Let's be honest, as Nintendo fans we've all been waiting for a 'Goldeneye' to occupy our time since day one. Sure, we have TimeSplitters, but the Cube has seen very little monumental FPS action bar a few pretty good titles. This is why Geist is such a big thing; everyone with a GameCube is praying that it can partially fill that gaping void that shoot-'em-up fanatics seek. This E3 gave us a few more insights as to whether it's up to the job.

For those of you who don't know, Geist isn't your everyday FPS. You play as John Raimi, a now-deceased soldier with the ability to possess and do generally ghostly things. It's easy enough to possess objects; simply highlight them and then press the A button to become it. When you enter an object, whether it be an animal such as a rat or computer, you'll be able to perform certain actions with the context-sensitive A button; so if you decide to momentarily become a fire extinguisher you could spray a nearby guard, or bark as a dog. The possibilities are seemingly endless; from navigating claustrophobic air vents with rats to performing more menial tasks like turning light switches on and off to frighten foes, more or less anything you can see, you can become. In your spectral form you can also pass through walls (as long as there is some small means of squeezing through), which will surely avert some sticky situations.

Mind boggling. Bwaha.

If you want to take control of a human form, though, things get a little trickier. The idea is you must scare the human thus making it easier to take control of his mind. While it's all good and well floating around a semi-transparent spectre scaring people for a few cheap laughs, when it comes to opening doors and shooting things, ghosts don't have much luck. Gameplay gets interesting when you have no way of reaching certain areas and you must use seemingly every day objects to take hold of a guard. Watch out though, odd behaviour is monitored for possible possession and if you're found out you'll have to revert to a good old blood bath.

This particular E3 demo didn't particularly show off any new play mechanics, more so just a few more levels (including a short dream-esque tutorial upon your death.) Graphically very little has changed since you last saw it; it looks nice enough, although lacks detail in certain areas and quite often the character models look less than convincing. It's certainly nothing special, but it looks nice enough.

Geist promises to be something out of the ordinary. Fingers crossed.

On the whole, Geist looks interesting enough, and I have no doubt in my mind it'll be fun (n-Space, the guys behind Geist, have an FPS pedigree with the likes of Duke Nukem to their name), but it just doesn't look like a classic. The concept is excellent and someone else will do it in the future, you just get the feeling that a further iteration will be done far better. Geist just isn't polished enough yet, in terms of both gameplay and visuals; control issues and a few graphical problems all point toward a 'good but not quite' FPS title. Those expecting another Goldeneye may want to look elsewhere, or wait for the Revolution to release something. Of course, there's a lot of time for Geist to pull a few things together and surprise everyone, it's certainly slipped on enough occasions, if it means we'll get a classic then I don't think anyone will mind the wait. You just have wonder if it was down to Nintendo not being best pleased with what they'd seen. Watch this space.