Possessing Omikron

Developed by Quantic Dream and published by Eidos, the 3D action-adventure Omikron is being pared down, which is a really good thing. When developers and producers were talking about this game a year ago, there were numerous promises of a fighting-game engine, action elements, RPG elements, puzzle elements, and so on. Now there are no more promises of Tekken-like fighting engines within the 3D action-adventure world, but rather promises of solid hand-to-hand combat and exciting action - a much more reasonable proposition.

The premise is that there are demons out to steal souls, yours included. Omikron is the name of the city where all this takes place. The game is divided into four chapters. (Originally, it was eight, but was later simplified.) You first inhabit the body of a cop named Kay'l; when he dies, you inhabit another body. Altogether there are about 50 different bodies for you to take over, but you won't need to jump into that many to accomplish the mission - just some of them. The first person who touches your body after you die is the person whose body you'll next inhabit, and each body has slightly different capabilities, so you'll have to get used to each one in its turn. The game has a few RPG elements to it as well; for example, you'll have a spell for regeneration in case you end up in a weak body that doesn't do you much good.

You'll have numerous tasks in the game, some of which require you to drive a futuristic vehicle (the whole thing is futuristic, by the way) The game has facial motion capture in real-time, so the characters appear more lifelike.

The game is due out at the holidays for both the PC and PlayStation.