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Psychic Detective (video game)
Encyclopedia
Psychic Detective is the title of a 1995 video game that used extensive amounts of live-action footage and featuring dozens of professional character actors.
The game is set in San Francisco where the player assumes the role of Eric Fox (Kevin Breznahan), a psychic who earns his living doing a magic act in a seedy nightclub. One night, he is approached by the exotic Laina Pozok (Beata Pozniak
), who senses that Eric is more powerful than he imagines. She trains Eric to "hitch hike" into people's minds. He sees what his subject sees, and hears what his subject hears; meanwhile, his body continues to interact with the world around him in an "automatic pilot-like" state. Laina hires Eric to attend a wake being held in honor of her father, who has died under mysterious circumstances.
of them, providing more clues to help solve the Pozok murder case. Before long, Eric is embroiled in a conspiracy involving a powerful religious cult
, spies, and family intrigue, and he also has to deal with his growing romantic attachment to Laina. Occasionally throughout the game, Eric obtains access to "psychic collectors" which amplify his abilities and allow him to affect the moods and attitudes of the people around him, but at a cost.
Psychic Detective is generally presented in first person
, with icons appearing at intervals on the screen signifying people and objects Eric can interact with. Each game generally takes about 45 minutes to play, however multiple plays are required in order to uncover all aspects of the storyline, and there are a dozen alternate endings possible; depending upon the choices made by the player, many different storylines are uncovered, including one that occurs if the player makes no choices and simply watches events unfold. Occasional cut scenes break the storyline into chapters, but which cut scene is viewed depends upon Eric's actions. The endgame portion of Psychic Detective involves Eric playing a surreal board game against the villain; the power of Eric's pieces against his opponent is based solely upon his actions and investigations throughout the game.
, and 3DO
. The game includes adult language and sexual content in the 3DO
and Windows versions, which was censored from the PlayStation version.
The game received mixed reviews on its first release. Arinn Dembo
, writing for Computer Gaming World
, gave the game 4 stars. GameSpot gave the PC version a 4.7, calling the game "innovative", but asserting that the overabundance of interaction and storyline branches turns the experience into a confusing mess. They concluded "Instead of being like a good movie enhanced by interactivity, Psychic Detective is a more like a movie... clouded with interactive options that eventually detract from the project." Live action footage from Psychic Detective was edited together to create a short film that was shown at a film festival in the mid-1990s.
This game is not to be confused with the Japanese-only Psychic Detective series of adventure games developed by DataWest.
The game is set in San Francisco where the player assumes the role of Eric Fox (Kevin Breznahan), a psychic who earns his living doing a magic act in a seedy nightclub. One night, he is approached by the exotic Laina Pozok (Beata Pozniak
Beata Pozniak
Beata Poźniak is a Polish-American actress, film director, painter, fashion model and activist who is now based out of the United States.-Biography:...
), who senses that Eric is more powerful than he imagines. She trains Eric to "hitch hike" into people's minds. He sees what his subject sees, and hears what his subject hears; meanwhile, his body continues to interact with the world around him in an "automatic pilot-like" state. Laina hires Eric to attend a wake being held in honor of her father, who has died under mysterious circumstances.
Gameplay
The game begins when Eric enters the Pozok household, and is given the choice to remain in his body, or hitch hike aboard any one of a number of characters he encounters. Eric also has the ability to pick up objects and take a psychic readingPsychic reading
A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information with clairvoyance and the resulting statements made during such an attempt. The term is commonly associated with paranormal-based consultation given for a fee in such settings as over the phone, in a home, or at psychic fairs...
of them, providing more clues to help solve the Pozok murder case. Before long, Eric is embroiled in a conspiracy involving a powerful religious cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, spies, and family intrigue, and he also has to deal with his growing romantic attachment to Laina. Occasionally throughout the game, Eric obtains access to "psychic collectors" which amplify his abilities and allow him to affect the moods and attitudes of the people around him, but at a cost.
Psychic Detective is generally presented in first person
First person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
, with icons appearing at intervals on the screen signifying people and objects Eric can interact with. Each game generally takes about 45 minutes to play, however multiple plays are required in order to uncover all aspects of the storyline, and there are a dozen alternate endings possible; depending upon the choices made by the player, many different storylines are uncovered, including one that occurs if the player makes no choices and simply watches events unfold. Occasional cut scenes break the storyline into chapters, but which cut scene is viewed depends upon Eric's actions. The endgame portion of Psychic Detective involves Eric playing a surreal board game against the villain; the power of Eric's pieces against his opponent is based solely upon his actions and investigations throughout the game.
History
The game was released on the PlayStation, DOSDOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, and 3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
. The game includes adult language and sexual content in the 3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
and Windows versions, which was censored from the PlayStation version.
The game received mixed reviews on its first release. Arinn Dembo
Arinn Dembo
Arinn Dembo, born , is an American author currently living and writing in British Columbia, Canada. Dembo is best known for her work with Vancouver-based Kerberos Productions, where she is Lead Writer and has worked on the background fiction for the Sword of the Stars series and Fort Zombie...
, writing for Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
, gave the game 4 stars. GameSpot gave the PC version a 4.7, calling the game "innovative", but asserting that the overabundance of interaction and storyline branches turns the experience into a confusing mess. They concluded "Instead of being like a good movie enhanced by interactivity, Psychic Detective is a more like a movie... clouded with interactive options that eventually detract from the project." Live action footage from Psychic Detective was edited together to create a short film that was shown at a film festival in the mid-1990s.
This game is not to be confused with the Japanese-only Psychic Detective series of adventure games developed by DataWest.