Geist (video game)

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Reception

"Geist" was Nintendo's E3 2003 surprise, as it was not a new title from one of their old(er) franchises and no rumours about it had been going around before the E3 2003. In general, people were enthusiastic about the demo. [cite web|url=http://archive.gamespy.com/e32003/preview/gcn/1002055/|title="Geist" at E3 2003|publisher=Gamespy|accessdate=2007-02-12] cite web|url=http://www.gamecritics.com/node/2059|title=GameCritics "Geist" review|publisher=GameCritics|accessdate=2007-02-25]

Two years later, while "Geist" was praised for its originality in idea, gameplay and story, it was held back by a weak engine (IGN: "Unfortunately, a game engine incapable of matching n-Space's ambitions occasionally hampers the experience") which meant "Geist" was unable to maintain a smooth frame rate throughout the first-person shooter sequences. The game suffered from sluggish shooter controls that were not on par with other first-person shooters of its time. Nintendo World Report wrote: "There's a constant struggle with the controls that makes the game more frustrating than it should be" and IGN called it "not exactly poor, but it certainly doesn't compare to better shooters on the market, either". "Geist" was also burdened by poor character animation and AI. Some reviewers were disappointed the game only allowed one scare tactic per person or animal and did not allow the player to be creative. Or as GameSpot put it: "You'll wonder how the game might have been different if it gave you more freedom to accomplish your objectives".

Most reviews did praise the scare tactics for always being different and fun (Nintendo World Report: "Figuring out how to scare hosts is a lot of fun, especially because the ways in which you scare them are often very inventive"). Although the animation was not considered especially good, the graphics were praised. Altogether, the game was mostly placed in the "reasonable-to-good" range, with remarks as "Geist at least serves as an important reminder that an original game design and a first-person perspective aren't mutually exclusive. The shooter portions of Geist aren't all that special, but there's a lot more to this game than meets the eye" from GameSpot and "The concept is refreshingly inventive and Geist is propelled into something much greater than a FPS clone" from IGN, but also "Unfortunately, no sooner does Geist suggest it can blossom into something fresh and exciting that it’s undermined at every turn by a frustrating insistence on being nothing more than a mundane firstperson shooter" from Edge. [Page 88 of Edge, October 2005. Retrieved on 2007-02-13]

References

External links

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* [http://n-space.com/games/geist.html "Geist"] at n-space.com
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