Second Sight Is Quite Frankly One Of The Best Games I've Ever Played. Telekinesis Kicks Butt.
Firstly, Second Sight is an action game that combines psychic powers similar to another game by the name PSI-Ops. Second sight has more powers, or rather uses for the powers, than the previously mentioned game though and these powers come into play because the focus is less on action and more to stealth. There is still plenty of action to be had although if you were to play the game the "run and gun" method, you would be missing out on a lot (it would also be really tough too) but I am getting ahead of my self here.
You initially play a man who is strapped to a bed in some medical facility with practically no memory. He then starts to reawaken his hidden powers (along with said memory) that allow him to free himself and prove useful in his escape from the facility. Along the way the game introduces each new power through events that trigger him to "accidentally" use the power to get him out of a bind. This provides a neat game mechanic to show you how to use the powers as well slowly introduce to you situations that require you to use them.
Your character responds decently enough though you may have some problems at the start where the camera may be slightly problematic especially when you are leaning on the walls trying to get a bead on enemies not only in front of you but also around you. You will likely master the technique of using both the standard 3rd person controllable camera as well a fixed view for this purpose. The fixed view is often useful to help identify enemies or obstacle around you character that you may not have the opportunity to scrutinize due to enemies around the area. I will explain more on this later. You are also thought on using cover during firefights. Basically this involves leaning behind some form of cover then taking out your firearm. When you press the auto target button, you will automatically get out of your cover and aim at the nearest foe. When you release the auto target button, you will return to your cover. Its actually easier in practice than it is explaining it.
The auto target function is also used to target objects/people to use your powers on. I would also like to mention that crouching is a toggle (i.e. press it once to crouch and again to stand up) and it is useful while sneaking around you cannot melee while crouching, though thankfully you can shoot or use your powers. Speaking of melee, the melee attack with bare hands with every iffy its better to equip a pistol just to use it as a pistol-whip melee attack as it is far more effective. Another thing is headshots; once you lock on to a baddie you can use the right analog to control where exactly shots land because by default the game will aim at the torso. This allows you to make headshots or shoot at enemies that are behind cover but still expose a little part or their body.
Graphics: The game has a clean look to it. It looks very much like Time Splitters; probably was made using the same engine. While the game isn’t jaw dropping, the graphics get the job done. The game also has some decent animation and the character facial expressions are also well animated during the cut scenes. Nothing much stands out here and the special effects for the powers are nothing that hasn’t been done before from similar games like PSI-Ops. Having said that the game doesn’t do anything wrong that pulls you out from the experience and the clean look helps with this. 7/10
Sound : The game’s music has a very melancholic tone, befitting the game. Sound effects are also decent. Guns don’t really feel as powerful as they should be but given that the game isn’t focused on pure shooting, this can be forgiven. Voice acting is top notch at least until you get to the later stages where the Russian soldiers and the Russian children accent are a little grating but I am just nit picking here. Overall the sound is good with great voice acting with the previously mentioned exception. 8/10
Gameplay : This is the meat of the game. Without your powers your main character is capable of quite a lot. This includes climbing, holding on to ledges and shimming across the ledges (you need to use this quite a few times during puzzles), crawl through conveniently placed ventilation. Thankfully there aren’t any jumping puzzles as there isn’t any real jump button to begin with. If you can get behind a person, you can grab them. This gives you the option of either throwing them or knocking them out. While holding them you character will try to get some information out of the person though I’ve never had any useful information out of any of them. You can also user computer terminals, which contain some useful info as well a map of the area. You character carries a PDA that can download the map and other useful info. You can also control cameras from them. Even though you have the map, I have never had the need to actually use it because the levels were laid out very well and nearly always in a linear fashion.
In term of puzzles, the game have a decent number of puzzles that are nicely integrated into the game though many of the puzzle tend to be on how to get across an area filled with guards without tripping the alarm. This is important because the game has an unlimited number of guards to will continually pour out unless you find some place to hide. This kind of reminds me of Metal Gear Solid. You will be putting you powers to use here to overcome the enemies. Although with the powers you will be able to hold of a significant number of enemies, they will eventually overrun you as they upgrade their weapons, the more enemies you kill in each area within a level. Speaking of which, each level does not allow you to carry your weapons on to the next level. This is quite irritating especially after escaping the facility and you character head to rescue someone without any weapons. All the good stuff he had previously, were chucked away apparently. Smart. No doubt it’s a game mechanic to stop the game from being too easy. This brings us nicely to the difficulty. The game isn’t particularly difficult. You character has plenty of health and can take a lot of beating. He also has the ability to heal although certain missions are in a situation where you character has not yet unlocked the ability to heal. I can’t say anymore without spoiling the story.
Your character has a good number of powers and they even include an improved version that you character later masters.
Telekinesis: Your usual throw things around. Used to manipulate things from a distance and initially to scare guards. Shows of some of the games physics engine I suppose. Later you improve it so that you can grab people, basically choking them in the air kinda like Darth Vader. This is cool and doesn’t get old as you can shoot them while they are dangling although the controls to do this is harder that PSI-Ops. Normally you will just be throwing them around at other people rather shooting them in the air.
Heal: self-explanatory. You will use this. A lot. Initially you can only heal yourself but later as you get allies, you can heal them too.
Psi-Attack: This allows you to create something akin to a ball of energy that you literally chuck at your enemy, which then sends them flying. Later it is improved to a Psi-blast where your character can create a blast around him that sends everyone within range flying and the range is pretty good. Expect to use this if you get surrounded, as it is a lifesaver.
Charm: Initially allow you to be invisible. Later you can use it to coerce your teammates to follow you. This is used extensively during one babysitting mission. I will mention more about this later.
Projection: Initially used to allow you to create an invisible clone of yourself to manipulate objects. You will need this when you need to be at two places at once. Later it can be used to posses enemies. You will have to use this a lot later so that you do not get overwhelmed as you wont die when your host expires.
That’s about it. Although that may not look like a lot but the circumstance you get to use them are varied and are only limited by your imagination.
The last part of the Gameplay that I would like to mention is the teammates. Early on you get them during some military expedition and they function well enough, though for military specialists they are pretty incompetent at combat and most of the time you will likely need to assist them a lot. Later on you will need to baby-sit them, because if they die the mission is over. This will get irritating especially during the stealth mission. This becomes a minor peeve but not really enough to bring the game down. Although some missions will have better scripting and make it feel that you are a part of the team, later they just tend to slow you down. The Gameplay just has so much going for it that this problem isn’t strong enough to weaken the appeal.
The story is actually pretty good. A lot better than most action games, that for sure. Also a lot of the characters get good character building that helps defines them rather than being faceless npc. Overall you will get to know the personality of your teammates in the game pretty decently and this is unusual in action games. 8/10
It’s not that hard a game and but the length is pretty decent. It’s fun enough that you might just try it again to beat your previous attempt as the game keeps a very good score on your performance in the statistics. And the game allows you many different ways to solve a problem that it doesn’t get old too fast. Unfortunately I have yet to hear of any unlockables.
The overall package of the game simply oozes with quality. This is one of the better action games this season and you would be doing yourself a disfavor by not giving it a try. It has a lot of adventure elements that make you use your noggin’ too. A really good combination that can be best described as “more than the sum of its parts”. 8/10
If you are interested in action/adventure titles or are just fascinated by the psychic powers, this is well worth your time. Check it out.