The developers tried sprucing up an old concept into a new and innovative game. Unfortunately they were a bit off-target
The original ideas of the game were conceived somewhere around 1996-97 but the project never really appealed to the developers at that time and was hence abandoned. But, Human Head Studios took up the project, and with the help of the engine that ran the likes of Doom 3 finally released the game a few days ago. Though there are twists and turns here and there, but, they are very few in number and not hard enough in difficulty. The game is mostly linear in its path and can be finished in quite a short amount of time.
The main character of the game is Tommy, a Cherokee Indian, who is a bit indifferent about his heritage and wants to leave the reservation. But he also wants his girlfriend, Jen, to accompany him. Here's where the initial troubles begin as Jen would rather stay at the reservation. And before you know, an alien invasion transports Tommy, his grandfather and Jen on a weird spacecraft. Now it is up to Tommy to save Jen, and along the way, the world as well.
The basic ideas and gameplay are just standard FPS techniques and the game unfortunately isn't innovative enough to stand alone in its genre. The levels are mostly linear and you'll end spending most of your time in one combat or the other. Even these combats are not very challenging as the aliens attack in small number and usually rush at you for a melee attack. Those that are armed with some sort of guns will circle around you before attacking. However if you stay out in the open too long a few of them might charge together or throw alien grenades at you, but, they can be easily defeated as well. The basic problem of this game is its weak AI. In other such FPS games you could expect aliens to charge at you from all directions and you’d have had to constantly be on the alert. But, in this game even a small awareness of your surroundings can easily get you through.
There are two features of this game which offer a scent of innovation but like all other features of the game, have not been fully utilized. The first one is the game’s use of Portals. As the name suggests, these portals will transport you to different parts of the spaceship. The portals also let you se the other side and fire weapons through them. There are a few unique portals that do more than just teleportation. Some of them will transport you to the same room but instead of the floor, you could find yourself walking on the floor or ceiling which might surprise you once or twice but it is relatively easy to get used to. And besides this and one or two more unique ones, the portals are basically just doors.
Playing with gravity is the second of the two features and is the better of the two. As mentioned above, some portals can land you on ceilings and walls of the same room that you just crossed. The result can be quite surprising at the beginning, but, as this keeps happening again and again, you’ll find no difference between walking on walls and the floor and they’ll just appear as a weird floor. Besides portals, powered walkways will also let you walk on walls and ceilings. There are also some areas where you have to shoot an object to change the gravity settings. Be prepared for spinning rooms when that happens, but don’t worry its nothing too hard to get used to and doesn’t happen too often.
Due to Tommy’s mystical Cherokee heritage, a while into the game he gains the ability of spirit-walk. Spirit-walk means that his soul can leave his body and this is the main puzzle solving element of the game. While Tommy is armed with a variety of weapons when in normal form, in spirit form he only has his mystical bow which is very powerful and can kill enemies in one shot. It is only in spirit form that he can walk through force fields. There are also some pathways which are only activated when he is in spirit form. This mode is used for puzzle solving as he walks through force fields and special paths, he can clear a way and activate doors and passages for his mortal body. A great benefit of this feature is the spirit-realm. When you die, you are transported into the spirit realm where your spirit form must shoot at red and blue wraiths to regain your health and spirit-energy respectively. This stage lasts for about 15-20 seconds at the end of which, you are transported back to the living world, right where you left off. This feature eliminates the death element and encourages you to continue the game. You can also understand aliens while in this mode. But unfortunately when they’re talking in English, they lose their menacing touch.
The Multiplayer of this game is not very interesting. With death match (both single and team death match) the only gaming option available it does tend to lose its replay value. However a plus point of this game is that the maps of the multiplayer are well designed. Portals also play better in the multiplayer. Though the number of available maps is less, the amount available looks quite good. The multiplayer might keep you interested for some time but not for too long.
The quality video of the game is its only solid point. As it is uses the same engine which was used by the likes of Doom3, you can expect some high quality graphics. But like the other features of this game, this ability hasn’t been tapped to its full potential. As you walk through narrow passages and small halls through the most part of the game, you might not notice the quality of graphics. However on the few occasions that you pass through large halls you might wish to stay a minute longer just to admire how wonderfully they have been crafted. The whole organic weapons thing also looks interesting.
The sound is okay but nothing too special. The game’s soundtrack does sound good at times but is mostly subdues. The weapon sounds suffer from the same defect. There are on or two occasions where the sound picks up during a battle and gives you that true FPS feel but soon enough its back to the same mode. The dialog is quite good. The voice-overs of game’s characters have been done very well. Even the aliens sound good at the beginning but as mentioned earlier once you are in spirit form and can understand their speech, they lose their menacing touch.
Overall the game does have a few good points but they’ve not been fully utilized. The game looks and sounds good but the short and relatively easy single-player campaign only gives a hint of the vast potential this game had, but not utilized. There were many good concepts introduced such as portals, gravity effects and spirit-walk but one would definitely like to see them used in a more challenging manner. The game had already been delayed ten years, a few more months of developing might have actually given us a legendary game. Though the game has very little replay value, you will enjoy the first time you play it.
Go Play!!