Geist (video game)

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Geist
Developer(s)	n-Space, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	GameCube
Release date	August 15, 2005 October 7, 2005 Cancelled
Genre(s)	First-person action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: M (Mature) BBFC: 15[1] PEGI: 18+[2] OFLC: MA 15+[3]
Media	1 × GameCube Optical Disc
System requirements	2 memory card blocks
Input methods	GameCube controller

Geist (early working title: Fear, changed to avoid legal issues with F.E.A.R., an unrelated video game^[4][5]) is a video game for the Nintendo GameCube video game console, released on August 15, 2005 in the USA and on October 7 of the same year in Europe. The game was not released in Japan. The gameplay bears a resemblance to that of Metroid Prime^[6] and Messiah,^[7] with a sprinkle of "Doom" thrown in.

A prototype of the game was developed by n-Space, who approached Nintendo as first to be the game's publisher. Nintendo accepted, making Geist the second game published by Nintendo to receive an M-rating (the first being Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem). In the following years, Nintendo and n-Space worked closely on Geist.^[8] The game was first shown at the E3 2003^[9] and was announced to be part of the GameCube's line-up for 2003. However, it was delayed for two years for fine-tuning. During that time, the game's genre changed from first-person shooter to first-person action-adventure.

The Geist franchise is currently in the possession of Nintendo, due to their contract with n-Space.^[4] At the moment, there are no (announced) plans for a sequel. However, n-Space has announced they are working on a game for the Wii.^[10][11]

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 Storyline 1.2 Characters 2 Gameplay 2.1 Ghost abilities 2.2 Host abilities 2.3 Collectibles 2.4 Multiplayer 3 Enemies 3.1 Humans 3.2 Virtual enemies 3.3 Vehicles 3.4 Monsters 3.5 Ghosts 3.6 Other 4 Easter Eggs 5 Development 5.1 E3 2003 demo vs. The final game 6 Voices 7 Reception 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Storyline

According to the game's official website, it is set in the year 2005.^[12] John Raimi is a civilian scientist and a member of a counter-terrorism team sent to investigate the Volks Corporation. The team, called CR-2, sent Thomas Bryson, Raimi's best friend, to Volks Corporation for an undercover operation months earlier and now they have to get him out of there.^[13] After meeting up with Bryson, the alarm goes off and CR-2 is forced to battle their way out. On the way out, a monster appears and violently kills one of Raimi's squad members. At the end, one of the agents seemingly becomes possessed and kills the rest of the team with the exception of Raimi, who just gets badly wounded, and, as the latter later finds out, Bryson. It is not revealed what happens with the possessed agent though. (After Raimi is shot and the screen fades to black, we hear one more gunshot; presumably the possessed agent killed himself.) Raimi is captured and his soul is torn from his body by an experimental machine.^[14] Soon after, Alexander Volks himself puts Raimi into a machine to brainwash him, so he will become a new soldier for Project Z. However, the spirit of a young girl named Gigi blows the machine's power to save Raimi. She then teaches him the basics of being a ghost^[15] and Raimi sets out to get his body back and save Bryson. His new ghost abilities (possessing other humans, animals and even inanimate objects) immediately prove to be essential if he wants to succeed.

Raimi damages the main piece of machinery used in the ghost separation in order to prevent Bryson's separation. In the chaos that follows, Rourke, the head of Volks' military department, orders the computer operator to fire a "catalyst beam" at the machine, despite their loss of containment. Following his orders, the laser is fired. Suddenly the machine breaks down and a humongous monster emerges from the rift. Because people normally cannot see ghosts, this goes unnoticed by the members of Volks Corporation. They know "something" escaped, but that is said to happen all the time, thus no more precautions are taken than the regular ones. Raimi is not too far away, attempting to make it farther into the facility. He soon notices there are other beings free as well. Escaped creatures from the rift are roaming the compound, killing everything that is not from their world.

Raimi manages to save Bryson and get a helicopter to pick him up. They part ways, because Bryson has to go and inform his superiors of what is going on, while Raimi does not want to go without his body. However, when the helicopter takes off, Raimi's body, possessed by Wraith, takes the helicopter down with a rocket launcher. Raimi follows him and ends up in a deserted mansion. There, he meets Gigi again. She then reveals to Raimi what her connection to Volks Corporation is. When she was alive, she lived with her aunt and brother in the mansion. Her brother is now the owner of Volks Corporation: Alexander Volks. Alexander was obsessed with the occult and supernatural when he was a young boy, often reading about it in books. One day he was reading a book in the big tree in the garden. Gigi tried to get his attention, but he told her to go away. She then climbed in the tree to get to him, but fell and died. Desperate, Alexander came up with the plan to use his knowledge about the occult to save his sister. He brought her to a "special place" (a seal to a demon realm) and tried to bring her back to life using spells he found in his books. The ritual failed however, and instead of bringing Gigi back to life, turned her soul into a ghost. To make matters worse, Alexander himself became slightly possessed by an ancient demon (Volks' Demon), which gave him a symbol-like scar above his right eye. Unaware of both results, Alexander became a puppet of the demon. It is revealed that Volks' Demon wants to seize control over the world through Alexander and with all that Volks Corporation has to offer.

Raimi soon is captured once more and again, Volks Corporation attempts to brainwash him. Due to another attack from some monsters, Raimi manages to free himself and continues his search for his body. Eventually, he gets his body back when facing Wraith. Once Raimi destroys him, he goes on in an attempt to stop the Volks Corporation from killing and possessing the world leaders (Project Z). He manages to stop the attack and at the end, comes face to face with the possessed Alexander Volks. When Raimi kills Alexander's body, Gigi appears and gets pulled into Alexander's body by Volks' Demon. Raimi follows her (as a ghost) and ends up in some ethereal realm which could either be Alexander's psyche, or (part of) the world on the other side of the rift. Raimi kills Volks' Demon here and witnesses the reunion of Alexander and Gigi (both ghosts now). They thank him and fly away. Raimi escapes from the collapsing cave and is picked up by a helicopter. In the helicopter, he meets Bryson again, who survived the attack. Funny enough, he also sees Anna Richardson and Phantom again, two characters he has possessed for some time during the game. Apart from the "happy end" feel, this is likely also an indication CR-2 has already started cleaning up Volks Corporation's mess.

[edit] Characters

• John Raimi is the main character of Geist. He's 35 years old and an expert on biological and chemical threats. At the beginning of the game, he is contacted by CR-2 to assist in a mission to save his old friend from college, Thomas Bryson.^[13] He is shot during the mission and wakes up strapped in a machine which soon separates his soul from his body. His body is stored somewhere in the compound, later gets possessed by Wraith and is reunited with his Raimi's soul near the end of the game. Raimi's soul on the other hand first is subjected to a brainwash project. Saved by Gigi, he goes on a quest to get back his body. He has to learn to think and act like a ghost in order to succeed. He also needs to help Bryson and Gigi, his only two allies in the compound and eventually, save the world from an ancient ghost-demon. It is implied at the beginning of the game that before he was separated from his body, he did not believe in the supernatural.

• Thomas Bryson is the 48-years old friend and mentor of John Raimi. Like Raimi, he's an expert on biological and chemical threats. At the beginning of the game, he is working undercover at Volks Corporation in order to find out what they are working on.^[13] It is not shown what happened to him when the mission to get him out of there failed (like why he was not killed). During the first part of the game, it is revealed that he's next for the separation experiment. When Raimi prevents this, Bryson is brought back to the medical wing. The staff is ordered to let him die by not giving him the treatment he needs to stay alive (apparently, some medical procedures are needed before one can get a separation) as he is no longer useful. Again, he is saved by Raimi with whom he then tries to escape the compound. When he eventually tries to leave with a helicopter sent by CR-2, he already knows Raimi will not leave until he has his body back and he says goodbye. Ironically enough, just a few seconds later, Bryson's helicopter is shot down by Wraith possessing Raimi's body. At the end, it is revealed he survived (it is never stated how he did and what became of the others in the helicopter) as he is the one who picks up Raimi after the final battle.

• 

  

  Gigi as a ghost
  Gigi Volks is Alexander Volks younger sister and Raimi's mentor in being a ghost. She appears as a young girl, having died at the age of 5 (her aunt's diary entries indicate she was born in 1925 and died in 1930), who is completely green and, unlike Raimi and the Spectral Operatives, resembles the looks of her physical body. When she was alive, she lived with her aunt and brother in a big mansion which later became part of the Volks Corporation compound. It is not revealed who her parents were (though her mother's name apparently is Lucy) or what happened to them. She was turned into a ghost and forced to be stuck in this realm when her brother tried to revive her by using occult magic. She has haunted her old home for 75 years watching over her brother who had become semi-possessed by an ancient demon during the ritual. Though she saved Raimi out of altruism, she hopes he is strong enough to be able to help her brother. When Raimi kills Alexander's body during the first phase of the final battle, she is pulled inside Alexander's body by Volks' Demon. After Raimi defeats him, both Gigi and Alexander come out of Alexander's body and play a little in the air before leaving for the next world. Gigi is very fond of her teddy bear.

• Alexander Volks is the 86-years old head of Volks Corporation.^[13] During his childhood, he lived with his aunt and sister in a big mansion close to where he later would build Volks Corporation's compound. It is not revealed who his parents were (though his mother's name apparently is Lucy) or what happened to them. He was obsessed with the occult and supernatural when he was a young boy, often reading about it in the books from his aunt's library. He was 11 years old when his sister died and he tried to revive her with arcane knowledge. From that day, he has been slightly possessed by a demon, who likely has influenced him to found Volks Corporation. As a mark of that day, Alexander has a symbol-like scar above his right eye where the demon touched him. He has become quite cold through the years. The only time he is shown to still have some emotions is when he's thinking about Gigi. Halfway through the game, Alexander becomes completely possessed and ends up being the first boss in the final battle. When his body is killed during the first phase of the final battle, his spirit is still stuck in his body. Raimi enters it to kill Volks' Demon and finally break the bond between the demon and Alexander. Once he is defeated, Alexander (who is a ghost(child) now too) and Gigi emerge from Alexander's body, thank Raimi and go on to the afterlife.

• Commander Rourke is Volks' right hand and called a mercenary by him at the beginning of the game. He has supervised the testing of military equipment at Volks Corporation for 15 years. Rourke is shown to have a bad temper and be incredibly aggressive and impatient. He threatens people a lot, kills one person in-game for not listening and is stated several times to have injured other members of the staff. His personal assistant is said to get extra pay for taking the risk of working for Rourke. The only person he always behaves properly towards is his boss, though Rourke at one time states he would have ignored Volks' orders just for his own fun had Raimi not been tougher than he had expected. The only weak point Rourke has, are dogs: he suffers from severe cynophobia. He also appears to be under a lot of stress. Rourke, possessed by Wraith, is one of the bosses in this game.

• Volks' Demon is the game's real antagonist. He's a giant ghost-demon who, unlike the other ghosts, can directly influence the physical world. He appears to be a friend or ally of Wraith. When Giselle Tallant's husband, Joshua, died, Volks' Demon started talking to her. He pretended to be the spirit of Joshua and convinced Giselle to build a mansion near the seal to the rift and to keep expending it. By doing so, he hoped to be released in this world again when someone by accident would open the seal. This was first done by Alexander, but Volks' Demon only managed to get a part of him in this world, in the body of Alexander. Somewhere near this event, Giselle and the workers discovered an old, abandoned monastery. What Giselle found there caused her to question if the voice she had been hearing all those years was Joshua's. It is not revealed what happened to her, but years later, the semi-possessed Alexander is the boss of a huge corporation located on a huge terrain of which the mansion and monastery are part of. During the events of the game, Volks' Demon escapes completely and fully possesses Alexander. When Raimi prevents Project Z's launch, and later kills Alexander's body, Volks' Demon pulls Gigi into Alexander's body. Raimi follows them and destroys Volks' Demon.

[edit] Gameplay

The game is divided in levels, which in turn are divided in stages. The area Raimi gets to explore depends on the level, though he revisits some areas in later levels. Each level starts with a cutscene and has one or more with a boss fights. Many bosses, especially ones later on, need to be battled by using both host and ghost abilities. The game saves automatically after each level.

A level is progressed through by completing its stages. A stage can be a period in the game in which the player has to puzzle and/or fight his way to a certain point or can be a (mini-)boss fight.^[16] Upon completing a stage, a new checkpoint is reached.

[edit] Ghost abilities

As a disembodied spirit, Raimi cannot generally interact with the physical world except through possession. He seems, however, to have some degree of mass and substance, as gravity still affects him (though he floats and can elevate himself for short periods) and he cannot pass through solid walls (chain-link fences are another matter, and he can slip through small cracks).^[17] Normally, his sight is blue/white (possibly ultraviolet), but when standing at the same spot as an object or creature, his sight turns red. Ghosts are invisible and intangible, though can be seen by other ghosts and animals can sense their presence even when they are possessing something. Without a host, a ghost also is a lot faster than the physical world and sees everything in slow motion.^[18]

When Raimi possesses an object, such as a dog food bowl, he sees things from the object's perspective even if the device has no visual apparatus. He is able to provide some motive force on an ordinarily immobile object, activate electronics, and alter an object's appearance (for example, turning water from a possessed faucet red, or changing the reflection in a mirror). Creatures can only be possessed when badly frightened or startled.^[13] This is accomplished by doing a set combination of actions.^[19] Glimpses of a host's recent memories are sometimes gained immediately upon possession.^[20] Raimi has the same control over a host body that he would over his own. The only exceptions are an inability to make the host approach something which frightens him or her very badly, and the very difficult task of resisting something the host likes.^[20] He also seems to be unable to make a host speak in the beginning of the game, but is later clearly shown doing so. This might indicate he is getting stronger or more used to his powers. Otherwise, it might be an example of a silent protagonist. If a host is killed or destroyed, Raimi is unharmed and returns to his ethereal state. However, he cannot remain outside a host indefinitely; his spirit is continuously pulled towards the afterlife. Raimi can only "re-anchor" himself to the world by possessing something, though absorbing life from small plants grants him additional time in this world.^[13]

During the final fight in the strange, unexplained realm, Raimi also has the ability there to shoot ethereal blasts from his hands.^[21]

[edit] Host abilities

The abilities of hosts differ quite a bit. The most noticeable is the way the world is seen through the eyes of the host. For instance, most animals see the world in several shades of grey, while imps have a binocular-shaped sight.^[22] For the biggest part, Raimi gets to possess guards who carry one weapon and apparently, an unlimited amount of ammunition (the weapon does need to get reloaded though).^[18] Sometimes, the weapon first has to be picked up somewhere. Some weapons have a secondary function in the form of a grenade launcher or infrared scope.^[23] Other possessable humans are professors, engineers and several people with different supportive jobs. They cannot do battle, but allow access to new areas and sometimes carry objects with them that may be needed to proceed.^[20] Human hosts have no memory of what occurs when Raimi possesses them. They seem to recall only being badly frightened, and then suddenly being in a different room. They will not do anything or get less frightened when Raimi dispossesses them, so they can be possessed again at any time.

Animals also cannot be used for combat purposes, but are vital to reach some areas. Due to their size, rats and dogs (rabbits and roaches in multiplayer) can crawl through some small holes and reach the room on the other side. Bats can fly their way to otherwise unreachable areas. Other animals are tools to make a human host possessable. The only exception to animals being useless for combat situations are imps, but they can only be possessed in the multiplayer mode.

Each host has a different L button ability. Some human hosts can sprint by holding the L button and others can crawl by pressing it. This means a character that can sprint cannot crawl or the other way around and this goes for all L button abilities. In some cases, the L button activates the zoom function.^[13] Most humans in the multiplayer mode have a different L button ability: jumping. The L button ability of animals is hardly ever required or even available at all. Rats can squeak and dogs and rabbits can jump.

[edit] Collectibles

In Geist, the player can find two kinds of collectibles as a side-quest. They are respectively called Ghost Collectibles (because they have be picked up as a ghost) and Host Collectibles (because they have be picked up when possessing a host). They can be found in every level, except for the first one, because Raimi is not a ghost yet and cannot possess anything yet. Ghost Collectibles (2 per level) look like Gigi's teddy bear and are the diary entries of Giselle Tallant, Gigi and Alexander's aunt. By picking them up (and scanning a few books in the library), the player learns a deeper part of the story. They also increase Raimi's ghost meter, enabling him to stay without a host for a longer period of time. Host Collectibles (4 per level) look like two V's (from Volks). When obtaining two of them, new features for the multiplayer mode are unlocked.^[24]

Also, Raimi keeps a log of items he examined and objects he possessed.

[edit] Multiplayer

The multiplayer section of the game is played with up to four human players and up to seven bots (and one human player). It has three different modes: Possession DeathMatch, Capture the Host and Hunt.^[13] Though these modes mostly are common multiplayer modes, the ghost aspect gives them a unique touch.^[16] Possession DeathMatch is played between ghosts. Therefore, each player is invunerable until he/she possesses a host, after which the game plays as a normal deathmatch. To prevent players from staying a ghost, they have a timed ghost life. Capture the Host is a combination of Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. Again, the battle is between ghosts. However, this time, kills made are not kept until the player dispossess the host on a base. There is also a key mode where a shield will surround the base and the players have to find the key to open it. Hunt is a hosts vs. ghosts mode. The hosts, armed with anti-ghost weapons, try to kill the ghosts, while the ghosts try to get the hosts to commit suicide by possessing the hosts and letting them walk into one of the various deathtraps. Hosts can attempt to free themselves from the ghosts' grasp in time. The first team to get rid of all their opponents' lives wins.^[25]

During the story mode, hidden host collectibles can be collected in order to unlock more multiplayer levels and characters. The abilities of ghosts and most hosts are slightly different from the story mode. For instance, most soldier hosts use the L button to jump, instead of sprint or crawl. Also, roaches and imps can be possessed in the multiplayer mode, but not in the single player mode. Another difference is the presence of power-ups, with various effects. Like most multiplayer modes of games, the players can choose from a list of "advanced settings" to adjust the multiplayer mode to their wishes.^[13]

[edit] Enemies

There is a big variety of enemies in Geist.

[edit] Humans

The biggest group of enemies Raimi faces are humans (soldiers) working for Volks Corporation. They are the first enemies he has to battle. Most of them are unaware of Raimi's presence and will not start shooting until the possessed host attacks them or ignores their orders. There are several different classes with different outfits and weapons. Raimi will possess all of them at least once. The human enemies are mostly called (...) Soldiers, with (...) either being "Volks" or (part of) the name of the weapon that class carries. The following weapons are used by them: assault rifles, over/under assault rifles, heavy machine guns, proximity mines, shotguns, submachine guns and rocket launchers. There's also a special kind of soldier known as Spirit Hunters. Spirit Hunters carry an orange suit that gives them the same speed as ghosts (though for a limited time) and allow them to see ghosts. They are armed with Spirit Hunter guns and Anti-Spirit grenade launchers, that harm both hosts/physical creatures and ghosts. They can also force a ghost out of its host and make the host temporarily unpossessable. Despite humans being the most seen and fought enemies, only three boss characters are human and only one of them is not possessed during the fight.

• Cord: A high-ranking member of Volks' army. He's rough, violent and easily a head taller than everybody else. He is the only human boss Raimi fights that is not possessed. He is fought twice, surviving the first battle by fleeing when his shield breaks but dies in the second.
• Rourke: Volks' right-hand man is a cruel and violent individual who suffers from severe cynophobia. In the boss fight, he is possessed by the Wraith.
• Alexander Volks: The head of Volks Corporation, now under direct control of the extraplanar creature which has influenced him for years. He fights using his floating wheelchair, which fires machine gun rounds and rockets.

[edit] Virtual enemies

In the first part of level 7, Raimi is trapped in a simulation again and has to prove his worth as a soldier. All Volks Soldiers he encounters here are non-hostile and solely meant for Raimi to use as hosts. His "real" enemies in the simulation are virtual summit agents, who are either armed with sniper rifles or submachine guns. Their goal is to protect the virtual dignitaries, who Raimi is ordered to kill. Fighting them is the same as fighting real humans, with the exception that they cannot kill Raimi. Instead, "Raimi fails the simulation" and has to start over.

[edit] Vehicles

At two points in the game, Raimi has to defeat enemies in vehicles. In Level 5, they do not attack Raimi, but instead, attack Bryson as he tries to escape. The most common vehicles are motorcycles. Their riders are armed with guns. Several black cars also try to kill Bryson by shooting him with their gatling turrets. There are two vehicles who serve somewhat as a boss fight.

• Black Truck: Not a real boss, but it has to be damaged enough within a certain amount of time, lest it hit Bryson, causing an instant death. Unlike the other vehicles (or their drivers), it does not have any ranged combat equipment.
• Helicopter: Raimi encounters two of them. One is harmless, but does try to transport the Spectral Operatives to the Paris Summit to start Project Z. The other one emerges after taking the first one down, and does try to kill Raimi.

[edit] Monsters

Several monsters have escaped from the rift and the labs and attempt to kill everything that's not a monster as well. Volks Corporation has captured and studied several of them in an attempt to create new weapons (in which they succeeded). Though not intelligent, the monsters are very strong and capable of ranged combat. Their toughness is also shown in the first level, where Raimi remarks that the cut-off tentacle from some creature is still full of life. In that same level, the boss character is a monster called the Tentacle Monster. Later, monsters become more common. Small, blue, bipedal creatures called imps are the most common monster enemies. They spit a blue fireball and can detonate themselves (the latter only happens in multiplayer mode). A lot bigger crablike creatures appear later. They either spit some sort of acid ball or pins. It is suggested there are more kinds of monsters, but they do not appear in the game.

• Tentacle Monster: It is assumed that the slug thing escaped the labs and not from the rift. It makes repeated appearances during Raimi's quest, traveling through the pipes and superstructure of the complex. The tentacle monster is an eyeless creature apparently composed of several fleshy stalks (no main body is seen). One stalk ends in a mouth full of teeth, others in razor claws. The beast can fire triangular bursts of ethereal energy at targets. Its skin appears to be extremely hard, able to deflect bullets. Only shots to its open mouth damage it.
• Hydra: Despite the name, the Hydra monster does not have multiple heads. It resembles an elongated, armored worm with spindly legs. It is first found in a snail-like shell, which is destroyed during the first encounter. Later, it (or another, similar creature) constructs a new shell from scattered debris, such as chemical canisters and crates. The Hydra's main form of attack is to roll over its enemy with its huge body, though it also can fire a long, sustained stream of crimson energy or ethereal blasts.

[edit] Ghosts

It is not until the last two levels that Raimi has to fight his peers. Other ghosts have been created by Volks Corporation as well, as part of Project Z, and are called Spectral Operatives. Unlike Raimi, they are red and serve Volks Corporation. However, it is unknown if they are brainwashed or not and whether they serve Alexander Volks or the demon possessing him. They have Raimi's abilities: they cannot do direct damage, but they are fast and can possess the same host another ghost (Raimi) is currently possessing. When done so, they attempt to get Raimi's host body (his own by the time he has to face them) to commit suicide and a struggle for control starts. If Raimi wins, the Spectral Operative is thrown out of the host and flies off a little before attacking again. They can only be killed with Anti-Spirit grenades. There are also two "genuine" ghosts in the game, who both escaped from the rift. Their names are not revealed, even though they are the game's actual villains. They both serve as a boss, each first possessing a human and then attacking straight on when the host is killed.

• Wraith: No official name is found for this monster, but it appears to be a close friend or ally of the demon possessing Volks. Its true form is nearly transparent. It appears to have a black, hunched, insectoid body with elongated spines. For a long time, it possesses Raimi's body. He appears to have the same abilities as the Spectral Operatives and Raimi.
• Volks' Demon: Again, no official name is given for the beast that controls Volks. It appears as a huge, red, reptilian creature with a long tail, horns, and blades sprouting from its back. Unlike other ghosts, it appears to have some physical abilities, as it destroyed the rings above the rift without possessing them and temporarily made its eyes visible to humans without the help of some medium. He is the final boss and is fought in a strange realm, apparently within Alexander Volks' body or psyche and possibly part of Volks' Demon's home world. There, Volks' Demon is surrounded by a strong shield, consisting of several rings which can be fired as well.

[edit] Other

One other enemy type appears as a boss battle.

• Twin Golems: Two giant stone guardians. It is not explained why they were built or by whom. It is also not explained if they are possessed objects or can move and attack on their own. They have a blue glowing substance beneath their armor, which is their weakness. They can shoot guided balls of energy from their eyes and create shockwaves by walking.

[edit] Easter Eggs

Like most games, Geist has its fair share of easter eggs. In level 4, the player can check the lockers in the women's changing room. One has a Nintendo GameCube system, and another one has the helmet of Samus Aran, the protagonist of the Metroid series.^[26] Similar, in level 5, in the Lounge room, the player can find two Nintendo Entertainment Systems and two Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems.^[26] When possessing Rourke in his elite battle armor, the player comes through a room filled with computers and a few soldiers. Almost all of the computers will have a blue screen and the message "The operating system has crashed on this computer". This is a reference to the blue screen of death, an infamous error message that indicates that a process or program has crashed a Windows operating system. Geist also contains a few references to people who developed Geist. In level 2, the player can possess a Schwalk Ale can. This is a reference to one of Geist's lead programmers: Timothy Schwalk.(^[27] Geist: Behind the Scenes) Another reference to the development team can be found in level 5, in which the player gets to learn the names of four other ghosts (Spectral Operatives). The names are: Forest Crump, Brian Miller, Amy Williams and Peetra Cooper. They refer to: Forrest Crump, Brian Miller, Amy Williams and Peet Cooper. Except for Brian Miller, who did World Building, they all did Character Modelling & Animation. In the medical level, after receiving the key to the morgue, you can go back to a previously locked room in which is a phone that, when activated speaks the names of some people who supposedly work in the Vorks Corp. It is possible that they are staff who worked on the game.

[edit] Development

Work on Geist officially started in 2002.(^[27] Dan O'Leary Interview) N-Space learned that Nintendo was interested in a first-person shooter/action game with a unique feel to it. So, n-Space came up with the idea about making a game with an invisible man as the protagonist.^[7][4] From there, the concept changed from being an invisible person to being a ghost.

After about eight months of work,^[28] n-Space finished the prototype and sent it to Nintendo of America, from which it was sent to NCL. Nintendo latched onto the game, and it was decided N-Space and Nintendo would closely work together to develop the game^[28][8] After six months, object possession was introduced in the game after some suggestions from Shigeru Miyamoto.^[7] Geist was first shown to the public at the E3 2003 and it was later stated that Geist would even be released in that same year.^[4] In the months after the E3 both companies realized they "weren't working on the same game"; N-Space had envisioned Geist to be a first-person shooter while Nintendo (more specifically, Kensuke Tanabe^[6]) considered it to be a first-person action-adventure. The adjustments caused the game to eventually be delayed many times until it was finally released two years later in 2005, but Geist was present at both the E3 2004 and E3 2005.

[edit] E3 2003 demo vs. The final game

A lot of gameplay mechanics had changed during development in these two years. From the E3 2003 demo of Geist,^[29] it can be concluded that many areas have been redone and placed in a different order. The story also appears to be a bit different. For instance, Bryson is not dying, but simply locked up when you meet him. As for gameplay, much more has changed. In the demo, Raimi does not have the violet tinge to his vision when he is not possessing anything, nor does the physical world become slower. Dispossessed hosts in the demo are unconscious, while in the game they are still awake. In the game, Raimi looks roughly like an ethereal version of his physical appearance, but in the E3 demo, he's a far more traditional ghost with a skeletal appearance and no legs. Also, in the game, Raimi does not fight other ghosts until the final levels, while they appear to be common enemies in the demo. Two abilities ghost-Raimi possesses in the demo were heavily adjusted. In the demo, Raimi can shoot ethereal blasts in this realm, while he can only do that in the ethereal realm in the game. The ability to influence objects from a distance through psychokinesis was removed and replaced with the ability to influence objects through possession.(^[27] Ted Newman Interview)/

[edit] Voices

Most of the voices done in the game were radio personalities from WTKS-FM 104.1 based out of Orlando, Florida, including members of The Shannon Burke Show, and The Monsters in the Morning.^[30]

[edit] Reception

Reviews

Publication	Score
Nintendo World Report	8 of 10[31]
IGN	7.8 of 10[32]
GameSpot	7.8 of 10[33]
GameSpy	3 of 5[23]
GamePro	3.5 of 5[34]
GameTrailers	7.4 of 10[18]
Eurogamer	6 of 10[35]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	16 of 30
Nintendo Power	5 of 10
Edge	4 of 10
Compilations of multiple reviews
Game Rankings	69 of 100 (based on 55 reviews)[36]
Metacritic	66 of 100 (based on 43 reviews)[37]
Game Ratio	65 of 100 (based on 24 reviews)[38]
GameStats	69 of 100 (based on 38 reviews)[39]
GamePublic	71 of 100 (based on 28 reviews)[40]

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.^[5][41][19]

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"^[32]) which caused Geist not to be able to maintain a smooth framerate 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"^[31] and IGN called it "not exactly poor, but it certainly doesn't compare to better shooters on the market, either".^[32] Geist was also burdened by, at times, poor character animation and enemy 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".^[33]

On the other hand, 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").^[31] Although the animation was not considered really good, the graphics were positively criticized. 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.^[42]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Geist at Nintendo.com (archives of the original at the Internet Archive)
• Geist at MobyGames
• Geist at n-space.com
• Geist guide at StrategyWiki