Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

[673f0999cfb95JDoran]

[Mods, can you move this to the Free Games forum, please?]

I found out a while back that the PC version of Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy was released as freeware by it's publisher, Midway. It's a really good third person shooter, released in 2004, for the PC, original XBox, and the Playstation 2.

The game is set in the modern day/near future, and a few people have psychic powers, such as telekinesis (being able to move things using only your mind), mind control (take over other people using your mind, and control their movement and actions), and remote viewing (see things that are behind obstacles or in a different area from you), etc, though the general public probably has no idea about this. We're shown two organisations that know about and develop these abilities, the government department that you work for, and the criminal organisation you are sent to infiltrate.

At the start of the game, your memory has been wiped by your own side (the government department that deals  with psychic incidents), so that the enemy can't read your mind and know that you are a potential threat. So you start the game using conventional bullet based weapons, but your memories return as you play through the game, which is the in-game universe's explanation as to why you suddenly develop new powers as you play through the game.

The game is really good, and is one of the few games where the boss fights are (mostly) very enjoyable. It does have one huge flaw though, and that is that the enjoyment level falls off a cliff near the end of the game. I don't want to spoil things, so I will just say that the point where you remember/acquire your last psychic power is where I always stop playing it, as beyond that point it just becomes tedious and unenjoyable. The same as in the original Half-Life, where when you go to Xen (the point at which I always stop playing HL) the game stops being fun. And, also like Half-Life, Psi Ops ends on a cliff-hanger, though since we'll likely never see a sequel to Psi Ops (tragically), we'll never know how the story would have continued.

Other than that, though, Psi Ops is a brilliant game, which is why I still occasionally play though it (minus the last part). So far, I've always played the XBox version, so I don't know how the PC version plays, but hopefully the PC version has no changes or new problems.

Thanks to Midway for their kindness in releasing this classic for everyone to enjoy. I wish other companies would be this altruistic. I also wish the game had been moddable, as fans could have made some amazing mods and campaigns for this game.

Get the game from:

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/psi_ops_the_mindgate_conspiracy.html

(apparently the game had some draconian DRM originally, but this version has had that removed, thankfully).

Obligatory comments about Second Sight. One subject that comes up frequently when discussing Psi Ops is the game Second Sight (or vice versa). Second Sight is a different third person shooter with psychic powers, and is also a really great game. It plays a little differently, being more stealth based than action based, and it's story is better than Psi Ops' story (and it's a good game right to the end, unlike Psi Ops), but Psi Ops is longer, and more replayable, I think. Second Sight and Psi Ops came out within a month or so of each other, which is what sort of cemented a link between them in peoples' minds, though the games' stories and settings have no connection to the other games'.

Both are really good games though, and if you like one then you should play the other as well.

Second Sight is available from:

https://www.gog.com/en/game/second_sight


Second Sight:

[673f0999cfd73icemann]

Second Sight I had heard of, and intended to play at some point. Was unaware of the PC ports for both games.

So many good games on the ps2.

Ghost Hunter is one I recommend. Another good 3rd person action game that has super powers (later on).

[673f0999cfe90JDoran]

I've just looked at the game on Youtube, and it does look interesting. I will try to track it down, thanks.

And yes, no matter how many PS2 games I buy, there always seems to be more games that I would be interested in. The PS2 has maybe the best native library of games of any console.

[673f0999d015esarge945]

The PS2 came out in that magical era in the early 2000s where games were taken seriously enough to get proper AAA funding and development, but the industry was still young enough that developers were not quite set in their ways and simply recreating the same standard forgettable experiences over and over again and grubbing as much money as possible.

[673f0999d02d6icemann]

Agreed 110% there.

It's easily my favourite console of all time, after the Super Nintendo. The Sony PSP has some legendary games as well.

Even RPGs wise there is a heap of unusual but quite good games on the system like .hack (think of a singleplayer simulation of World of Warcraft where if you die in the game, you go into a coma in real life), or Ephermeral Fantasia (JRPG set within a 7 day loop).

Back on topic though, PS2 action games wise: "Extermination" is interesting. Third person action, though no super powers. It's more Resident Evil with space bug aliens.

Nothing else springs to mind immediately.

[673f0999d0681ZylonBane]

The PS2 came out in that magical era in the early 2000s where games were taken seriously enough to get proper AAA funding and development, but the industry was still young enough that developers were not quite set in their ways and simply recreating the same standard forgettable experiences over and over again and grubbing as much money as possible.

FIFA. 40 games in the series, starting in 1993.
John Madden Football. 41 games in the series, starting in 1988.

[673f0999d0a5dJoin2]

The wonderful sweet spot for gaming was the late 90s. Many games were already multi-million dollar projects with heavy publisher backing. It was a short-lived sweet spot as by the early 2000s they were already starting to go downhill in terms of game design, becoming more linear, accessible (a bit too easy and therefore dumb), highly detailed and realism-oriented as opposed to abstract and gameplay-oriented. Well, not just gameplay, but everything that's NOT graphics fidelity. Those early 00s games were still pretty good, some even great, and not all had jumped on the sellout bandwagon or adopted these trends just yet (a few more years for things to get *really* bad), but there is far more to appreciate about late 90s games overall as opposed to early 2000s. Well, depending on genre I suppose. First person games in particular in the entire decade of 2000s was just almost entirely irredeemable or mediocre at best. You only need to look at the transition Looking Glass style games made, with Arx being the final worthy though stunted send off, after which it's all trite. And Doom becoming Doom 3 is the biggest industry joke lol. Pure style (graphics, mood) over substance (gameplay). It's certainly not the worst thing ever, but it is in no way valuable unless there's something lacking upstairs.

Psi Ops is one such example of early 00s inadequacy, interestingly enough. You guys seem to be confused. Nothing magical about this game at all unless you're impressed by physics gimmicks. Basically, HL2's console counterpart. HL2 also being very mediocre unless you're impressed by fluff (physics, graphics). Psi Ops is just OK. I played it around release and never touched again. I wouldn't recommend it. 6.5/10. HL2 is 7. This game may be free, but is it worth the time? No, not when you can be playing much better games.

I can't stress the need for people to play more late 90s games and have their standards risen as a result. Early 90s, early 00s and even late 80s were pretty great too, but the late 90s is the clear sweet spot for game design & development, and has the hordes of highly engaging games to prove it.

Hell, you could even play more third person shooters, even of the early-mid 00s that are far more worthy than Psi Ops. There was a lot of pretty good ones. Arguably nothing as good as the 90s FPS classics, but almost competitive. Say the word and I'll drop you a list of like 30 games. Certainly not Psi-Ops.

[673f0999d0ecdJoin2]

Back on topic though, PS2 action games wise: "Extermination" is interesting. Third person action, though no super powers. It's more Resident Evil with space bug aliens.

Nothing else springs to mind immediately.

PS2 is your favorite console but you can't think of any worthy action games? That's primarily ALL it had to offer of note. Big exaggeration, but certainly not RPGs anyway. Not that popular consensus counts for much, but nobody talks about PS2 RPGs today and I think that's for very good reason. I look back on PS2 RPGs and think...what the fuck happened? Even the shitty Xbox faired better in that regard solely because it has good Morrowind and Arx Fatalis ports. In the JRPG realm it's largely all very disappointing.

"Extermination"

Extermination is alright, not really worth mentioning though. A typical "just ok" PS2 game. One step forward two steps back from 90s design standards. It's a shame as the potential for a great game was most definitely there. I actually played this for the first time a couple months ago. Surprisingly one of the better survival horror successors of the time which is another genre of "WTF happened!?" on the PS2. e.g Code veronica and Silent Hill 2.

"So many good games on the system"

Absolutely. Tons. The majority never surpassed merely "OK or good" though. The number of games I'd count as "great or masterpiece" does not exceed maybe 15. Meanwhile the PS1 has like 50 of those.
It was a good era for gaming, but certainly a dip in standards. The strain of more life-like graphics and demand for accessibility/selling out was already becoming apparent before it hit critical mass in the late 00s.

[673f0999d1137Join2]

My summary of extermination is this: surprising amount of focus on gameplay through expanding mechanics. This is executed quite well, but then is more than offset by standard PS2 downgrades such as more linear level design, more handholding, lack of enemy types, resource management taking a back seat and so forth. There is almost zero soundtrack to speak of, again this being quite standard for PS2 generally spreaking, sadly. Less present in general, and when it is present, it's subtle and forgettable, barely adds any atmosphere, tension or adrenaline. The voice acting, overall presentation and story are not executed very well. Still intriguing and acceptable, but, well even the original Resident Evil is more professional and engaging. Do not play this game unless curious to see how some overall pretty good design and concepts can be stumbled.

Summary of Psi-Ops: shoot the same dudes (lack of enemy types) and spam psychic powers for 10 hours or whatever. Linear. Unchallenging. Repetitive. Uncreative outside of the psychic powers. I barely remember the game much, just completely forgettable. Very typical playing it safe post-Y2K game. The psi powers were fun and executed well, but that's literally the only praise I can offer, as to what might attract a new player or what it offers over other games.

"Other than that, though, Psi Ops is a brilliant game"

Oh yeah? You didn't do a very good job of selling it. Just gave a conceptual overview, said the boss fights were good,  then explained how the game falls apart in the latter third.

The secret truth is that there isn't much to talk about, and it isn't brilliant. Just OK.