Second Sight

The Good
Second Sight offers a good sci-fi thick plot running on the background and the whole game is laid out like a Tarrantino movie, as it goes back and forth in time. The player incarnates John Vattic, a scientist who's been ordered to join a U.S. special forces squad to investigate on the works of a Russian scientist / psychologist called Grienko, and to reveal why Grienko has asked political asylum from the U.S. But before all this gets revealed to you, you're waking up in some sort of a scientific clinic, with a really bad headache and some even worse question marks on your head, which you'll have to find answers for, such as how on earth did you end up in there. That's how your quest begins.

The game offers a good mixture between psychic weapons and tools and conventional arsenal. As for the latter the same trade applies here as well: find weapons and ammo either by killing enemies or searching and use them to kill more enemies.

The big difference to the majority of shooters are the psychic abilities of the hero. There are two kinds of abilities: the tools and the weapons, to put it simply. For starters when you begin the game you have a simple Telekinesis ability with which you can open doors, move objects around, destroy computer screens etc. A few more minutes later when you encounter the first enemies you discover how to heal yourself, which is a rather neat ability. The further you progress on the game you discover some new tricks such as how to seem like a charming (!) creature to enemies and friends, which basically renders you invisible to enemies, how to project a hologram of your self so you can operate distant switches in order to open doors etc. On the psy-weapons side you have a psy-ball like thing which you throw at your enemies and literally blows them away, especially if they are near.

The graphics of the game are really good and the 3D modeling adequate enough to keep the believability in a decent level, the same applies for the textures as well. The physics of the game's 3D world are also good enough.

Gameplay wise, the game offers a very good and strong concept, as you have to think twice before entering a room or a corridor. With moves such as sneaking behind walls and the need to observe the enemy's movements, there is a good stealth element involved in. Usually I dislike stealth games, but I think that in second sight there are enough tools to make life a bit easier for the player for a successful stealth approach. Once you've solved the security issues that usually require you to be stealthy, you can finish'em up.

I really liked the way enemies react to your psychic abilities, especially when you use telekinesis to move objects when enemies are present they really freak out and run away scared, only to come back a few moments later. Also telekinesis is good for distracting the guards' attention and thus leaving a clean field for you to proceed. Remember, Second Sight is a game that requires well thought moves in order to survive. You simply can't run in front of them and start blazing your guns and then ask questions.

The Bad
One thing that really frustrates me with this game is the conventional weapons combat, which also applies to selecting target objects for your psy-abilities. You simply don't have a free choice of aiming, by hitting the right mouse button you pick a general area of a target or an enemy and then you have to fine tune your reticule in order to score a good lethal shot on him. The same goes on selecting objects to move, you aim at an area and it's only luck if you pick the right object. That basically means that in situations where rapid precision is needed the game gets really frustrating. Even worse it gets when the sniper rifle is used where you have to face the general area of the enemy and by hitting the right mouse button you have to guess where on earth he is. Not to mention close quarters combat... you simply can't survive it and at times it's really hard to avoid it.

The second flaw of the game is the lack of a saving your position option. You simply have to finish an episode first in order to quit and go to bed :) That's all fine for young people, but it's really frustrating for working adults like me lol! If you quit in the middle of a level you have to replay it from the last checkpoint you've passed. And checkpoints are quite far away from each other.

Finally I really disliked the hero's movement, which is 4-way rotational, a system that works best with playstation gamepads. And due to this awkward movement in conjunction with the view camera the view-field gets obscured by walls and other surrounding elements, or is constantly wiggling when you crouch next to a tight corner surrounded by walls, not allowing you to focus on the incoming enemy.

The Bottom Line
Second Sight is a good game, if I was to categorize it I would say that it's a streamed action RPG with tactical shooter elements.

I really wish the gun combat and target selection tactic was better. With such bad combat mechanics and player movement system, I can only say that the game is really bleeding and will never be a blockbuster, it would otherwise deserve to be. I can safely say that if Second Sight was really well fine tuned, it would equal the first Max Payne, although they're slightly different I'm talking about the gameplay satisfaction here.

The concept and story behind it is awesome, the good mixture of psychic powers, stealth, exploration and combat elements make this title irresistible to gamers, but without a free pointing reticule and a mouse rotation direction of movement the game looses all it's might, downgrading to a nice, but very frustrating game.

By seeing the release dates for all the platforms, I do now realize that Second Sight was ported straight down to the PCs without any minor fine tuning. Hence this is all the source of problems. For a gamepad user, this movement and aiming system is ok. But for the mouse orientated pc gamers the controls are awkward and problem spawning.

Nevertheless, thankfully the other elements of the game will keep you coming back for completing this title, but after completion there goes another box to catch dust. On the other hand if you're used to this kind of hero movement and enjoy a bit of frustration, you should definitely try Second Sight.