![]() ![]() Plus, there are some compelling narrative reasons for the main character’s predicament, even if the premise isn’t all that original. ![]() It’s also a great excuse to let players uncover information that Nick should already know. Whenever you receive a new power, Nick has a flashback to his previous psychic training that also serves as a player-friendly tutorial. The amnesiac military protagonist may be a near-comical cliché at this point, but Psi-Ops takes the concept into unexpected directions by incorporating Nick’s memories (or lack thereof) into gameplay. Along the way, Nick must regain his old powers and memories while uncovering an apocalyptic conspiracy involving psi-enhancing artifacts, a megalomaniacal General and extra-dimensional threats.īullets are kind of redundant at this point. In the finished game, players take on the role of Nick Scryer, an amnesiac Psi-Operative (a military agent gifted with psionic powers) who finds himself infiltrating a terrorist organization comprised of brainwashed soldiers and other ex-Psi-Operatives. After a few test videos showing the higher-ups how the developers intended to translate these powers into gameplay, the title was approved and eventually re-named to Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. From there, it was only natural that they’d want to include telekinesis and other forms of environmental manipulation in the project, which led to them coming up with a stealth adventure based on psionic powers. Originally titled ESPionage and meant to release on the Nintendo GameCube, the project that became Psi-Ops stemmed from Midway’s desire to upgrade their physics engines to better incorporate realistic movement and collision simulation. That’s why I think this rabbit hole is still worth diving into nearly two decades later. A story-driven third-person shooter from 2004, the title may not have taken the gaming world by storm, becoming overshadowed by other high-profile releases of the time, but it was a lot more influential than most folks give it credit for. That being said, one of my favorite representations of psionic powers and government conspiracies in media comes in the form of Midway Games’ underrated Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of media out there that properly explores these fringe concepts and their narrative potential (possibly because the government itself has recognized that most of this research was a gigantic and largely unethical waste of public resources). I spent an unhealthy amount of time on conspiracy forums as a kid, so it stands to reason that I grew up with a grim fascination with stories concerning ESP abilities and MK Ultra experiments. The full version of Darkest Dungeon II will feature a dozen playable heroes, five regions, five end bosses, and a metagame hub (“The Altar of Hope”) with extensive persistent upgrades.ĭarkest Dungeon II will fully release on May 8 on the Epic Games Store and on Steam. The update also brings with it a few tweaks and bug fixes across the game, from its UI to combat. Players will be able to unlock her full suite of abilities by experiencing her backstory at Shrines of Reflection, which is told in five chapters, including playable flashback encounters. She is unique in that her healing is tied to her Conviction, allowing her to smite her opponents as her Conviction grows. The Vestal has been given a bit more versatility from the original Darkest Dungeon, acting now more as a “healer-tank” who is also able to deal significant damage to the enemies’ back row. ![]() As part of Darkest Dungeon II‘s Suffer No Sin update for the Epic Games Store version, the fan favourite character, The Vestal, has been added to the roster of playable heroes. Ahead of Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon II leaving Steam Early Access this May, the developers have announced a pleasant surprise for longtime fans.
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