Second Sight

Posting about Splinter Cell : Chaos Theory reminded me to talk about another game I played ages ago and kept meaning to recommend…

Second Sight is a fantastic action adventure game from Free Radical – the developers of TimeSplitters, TimeSplitters 2 and the forthcoming TimeSplitters Future Perfect. The TimeSplitters series never seemed to be that popular, but I’ve always liked them. Free Radical understood that a console-based FPS was different from a PC-based one.

Although the basic premise of the game is not that different from other action adventures, it’s the implementation of the physic powers, the storytelling and standard of presentation that makes this title stand out for me. Although they shun realistic graphics in favour of the stylised ones they used in TimeSplitters, to me it works and it works well.

The story plays out through a series of levels, jumping between present day and flashbacks – this is used particularly well in the last few levels. Your physic powers are introduced only as you need them so you’re not trying too much too soon, and as flashback to before you received them you appreciate them so much more in the levels where you do have them.

My one complaint about the game is that the finale is a bit of an anti-climax. What – up until that point – had been an intelligent game requiring you to use both your mind (literally) and your trigger finger to progress, degenerates into a brief, chaotic mass battle. It’s almost lack they ran out of ideas (or more likely time) and said “let’s wrap this up now”.

Seeing as it can be picked up so cheaply, it’s well worth playing.

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