MindsEye Review: Worse Than Outdated Action Games
▼ Summary
– MindsEye is criticized for its poor story, inconsistent writing, bad mission design, and terrible combat, despite initial promise.
– The game’s driving mechanics and vehicle designs are praised as one of its few highlights, offering arcade-style fun in a near-future setting.
– Redrock City, the game’s setting, lacks depth and feels more like a backdrop than a living, interactive world.
– The story starts intriguingly but devolves into inconsistent tone and absurd sci-fi elements, failing to explore its political themes meaningfully.
– Combat is described as the game’s biggest flaw, with clunky mechanics, weak enemy AI, and unsatisfying feedback, making it unenjoyable.
MindsEye had potential to revive classic open-world action games, but its execution falls disastrously short across nearly every aspect. What begins as an intriguing techno-thriller quickly unravels into a mess of poor design choices, laughable combat mechanics, and a story that abandons its promising setup for nonsensical sci-fi tropes.
The game introduces Jacob Diaz, a former military drone pilot grappling with memory loss after a mysterious incident involving ancient ruins. His journey through the neon-lit Redrock City, a futuristic Las Vegas stand-in, could have been compelling. Instead, the narrative squanders its political undertones, reducing its Elon Musk-inspired villain to an underdeveloped caricature while shifting focus to a generic military coup plot. The writing veers wildly between pseudo-serious drama and cringe-worthy Marvel-esque quips, leaving no tonal consistency.
Where MindsEye briefly shines is in its vehicle handling. The driving mechanics strike a satisfying balance between arcade fun and realistic weight, making chases through sandstorms or tight city streets genuinely thrilling. Sadly, these moments are rare. The game constantly interrupts exploration with nagging NPCs demanding you hurry to the next objective, stripping away any chance to appreciate Redrock’s admittedly impressive skyline.
Combat is where the experience collapses entirely. Diaz moves like a stiff mannequin, lacking basic abilities like dodging or melee attacks. Enemy AI alternates between brainlessly charging or freezing in place, while gunfights feel weightless thanks to weak hit reactions and laughable blood effects. Even the drone, Diaz’s signature gadget, adds little beyond stun attacks and late-game grenade throws.
Side missions, meant to showcase the game’s creation tools, are embarrassingly shallow. One early example tasks players with a military flashback that plays like a rushed tech demo, devoid of pacing or challenge. Another forces you to play as a gang member inexplicably surrounded by cops who never appear elsewhere. These segments highlight the game’s biggest irony: if the developers can’t design engaging content, why should players bother with their creation tools?
Visually, Redrock impresses at a glance, but its seams show quickly. The city feels more like a staged backdrop than a living world, with jarring transitions between districts and minimal interactivity. The campaign’s abrupt shift from grounded conspiracy to over-the-top sci-fi only amplifies the disjointedness.
MindsEye isn’t just bad, it’s baffling. In an era where even mid-2000s shooters outclass its combat, and open-world games offer far richer immersion, this feels like a relic from a less polished time. The few bright spots, like its sleek cars and stylish cutscenes, are buried under layers of frustration. For a game about unlocking hidden potential, it tragically fails to realize its own.
(Source: EUROGAMER)
