Geist Preview

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Greg Kasavin talks Geist after playing near-complete version of the game.

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Geist is one of those GameCube games that Nintendo fans have been talking about for what seems like years. At last, its release is imminent, and we've recently had a chance to spend some quality time with a near-complete version of the game to see how it finally shaped up. You could infer quite a bit just from our new screens and gameplay movies, but the gameplay of Geist isn't nearly the same as what you'd expect from the first-person shooter it appears to be. After all, what other game lets you play as a ghostlike spirit capable of possessing its hosts, forcing them to do its bidding? (If you answered Messiah, you get three brownie points. Yes!) While the jury is still out on this sci-fi-themed adventure, the unique aspects of Geist's gameplay seem like they could make for a memorable adventure that's a lot more interesting than your typical FPS.

Geist looks like a regular old first-person shooter right off the bat, but there's a lot more to it.

In Geist, you're a civilian scientist named Raimi who's escorted by a heavily armed assault squad to the Volks research facility, in which some strange and apparently illegal experiments are going down. There's been a mole working at Volks for a while, so Raimi's mission is expected to be pretty routine. The squad gets in, the experimental data sample is retrieved, and the squad gets out. The situation escalates early on, though, as Volks' security forces retaliate. As Raimi, you're forced to fight for your life with a pistol in hand. It's here that Geist seems like a basic first-person shooter. You've got friendly and enemy forces fighting each other and you're caught in the middle, blasting foes in their heads and picking up conveniently placed health packs to keep yourself from dying. The action has a pretty standard feel to it, and though the enemies show some signs of intelligence, they're mostly just fodder. So, despite being armed with just a pistol, it shouldn't be much trouble to fight your way out of the frying pan...

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. In short, things go really wrong. You encounter the first of what's likely to be more scientific experiments gone awry, and it makes short work of one of your squaddies. Fortunately, it turns out to look a lot tougher than it actually is, so with some well-placed shots straight down its gullet, you can kill it and move on. Of course, Raimi's journey is only just beginning at this point. The extraction attempt fails and Raimi's captured. In turn, he becomes the next subject of Volks' bizarre experiments.

Something looks different about you, Raimi...have you lost weight?

Basically, Raimi's spiritual essence is ripped from his body, turning him into an energy-based life-form rather than your average corporeal being. Technically, Raimi isn't dead, so he's not your traditional ghost. He can't pass through walls or attack, but he gains a host of unique powers with which he'll naturally try to escape, or take revenge...or something.

Why would Volks allow one of its subjects to escape? Well--they don't. Seems the Volks facility isn't having a good week, because, sure enough, something else goes wrong that allows Raimi to break free of his strange but idyllic prison. For a short while, he gets to explore a grassy meadow in his spirit form, in which he learns to draw energy from plants and to possess creatures like a bunny rabbit that can be found hopping around nearby. But the respite ends there, because the entire simulation rudely breaks down for reasons unknown. Raimi is freed...but why and by who? No matter, because first things first: It's time to get the hell out of there.

When you're in ghost form, everything in the world seems to move slowly, and you may possess both animate and inanimate things. For example, it's possible to possess explosive crates that are conveniently strewn about the environment, detonating them as soon as an unassuming guard passes by. Since the world moves in slow motion, you're then treated to the sight of the guard's body flopping through the air as though bounced from a trampoline. Antics such as these quickly tip off the defenders of Volks that a ghost has escaped. Unfortunately for them, they don't seem to have very good defensive measures in place for preventing such an outbreak. They've got dogs that can sniff you out even if you've possessed a host, but since the Volks folks can't hurt you and they can't even see you, they're hard pressed to keep you from going wherever you please.

The puzzles are interesting, but we hope they get a lot tougher.

The adventure and puzzle-solving elements of Geist's gameplay soon become apparent. Since you can't do things like open doors or ride elevators while in ghost form, you need to make your possessed hosts do it for you. The thing is, you can't just possess anyone you please--you must first break down their mental barriers by scaring them a little. Objects in the environment can be possessed and rattled around, causing nearby foes to freak out. It usually takes a one-two punch to make people frightened enough so that you can possess them, though, so you'll need to be observant and maybe a little creative to get what you need. Early on in the game, these puzzles involving the possession of different objects and characters are quite interesting, but also rather linear. You discover all the stuff in the area that can be possessed and go through the motions in the relatively logical order. This gameplay model is definitely unique (what other game lets you possess some dog food to freak out a pit bull?), but we want to know if it's going to get any more complex or thought-provoking than what we've played thus far.

There gets to be a lot more shooting fairly early on. You're able to possess an assault rifle-wielding guard and have at it, taking vengeance on those who took your body from you. Alternatively, you can try to remain inconspicuous and enjoy one-sided conversations with the other denizens of the base, who seem decidedly freaked out by the threat of a ghost in their vicinity. It's only a matter of time before the bullets start flying, though, as security checkpoints are in place that won't let you proceed without a fight. A second boss fight has you battling against a foe with a powerful energy weapon, a riot shield, and grenades. He's nearly impervious to damage, but it's possible to use your ghostly powers to make this hotshot soldier's weapons work against him. We also discovered one of many hidden unlockables in this second boss' chamber, so it seems like Geist will be filled with spaces that reward cautious exploration.

We've enjoyed the time we've spent with Geist thus far, but some important questions will only be answered when we play through the full game for review: Namely, how long is this adventure, and how much more challenging does it get? And is the multiplayer any good? Geist has an unusual premise and a lot of promising qualities. We'll soon know how it all wraps up.