Psi-Ops update

Originally known as ESPionage, the rechristened Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy is a third-person action adventure game that lets you take out your enemies with psychic powers almost as easily as you could with the game's wide arsenal of military hardware.

Psi-Ops puts the player in the shoes of Nick Scryer, a psychic soldier who works for the US government. Nick's mission is to go up against a psi-terrorist organization known as The Movement. You'll go through eight levels and more than 45 minutes of prerendered cutscenes as you carry out your mission.

Psi-Ops will give players a handful of conventional weaponry to work with. You'll encounter pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, and grenades over the course of the game. But what really sets Psi-Ops apart is your characters psychic abilities. You'll have six powers to choose from, each with its own purpose. Telekinesis lets you pick up objects and move them around. A common use for this might be to levitate an enemy soldier and then send him flying into a wall. Pyrokinesis creates a destructive wall of fire. Mind control lets you get into the heads of your enemies. With this power, you're able to take control of an enemy soldier so that you can use him to solve puzzles, take out enemies, or check out the area ahead. Remove viewing lets you see through doors and gives you an advance view of the action ahead. Mind drain steals psi power from your enemies, thus killing them in the process. Finally, aura view lets you see items, such as clues or other objects, that aren't visible normally.

The game is said to use these powers in a pretty dynamic fashion. There will be multiple ways to attack some situations, consequently giving the game a sort of nonlinear slant. On the technology side, the ever-popular Havok 2 physics engine will be employed in Psi-Ops, so flinging boxes or enemies around with the telekinesis power should have a pretty realistic look.

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy is scheduled to land in stores this June.