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Excellent story with fair gameplay

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I review this game with very mixed emotions. It has one of the best story lines I have ever encountered on a console game, however the gameplay (at times) has much to be desired. It is a mix of action and stealth, with guns and psi powers as your weapons.

The action sequences are the most fun to play. Crouch behind cover, lean around corners and take out your enemies one at a time... and of course snipe from a distance. Although the psi-powers are more fun to use, you will find yourself using the conventional weapons more often. Psi-blast takes too much of your psi meter up and telekeninesis takes too long to kill the enemy (while your in full view of the enemy). Projection (lets you posess the enemy) is the most fun, but again your meter will drain too quickly. During the action sequences, you will be using your psi-power HEAL the most, while shooting it out. Although the action sequences are the most fun, I consider this a flaw, because the whole draw of the game is your psi-powers, which you rarely use during the action sequences.

The stealth sequences are the aggrivating part of the game. If you get spotted by an agent, the alarm will blare and a room of 4 agents somehow turns into a room with 15 agents. Even if you kill them all, 15 more magically spawn into the area. The game gives you no option to simply try to blast through the remaining agents. As you try to find a safe place to hide, you get blasted by agents from all directions. Once the alarm sounds, its virtually impossible to hide somewhere, because they are always on your tail and if you kill them, others re-appear close by. Some levels are more forgiving than others... but for the most part, if you get spotted, your destined to start from your last checkpoint. During the stealth missions, you will be using your CHARM (makes you unseen when in plain view) power, but again... you are very limited on the time you have to remain unseen... your psi-meter drains rather quickly.

The story line of the game is what will impress the most. The whole time you are playing, you will always be wondering what exactly is going on and where you fit in to the scheme of things. Things really dont start to come together until the last 2 missions of the game... and the twist is ingenious. Think of M. Night Shyamalan movies... this is how the story plays out.

The action sequences and the story line are what made me keep playing the game. I would struggle through the stealth sequences (walkthru in hand) because I knew my effort would pay off with an action level and a new twist in the story line.

If your list of games to purchase is running low, I would recommend giving this game a chance, however if you already have a rather long list of games you want to buy, I wouldnt recommend adding this game to it.

Good story, but you have to WORK for it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

After playing this game I generally felt that I liked it, mostly because of the story and characters in the game. But the mechanics of the game made it seem more like work than play.

Pros:
- The style of non-photo-realistic graphics rendering is quite nice.
- Outdoor scenes are particularly well done.
- Good story with a twist at the end. Also I liked the character development in this game more than I have with other mindless first-person shooters. I think the game designers really put a lot of effort into creating characters that you are interested in. This is what mainly motivates you to get through the game.
- The in-game access to the computers in the game environment is nicely done. They implement a tiny desktop interface that you can navigate with your virtual mouse cursor. Little bits like this add to the immersion of the game.
- Allies that follow you seem to do a pretty decent job of path finding, and are smart enough to go for the health kit when they find one.

Cons:
- It isn't always clear if you are going to be in a situation where the enemy will respawn infinitely or whether there are just lots of enemies but a finite number. The only thing you can do is to kill everyone and wait to see if they respawn. This takes you completely out of the immersive experience the game designers try so hard to create.
- Takes way too many retries to get through. In actuality the game is pretty short (about 10 hours) but in reality you get killed and have to restart so many times it really seems to take for ever to get through it.
- Saves are only possible after each very very lengthy level. Although you can restart from a checkpoint, you can't save at that checkpoint.
- Psychic powers are less fun to wield than in psi-ops. After a while the game felt more like work than play.
- Whereas psi-ops leaned too heavily toward the use of telekinesis, this game leaned too heavily toward stealth whereby the player either becomes invisible or projects their aura to take over other people. These are really not as fun as being able to levitate and throw people around. The telekinesis power in this game is also not as well implemented as in psi-ops. In psi-ops you really get the feeling that you are levitating something and throwing it- like in the movies. In Second Sight it feels like you are controlling the X,Y,Z translation with your joystick like you would with a poorly implemented CAD package.

the just like psi ops game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: October 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

this game is overall not bad. If you want a game that is really complicated, second sight is the one. The controls are pretty hard to understand, but you get used to it. The flashbacks are awesome, though. The psychic moves are not as good as psi ops.

the just like psi ops game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: October 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is overall a pretty fair game. The controls are very hard to learn, but you learn. It gets very irritating because there are so many people and it is so difficult to not set off the alarm. The psychic moves are not as good as psi ops.

"Second" to "Ops"

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"Second Sight," developer Free Radical's third person action-adventure, is at its core a good game hindered by some fundamental design flaws. The makers of "Time Splitters" also, unfortunately, followed the similarly themed (and mostly superior) "Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy" out the gate, so drawing comparisons is essentially unavoidable. Even so, "Second Sight" is entirely worth any gamer's time and effort.

The storyline follows the recent trend of conspiracies and heroes with amnesia, although it's fairly interesting overall. John Vattic (aka, the player) awakens from a coma in a strange laboratory with no memory of his past, but the sudden realization that he can move things with his mind. This ability, telekinesis, quickly comes in handy in helping him to escape even as new and more powerful abilities begin to come flooding back to him. But flashbacks to six months prior to these events crop up frequently, taking away Vattic's superpowers and instead forcing him to rely on his firearms until the plotlines begin to intersect half-way through the game.

The action in "Second Sight" is decent, and there are a fair number of weapons that can be employed in defeating Vattic's enemies. But, naturally, Vattic's abilities of telekinesis, astral projection, possession, and all of his other psi-powers are what really make the game interesting. Of course, here is where the first comparison to "Psi-Ops" must occur - the powers are generally similar in theme and not quite as fun to use as in that game, but are quick to elicit glee even so - particularly to those who haven't played "Psi-Ops." It's always fun to lift a black-suited agent from the ground with telekinesis and throw him against the walls until he dies, or to fling him off the roof of a building. Likewise, it's fun to possess an enemy soldier, wreak havoc, and then commit suicide before resuming control of Vattic.

The greatest single issue inherent in the design of "Second Sight," however, is the frequency of stealth missions that can prove frustrating and unintentionally comical. Although Vattic certainly has the edge in combat, the game tries to offset this fact by throwing countless respawning guards at you should you happen to trip an alarm or be spotted sneaking around by the opposition. It's too easy to be seen in the game, and the lack of mid-mission saved games compounds the problem. When caught, fighting is fruitless, so the best course of action is to run, find a conveniently placed closet to hide in, and wait the situation out - usually all to the sound of a whining alarm that makes you want to hit the mute button on your television. Of course even if you killed eighty guards before going into hiding, a few minutes later everything goes back to normal and by the time you step out of said closet you're starting from scratch. Logic takes a nosedive out the window here, and some of the levels that employ these mechanics (and there are many) can prove frustrating.

The graphics in "Second Sight" have the feel of a cartoon, and are well-animated. Even so, the engine portrays a gritty story despite the Teen raring (I've played less violent games rated Mature, point of fact). All in all, the production values are solid, complete with some capable voice actors.

In the end, "Psi-Ops" does virtually everything that "Second Sight" does, albeit slightly better (except for a few notable things like plot and character development and the length of the game itself). That said, if you enjoyed that game or have never played it and are interested in the premise, "Second Sight" is a good fit for you.

A Surprise Winner

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I got the demo for this game and had was reluctent to even play it (I was looking forward to Silent Hill 4: The Room, which sucked). I began to play it and was confused at first, but once you get a handle on the controls (it doesn't take long) it is a blast. You can pick up enemies and objects and make them fly across rooms and through glass windows. You can also heal yourself, make yourself invisible, and fire weird clear bursts of energy. Not only can you use these powers that you don't know how you got, you can use handguns and automatic guns. This game features good enviroments and ONE OF THE BEST storylines I've ever played. Don't listen to the other review. This game is well-worth the money. I played the demo 7 times and had fun every time. This is an unexpected hit that is really fun to play over and over again.

great game hard i can-t bet it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: April 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

this game is way to hard but cool play it its cool i think it should be m it has blood.its pretty cool . im 13

Sweet game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Very good game overall. Is a little hard to get into if you get sidetracked while playing, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time as well as quiet to hear what is going on. The game does move a bit fast, but very good. Definately recomend getting the strategy guide to help or at least an online walkthrough.

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