Home > Reviews > PS2 > #461

Second Sight Review - PS2

These days, game developers really need to step away from the pack and bring to the market something fresh. Developer Free Radical - creator of the Timesplitters series - has done this in their third-person action-adventure game Second Sight. How, you ask? Well, it's not only that the game employs a unique mix of action, stealth and intensity, but that rather than let you use only the standard old guns, you're in addition equipped with an array of cool psychic powers.

Second Sight's storyline is yet another element that sets the game apart from almost all of the rest of the third-person action-adventure games. Rather than spoil the lot for you - as it's something best left explored as it is by progressing through the game - I'll set up the introduction. You've just woken up from a coma, locked in a glass cell in a research facility. You're half-naked, dressed in strips of bandages, covered in blood and cuts and are wearing a metal bracelet engraved with the name John Vattic. Unable to remember any of the things that led you here, let alone almost everything that pieces together your past, you step out of your bed only to discover that you suddenly have strange psychic powers. After pulling a switch outside the cell using your telekinesis power, you set out to explore the facility and discover exactly who you are.

One of the things that I liked most about the storyline in Second Sight is that at no point do you know more about the character of John Vattic than he does himself, evident at the beginning of the game by his incessant muttering of phrases such as 'why am I here?' and 'what has happened to me?' as you steer him around the room playing with your telekinesis power, throwing computer monitors and the like across the floor with ease.

Gameplay

As you progress through the game - travelling to locations such as mental institutes and underground military bases - you have the choice of letting loose with your guns and powers or sitting back and pondering on each situation, utilising stealth and clever moves with your psychic powers in order to get through without setting off any alarms - once that happens, you're faced with a minute or two of heavily-armed backup soldiers. It's obvious, though, that the developer intended for you to play it safe and sneak around, as running in and letting loose will more often than not get you killed. And, making it even more obvious, you're able to pull off a variety of stealth-related moves. For example, you'll often find yourself crouching, leaning against walls and desks and glancing around corners, and of course, using your charm ability, which will see you become invisible to all but security cameras. You're also able to hide in lockers and access computers to turn off security cameras, handprint scanners and the like. Sounds a bit like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons ... (continued next page)

next page »