Omikron: The Nomad Soul

The Good
I loved the the surrealistic game world. When the game was released, it was one of the first with large level real estate for the player to explore. The levels were also designed to work like a real city with realistic layouts, entrances and exits. One can easily get lost just exploring the world. The game-play also allows the player to change his character as he wishes which adds another layer to explore. The background score, the music and the SFX all add to the surrealism as well as the cool fonts. The mixed style of game-play and engaging puzzles keeps the player's attention and the player on the edge of his seat.

The Bad
The art quality is what carries the game. Even though the game was one of the first to create a mixed style of game play, a First Person Shooter, hand to hand combat, adventure and mystery, etc., it fails to blend them properly. The game-play is fairly complex for a normal player. The game did not allow mouse input. This is a problem as players need to get adjusted to the camera angles. This can get nauseating.

The Bottom Line
A game that allows you to live a day in an alien universe. A bizarre murder, ancient alien history, magic and ancient runes and puzzles coupled with surrealistic music.

The Good
The Nomad Soul is, and I'm not going to hesitate saying it; the best all round game I've had the privilege to play; from the story-line to the beautiful design and complex gameplay, there is just no flaws in this game. Quantic Dream have spent a lot of time designing the virtual world that is 'Omikron' which spans over four vast cities. The plot is very in depth and I also really like the whole demon thing. It was done really well.

The moment Omikron loads a portal opens and we are introduced to police officer named Kayl through some sort of portal he tells you his world is in danger and you need to transfer your soul into his body in order to help him out; once you have possessed Kayl's body you will need to find out more about him and what was it he was so afraid of, you will need to go to considerable lengths accessing classified case files as to what happened to Kayl and his deceased partner Den, the story unfolds and you begin to learn that the Police force as well as the government itself is run by a secret society of Demons disguised in human form brainwashing to people of Omikron and offering their souls to Astaroth thus making him stronger to a point where he will have total control over Omikron you will be faced by these entities throughout the game and also the Omikron Police via FPS or Tekken style fighting, otherwise the rest of the game is pure adventure which a few puzzles chucked in for good measure.

In the game you can possess a number other bodies doing whats called a 'Soul Transfer' this is a cool feature but only can be used on select inhabitants, i used Kayl as far in the game as I could, but sadly it was inevitable that he dies.

There is also some very interesting shops/bars you can walk into in Omikron, like strip joints/sex shops etc also good if you have the nude patch running might i add. There is also some illegal concerts held at random bars in the cities of Omikron in which 'The Dreamers' preform a number of live shows featuring David Bowie on vocals I think that was a very original idea even though I'm not a big fan of David Bowie as such but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Its just sheer brilliance in so many aspects, when you are hooked on this game reality seems to fade I was at my PC for days until i finished it, I was very sad when it ended. Part two better be released or I am going to be sending a lot of hate mail.

The Bad
Its very easy to get lost in Omikron this is not a bad thing however. It just shows that the game is that big. The controls take a bit of time to learn, but you will get the hang of it in not so long. The Nomad Soul also has certain 'savepoints' in which you must possess a number of Magic Rings in order to save your game, this makes things a little bit more challenging but only the slightest; rings can be found all over the place so they are quite abundant.

The Bottom Line
Plot, Gameplay, Graphics, and FREEDOM = Omikron. Quantic Dream have stated they will release a sequel (Omikron: KARMA previously known as EXODUS) but there is a lot of uncertainty right now as to where this is going there has not been much news about it to date. Whoever f**ks this up is going to get my upmost abhorrence. Just like Bioforge 2, and Privateer 3 and Full Throttle 2... why do they even bother if they are not going to give us the final product. Leaving us on the edge. That is just heresy in my belief.

I also played QD's latest release FAHRENHIET/INDIGO PROHECY that was good for what it is but it was too cinematic, please Quantic Dream if you do release 'Omikron: Karma' do not deprive it of gameplay like that.

The Good
The story is what makes this game great. It's very involving and pretty original. Even though the main story line is linear, there is a lot of freedom. You can go about in the site, explore some of the small site plots. Apart from that there are a number of persons you can incarnate and which give their own little touch to the game.

Both graphics and sound support the story perfectly. David Bowie worked on the music scores, and it shows. At several points in the game there are some music interuption: when you enter a bar, there is a live performance by a band. This really adds to the overall atmosphere of the game, it really feels like a real living world.

To complete this the 3d worlds are very well modelled and they change radically when you move from one part of the city to another. You can really see that you start out in the poor part and move up to the richer parts. On top of that there is a lot of traffic and crowd moving, which again add to the reality of the world (you can turn the movement on the street of if your machine is not fast enough but I really advice against it, because it's a big part of the game)

The Bad
Some of the action sequences are annoying. They reminded me of the annoying action puzzles in some of the old Sierra adventures.

Sometimes the game is terribly slow, even on newer machines (I used a P3 750 with TNT2 Ultra). This is in part caused by the very detailled 3D world.

The Bottom Line
If you want an involving story in a very beautifull gameworld, this is a must have.