Gameplay

Possession Time!

The gameplay is what makes this game so unique. While some may not like the concept of possession, this game makes it wickedly fun. Actually, the whole game is just wicked. But it has that intelligent sort of wicked to it. The controls are essentially those of a first person shooter mixed in with some other action keys. Movement is really easy to get used.

Everybody has seen Bob by now, the little cherub that gets kicked out of heaven to do some work on Earth. After playing this game, one might easily confuse Bob with the fallen angel. Playing as Bob is almost useless. Aside from the limited flight ability he is tiny and weak. A few shots will do him in and he has no mode of attack. So what makes this little diaper-toting babe useful?

My butt!

Chot Chot

So, possession then?

Possession is where Bob excels. Why take the hits if the possessed chump can? Once in possession of a body Bob does not get hurt. Only in the hardest settings does Bob die if the host dies. Otherwise he is kicked out of the body before host death. Another little perk of possession is that Bob regains his own energy and draws off the host if he is hurt.

Well now that we can take over characters ranging from cops to hookers, what do we do with them? Messiah, at first may seem like the average run around press the button and kill everything in your path type of game. This impression however, will be very short lived.

They don't like me

Billboards

Possession is an art that must be perfected in this game. Depending upon the difficulty setting, various angles and heights must be attained in order to take over a body. On easy, one can possess from just about any height and angle. The harder settings force Bob to enter through the upper back region of the body; this is considerably more difficult. Depending on the character, one can also change bodies through special moves. So far I have found that the prostitute can kiss people, thus allowing you to transfer bodies in the process.

The only thing I didn't like was how the possessed people reacted to suddenly awakening in a place totally different from where they were. They all just mill about in their new surroundings as though nothing had happened. A small point, but some reaction to their new situation would have been nice.

Commander front

Bazooka!

Don't Shoot!

Being the avid Q3 player that I am, I tried to muscle my way through the first level only to learn that this is quite possibly one of the worst ways to get through the game. One might add to the list of required system components, a decently screwed on head. This game requires a considerable amount of thinking. The levels all have various ways to complete them. For instance the first level has a laser gate that can either be blown up or be opened up by a Commander. The choice is up to you, or more likely what path you end up uncovering first. This could be a form of replayability. Thinking outside of the box is the key in trying to play the game a second time.