Nintendo teamed up with n-Space this year to bring a new twist to the first person shooter. Tucked away in one of many nooks of the Nintendo booth was a game that revels in its unique nature. The name is Geist, and it's pretty weird. The player is put in the shoes of a ghost in this title, floating about and scaring the wits out of humans. The twist is that, given proper scaring, you can possess the humans you encounter and use them as tools to work your way through the game.

Nintendo's site reveals, "In the hallways, labs and chambers of a shadowy compound, an unseen power is lurking. As a ghostly Spectral Operative, players must search for a physical body, which is mysteriously being kept alive somewhere in the enormous complex. Players won't always be alone though--as they explore, they must collect the energies of indigenous spirits to help unravel a mystery and build their own power. Some will help ... but beware, for not all the spirits are friendly. Prepare for a first-person adventure with a spectral twist!"

This sounds like the normal run of the mill hype for a title, but it actually turns out to be pretty fun. Despite a lack of intuitive control, the game transcends the normal ideals of a first person shooter and provides unique puzzle solving methods. Using an abnormal strafing method (B strafes left and X strafes right) can take a while to get used to, and it seems like the players in Nintendo's video were having some trouble with it. This is made up for by the very easy controls for possession. When someone is frightened (they'll glow) you just push the A button and you'll jam your spectral self right inside their torso. This is all, of course, accompanied by a creepy video.

Floating around and scaring people was entertaining by itself, and the potential for fun is definitely there. The only issue I had is that scaring humans is at first somewhat lame. You basically just move back and forth, up and down until they get scared. Further down the line the ability to interact with objects and scramble electronics will certainly make up for this. After you've possessed a person, you have full access to their capabilities. Guns, hands, etc. are all at your disposal for solving problems, killing other humans, or just running around. The ability to move through cracks in the wall and possess rodents and other animals will certainly pose a unique puzzle for gamers.

I can honestly see this title wavering in both directions. While the graphics seem well done, the first person perspective doesn't seem to work in the way it does in games like Halo or Metroid Prime. This lack of a common control scheme may hurt the learning curve quite a bit. On the other hand, I can see why n-Space chose this method, as strafing is closely related to possession. The only other problem I could find with the game was that you might find yourself starting entire levels over just because you de-possessed the wrong person.

Despite the flaws, I see a lot of potential here. I can only hope that n-Space, the developer of Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes and several Olsen twins games, will pull off a good title worthy of its spooky hype. Geist has a real opportunity to stand out in the world of first person shooters, and I hope that it doesn't go wasted. The multiplayer capabilities and opportunity to do battle with enemy ghosts should make this an excellent title, and I'm sure I'll be giving it a second look when the release date is revealed.