Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Xbox)

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Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 06/14/2004
• Updated on:07/02/2004
• Released on: 06/14/2004

Sometimes great gameplay mechanics or a simple but effective twist on an existing formula is enough to turn what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill experience into a fresh-feeling, well-conceived game. Take Midway's latest release, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. For the most part, the game is your average military-themed third-person action adventure, complete with locked doors, navigation puzzles, and pattern-based boss battles against a variety of colorful foes. But Psi-Ops sets itself apart incredibly well with its series of well-implemented psychic abilities.

Slamming enemies into exploding barrels is nonstop comedy.

Psi-Ops sets you up as secret psi-agent Nick Scryer. Nick's a pretty powerful guy, but in order to infiltrate a growing psychic terrorist organization known as the Movement, he'll have to undergo facial reconstruction and have his memory wiped. Once this has been done, Nick's just an average guy like anyone else. But after his unit gets captured by the Movement, he runs into a double agent named Sarah, who shoots Nick up with a substance that will allow him to regain his psychic abilities and, over time, his memory. This provides a good storyline reason for beginning the game with no psychic abilities and for why they'll unlock as you proceed through the game.

Since Nick starts the game with only guns and simple melee attacks, stealth is a bit more useful at the outset. A well-placed melee attack on an unsuspecting foe will eliminate him in one hit. But you'll quickly regain your first and most useful power, telekinesis. The ability to lift up objects and fling them around with your mind is one you'll keep coming back to, partially because the game has been designed to make constant use of this power and partially because it's so much fun. You'll be able to lift up boxes and other objects and climb on them to get over certain obstacles. You'll also be able to stand on an object and levitate it in order to reach otherwise unreachable areas. But the most exciting use for telekinesis is as a weapon. If you're using the right analog stick to move an object, when you release the telekinesis button, you'll put some force into it and launch the object in that direction. This means you can pick up boxes, benches, or other ordinary items and clobber enemies with them, and it also means you can pick up enemies and fling them into exploding barrels, which is always fun. You can even pick up one enemy and toss him into another one, knocking them both down and giving yourself time to run up and gun them down. And perhaps most satisfying, you can pick up an enemy with your mind and then use your gun to finish him off while you're simply holding him up in the air. The movement of people and objects when using telekinesis is very fluid and believable thanks to a first-rate physics engine.

While telekinesis might be the most versatile power, the other powers in the game are also quite useful. Remote viewing lets you go out of your body, which is helpful for scoping out rooms without actually entering them. You'll also have to solve a puzzle by going into a locked room and viewing a security code. Mind drain lets you suck psi energy out of enemies' brains. You'll get more energy for sneaking up on a live foe than you will for sucking energy out of a dead one, but there are usually enough enemies around to ensure that you've always got enough psi power to finish your current task. Mind control lets you take over the bodies of enemy soldiers, which is handy for certain puzzles, though it also lets you get a view of the surrounding area without exposing yourself to danger or lets you take on enemy soldiers with one of their own. Aura view lets you see hidden objects and creatures that you can't see normally. And pyrokinesis puts the power of fire at your fingertips, letting you set enemies and objects ablaze at the touch of a button. As you might expect, this power combines with telekinesis quite well, letting you set boxes on fire and then launch them at enemies to, in turn, set them on fire.

Though telekinesis is the star of the show, all of the powers have their place. The array of abilities gives you a lot of different options when it comes to tackling a situation. When you're facing a team of snipers in a guard tower, for instance, do you want to use telekinesis to launch all of them out of the tower, making them all fall to their deaths? Or would you rather use mind control to get a bird's-eye view of the action, as well as a chance to take out a couple of soldiers with their own man? These sorts of choices are great because both options are perfectly viable and fun in their own way.

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