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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good, 5 Oct 2004
I bought this game on the strength of Free Radicals reputation with the Timesplitters series: games which I've enjoyed immensely. Second Sight employs the same graphical style as Timesplitters; characters are rendered in a bold, cartoonish style, quite different from the realistic graphics of most games. You'll either love them or hate them. Personally, I love them and they remind me a little of Freedom Fighters. Because of this style of rendering, the game doesn't have the look of -- for example -- Splinter Cell, with overly dramatic lighting effects. In fact, lighting doesn't really figure much in Second Sight, but because of the cartoon-like look, I didn't find this an issue. To me, the graphics still looked original and fantastic.The gameplay consists mainly of stealth, but with the added twist that you can call upon your psi-powers to help you out. For instance, you can project your astral body into unexplored areas without fear of detection from guards as they can't see you. If you've got the time, you can even possess a guards body and then turn him on his colleagues. A handy way of clearing out the area ahead. Although, once your psi-energy is drained, you are pulled from his body. If the guard whose body you were in spots the dead bodies, he'll raise the alarm. However, there are ways around this as you'll find out when playing the game. There's also a charm power, which allows you to move physically from one area to another whilst remaining invisible. However, you have to be quick and avoid contact with guards. Other powers include Telekinesis (moving objects and people with your mind), the very useful Healing whereby you can restore your health (and the health of others) to maximum and Psi-Blast which comes in two flavours: a concentrated blast of mind-energy at a single foe and a sort of explosion which stuns everybody in the immediate vicinity. If you fancy a change of pace, you can always break out the weaponry which can be gathered from dead bad guys. Things such as handguns, SMGs, sniper rifle etc. In some missions, before you get your psi-powers, you'll come to rely on these. At first the story seems a touch cliched. You're a man who wakes from a coma in a medical research facility with amnesia and must figure out what the hell is going on. The levels comprise of your struggle to remember your past and fully playable flashbacks to a covert mission in Siberia. However, by the end of the game, I'd fallen in love with the story as it improves dramatically and I found myself genuinely caring for the characters. This is helped along by some absolutely superb voice acting. I hate to end the review on a bit of a downer, but the physics in Second Sight are not quite as good as they could have been. Here and there, things seem to lack weight. You barely have to bump into a chair or a crate and it seems to go flying across the room in some cases. Sounds bad, but you do get used to it. Also, your characters walking down stairs animation is unintentionally funny. He looks as though he's doing a riverdance! When the alarm is raised on some levels, guards pour out of the woodwork in almost astronomical numbers, leaving you no option but to run like hell and hide. A little frustrating at times. Also, the game is relatively short. It took me 16 hours to beat it, although I'm sure other people could beat it quicker in about 11 hours or so. However, if you like stealth, strong characters, strong story, great voice acting and thoughtful, considered gameplay, you can't go wrong with Second Sight.
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