Review: Omikron: The Nomad Soul

From...

	GALLERY

July 12, 2000
Web posted at: 8:51 a.m. EDT (1251 GMT)

by Dpad Destroyer

(IDG) -- Little did you know that your Dreamcast is the gateway to an alternate universe, from which a policeman contacts you and begs you to take control of his body. Should you accept this strange mission, you're tossed headfirst into a crazy, well-detailed world in which the government tells the people what to think and terrorists fight for freedom from oppression. A world wholly unlike your own, right?

What points Omikron gains with its original setting, it loses with its execution. As you play through the game, you'll find yourself playing three different scenarios: a fighting game, a first-person shooter, and a graphic adventure. That all sounds good on paper, but in practice the transitions between the different gameplay modes just don't feel right. Not only that, but the universally awkward controls pretty much suck in all three modes. It's sad, because if exploring the world of Omikron weren't such a pain, it'd be a very interesting place to play.

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Oh My Kron

Omikron fails in other areas as well. For a Dreamcast game, it looks somewhat shoddy. The sound consists of good original music, but with muffled voice samples and sound effects that will make you strain toward your TV speakers to hear the dialog. Loading hiccups between areas become annoying after a while. Really, Omikron's worth a rent, just to see if you like the dark future it shows, but if the setting doesn't do it for you, then you should just let The Nomad Soul drift.

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