| E3 2004 Coverage > Geist |
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| Geist |
N-Space had quite the track record leading up to their new flagship title. As Executive Editor Glen Bayer pointed out last year, they were responsible for titles such as Mary-Kate & Ashley: Crush Course, which almost assuredly went perfectly under the radar for both older players and maybe even younger ones at that. But every once in a while you get a heart-warming story of a group of developers who work their butts off day in and day out (while going home to their families with barely a single project under their belt to truly brag about) who suddenly get a big break. Geist from N-Space is one of these game developer fairy tales.
In typical Nintendo fashion, they not only chose publish the N-Space title, but to give them enough support and time in order to flesh it out until it was ready. There is a reason why Nintendo is seen as publisher number one in the industry by many and this case is just one the ways they earned that reputation.
So what does N-Space have to offer? A game world with very specific rules that is as intuitive as it is fresh in its approach. Some overlook how difficult it is to create original gameplay "rules" that can satisfy many needs. A good set of gameplay rules have to create meaningful challenge for the player. Next, they should attempt to satisfy those who need cohesion in their game worlds. Does the gameplay setup make sense within itself, and are there any loose ends between each of the elements? And most importantly: are these rules making a gameplay system that is fun?
To my delight, I can say that N-Space has created a truly original game world that is fun to interact in, even if there are still a few shortcomings in this year's build. You are a geist, which is German for ghost. As a ghost, you have the power to possess items and people. The rules that encompass this scenario are intriguing. First, you can possess living things only if you scare them first. We'll touch on this one later. Next, in ghost form you lose "ghost health" (at least that's what I will refer to it as for the purposes of this article) as time passes. The only way to get your ghost health back is by absorbing the life from nearby plants. Another rule is that ghosts can pass through objects such as other humans, small holes, and chain-link fences but not solid walls or doors. Next, ghosts seem to move much faster than any other live creature and as such, in ghost form everything else will move in slow-motion. And finally, all live hosts are modeled to behave like the real world counterparts both in advantages and disadvantages. We'll talk about this a little bit more shortly.
Let's take a look at what this year's demo had in store and where it can all go from here. The demo begins with a simple message for your objectives:
"Commander Rourke is about to separate your teammate and turn him into a ghost. Raimi needs to find a way to delay the process so he can rescue his friend.
Soldiers don't have access to the control room, but an engineer has the knowledge to stop the procedure."
The E3 demo begins with Raimi hiding in a ventilation shaft on the roof of a storage room. Soon after, a guard walks in with a dog and places him in the kennel. As the guard is ready to leave, you see Raimi drop down from the ventilation shaft into a kneeling pose and smoothly walk right him as he exits. The stage is set, the rules are in place, and the show begins. So you're in a room with a guard, a chain-link kennel with a dog, a dog food bowl, a flood light, and a big ugly door you need to get through. What do you do? Well, the first thing you have to think about is: What can open that door? Since dogs can't use keypads, only the guard can open it. Possessing the flood light near the guard is a snap. You simply place your reticule on the object and the moment you see the cursor change to look like a human you're good to go. As the floodlight, you can aim your beam of light (through first person still) where you please. Aiming it at the guard will alert him, but instead of getting really scared he simply walks over and unplugs you. Try option b: possessing the dog.
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| Possessing a gun turret. |
Remember one of the rules of a geist is that you can pass through objects such as chain-link fences. After you slip into the kennel (the screen turning red when you're inside another object) you quickly possess the dog's food bowl. When he comes over to eat, you quickly hit the action button to scare him. When you do so, his food goes flying and you see a short cut-scene that shows the dog whimper and look around him cautiously. Quickly jumping out of the food bowl, you seize your chance and take the dog as your host. The first thing you'll notice as a dog is that your vision is really limited. Objects in the distance are fairly blurry. Luckily there is a board nearby that you can see clearly, so you climb up to jump over the fence. Once out, you can "talk" to the nearby guard, who happens to be your friend. Oh lucky day! He opens the big door for you, but lets you know that you shouldn't let any other guards see you wandering around, since you're technically not supposed to be out of your kennel.
Once in the hall, you will have a couple of options ahead of you. As a dog you can jump or bark. Your goal in these next few halls is to somehow make it through a door that has a pressure sensitive plate. That means you need to be in a host at least heavy enough to push the plate down. So, in these hallways if you wish you can slowly creep around the nearby pillars, or you can even choose to ambush the guards and kill them where they stand. A nearby explosive crate also proves helpful as you quickly dispossess the dog and possess the bomb-to-be. As the explosive crate, you may wait for the guard and then press the action button to unleash an explosion that sets the guard flying in a dramatic slow-motion animation (since you quickly go back to ghost form once you destroy the crate.) Debris from the newly detonated bomb can be seen twisting through the air gracefully while you make your way back to the dog in order to pass through the door. There are rats on the ground that can be possessed as well if you scare them by barking. However, rats are not nearly as useful now since they cannot trigger the pressure plate. The story is different once through the door though.
After getting through the door you find yourself in a trashed room with a couple plants to heal, a ground ventilation shaft, and rats running rampant. Thankfully the dog can rouse up the lot of them by barking. Here you can take a rat for a spin. You quickly dart for the ventilation shaft and at the same time notice that the rat's vision is even significantly worse than the dog's. Finally you hit pay-dirt: a guard ripe for the picking.
Before ditching the rat's body, you point your sniffer around looking for potential ways to scare this guard. Two items catch your attention in a fire extinguisher and pressure meter. In the pressure meter you are actually looking right through the glass. Here you can take control of the meter and make it seemingly go haywire. If you feel like spooking the nearby guard even more you can make him jump by taking control of the fire extinguisher and start spraying the room. Now your first guard should be ready to take hostage.