Omikron: The Nomad Soul

Having played the rest of Quantic Dream's titles (Fahrenheit-Beyond), I was curious to see what the studio's first (and most videogamey title) was like. As it turned out, Omikron ends up making the rest of David Cage's games, even the madness of Fahrenheit, look well made by comparison. There are three core mechanics (exploring, fighting and shooting), none of which come off particularly well. Exploring is interesting at first, but relies on pixel hunts on occasion, and has abysmal platforming mechanics. Fighting is fast-paced and does feature interesting combos and grab moves, but can all too often be passed simply by mashing a basic 1-2 punch. Shooting initially seems to be polished, but is soon brought down by ultra-accurate enemies, damage for falling from minor heights and the apparent inability to change weapons. All in all, Omikron feels untested, as if the developers managed to get one good run and called it a day. The game's sound design is wildly inconsistent - background music often drowns out dialogue or cuts out at key moments, while initially cool songs quickly become repetitive after overstaying their welcome. As this is a retro review, graphics get a free pass; the only criticism here is the limited number of NPC models and the occasional dead stare and 'open fish mouth' given by characters in cutscenes. One unique point of Omikron is its character-possessing ability, which works in some places but more often than not forces you into a weaker body that only has one use before being discarded, which goes against the game's story of saving (and caring about) the virtual world and denizens. Overall, Omikron comes off as half-baked adventure game, that either aimed much too high in the first place or was only given a once-over before being approved for publication. n.b If GOG's system had it, I'd give the game 2.5 stars.

Really intriguing piece of video game history, it's a shame that way too much of its aspects aged poorly. As far as I can tell some of its sections were considered atrocious even when it was released. Even though the world is quite interesting, you'll often end up cluelessly running around looking for something you accidentally missed, or trying to make sense of a puzzle. And let's not talk about the horrible FPS parts. Some people consider the combat sections equally bad - but I think they at least seem to have some potential and organic integration into the game. Checking it out is cautiously recommended.

Super jeu, neanmoins il manque la version francaise French version please !!!!

I played it back then when I was a child. I still have the original - working - version here. So. First. I love it. I still like to play it. The world is incredible for that time. Besides the plot, there is so much to explore. Little side quests, apartments you can visit, hidden secrets. But of course there are people who mentioned bugs or other things. I played that game, in the original '99 CD version, many times and I had never problems with bugs. I wasnt able to shoot through walls and the enemies had a normal difficulty. By the way, the training room in his apartment isnt for decoration. It's for actual training to beat those enemies easily. But people who rush through a demo oversee that easily. And I think most of the bugs are because this game was made to run on newer systems. Create bugs as well. I recommend to buy it, for me it's still one of my favorite games. It left a huge impression on me.

I'm rating based on the game, and 1999 when it was made. Comparing this game to Cyberpunk, or the like, will immediately get it a 1-star. It would be like comparing Windows 3.1 to 11. I first played Omikron on Dreamcast back when it was new. I rented it from a video store and couldn't finish before I had to return it. A few months later I bought it for real and played it all the way through. I was already a gaming nerd to begin with, but this game was like steroids for that. It was so unique for its time. I gushed about this game to anyone that would listen. THE ACTUAL REVIEW (spoilers) -------------------------------------- This is a game that breaks the 4th wall in a huge way. You aren't just a character in a story. It's you, your very soul, inhabiting the body on screen. That's the arch this story takes, and it grabs your attention. It starts out being a standard adventure game, then the freaking DEMONS start talking to you through the screen (I'm not kidding) telling you what's what. Back in 1999, that 4th wall crashing down hard made this the most immersive game I'd ever played. The graphics are awful by today's standards, average by 1999's. But what made Omikron ahead of the game is the sheer size of it. The city is big and there's cars and NPCs moving around and existing without your input. Gives it the feeling of a real, open-world city that you are a part of. A city that exists whether you're there or not. The game has 3 playing "modes". Adventure (the bulk of the game), FPS, and fighter. Fighting demons is mostly in the fighter perspective. There's combos and stuff you can use, and I vaguely remember having to learn fighting moves on your own (like Shenmue) but I may be wrong about that. It's been a very long time. The FPS perspective was the most fun. I do remember at the beginning, when you're still a cop and before the demons drop that bomb on you, there's a mission to resolve a robbery at a grocery store. That mission is FPS.