Here it is in very few words: Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy is a must play game for ANY and
ALL fans of action-adventure games. It's a one of kind experience that really rewards creative play.
You play the game as Nick Scryer, a psi-agent who has had his memory
erased. He has great, untapped, psychic abilities that he is unaware
of and as the game rolls out, these powers are regained and so too are
his lost memories. As he regains his true identity of course he wants
to seek out and stop the bad dudes who made him this way. This is the
setup for Psi-Ops and it plays out by the numbers. If this game has one
true weakness it is the storyline. I list it first because the rest of
the game is so far beyond superior that it truly does make up for the
crap that is Psi-Ops storyline. The voice talent and cut scenes are
straight up cheeseball, B-movie, wince inducing, schlock. It can be a
fun sort of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" kind of schlock, but it's best to
be warned going in that this game is no MGS or Splinter Cell when it comes to story telling.
On to the greener grass...
The presentation of this game is quite simply off the charts.
Everything about this game feels like a big budget franchise. The first
things that makes this game feel truly special is, of course, the
Psi-powers. Everything from telekinesis (the ability to move things
WITH YOUR MIND) to pyrokinesis (the ability to set things on fire WITH
YOUR MIND) to Mind Control (the ability to take control of enemies WITH
YOUR -ah you get it) are totally fresh and completely fleshed out in
this game. Add in the idea of being able to freely mix these powers
together in a sort psi-combo/psi-strategy sort of way and you get a
gameplay experience that is second to none.
The level design is also very impressive for a game that is essentially
on a linear path. The freedom with which the game gives you, when
approaching each scenario is really quite innovative. If you wish you
can grab an enemy and throw him towards you, as he gets up Mind Drain
him (causing his head to explode), set his corpse on fire, then pick
him up and throw him at an approaching enemy. Or you can simply shoot
him. It really is completely left up to the player and it's the
experimentation with these powers that makes this game such awesome fun. This open ended approach tends to wain during boss fights though, as most bosses have a very distinct attack pattern and a very specific way in which to take them down. It doesn't take that much away from the overall experience, but it would have been nice to see more options available when taking on these bosses.
The graphics are polished and fairly stunning for a PS2 (to this
day). I have seen ragdoll graphics done poorly before. Psi-Ops is not
one of these games. If nothing else, Psi-Ops is the ragdoll bar for
which all others should be reaching. Throw in expressive characters, with excellent facial animation, and
some great video games explosions, and
it's just adds a few more layers on this delicious Psi-cake. But wait, there's more!
Mix in some really nice audio for said explosions and things like gun
fire, roaring fires, and the sound of a human head exploding from the
inside out. There is really nothing about this game that feels
unpolished or buggy. It's a triple A title wrapped in a blanket of
under-appreciation.
The weakness of this game, as I said, is it's storyline and for as
cornball as it was, the ending is poorly planned and completely
forgettable. With that small negative though it should by no means stop
you from picking this game up (undoubtedly for super-cheap) and playing
one of the most unexpected surprises the PS2 has to offer.
Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy is a great "ahead of its time" game that was completely over-looked and completely deserving of a sequel. My highest recommendations.
+Fresh feeling psi-combat system
+Rewards creative play
+Has the nice, polished feel of a well thought out game
-Cheesy storyline
-Very poor "cliffhanger" ending
