Windows

Omikron: The Nomad Soul

Omikron is a remarkable game. It creates what is easily the most believable, versatile, and alive game environment yet produced in a PC title and puts you right in the middle of it. Once you begin play you'll find yourself drawn into Omikron's unique world and gripping story, unable to play anything else, unable to think about anything else, unable to do anything else besides run to the store on a quest for David Bowie albums.

Like I said, this game is hard to classify. Picture yourself in an alternate reality, trying to investigate the death of your partner and the cause of the problems in your new world. You'll spend time in the police headquarters, at crime scenes like supermarket holdups, and in seedy bars trying to get information from seedy people. The game has personality, and along with its great gameplay and stellar graphics, it succeeds in creating a new world. Not many games can do that.

My overall opinion is that Omikron is a wonderful game, probably the most revolutionary of 1999. Even though is not perfect (and I am thinking especially about the FPS sequences), this is more than your typical game and more of an experience. Being an adventure fan, I can say that even for an inexperienced action player like me, the fighting parts were not that hard, and the adventure part is worth playing. I would recommend Omikron as the most original and ambitious game of 1999. Definitely worth playing.

I would have to rate Omikron: The Nomad Soul as one of the finest games I have played. To quote our own Ray Ivey, "... it was a world I wanted to spend time in" ... an experience far outside my day-to-day reality that gave me great pleasure. In short, it was everything that interactive entertainment should be. The drawback of a hybrid game is that it often does not meet the needs of the genre purist. The action elements in Omikron may drive a traditional adventurer to distraction. And, from what I read, the shooter sequences are not up to par for the experienced action gamer. But, for those of us who lean towards the middle, the balance achieved by Quantic Dream is just about perfect.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul is, by leaps, bounds and great units of measurement, my favorite game of 1999. Combining a fascinating story, amazing graphics and a breathtaking soundtrack, Omikron's immersive nature is its most appealing quality.

So, in retrospect, is Omikron worth the dollar of the average poor computer gamer? I think so. It has a few rather minor glitches, but in general, this is a very solid game, with a very involving story line, different modes of play (adventure/fight/shoot/swim, though the latter is fairly redundant – they should’ve incorporated the swim controls into the adventure mode… probably the two modes were written by different teams, or something), the most complex city model I’ve seen in a game so far. The idea of a soul that can travel to different bodies makes it even more enjoyable, since you have to work on improving your fighting style with other characters, too. If I had one complaint about the game, it would probably be the savepoint + cost per save idea… but I suppose that’s life. Fortunately, savepoints aren’t excessively rare, and you do tend to collect a good number of Magic Rings, so you should theoretically be fine.

The adventure itself is huge and compelling, and as for the fighting and shooting bits - they're not really all that great, but it's nice to have them there. But it's the size, the sense of other-worldliness and the sheer amount of variety that are The Nomad Soul's greatest achievements, and that's why it's ultimately worth paying money for. 'It's a flawed epic,' you might conclude. And you'd be right.

Изредка встречаются игры, которым прощают любые погрешности в обмен на неповторимый геймплей. Сегодняшний претендент на звание хита чуть-чуть не дотянул до необходимого уровня по причине местами безбожно исковерканной графики и лишних, прямо скажем, отстойных элементов fps. Зато на высоте оказались: обширная и логически верная квестовая часть с различными вариантами прохождения, захватывающий сюжет, удачно сочетающий в одном флаконе фантастику и мистику, глубокая атмосфера игрового мира, характерная для европейских разработчиков, а также звуковое и потрясающее музыкальное сопровождение от Дэвида Боуи, который сам сыграл одного из персонажей. И, конечно же, вне конкуренции пока что остается возможность менять тела, как перчатки.

Though the action sequences haven't been given the amount of polish as the adventure world, it's still a pretty solid attempt at combining a multitude of gaming genres into one huge world. There were very few times when I didn't enjoy sections of the game, particularly when the plot throws you curveballs, sending you on a mercenary raid or on a hunt for a small shop that fixes Sneaks, when you were expecting something completely different. The whole game has been crafted from the ground up to provide you with a variety of adventures, and it succeeds. Omikron is a world that, due to that little demon problem, I probably wouldn't want to stay in forever, but I'll certainly go back and visit, often. Perhaps an online-only version for the sequel? Just kidding.

La French Touch serait-elle de retour ? Avec, The Nomad Soul, David Cage, grand manitou de Quantic Dream lance un fier rappel de la qualité créatrice française à tous ceux qui la penser enterrer… Œuvre à part, inclassable, aux ascendances artistiques évidentes, The Nomad Soul revendique sa paternité complexe tout le long de son expérience : un mistral bouleversant qui réaffirme avec prégnance le talent imaginatif et créatif des artistes français.

Neben Outcast existiert im Moment kein Programm, dass so geschickt mit den verschiedenen Genres spielt und sich dennoch so angenehm spielt. Wohl war: Es existieren viele kleine Haken und Ösen (schwierige Steuerung, eine merkwürdige Speicherfunktion, ein umständliches Inventar). Aber die wird man einer Firma, die gerade ihren ersten Titel produziert, zugestehen können. Und welches andere Spiel bietet schon gleich zweimal David Bowie?

Selten habe ich in einem Adventure eine so lebendige und stimmige Welt erlebt. Omikron fühlt sich einfach echt an. Vor allem, weil Nomad Soul nichtlinear aufgebaut ist, und Sie die meisten der gut ausgedachten Aufgaben in beliebiger Reihenfolge angehen können. Die fesselnde Handlung trägt ihren Teil dazu bei, mich völlig hineinzuziehen. Leider krankt Nomad Soul an zwei grundlegenden Design-Mängeln: Speichern ist unnötigerweise nur an bestimmten Punkten möglich, und die unpräzise Steuerung nervt. Zum Glück schaltet das Spiel in den seltenen Action-Einlagen auf eine logischere Bedienung um. Trotz derlei Nervigkeiten kann ich Nomad Soul allen empfehlen, die in eine spannende Story versinken wollen.

Het lijkt erop dat Eidos er weer in geslaagd is een titel op de markt te brengen die in de spelwereld voor de nodige gesprekstof zal zorgen. Dat David Bowie zijn medewerking aan Nomad Soul verleende, is echter niet de enige reden voor het succes.

De score voor gameplay is misschien wat aan de lage kant, maar dit heeft alles te maken met de controles en niets met de kracht van het verhaal of de verslavingsfactor, die beide erg hoog liggen. Omnikron is geen absolute topper, maar kan met de besten mee. het heeft net dat tikkeltje meer dat je doet blijven spelen en het spel ver boven de middelmaat verheft.

This is an immersive, original, thought-provoking game. Aside from a few slowdowns here and there, it's a great gaming experience.

The Nomad Soul is entertaining, ambitious and well worth a look for any serious gamer. But it's not without its problems - it takes on too much and can't quite pull it off. Nonetheless, it still comes highly recommended.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul ziet er strak uit en is ook heel leuk te spelen. Uitgebreide 3D werelden en verrassende shoot'em up en vechtstukjes zijn een goeie combi, al zorgen al die mogelijkheden ook weer voor een boel 'onmogelijkheden'. Een absolute must voor de Bowie fan en genwoon een heel aardige game voor de adventure-liefhebber.

I really am a story-driven gamer, so I truly enjoyed the various mind bends of this jewel despite its inherent flaws. I do give Omikron: The Nomad Soul a hearty thumb-up, all things considered. I can also honestly say that I did not totally understand the deepest layer of this game's underlying story for quite a while ... Hey! Hey! Wasn't that a demon who tried to suck out my soul back there in the very first scene, right after I took over Kay'l's body? Oh, Kay'l ... Where are you when I need you?

Quand les autres pays pensent aux développeurs français, ils ont tout de suite un seul et même refrain qui leur vient à l'esprit : Beaux graphismes, mauvais gameplay. C'est triste à dire mais il est vrai que l'époque de gloire des jeux vidéo français commence à être vraiment loin de nous.

The Nomad Soul hätte ein richtig tolles Adventure werden können. Die Atmospähre ist dicht, die Figuren interessant, die Story spannend, wenn auch etwas verworren - sogar die Grafik ist, naja, annehmbar. Aber dann kamen die Designer auf die Idee, unbedingt noch Action-Elemente einbauen zu müssen, weil "man das heutzutage ja so macht". Und dann mussten natürlich noch Rollenspiel-Elemente rein. Und wäre es nicht total originell, wenn dann noch eine Art Karate-Kampfmodus integriert würde? Nein, wäre es nicht. Nomad Soul hat irgendwie von allem etwas, führt aber keine Idee wirklich konsequent zu Ende. Das Resultat ist trotzdem nicht schlecht, lässt aber frustrierend viel spielerisches Potenzial ungenutzt.

The Nomad Soul est véritablement un jeu artistique autant d'un point de vue visuel que sonore, les développeurs de Quantic Dreams ont vraiment fabriqué une petite merveille de design tout en concevant un véritable univers. Les concerts virtuels de Bowie sont de petits bijoux de réalisation. Cependant, le gameplay a été négligé, et entame profondement la magie qui aurait pu se dégager de ce jeu original.

Although Omikron seamlessly transitions between its various play styles, these unrefined play mechanics are as varied as they are unenjoyable. If you like adventure games, first-person shooters, and fighting games, then you'll count dozens of examples within each genre that beat Omikron handily. And if you don't prefer these sorts of games, you'll find that Omikron's action sequences ruin the pacing of and heighten the frustration with what would have been better off as a more traditional adventure game. In either event, you'll notice that Omikron's purported innovation and originality amount to nothing more than the senseless combination of unrelated but very familiar play styles. Ultimately, Omikron's interesting plot and good graphics won't save you from its misguided design.

Eidos, the company who brought us Lara Croft, caused quit a stir when they released this hybrid action/adventure, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, and billed it to be true to both genres. The advertisements were enticing -- reincarnation, magic, fighting, as well as an engrossing adventure plot. I was eager to see if the ads were true or just another dose of hype.

In the end it seems as if not even David Bowie's singing talents could keep me from overlooking the vast amount of technical mess that Omikron has become a victim of. This indeed was an ambitious project, and Quantic Dreams should be commended. If only they had spent more time refining the game, I think the final product would have left a bigger impact on the PC gaming community.

Despite having tried to make for a refreshing gaming experience, Omikron: The Nomad Soul feels weak in all of the different play modes that it has present in it. Simply combing a bunch of genres into one game isn’t good enough, they should be very well done, polished experiences, not the drab, shallow, mish-mash of genres presented here.