was ignored by those fools in the Kremlin. Men with no vision... no money. Hurray for America, eh? ...you still have no vision. But you have money!"

really made me laugh, I do admit, cheap shot or not.