The guys behind TimeSplitters 2 have delivered us Second Sight, a third-person action-adventure/psychological thriller. This game slipped onto store shelves a couple weeks ago. If you haven’t yet played this game, or haven’t heard much about it, you’re missing out greatly.

I’m just going to go out and say this – this may easily be the single best game I have played this year, and should rightly get several Game of the Year nominations. The story is absolutely top-notch, the control is intuitive and tight, and, well, let’s get on with it.

Let’s start with the story. I’m going to avoid spoilers as much as possible, simply because the story in this game is one of the major driving points and is, frankly, too freaking amazing to give away. You play as John Vattic, who, at the start of the game, awakens on an operating table in the middle of a huge facility. He is badly scarred, bandaged beyond recognition, and can’t remember a damn thing. John will soon realize (“soon” as in after about 30 seconds of play time) that he has some abilities that logically he shouldn’t. Trapped in this room with a firmly locked door, he somehow manages to manipulate the locking mechanism and open the door using nothing but his mind. He quickly goes about trying to figure out what in the hell is going on here, why he’s in this facility, and what the nature of his powers are. As an added bonus, you go through the first few levels in this facility wearing a pair of slippers. There needs to be more games that let you play in slippers.

There need to be more games where the main character wears slippers.

Anyway, while this is going on, John suddenly begins to have strong flashbacks of what happened to him six months ago. We learn that he is on a special operative team as a medical advisor, working for the National Security Executive, or NSE. You’ve been brought in by a fellow doctor and mystic named Jayne Wilde, who is convinced that you are going to make some kind of difference on the WinterICE Mission, as it’s being called. Unfortunately for John, the nature of the mission is highly classified, even to him and much of the WinterICE team. All you know is that you’re moving into a city in Russia called Dubrensk to apprehend a doctor called Grienko, who has apparently been doing highly illegal weapons research.

As you move between the two timelines, the story will slowly come into focus, and John becomes more and more convinced that whatever happened in Dubrensk has something to do with what he’s doing in the medical facility. His character goes through a metamorphosis, as he becomes increasingly angry at himself and the people that apparently took him and changed him. He discovers new abilities, and embraces more and more that he is the killer that he has been made out to be, wanted for multiple murders and known to engage in deadly combat without provocation. He goes from timid and confused to totally badass, killing anybody he needs to without remorse in order to get the answers he needs. It is truly one of the most amazing character arcs I have ever seen in a game, and is a joy to experience.

The graphics are what you’d expect; similar to those of TimeSplitters 2, with a slightly cartoony presentation to keep things in the realm of fantasy, but with enough realism to make you believe that what you are experiencing involves people and not animations. It’s a very good mix of styles which is really one of the great things about the game. Though not the best we’ve seen on GameCube, they are still very good and quite solid. Environments are created with painstaking detail, down right to the precise location of a bullet hole in the wall, even if you return to the room hours later. Weather effects are spectacular, with rain and snow falling believably and lightning crackling in the distance creating that always creepy feel of impending doom. Not top notch, but good enough to admire and plenty to please you.

Little does this guy know that after you beat him to death with that TV, his body will be used to beat someone ELSE to death.

The audio is one of the places this game stands out above many others. The talent hired to provide voices is part of what makes the game great. The actors portraying John, Jayne, Colonel Starke, the WinterICE team members, and the villains, and even extras, are perfect for their roles and add up to make this one of the best voiced games of the year. Whoever you talk to will be sure to mention the voice acting as one of the major strengths of the game, it simply cannot be ignored or denied. Likewise, the sound effects and music are rightly fitting. When using your PSI (psychic) powers, an eerie but oddly familiar tone begins to play, giving things an old-school Hollywood thriller feel. Coupled with countless other great sound effects and a score that suits the game flawlessly, and you’ve got one great sounding game.

Who wants a quick rundown of the controls followed by a critiquing of them? Well, let it never be said I didn’t provide that. Basic controls are control stick to move (duh), C-stick to control the camera when in free-pan mode, the A button is context-sensitive, performing such actions as reading a memo and turning on a computer, the B button crouches and stands, X is for punching when unarmed and pistol whipping while carrying a weapon, Y switches between fixed cam, free-pan, and first person modes, and Z goes into “stealth mode,” where you can hug a wall or crate or what-have-you and have yourself a good old-fashioned shoot out. The L and R buttons control either your weapons or your PSI powers. If you have a weapon equipped, such as a pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, or any of the other firearms in the game, the L button will lock onto an enemy, and the R button will fire. You can also use the C-stick to adjust your aim to switch targets or target specific body parts of enemies (head being the most effective, of course). When using PSI powers, which can be selected using right and left on the control pad, including Telekinesis, Heal, Projection, PSI Attack, and Charm, you can either press R to trigger major power explosions or target individual enemies and objects.

If you want to succeed in the game, you’ll have to master every one of the weapons and powers at your disposal, from shooting to using Telekinesis to pick up and strangle a person from across the room, then, if you’re feeling really sadistic, pick up that body and throw it at someone else as a weapon. You can also use your powers to manipulate your surroundings. If you decide you want to try and sneak by instead of creating a big thing about your presence, and thus have less of a chance of dying, you can make sounds and other things in other rooms to make guards go check that out and you slip by unnoticed. You can also use Projection to possess a guard and take control of his body. Let off a few rounds in a crowded room and let havoc take over, with everybody shooting at everybody else. Just simply enter the room and take out the few, probably injured, guards that are left. I won’t go into the rest of the powers, just take my word that you’ll be having some real fun using them to your advantage.

I don't care who you are, you should NOT be able to do that.

The control took me about three levels to get fully acquainted with, but one of the early levels being a military training mode; it gives you a lot of opportunities to get used to the system, especially in combat situations. After getting used to it, the control falls right into place, and any awkward moments you might have early in the game are quickly forgotten.

With 17 truly stunning levels, each potentially taking up to and over an hour to complete, this game is not to be missed. The puzzles are intuitive and instinctual (allow your gaming instincts to take over when solving puzzles and think “if I were in John, how would I do this?” More often than not, that will get you the answer), the story is captivating on a level that most games can’t even conceive, and the ending is something that has to be seen to be believed. A stunning achievement, to be sure. Whereas Free Radical’s TS2 was called “Heir apparent to GoldenEye,” Second Sight is heir apparent to none. Original and imaginative, this is the kind of game that should be examined by developers for examples of how to create something both familiar and new at the same time, and has certainly deserved far more recognition and press than it has received.