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Game? What game, this is real-life brother. You have been tricked into thinking what you are interacting with is just a simple piece of software, it's actually not, it's a parallel universe.

Every time you enter Omikron you're soul is transferred to a different dimension. A dimension where high-tech is the standard and radioactive beverages are the norm. You inhabit a cop, Agent Kay'l 669. While investigating a recent string of murders Kayl's partner was killed. Somehow, he survives and helps you undergo a soul transfer. As soon as the transfer is complete, a demon arrives to kill you.

The demon starts to uh.. steal your soul when luckily a MeccaGaurd arrives. This armoured allie scares off the demon and alerts you that you have been the victim of a violent attack, and that you should get some rest.

As you start to walk away from the scene of what could have been your murder Kay'l alerts you to some of the basic controls of your newfound body. After walking into what seems to be an immense city you are greeted by a hollywood style intro to the game. After some awesome music and some random views of Omikron you are returned to a third-person view. Now what did the MeccaGaurd say again? Oh yeah... I was told to go home and get some rest... but the city's so immense. After reffering to my manual I realized that I would have to call a "slider" to take me to my apartment. To call it I would have to use my "sneak".

The sneak is really just you're normal RPG inventory screen with a reason to be there. It is like a computer on your arm. To call the slider I accessed my sneak and highlighted the location "Kayl's apartment, seconds later a car arrived at my location. I walked up to it, pressed enter and got in. It took me straight to the apartment.

Most of the game is spent exploring or figuring out puzzles. But there are action sequences and as far as plot goes, Omikron lays it on thick. When the action heats up, the game throws you into one of two modes FPS for clearing areas, and Fighting mode for bosses and the like.

FPS mode is used for clearing rooms full of enemies, or sometimes used for fighting bosses. This mode (by default) puts you in a first person perspective and is controlled by the arrow keys and mouse. You can switch weapons and if you die your magic rings will bring you back to life. I did notice some slowdown when dealing with alot of onscreen enemies, but it wasn't a major deal.

The fighting mode is used when fighting bosses one on one and actually does take a bit of skill. This mode is EXP related in the fact that the more you train, the faster/harder your charactor hits. The default controls for this mode seem to work very well, Q & W for punches, A & S for kicks and Z & X for blocks.

Saves are limited in the sense that you must find rings to save and saves can only occur at designated points. This is better in my personal opinion because it motivates you to move forward in the game. It also forces you to be alot more careful about where you save. If you die in omikron, you can come back at the last save, or in some cases you'll automatically use magic rings and be regenerated. Later in the game though, is where the fun begins. You're going to die at some point in the game, but you can willfully switch to bodies of certain charactors around Omikron, in the fourth screenshot for instance, I was in the body of a call-girl. Each charactor has different qualities and in some instances, you will need to use a certain one. The depth of charactors is not where it ends however, in the game you will find random items around. Some of these items are flyers advertising events like an underground boxing match or a music concert. Well this isn't just for show, you can actually attend these events.

Omikron is one of the greatest (and least known!) games of our time. Quanticdream has taken the winning concepts from all sides and combined them to create a masterpiece.

Graphics:The graphics in Omikron are average for a game of this type. The ingame cutscenes are well executed and very enjoyable. As far as stability concerns go the engine is fairly stable, but does experience slowdown issues when combating multiple apponents (Zodir Supermarket anyone?) The fixed camera positions may annoy you at first, but you'll quickly become accustomed to them.

Controls:The controls weren't difficult, but this game definatly could have benifitted from a full training level. Such a level could have fit right into the story, Kay'l is a police officer after all. The keys are fully remapable if they don't fit to your liking, but I prefer just learning whats already there. I did however remap the FPS mode's controls to standard wsad instead of the arrow keys.

Gameplay:Omikron is one of those games where you keep promising yourself you'll save and quit at the next set of rings but infact, it is very hard to leave the game. The storyline progressed through basic exploration and events such as calls on your sneak. Action sequences trigger a different mode of play, either FPS or Hand Combat. These modes are very well done and truly feel like they belong in the game. There are puzzles abound in this game, and you might just happen to get stuck at some point. I truly recommend downloading a walkthrough for the toughies. Saving can be achieved at special points in the game. To save you must have magic rings (I wish someone told me this in the begining, because I didn't realize this and saved after nearly everything I did). If you die in Omikron there are two things that could happen. The first is waking up with a doctor over your body or, later in the game, getting transferred to the body of the first person who touches you. Basically, combine all current genres, throw em in a blender, and you get Omikron.

Sound:The music was fantastic, the vocals were unique to the charactors, the music changed according to the storyline. In other words the sound was perfect

Overall:This game has it all.