Gemini: Heroes Reborn Review – Time Jumping and Telekinetic Tricks

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Movie and TV tie-ins haven’t fared so well historically in the video game world. Did developer Phosphor and Tim Kring’s Imperative Entertainment game studio buck the trend with Gemini: Heroes Reborn?

Read on to find out.

The Heroes franchise jumped on to the TV scene back in 2006 and ran for four successful seasons. After a five year hiatus, the series returned with a thirteen episode miniseries called Heroes Reborn that gave us insight into what had transpired since we last visited the Heroes world and introduced new characters with new super powers and a new villainous corporation trying to exploit them and/or take them out. Fans of the series should take the time to watch Heroes Reborn as it furthered the story well and is a great addition to the storyline.

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Gemini: Heroes Reborn takes place after the original Heroes TV series and before the the Heroes Reborn TV series and acts as a prequel to the latest miniseries. Fans of the series will find many Easter eggs and familiar names throughout the video game, with collectibles that not only help tell the story of the game, but also gives references to past occurrences and a few future ones. Executive producer Tim Kring was smart enough to have some of the TV show writers work on the script for the game, and that was probably one of the best things he could do for Gemini: Heroes Reborn. The story represents the series well and will satisfy the fans of the franchise who are always looking for more information. While the story is fairly short, it is full of twists and surprises and creates a depth of character for several new people introduced there-in.

Gemini: Heroes Reborn follows the story of a young lady named Cassandra Hays, who has no recollection of most of her past but, with her friend Alex, is venturing into a restricted area known as the Quarry that was demolished in a mysterious fire years before. Unaware of her past, she has no idea that she’s an Evo (Evolved Human or Hero with super powers for those of you not into the series) but her friend Alex thinks she can find out more about her parents and her past by searching through the ruins of what was once a research facility.

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Game play is set in first person view, and different powers are slowly introduced to you. Time jumping backwards to a fixed time before the Quarry was destroyed, and back to your current time gives you the ability to move through areas otherwise obstructed and sneak by bad guys in an ingenious way. You’ll also get a telekinetic super power so you can lift and throw objects, including most bad guys. Add in the ability to slow time to a crawl, and you’ll also be able to grab bullets and rockets out of mid-air and toss them back at the folks wanting to do you harm. The mechanics of the super powers are simple, yet effective, and are easy to learn and use.

Level design is very linear, with pretty much one path to choose from, but a puzzling thought process may have you back tracking to find something you missed, or time swapping to see something from a different perspective. This isn’t a bad thing as it adds depth to the story telling and becomes required at a few points in order to get to your next checkpoint. With a limited amount of time-slowing power, you’ll also have give thought as to how best to utilize that ability to maximize its effectiveness and availability. All in all, the mechanics of the game and level design couple nicely to create a fun experience, albeit on the short side. The graphics for the game are top notch, with smooth transitions between time swaps, and highly detailed levels and characters. Dual environments based on your current time frame add to the complexity of the game.

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Gemini: Heroes Reborn is a great tie-in for the TV series and helps to not only tell parts of the story, but adds to it as well with new characters that are both likable and some that are evil. A very smart move by Tim Kring to bring in writers from the TV series gives the game a real Heroes feel and this game should not be missed by any fans of the series, and even those not knowledgeable about the Heroes franchise will enjoy it.

With a low price tag of only US$14.99, this game shouldn’t be missed, and PlayStation trophy hunters will be happy to hear it does have a Platinum trophy.

8

Louis Edwards

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