Psi-ops

[Spatial]

Well I've just managed to get round to having a quick go of my copy and its fun stuff.

I've just got to the TK room and flinging people around and into crates / walls had me laughing like a little school girl.

Muchus funus to be had.

[MJ]

My copy came yesterday and I've got as far as unlocking Mind Drain. This game is a blast!

It's quite fluid and I like the way that you can approach things in different ways, I found that you can't always blast your way through without taking severe damage.

[the shape]

I was going to completely swerve this until I saw this thread! Picked it up yesterday and, though I've only got as far as remote viewing (very early), it has the potential to really 'get' me.

It implements Havok so well. How much fun is it to hoof dead guards with a solid kick? Hoisting someone in the air then casting them into an explosive barrel 40 feet away -- class. Even just in training, when you're learning to pick up the boxes, I thought, that's really cool, which isn't something I get from a lot of games anymore. I still haven't quite got the hand of the multi-lift thing, where you raise objects even higher, but I'm sure I'll get it.

It's also just a thrill to have something besides a racing game use analog triggers on the Xbox. Most games treat them digitally.

At the moment I find it hard to dependably use telekinesis during a multi-way fire fight without taking a lot of enemy fire, though that's hopefully just because it's such a new concept. Keeping track of your own movement and an object's movement, independently, in 3D space, both under your control, is a new skill.

Two things I don't like. One, the hushed, tame sound of machinegun fire which is very much from the Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid school of sound production. It sounds cartoony and harmless. I like a great deal of sensory feedback in this area. See Rainbow Six 3 -- sometimes I turn my amp up just to hear the FAMAS roar. The other thing that I'm not so keen on is the Psi power; I wish it would just regenerate over time, like Max Payne's little vial of bullet-time, rather than be finite. With the great physics in the game there are so many possibilities that I just want to toy with, but you can't risk it because your Psi power keeps depleting. Besides, if I actually *had* psychic powers in real life, I imagine their potency would regenerate in me naturally between uses as opposed to being found in little blue packets inexplicably strewn about an enemy base!

Early days yet. I must say, I do find it refreshing that when you peek your head around a corner to check down a hallway you are not completely invisible! It always seemed preposterous in Splinter and Riddick how much you could peek out for as long as you liked and even a guard three feet away wouldn't see head and shoulders clearly exposed.

Back to the killin'.

[Chief H]

Whilst psy powers do not regenerate, once you have the mind drain ability, psy power is avaliable in abundance. once you get the hang or using them, you'll rarely find yourself wanting more psy points than those avaliable to you.

I've been bashing through co-op mode with a mate, rather than playing it solo, and it's satisfyingly good fun, though that can be said for most co-operative games. As mentioned, controller 1 has responsibility of movement, aiming and melee attacks. controller two has the trigger for the guns as well as the psy powers. At first, this seems very strange - to aim at a target yet not be able to pull the trigger is pretty much just as strange as having a trigger but not having control of where the gun is pointing. However, the bond between players soon develops. Now me and my mate are at the point where we instinctively know what moves the other is expecting. When I played it a bit on solo I realised it had gotten to the point where it was almost like the fire trigger and the psy powers were being used automatically, as soon as i pointed at them. I run over to a corpse, he'll suck it dry. i point at a barrel, he'll toss it at the guards nearby. It all becomes thoroughly instinctive and is certainly a unique experience, working together and depending on each other like that.

Sadly, co-op progress is not saved when the xbox is turned off (much to our disappointment, today) so you'll have to play through it on single player in order to start from a level other than the first, unless you want to do it all in one marathon stint.

[the shape]

Even on single player the game saves are weird. I'm playing on a machine with a hard drive yet there's no autosave option to check?

You are right about the Mind Drain, though. I'm just past the first boss, so I've had MD for a while now. Being able to drain bodies of Psi power is the perfect solution to the problem I mentioned in the beginning. Damn it, how has Midway suddenly designed a game so well? I love that when you sneak up behind someone and Mind Drain them alive, their head totally explodes, Scanners style!

And you can shoot heads off with yer shotgun. There's even gibbage. I was riding a powered platform downwards at about a 20-degree angle, when three guards sprung out in the room I was headed for. I threw them this way and that with Telekinesis, and one landed halfway in the channel where my platform would arrive. It gibbed him into several meaty chunks, which did not disappear.

Looking forward to mind control. Not only will it be cool to run around as an enemy picking off fellow guards, but I hear you can make them put the gun in their mouth and commit suicide.

[PeteJ]

I got this today but didn't really get a chance to play it. I really liked the intro, though it isn't the highest of quality technically speaking, it was surprisingly interesting - and very cool when that guy lifts up the truck and throws it at an entire army

The controls feel lightly less clunky than in the demo (and at e3), which is great.

Shall be spending the day playing this tomorrow if, of course, I can pull myself away from that curse that is Disgaea...

[Spatial]

Don't know if anyone else has found this yet, but its possible to get enemies to commit real suicide when you Mind Control them - and I'm not talking about making them jump off buildings or into chemicals, I'm talking full on blow their heads off.

I'll spolier it just in case anyone wants to figure it out for themselves ( I found it out by complete accident ). This works on the Xbox version and must be `doable` for the PS2 one aswell ( but I have no idea if its achieved the same way ).

Simply :-

MC a meat puppet and then click and hold both thumbstick for a few seconds. The enemy will turn his gun on himself. Its just too much fun and very very satisfying.

Guess Midway hid that one quite well and didn't tell anyone about it for fear they would have to take it out ?

[martTM]

Wow... thanks for pointing that out. We knew about it from preview showings, but thought it had been taken out of the final code because we couldn't work out how to do it. Nice.

As a proper verdict though (well, as proper as you can get having only played two-thirds through the second stage... got caught up in Second Sight and Spider-Man 2, so had to put it to one side), I have to say I'm impressed - like I said before, Midway's had a serious dry spell recently so that this comes from an internal team almost out of left field has completely stunned me. It just feels... right. The physics are pretty much spot on, especially when compared to Second Sight - everything feels solid when you pick it up and reacts perfectly to the environment. Second Sight right now (at preview stage) is great fun, but lacks a sense of inertia and weight on the objects - whether you're levitating them or just running into them - that Psi-Ops' physics really highlights.

So, if Midway happens to be reading this - two thumbs, way up. And not in a bad 'painful if it wasn't for a lubricant' way either.

[Alf-Life]

Your gamertag's not monsieur cheeks for nothing, is it?

[PeteJ]

Up to mission 3, mucho fun to be had

I find the controls and camera slightly restrictive still, and when getting attack from loads of people it can be difficult to progress without taking loads of damage. It's just so amazingly fun being able to run into a room and instinctively throw an enemy across the room before they even spot you. I know you are taught to be quite stealthy, but just going crazy with your powers is so much fun.

I was juggling with two enemies earlier, bashing each one in turn into the roof and catching them again before they land. How cool is that? The blood and squelchy sound effects make it very, very satisfying.

It would have been really good if Nick (the lead) upgraded his Psi powers with experience. Lite-RPG mechanics or something, so for example, using the TK powers you can initially only pick up small objects, but through useage you can eventually pick up trucks, lorries and giant pandas.

I also like the presentation, and the amount of extras you get. It was clearly made on a budget, but they've put the money to good use. The cutscenes aren't the highest quality, but they are very engaging and full of action. Characters, though generic, are well developed also.

A very surprising release from Midway as others have said. Though not perfect, Psi Ops is so far a highly enjoyable game. Psi powers is the Wall Running of 2004.

[Alf-Life]

How much does it compare with Jedi Knight 2's force powers? Or are comparissons pointless?

[PeteJ]

Think of them as the Next Generation in force powers, entirely helped along by the Havok physics engine.

You just feel so amazingly powerful when walking into a room and tossing aside all those who stand in your way. The game isn't easy though, as when the enemies get to shoot at you, your energy will decrease very quickly.

I have the Mind Control power now and things are even more enjoyable. Almost every room has an objective, but it is up to you on how you manipulate the enemy to achieve your goals.

It can break easily however, which is a shame. If you manage to jump onto an object or building which you are perhaps not meant to, the physics begin to do some very strange things. I managed to jump on top of a building just after you learn Mind Control, for example, but rather than getting the height advantage I was after, my character just catapulted across the level. Not quite what I had in mind...

Annoying, also, is the blatent use of scripting. I had to replay one section a couple of times on the second level for example, where I kept dieing due to two enemies who'd attack me from behind. I couldn't understand where they came from, as I had cleared that particular area. The final time I just walked backwards, pointing towards where they came from, only to see them very obviously spawn in. Just appeared out of thin air. Very lazy design, and something I had hoped we had moved beyond, however it does not break the game.

If you have played it, Psi Ops feels very much like Freedom Fighters, but with the ability to throw people off platforms from the other side of the room, and also able to possess the enemy in order for them to shoot themselves in the face. Good stuff.

[MJ]

It would have been really good if Nick (the lead) upgraded his Psi powers with experience. Lite-RPG mechanics or something, so for example, using the TK powers you can initially only pick up small objects, but through useage you can eventually pick up trucks, lorries and giant pandas.

There are codes to unlock different characters and among those are the bosses and with them comes their abilities, so if you play as Garrett, for example, his TK can move bigger objects than Nick's.

I've just 'reawakened' Pyrokenesis (PK).

It just gets better.

[Spatial]

There's lots to be said for the destructable environments as well.

Its great fun smashing up columns and statues just so you can lob them at guards.

A definate highlight is being able to use heavy objects to smash down doors on later levels.

And those large stone balls in Wei Lu's level are great. TK them and then roll them towards guards in a Fight Club stylee.

Best bit for me was when one guard dived out the way, leaving the scientist standing behind to get crushed against the wall.

Can't beat a spot of Psychic Bowling

[Alf-Life]

Whoa, sounds great... I love these kind of sandbox games as long as they have a point to them/direction (ie. decent missions).
Sounds like Lucasarts needs to give these fellas the Star Wars license for that gritty Anakin-turning-to-the-Dark-Side game we all want.

Wonder what Hayden Christenssen would do to get his hands on (figuratively speaking) some TK/Mind Control power to make Natalie Portman actually like him. :P Pyschic.... ripclothesoff...