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Having lost Rare to Microsoft earlier this year, Nintendo badly needed to gain support of more third party companies and get more titles on their release schedule. Ironically, they've had possibly the strongest showing at this year's E3, partly thanks to some fantastic-looking first-party titles like Pikmin 2 and Mario Kart, but also due to deals struck with development houses to co-produce titles. This basically means that the developer gets to work closely with Nintendo, who will oversee the project and provide technical help where needed, and one of the companies involved is Florida-based n-Space who are busy developing the GameCube's next big first-person shooter, Geist.
Parallels drawn between this and Perfect Dark are almost inevitable, since this seems to be it's 'replacement', but looking at the game alone the concept is actually quite unique. Gameplay is split into two sections, one where you're hovering about as a spirit, with the ability to fly through cracks in walls, move small objects and possess people. Once you've possessed someone, the traditional first-person shooter gameplay kicks in, with you being able to use that person's abilities and weapons to aid your cause. The game also promises to contain plenty of puzzles that require both spectral and human interaction to solve, plus story-advancing where you must use the memories of the people you possess to uncover what's going on. There are said to be over a dozen different types of character to be possessed, ranging from standard soldiers to dogs and even mice, and it's up to you to use each of their special abilities to progress further in the game.
As well as the main game, what first-person shooter would be complete without a comprehensive multiplayer mode? Geist offers 4-player split-screen deathmatches which can be played using standard first-person shooter gameplay or with ghost and possesion mechanics involved. Just imagine, a military complex full of soldiers going about their daily lives, while four ghosts are wandering around the place, possessing them and using them to attack one-another!
With Nintendo overseeing the project, any first-person shooter would have been a mouth-watering prospect; but with the added originality of ghost-based play and the possesion system, we can't wait to find out more details of this potential big-hitter. We'll report any news we get as soon as we get it, but until then, why not check out these nice-looking first screenshots and trailer video from E3?
Geist E3 trailer (12.7 MB Quicktime)
Marc Hull
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