If you like Doom 3, puzzles, and are a FPS addict, then this is your game.
There are eight weapons, many with duo-powers. Other than the wrench, all others are definelty alien. The Leech Gun is the author’s favorite. Imagine drawing heat, cold, electricity, or plasma from wall outlets to recharge a weapon. Tommy also has access to shuttle pods that have rockets and a tractor beam.
The graphics are reminiscent of Doom 3, mainly because 3D Realms and Human Head Studios, I believe, used a version of the same engine that runs Doom 3. The graphics are first class on the higher settings. Colors and lighting are particularly in the Doom 3 style.
There are some major difference between this game and other first-person shooters (FPS) games. Gravity is a relative thing as Sir Isaac Newton laid out in our elementary physics. On the screen whatever is up and the gamer can move forward is the gravity for that time. To change gravity, one need only shoot a nearby green, diamond, wall or ceiling configuration to rotate what gravity is in effect at that time in the gameplay. That takes some getting used to. Two other conditions can alter what gravity is in effect and when. There are walkwalks. These look like lighted ribbons. The player need only traverse the path of the walkwalk, thus walking up walls and upside-down on the ceilings. Shooting enemy upside-down is not found in too many other games. The third way to get “flipped” is by walking through a portal that has this action. Another difference is one will never see, “GAME OVER”, during gameplay. Instead, when Tommy runs out of corporeal health, he is sent to the spirit world, whereby shooting either red or blue spirits flying in a circle around him, he can regain both corporeal or spirit health and return to the game about where he left. Also, there is no “USE” key. Whatever Tommy is closest to either opens, activates, or works by his presents. That took some getting used to. There are many tricky situations that require a great deal of critical thinking. Codes to progress may be anywhere, even written on the floor in blood. The author found it very difficult to progress, when there was no obvious path or mechanism to proceed. How to proceed may be a matter of trial and error. Start shooting “stuff” sometimes works, but maybe the gamer needs to be in the spirit form to make this strategy work? There are hints in the literature that accompanies the game. The author highly recommends their use.
Tommy can either be in corporeal form (human) or he can assume a spirit form (ghost). The spirit form can move through force fields and cross open spans by walking on spirit threads (these are obvious by an 8-pointed sun in the proximity of the “bridge”). There are many touch screen monitors, which engage, disengage, activate, deactivate, varies components of the game. Tommy can take spirit form, walk through forcefields, deactivate them, then return to corporeal form and proceed. How to use the spirit form and when are big keys to completing this game.
Overall the game was a real test, but a highly enjoyable one. The author would recommend this game to those FPS players who want that challenge.