Omikron: The Nomad Soul

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Description

The futuristic city of Omikron on the planet Phaenon is sprawling beneath a huge crystal dome. It was erected to protect the city against the ice age which descended upon the planet after its sun ceased to exist. In the beginning of the game the player is contacted by an Omikronian police officer named Kay'l 669, who begs him to leave his dimension, possess Kay'l's body, and enter Omikron to investigate a series of strange murders. The player then takes the role of Kay'l, but his investigation is foiled by a sinister force that the police is unable - and perhaps unwilling - to stop. As the plot unfolds, the player realizes that in order to solve the mystery his soul must establish contact with many inhabitants of Omikron, and ultimately save it from extinction.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul is primarily a free-roaming third-person 3D adventure game. Much of the player's activity in the game consists of exploring the large city, which is separated into five districts. The player is generally free to roam the city regardless of the plot development. Certain buildings can be entered and explored. Automatic taxi-like vehicles called "sliders" can be hailed to shorten walking distances and deliver the protagonist straight to the goal. In order to advance the story, information must be gathered by communicating with characters and solving puzzles of various kinds, inventory- as well as logic-based. The emphasis of the gameplay, however, is on exploration and interaction rather than on puzzle-solving.

Throughout the course of the game the player may take on the role of up to 41 different characters through the use of the soul transfer ability. In many situations a soul transfer is required to solve a puzzle and advance the plot, e.g. accessing a restricted area with a specific character who is able to enter it without arousing suspicion.

Beside the adventure mode, the game also contains first-person shooter and fighting gameplay. These two modes are restricted to specific areas, and are for the most part triggered by plot advancement. Once a FPS sequence has been initiated, the player must complete it in order to be able to return to the main adventure mode. Weapons and items for this mode can be found throughout the stages themselves, as well as bought in shops during exploration.

The fighting sequences are also usually dictated by the plot. They take place on side-scrolling screens and consist of traditional exchanges of punches and kicks, with the goal of depleting the opponent's health bar. Each character has different initial fighting statistics. These can be increased by taking the characters to a training facility and practicing to increase his parameters and subsequent combat performance.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "The Nomad Soul" -- European title

Part of the Following Groups

• Premier Collection releases
• Theme: Amnesia
• Theme: Famous musicians

User Reviews

Better git it in yo' soul!	Windows	Oleg Roschin (181727)
A highly involved and mysterious story with engaging gameplay and surreal world keeps the player on the edge of his seat.	Windows	DS___ (8)
Best game I've ever played	Windows	Kurt Murphy (5)
A new world to explore!	Windows	xroox (3970)
Great story supported by fantastic music.	Windows	Baxter (41)
Biggest disappointment in my gamer's life	Windows	MichaelPalin (1420)

Critic Reviews

FileFactory Games / Gameworld Network	Windows	Sep 26, 2002	92 out of 100	92
Player One	Windows	Jan, 2000	90 out of 100	90
PC Joker	Windows	Nov, 1999	85 out of 100	85
Gamesmania.de	Windows	1999	85 out of 100	85
PC Player (Germany)	Windows	Dec, 1999	84 out of 100	84
incite PC Gaming	Windows	Feb, 2000		80
PC Gaming World	Windows	Dec, 1999		80
Game Captain	Windows	Nov 19, 1999	76 out of 100	76
Eurogamer.net (UK)	Windows	Nov 12, 1999	7 out of 10	70
GameSpot	Windows	Nov 29, 1999	6 out of 10	60

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Wrong screenshots	3	Mobygamesisreanimated (11180) Nov 29, 2009

Trivia

Barcode

The German cover of the game (both for the Windows and Dreamcast editions) shows a wide-open eye with a barcode over iris and pupil. That EAN 9780140072389 actually refers to the Spanish language edition of a crime/espionage story named LaBrava.

Cancelled PlayStation version

Omikron: The Nomad Soul was originally supposed to get a PlayStation release. However, Eidos didn't believe that the PlayStation version would even sell and they urged Quantic Dream to move it to the Dreamcast as Eidos thought the Dreamcast would be a worthy successor to the current generation console then. However, things didn't go the way as Eidos expected as the Dreamcast wasn't a hit. David Cage, the writer and director for Omikron, claimed that the biggest regret was to not release it on the PlayStation.

David Bowie

The game features David Bowie as Boz, the Virtual Being. For the role of Boz, David Bowie contributed his voice and allowed a graphic fantasy rendition to be made of himself for the role. In addition, his wife, supermodel Iman Abdulmajid, acts as the model for one of the characters (Iman 631) in the game that players can take control of as part of the "virtual reincarnation" process. In memory of his passing, Square Enix offered a free download of this game from 1/15/2015 to 1/22/2015.

Font

The game makes extensive use of a special typography. The font can be downloaded for free from the developers at http://www.quanticdream.com/download/Omikron.ttf

Soundtrack

David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels wrote the entire soundtrack exclusively for the game, consisting of eight songs; "Thursday's Child", "Something in the Air", "Survive", "Seven", "We All Go Through", The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell", "Omikron (New Angels of Promise)" and "The Dreamers"... seven of which appeared later on David Bowie's album, Hours...(Limited Compilation) album

Title

Omikron is one of the letters of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to the Latin O.

Awards

• GameSpy
  • 1999 - Outstanding Music Award (together with Nocturne and Homeworld)

Information also contributed by Isdaron, Karthik KANE, partykiller, Unicorn Lynx and WildKard

Related Web Sites

• Omikron Game (Fan-site about Quantic Dream projects. Omikron the Nomad Soul the first game project by Quantic Dream.)
• Omikron: The Nomad Soul Help File (These hints include all of the tips and tricks to help you with Omikron. All of the reincarnate locations and attributes, maps and strategies for the missions.)
• The Nomad Soul : Mayerem (French fan-site. )
• Wikipedia: Omikron: The Nomad Soul (Information about Omikron: The Nomad Soul at Wikipedia)