Psych up! (PSI-Ops The Mindgate Conspiracy (Xbox))

Member Name: bookguy

Product:	PSI-Ops The Mindgate Conspiracy (Xbox)
Date:	24/10/08 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great gameplay with realistic telekinetic powers.

Disadvantages: Overfamiliar plot trappings.

Call me crazy - (and some of you may well do) - but I would say that this is the best Xbox shooter that I've ever played.

The reason for this is that the shooting is almost incidental to gameplay. Let me explain.

As you progress throught the game, controlling the protagonist, Scryer, in over-the-shoulder mode, you pick up all of the usual weapons upgrades and so forth, but the key thing is, you also pick up special power. Superhero powers, but without the cape and pants.

These have to be deployed within the game, and they they are a LOT of fun to use. You can drain power, see through walls, see past events - and best of all, you have telekinetic and pyro kinetic abilities, whicc you can use in a variety of ways: you an drop spmething on your opponent; you can pick him up and throw him against a wall or off a catwalk, and make him go boom while you're doing it; you can reach out with your and pick up ammo and health if it's too far to get at.

These capabilities make for an amazingly immersive game.

I'd never suffered from so-called "Game Bleed" - where aspects of console gameplay affect your behaviour in real life - until I played this game. I found myself thinking things like: "Ah, I need my keys." - and they'd be over on the sideboard or something - then I'd momentarily expect to be able to float them over using the power of my mind alone!

This immersiveness is the real hook of the game - the plot, a rather thin one involving supercriminal conspiracies, a extra-dimensional invasion and covert ops - is recognisable from pretty much all FPS/3PS of this time - from Half Life 2 to Area 51.

Basically, you are Scryer - a special operative who has been augmented with Psi powers. Your organisation has been infiltrated and compromised, and it's up to you to stop it. There are some surprises - the turning of a major character; the death of another - and a psychic that can bend reality itself, leaving you walking down endless corridors if you're not careful, but the main element that sets things apart is the sheer fum of exercising your powers.

Just be careful you don't forget it's only a game, and start trying to levitate yourself!

Summary: A real winner - forget the story, start throwing stuff around and blowing it up.