Remember when Quantic Dream actually developed video games rather than glorified movies that let you walk forward on occasion? I know it sounds crazy, but that actually happened. Granted, the later games Quantic Dream developed had intriguing and involving narratives, but they still were too akin to films with little gameplay. In the wake of David Bowie's unfortunate passing, we've decided to go all the way back to 1999. Which saw the release of Quantic Dream's first video game that had story input, cameos, and original game tracks by the man, the myth, the legend, David Bowie; in Omikron: The Nomad Soul.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul may have the strangest story in video game history, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Nomad Soul begins with our protagonist, Kay'l 669, directly speaking to the player. Kay'l 669 asks the player if they can help save his dimension, but first, the player must "transfer their soul" into the body of Kay'l so they may control him. Things only get stranger from here. After the player "transfers their soul" into the body of Kay'l, he is then transported into Omikron; a dark cyberpunk city on a world called Phaenon. Once the player enters Omikron as Kay'l 669, they must continue his investigation into a string of serial killings with his partner, Den. This quickly escalates into anti-government conspiracies, demons, and an ancient religious order led by David Bowie himself (as a character known as "Boz").

The plot initially feels overwhelming and convoluted, but once you trek further into The Nomad Soul's narrative and begin to understand what exactly is going on, you will quickly become engrossed in this world's story. Admittedly, to me at first, the story felt too strange and awkward at first.

This almost got me to completely give up on The Nomad Soul, but I was glad that I sat through until the end because my initial feelings soon went away. The Nomad Soul's story isn't perfect though. While the overall plot eventually gets more engaging, the characters always feel so one dimensional. You never care about their struggles or how their fates play into the overall scheme of everything. That is with the exception of one character.

I'd be going too deep into spoiler territory if I said too much, but David Bowie's performance as Boz is absolutely fantastic. Although Boz has odd motivations and isn't around long enough to become likable, David Bowie portrays him in a way that intrigues you every second he's on screen. I even purchased Omikron: The Nomad Soul again on Steam to play through to his part.

For 1999, the graphics are fairly good. The darker shading and non-reflective surfaces help bring the dark Blade Runner-esque world to life. Granted, the graphics were good, but they weren't anything to write home about.

Sadly, this is a poorly optimized game. The only settings you are given to tweak are resolution, clipping distance, display sky, display shadow, street activity, and detail level.

This may not sound like an issue since most of our computers were built after the dinosaurs died off, but there is also a 30fps lock that hinders your experience with the game. I even had an issue running at a framerate above 20fps due to an issue with the 30 fps lock.

The Nomad Soul also happened to be one of the earlier games to use motion capture technology for some actors, including David Bowie. The technology was still fairly primitive back in 1999 for games, but it was still nice to see slightly more animated faces on some characters.

Decent gameplay and Quantic Dream usually get along together about as well as Anakin Skywalker and a group of younglings. So, is it different in this case? Yes and no. Yes, there is a lot more gameplay in The Nomad Soul than what you will find in Heavy Rain or Beyond: Two Souls, but it feels pretty awkward and clunky. I can't really blame the game for that because a lot of older games played in modern times feel clunky and awkward. Times change and so does player accessibility.

There are two types of combat gameplay. First, we have hand to hand combat. Hand to hand is also the less awkward of the two. Once you've engaged in a fisty cuffs battle, you control kicking and punching with the WASD keys. I never could get a good pattern so I just mashed them until I won. The second is gun combat. Once you are given a gun, you are put into a first person perspective. While serviceable, the gunplay in The Nomad Soul feels stiff. Especially when you have enemies from all sides and you have to work with the Resident Evil style tank controls. Overall I've had better, but I've also had much worse.

With the inclusion of David Bowie, you would think that the soundtrack would be absolutely amazing, right? Well, it certainly is great, but it falls short of perfection because of the lack of David Bowie sung songs. There are a few songs sung by Bowie himself, but the rest from him are purely instrumentals and you would have to be a diehard Bowie fan to notice. The other side of the soundtrack comes from Reeves Gabrels. His additions are also good and add to the dark cyberpunk vibe. Gabrels' additions also sound akin to Bowie's genre of music.

Voice acting in The Nomad Soul is also convincing with an exceptional performance from David Bowie himself as Boz. The distorted computerized effect to his voice is also a great addition. A lot of expository dialogue is, unfortunately, just in text. This is most similar to examining an object in Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Along with the fixed camera positions, you will be right at home to many of the features of The Nomad Soul if you are coming off of Resident Evil or Silent Hill.

With the inclusion of many strange features and elements, one would think that Omikron: The Nomad Soul doesn't always know what it wants to be. And you may be right with that conclusion, but that doesn't make it a bad game. In fact, The Nomad Soul does just enough different from other games to remain entirely unique. This is an Underrated Gem in every sense of the word. Just as I did for the late Lemmy Kilmister with Brutal Legend (which was uploaded before his passing), this Underrated Gems article is dedicated to David Bowie.

I suppose it's understandable to see why many people forgot about this gem, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. It may take some extra hoops to jump through to get this to run on modern machines, but you can still buy Omikron: The Nomad Soul on both Steam and GOG for less than usual microtransaction. I highly recommend you give this game a try.

This is arguably Quantic Dream's best game. An intriguing story, David Bowie, a great soundtrack, AND actual gameplay? It feels like a dream, but it's not. It's a Quantic Dream.

Rest in peace, David Bowie (1947 - 2016)

In memory of the late David Bowie, Square Enix has decided to give away free Steam keys of Omikron: The Nomad Soul to those who "buy it" through their store.

You can go directly to Omikron: The Nomad Soul's North American store page through this link, and you can go to the European store page through this link. Just remember to use the promo code "omikron" at checkout when asked to, so you can obtain it for free.

We recently wrote an article discussing Omikron: The Nomad Soul after the unfortunate passing of David Bowie. In it, we discussed the good and the bad of Quantic Dream's first outing as a game developer. If you haven't already, check it out. David Bowie also had story input, cameos, and composed the soundtrack for Omikron: The Nomad Soul.

Video games come and go. Such is the way of life in a\r constantly shifting industry. Back in the day we had two-dimensional games\r where we shot things in the face for points, and now we've got\r three-dimensional games where we can fuck Japanese-Anime sluts for fuckpoints.\r Fortunately, we’re not really here to discuss how many sexy-score we can get\r for Onii-Chan’s Fuk Fuk Adventure although a later editorial may come in handy. \r

"Winkidy wink."

Some say that graphics make the game, others say story√¢‚Ǩ‚I am\r an advocate of the latter. While it’s great to see how defined Master Chief's\r ass is in the remastered Halo edition, I must say that the games that have\r stuck with me throughout my existence seemed to all have the makings of cult\r hits based on gameplay, story, music, and overall atmosphere as opposed to the\r ultimate aesthetics. So I decided that maybe it would be time to show some of\r my favorite games that I believe are as good today as they were when they were\r released eons ago before the fire nation attacked. \r

"Dem pixels doe."

This series will just focus on some of my favorite games,\r and the reasons to why I think they are as great now as they were back then. I love them and continue to play them all on\r account of their story, atmosphere, how well the game affected me, and even the\r gameplay itself. This editorial is what we like to call an opinionated piece, and whether or not you agree or disagree, may I\r inform you that tissues are cheap in this day and age, and if not, you can\r always wipe away your tears with a sleeve, or a sock, or whatever’s at hand. This is a personal editorial on some of the\r greatest games I believe have been made. Whether you agree or not, is\r completely your choice.
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RESIDENT EVIL 2

Fear comes around a second time, to fuck you in the ass.

When I was a baby boy, I remembered playing a pirated version of this on my chipped PlayStation 1. Being launched into the fiery abyss of a destroyed truck, to running through the choc-a-bloc streets of Raccoon City with zombies all around, you couldn’t help but just shit your pants as a child. The memories were just infinite; the music upon entering the R.C.P.D with those piano chimes, and the clicking cacophony of feet against the whistling wind of the dead city and the Licker jumping down from the ceiling√¢‚Ǩ‚OH JESUS.

Turn off. Unplug. Wind up power cable. Throw out window.\r Never play again.
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Resident Evil 2 was just one of those chart topping, survival horrors that was burned into my fears as a child. I remember it having the same effect as Dino Crisis, with its haunting score and diverse range of enemies; all scary, all shit-pantingly horrific in their execution against the map.

The game was just beautiful in so many ways too though, from the classic conspiracy story, the replay value, and the constant fear of things coming for you all the way to the entire atmosphere of the city to the underground Umbrella base. It was one of the first horror games I played, and one that haunted me for years to come. I always find myself going back and relaying it every couple of weeks or so. It was a classic, straight up in every way; except for that really bad cardboard voice-acting which I don’t miss so much.

"ADDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

SUPER MARIO LAND

That fucking music.

Doo-doodoo-doo. Doo-doo-

GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

Super Mario Land was the first game I ever played on my original Game Boy way back in the summer of '98. My grandmother bought me it, and from that first level with that music ingrained into my brain so much I’m sure I can still hear it on quiet nights, I was hooked. The gameplay was the core dynamic of a Mario game, all the while being able to play it while in my mom’s car while I wore that flaming dragon shirt and sunglasses, counting how much pussy I was gonna get when I hit that Egyptian world.

"These brothers ain't the only thing with hammers, youknowwhatImean?"

We all knew it. The tiny screen, the hammer brothers fucking you up, and the impending doom as you watch your whole life-count slip away into nothingness. Super Mario Land is the definitive Mario game for me√¢‚Ǩ‚and I know I’m gonna hear some screams about how Super Mario Bros or Super Mario 64 is the ultimate game but to me, playing this at my nan’s house, getting all the way through to the end and dying in a fiery blaze of anger from that one hammer hitting me, well that’s just pure childhood right there.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

Gotta go faster.

The first console I ever owned was a Sega Mega-Drive (or Sega Genesis depending on where you got the shit but I don’t know, who cares, I don’t) and the first game I ever actually played was Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s safe to say that this was the game that launched my love of video games altogether. Cutting through Green Hill Zone to that beautiful, instant-childhood inducing music, and then Marble Zone, Casino and the others just always makes me happy. I loved Sonic growing up and I still love it now, with the help of emulators and improved technology it’s still a game I play on the go. It’s a classic to me and many others I know. Although I have rarely ever managed to complete it.

"I'm still a good gaymur, right?"

This game just gets mentions on the nostalgia factor. It’s always been a favourite and is still one of them.

BATMAN VENGEANCE

Arkham Beta 0.2

Before we were given the beauty of Rocksteady’s Arkham series, and that one game where Christian Bale actually did voice-work, Batman Vengeance was released on PlayStation 2. I remember getting this game for Christmas and wondering what the fuck was going on with it. After much excitement I played it, and was absolutely blown away by it. I was one of those 90's kids that grew up with the Batman Animated series, would wear Batman pyjamas, collect corpses of dead bats and hide them under my bed√¢‚Ǩ‚

Well, I loved Batman, that’s what was key. The story was an original, focusing on the good and juicy tidbits of the show with familiar faces like Mister Freeze, The Joker, Harley-Quinn and everybody’s favorite caped crusader; Brucey himself. The gameplay was like the original Arkham game, truly, in the fact it had stealth components, Hamill and Conroy as the bitter enemies, and plenty of cool levels, secrets, cheats, and an enthralling story involving Batman and the Joker in a tussle of moral crusades against Gotham. The music and cartoonish style was great. I still play this when I can on my old PS2. The style, story, and overall atmosphere was just like the TV show, except you could fly around and fuck shit up with batarangs way before Arkham’s series made it cool. Take that, mainstream douches.

"Yeah I like it, but you’ve probably never even heard of Vengeance anyway."

MANHUNT

Bagged for life!

I’m somewhat of a Rockstar fanboy. Take me outside, line me up, and pelt me with copies of San Andreas until I die, but that’s the truth. I think their early games were some of the greatest ever created, and none other stands to gain my approval more than the disturbing, gory, and beautifully atmospheric creation that was Manhunt. This game has been widely controversial and was even the focus of a large court case involving a murder which was said to have been implemented due to the games graphic content. The case was thrown out but come on! A game that makes this much controversy must be great. I mean, you can literally suffocate people with a Tesco bag.

“The second Karen turns, I’m going for a three-star kill.

The story centers on death row convict: James Earl Cash, who is sentenced to death, but is given a second chance by a grimy, fat snuff-film director called Starkweather who puts Cash through many trials in the decaying Carcer City for cheap thrills, footage, and monies. The game implemented stealth kills with pretty much anything, including plastic bags, glass shards, baseball bats, and even wires. The voice-acting from Brian Cox is absolutely fantastic, as well as Craig Conner’s score, the gameplay which is a mix of both stealth and all out brain-damaging gore, and the atmosphere pushed the boundaries of improvisation in terms of killing, and the feel of Carcer really puts you in a city that feels real, scary, and full of psychotic chumps waiting to hunt you down and cut you up!

It's got everything from a crazy, dark 80s-type score, a multitude of weapons, brilliant voice acting, degradation, fantasies of snuff, rape, violence, gore, and all for under $15. Bargain blood!

HITMAN 2: STEALTH ASSASSIN

Bald Strategy!

I loved the PS2 gaming era. I loved everything from Ico to Final Fantasy VII. I loved MGS, I loved so many games but Stealth Assassin was just one of those games I absolutely loved to play over and over and over and never got bored. You could be the hitman of your dreams. You could sneak in like a shadow, carefully dressed as the maid, delivering fresh pants upstairs and when your victim ain’t looking you could shiv him in the kidney or strangle the life out of him, dress in his clothes, and walk away like a king. OR you could do it my way and step in there with an MP5 and fucking obliterate all the witnesses; the kids, the dog, the God-damn maid, the bodyguards, that one little frog, the scarecrow, and even yourself if you felt like it with that little sticky bomb.

Stealth Assassin was just a brilliant game from start to finish, from each level showing diverse paths, a multitude of weapons, Jesper Kyd on the drums, and of course Agent 47 himself. I remember going to my dad’s and playing this for hours on end, never really faltering in my attention to detail in making sure every. Single. Person. Was dead. There would be no witnesses in the end. I was the reaper. Eight year old me had the makings of a homicidal, nay√¢‚Ǩ‚genocidal maniac, and we have Eidos to thank for that shit.

That’s it for part 1 but watch this space for other parts as\r we’re in for a sexy, bumpy ride. Do you agree with me, do you disagree with me? Comment and let me know if you think I'm an asshole or a nostalgia-whore. I promise to get back to you! Hopefully more to come in the future!
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So from the get go I noticed that the wireless controllers that came with it used infrared instead of radio waves or bluetooth. It was incredibly annoying to try and play the games like this as the controller needed to be pointed DIRECTLY at the console's face in order for it to properly work. Luckily, I had some wired controllers from a previous iteration of the system that I could use. This is when things started to get weird. While the Flashback lists itself as being a "classic" game console, in actuality there is a small chunk of the 101 pre-installed game on it that are homebrew games (like Chase It, Miss It, and Shield Shifter) that were released within the last decade and a couple of them were games that were never officially released at all (like Tempest, Wizard, and Save Mary). While this is nice, it kinda undermines the "classic" aspect that the system is advertising on the box.

Next is the fact that many of the games in this compilation were designed to take advantage of the manuals that originally came with them. With the manuals being absent, much of the gameplay that was used in some of the games (like in the Swordquest series) is now extremely cryptic or utter nonsense as there is now no way to figure out what they mean without looking up a walkthrough online. Even Atari Anthology on the PS2 and XBox had scans of the original manuals that you could access at any time. This is just lazy.

Finally, we have the fact that a small handful of the games in this system like Off the Wall and Circus Atari are best played with the rotational paddle controllers. Now I didn't get the special bundle pack that already had these controllers, but I wasn't willing to spend an additional $20-30 just so I could play with these cheaply made controllers; they feel like I could break them if I just sneeze in the wrong direction. In addition to this, this console is composite output ONLY. There is no way to get this thing to work on an HD TV unless it already has a compatible input or if you have an adapter of some kind.

Overall, this plug-n-play is baffling to say the least. It calls itself classic even though about 10% isn't, it has games that work best with controllers that it doesn't have (unless you pay extra), and the lack of manuals make the rest of the compilation confusing to figure out. If you already know the solutions to the games then that should make some things easier, but all in all this console is pretty lack luster for the amount it costs. It would make more sense to buy Atari Anthology, so until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score