Just about anyone who owns a PC has played a little game called Half-Life. The title puts you in the role of the scientist fighting his way to unraveling the secrets of an underground research facility and ultimately a means of survival and escape. Then there's Doom 3, which pits you against a host of demonic creatures and ghostly inhabitants of an awakened Planet Mars. I mention these two titles because, while not exactly from a gameplay point of view, there are many similarities in story and character presentation in Nintendo's GameCube title, Geist.
Geist is one of those titles that sort of comes out of nowhere. It seems to have been made with great intentions under a lot of hype that also went nowhere. Be that as it may, aside from an uninspired shooter portion, Geist offers up a gameplay element that is charming and entertaining. But first, let's get into the story a bit.
You play as John Raimi, a scientist for an organization attempting to stop the Volks Corporation from achieving a goal that is revealed as the story progresses. The first level plays much like a tutorial, giving you prompts for various commands to access inventory, map, and other essentials. You're also presented with the FPS portion of the game, which lends one to believe later parts of the game might be a bit lackluster. At the end of the level, Raimi is shot and presumably dead, left behind by his extraction team to the (you'll find quite literally) devilish hands of the Volks Corporation. Raimi is enlisted for a clever ghost training program, but escapes to reek havoc in the underground halls and corridors. This is where the most charming and redeeming factor (aside from the story, which is actually pretty good) of the game comes in.
As a ghost, you have the ability to possess objects and people. Any object that has a glowing, red aura may be possessed and put to use somehow. Not all objects will have a function, but most of the time you will have to use the item to frighten or "Scare" a nearby human host (and, at times, animals). Once a human is frightened, exuding a red aura, they may then be possessed along with whatever abilities they have. Abilities will include sprinting for non-combat hosts and weapons capabilities with soldier hosts or Volks security. This often leads to some very entertaining encounters.
Graphically and sound wise, Geist is not entirely impressive. It doesn't look all that great, but it certainly doesn't look bad. Sound is pretty standard with weapons sound effects and a heavy sci-fi score, reminiscent of something you might hear on an old school platform.
Geist is certainly not without its charm. The possession portions of the game make for some very entertaining play and the story is fairly decent. This title is a bit like Half-Life, Doom 3, and an old school platformer, which could have been far greater with better shooter implementation and a lengthier campaign.
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