If you're looking for a change of pace in the gaming world, Omikron delivers.

This game I really cannot categorize. Initially, I thought it was an adventure, then I was certain this game was an action/third-person shooter. Actually, neither of these statements hold any truth, yet they both do at the same time. An ambitious design, Omikron evades any classification. It many ways it can be called an adventure game. Other times, you feel like you're playing a third-person action game. No matter what you call it, Omikron is fun.

French developer (I normally hate the French, but not these guys) Quantic Dream really set out to make something different. You see, you play the role of… no, that's not right. You don't play the role of anything, your soul occupies the body of someone from the world of Omikron, a parallel universe (aren't they all parallel?) in the heat of trouble. The man who comes to you, Kay'l, is a police officer on Omikron, and he comes to you for help. It seems he's stumbled on something big, but we never know why he comes to Earth for help, God knows we can't even help ourselves. Of course, you'll help him; otherwise the game disc you just paid forty bucks for becomes an expensive drink coaster. So, you agree to help the noble Kay'l, and your adventure/action game begins.

The next sequence starts with you in Kay'l's body, entering Omikron. Before you even get your feet on the ground, a demon leaps off the wall, tells you he's been waiting for you, kicks the crap out of you, and starts to suck your soul out of your head. At least, that's what it looks like. Never take anything in Omikron at face value, or you'll be confused time and time again. Before this friendly demon completes his task, a police 'bot busts onto the scene to save your worthless butt. The machine mutters something about how you have been the victim of a violent attack, suggests you eat something, rehydrate yourself (how nice), and get some rest. He also tells you that, if you start having some mental problems, to consult a Psytech, whatever that is.

It isn't long before you start having some mental troubles. You begin to see visions of the near future, but there's really not much you can do with them. Kay'l originally states that you should start by looking in his apartment, so that's the natural starting point. If you didn't catch that initially, your on-screen character will remind you, and offer hints on how to get there. The game does offer a lot of help, but not so much that it takes away from the gameplay. You enter Kay'l's apartment, and get an idea of what's going on.

If you haven't already noticed, the game's story is pretty engrossing. Actually, it is the story line that really draws you into this game. Everything appears to be well thought out, and finding clues in order to solve the riddle makes the game entertaining. Too often I receive games without any story. This one has it in spades. But there's more to it than that.

In Omikron, it appears as though the state runs everything. People are chemically and psychologically guided through life, and things get pretty extreme. After you watch their form of TV, you'll learn that they worship a Supreme Being who also seems to run things. If you talk against this being, you'll either be reprogrammed, or executed. Also, professional athletes, along with coaches and trainers, can be executed if they do not perform correctly. (Not a bad idea, eh?) So, Kay'l wasn't lying when he said his world was in the deep, brown stuff.

The keyboard can control most of your actions. Omikron plays a lot like some of the old adventure games, most notably The Journeyman Project. Actually, it plays the way you hoped that game played six years ago. This game is the fulfillment of the promise made by the games of yesteryear. You can interact with almost anything in this fully 3D world, and everything moves and works fluidly. You have a third-person perspective, along the lines of Heretic II, and this seems to fit well. Navigation seems natural, and with a mouse and keyboard, you'll get along just fine. If you prefer gamepads, Omikron can use them too, and they work well.

Graphically, Omikron is drop dead gorgeous. Though it only uses 16-bit textures, you'd never notice. Figure Unreal-type graphics. Actually, I ran Omikron next to a machine running Unreal Tournament, and the similarities were startling. The good news is that Omikron doesn't require Pentagon-type hardware. You can run this with just about any video card, though I strongly advise against using the software renderer. It just didn't impress me. A PII with, say, a Riva 128 8MB card should do the trick. If you have anything more powerful than that, especially a Voodoo3 card, you'll be delighted by what you see. Just be sure to set the clipping distance to 'Far', otherwise you'll miss the lavish scenery in the background.

Omikron works in a living, breathing world. Everything you do has repercussions, especially how you speak to the other characters in the game. If you piss someone off, you'll be denied important information. If you kiss the right amount of butt, then you will get along great. The level of interactivity along with the non-linear storyline make this game playable, and, guess what? Fun. That's right. This game is fun. Not too many games can make such a boast.

One of the most entertaining aspects of the game is the fighting. Omikron has two types of fighting: armed and unarmed. The armed fighting sets you into first-person mode, hunting down the baddies with your futuristic weapons. The unarmed, however is more fun. 3D fighting games like the Virtua Fighter series inspired it, and it shows. You attack mainly with the keyboard, setting up combinations you learn throughout the game. At first, when I heard of this feature, I thought it would be a failure. Wrong. The fighting is incorporated so seamlessly into the game, it feels perfect. The fighting does require a decent amount of skill at button mashing, but it pays off in the end. You can train at Kay'l's apartment, and I strongly suggest that you do. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time getting through the fighting scenes.

I saved the sound for last. I did this for several reasons. First off, I haven't heard anything better in a long time. This game is a visual and auditory treat. The soundtrack always sets the mood for the game, and ambient sounds come in at the right time. With that said, I do have a gripe. That gripe is David Bowie. You see, I really don't like Bowie's music, unless you consider his Ziggy Stardust days. Then, he was okay. But since then, I have hated songs like "China Girl" with a passion. Bowie does the soundtrack for the game, and even appears in the game when he performs digital concerts. My problem? This game made me like Bowie again. The title track of the game rings in my head just about every morning now. That's how good it is. I played this game with the Xitel force feedback headphones (look for my review on them soon), and I felt like I was in Omikron. The audio helps create that feeling.

Supposedly, in Omikron, you cannot save the game to save your butt. There is no reloading from a previous point if you die. You're actually supposed to die. You see, when you die, you don't cease to exist, but rather move your soul to the body nearest to the one that just keeled over. You'll play up to forty different characters throughout this long game, adding a new dimension to this type of game I have never seen before.

The part about not being able to save the game is a bit exaggerated though. You come upon three rings (those rings, they be important) in certain areas of the game which will let you save. If you die, then you either take on the new identity, or you can exit the game completely, then start at a saved location. This doesn't work all the time though. On top of that, you'll find other magic rings on the floor that can be used to purchase advice at the save points, among other things. Use the rings wisely, there aren't many of them. The rings have other importance, but to tell you that will give some of the plot away.

Like I said, this game is hard to classify. Picture yourself in an alternate reality, trying to investigate the death of your partner and the cause of the problems in your new world. You'll spend time in the police headquarters, at crime scenes like supermarket holdups, and in seedy bars trying to get information from seedy people. The game has personality, and along with its great gameplay and stellar graphics, it succeeds in creating a new world. Not many games can do that.

Reviewed by John Misak, PC Gameworld.