What is more fun than using your ming to throw a gas can into a group of enemies and watching them fly everywhere?
You play as Nick Scryer, a member of a military unit called Mindgate which is trying to stop The Movement from world domination. The Movement is led by The General and several of his highest (and most disturbed) officers. In a stunning turn of events, Mindgate erases your psychic powers and throws you into the heat of a battle, and as fate would have it, you are captured ands thrown into the Movement’s fortress. Without revealing too much, you escape, destroy the fortress, and discover that Mindgate is secretly working with The Movement, thus earning the title, “The Mindgate Conspiracy”. The story is one of the game’s best parts; there is a perfect amount of cut-scenes which keep the gameplay flowing and brings you to many unique locations, from an air base to an ancient temple.
There are eight levels in Psi-Ops, and each of the levels have different types of enemies. The Movement’s standard henchmen are called Meat Puppets and they are in just about every level. Some of the coolest enemies are the invisible floating spiders in the second-to-last level and the fire-breathing dragons that are actually part of your mind. There is a boss battle at the end of each of the levels. The fourth boss battle against the Master of Illusions, Wei Li, is one of the creepiest and downright scariest battles of all PlayStation2 games.
Each of the bosses has one specific psychic power that they use. Conveniently, you have a weaker version of each of these psychic powers in your arsenal. Right off the bat, you learn your first psychic power, Telekinesis. This is the power that you will need the most in the game, although mastering each of the other five powers, Remote Viewing, Mind Control, and Pyrokinesis to name a few, will be imperative for you to complete the game. The controls for your psychic powers are virtually perfect. Look at an object to pick it up; you can pick up boxes, fire extinguishers, enemies, etc. The right analog stick moves the object forward, back, left, and right, and the harder you push down on the L1 button the higher you lift it. To throw an object, simply tilt the analog stick in the direction you want to throw it and let go of L1. Believe me when I say that there is no better feeling in the world than throwing an enemy into a exploding barrel which launches him off a cliff.
Unfortunately, the shooter side of Psi-Ops does not live up to the high standards set by the psychic powers. There are a very few number of weapons, namely different variations of pistols, rifles, and shotguns paired up with the occasional sniper. There is no dual-wielding, and you cannot change the camera to first-person. That is not to say you need to; the camera almost never gets in the way. On the positive side, there are plenty of destructible items in the environment and the weapons all have realistic recoil to them. The enemy AI is extremely intelligent; too smart for mind-controlled dummies. They will work together and will take cover, forcing you to do the same.
One more thing that is disturbingly realistic is the rag-doll psychics. When an enemy is thrown into a wall, you can hear bones crack and see blood splatter. Midway figured that the rag-doll psychics would make psychic powers more fun, and damn, were they right! The character models are a little clunky however, and there is a strange angle to the cut-scenes making everyone look 30 pounds overweight. The levels are beautiful though, with tons of details and little nooks and crannies to explore. The level design has you backtracking a little, but not so much that it makes gameplay feel like a chore. There aren’t too many different sound effects, but the music is so creepy and the voice-acting is so good that the audio is still one of Psi-Ops’s strongpoints.
You will not be able to blow through Psi-Ops; it will take the average gamer approximately 18 hours to finish. After you are done, there are no collectible items or unlockable items, so there is no reason to play through the story mode again. In addition, Psi-Ops is lacking any sort of multiplayer mode, online or off. The life of Psi-Ops is extended by a gladiatorial-style arena match where you get to use special items including medicine balls, wrecking balls, and chains to defeat wave after wave of baddies. To sum it all up, Psi-Ops is a phenomenal action game that uses its psychic powers to strengthen everything else.