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By Contributing Writer Jimmy Payne Rating: Average Omikron: The Nomad Soul is a good example of what we can expect to see in the future of gaming- Huge virtual worlds filled with interactive people and places. The only problem is that Omikron fails to support this virtual world with actual gameplay substance. This game's atmosphere is definitely its greatest achievement. The minute you start playing, you will be overwhelmed by a huge city in which people are walking around, traffic is busy, and huge spacecraft are flying overhead. This could have made it a daunting task to get to particular places in the game world, but there is a neat system of calling up a sort of cyber cab who takes you to different destinations. Little details have been put into almost every area, although most of these are just risqué posters. I've heard bad things about Omikron's story line, but I actually like it. It can be annoying in some video games when you have to figure out who you are and what your real motivations are, but it's actually very intriguing in this game. Unfortunately, it takes a lot more than atmosphere and story to create a good all-around game. The main reason that Omikron falls flat on its face is because of the lack of focus. It seems as though the developers couldn't decide whether they wanted to make a first-person shooter, an adventure/exploration game, or a fighting game. The bulk of the game is spent searching the city in order to meet new people and piece together clues. When the action sequences kick in, you have to shoot a bunch of enemies like you're playing Quake. When you're up against a boss character, the gameplay style is closer to Tekken than Quake. None of the different gameplay modes are particularly compelling, and the lack of focus serves to make you less attached to the game as a whole. Another thing missing from this game is good character design. All of the characters have weird-looking, almost ape-like faces (and no, they're not supposed to be apes). The characters' gestures and other movements are awkwardly jerky, and the God-awful music is even more annoying than the character designs. Omikron: The Nomad Soul could have been a classic if the developers focused on substance over style. It would have also helped if they had chosen a genre a stuck with it rather than jumping from genre to genre throughout the game. Omikron is still worth checking out if you're in the mood for something different, but don't expect to be entertained for more than a few days. Send your thoughts on this review to jimmy@mastergamer.com
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