So the game was caught in the middle and never got the chance to shine.” A couple months before the launch of the game Midway completely revamped the whole marketing department and brought in a whole new team who had to become familiar with the game while inheriting a marketing campaign already in place from the previous group.
And yet even with solid critical reception upon its release, and the story getting optioned for a film treatment within the same year, the game struggled to sell, “ Psi-Ops was actually one of the highest if not the highest rated Midway console games after it launched but the group in charge of Midway, at the time, determined it did not sell well enough to warrant a sequel.”īrian Eddy briefly explained why the crowded market isn’t solely to blame, “ A big part of the reason it didn’t sell as well as it should have was poor marketing. When the game was shown next, the changes were evident and the buzz began in earnest. To managements credit they allowed us to continue to make the game and gave us more resources.” It was a huge mistake to bring it–the team said don’t do it! We reworked a TON of controls and art when it was over. “ It was actually quite horrible but Midway didn’t have anything to show so they had to show something new. “ The game was in horrible shape and barely playable,” Eddy recalled. Back then, it was going under the title of ESPionage and many of the characters shown were mere place holders (as seen in these rarely seen concept images from the team): To start, it’s first outing at E3 2003 wasn’t exactly stellar. It’s hard enough for a new IP to stand out, especially among such heavy-hitters, but Psi-Ops had an even more uphill battle. Sandwiched in among these sequels and franchise connected titles, was Midway’s Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.
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With Red Dead Revolver, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Driver 3, the genre-defining Spider-Man 2, Doom 3, Star Wars Battlefront, Silent Hill 4, and Fable, it was a smorgasbord of genres and stories. The Summer of 2004 was a particularly ripe period of time for gamers. I recently had the chance to catch up with the game’s director, Brian Eddy, to discuss what went wrong and what a sequel might have given gamers.
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It was never meant to be, however, despite featuring one HELL of a cliffhanger gamers are still in the dark as to what could have been and why the series stopped cold. There are some incredible “eureka!” moments as players combined powers and destructible environments in unique ways to take down enemies and reach bosses.īetween the addictive gameplay and fun story, Psi-Ops seemed poised for the franchise treatment.
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It featured a combination of stealth gameplay, full on action, and a plethora of abilities to play around with in a open (for the time) environment.Īll of these elements worked together to encourage exploration and playing around to solve puzzles in a natural way. Built off the Havoc engine, it truly showcased what the technology was capable of. Where the game shined brightest, however, was in it’s gameplay. Throw in some genuine horror elements and thrills throughout, and it seemed to constantly surprise you. Filled with twists and turns, along with some over-the-top (think old-school goofy James Bond) villains it was highly enjoyable to play through. It’s story was a bit cheesy embracing more of a B-movie style, but nonetheless fun because of it.