MindsEye launched a few weeks ago and I really wanted to give this game a chance. I played it on launch for a little while and it seemed like it was actually ok for the first hour or so… It had potential. Or at least I thought it did. Then the problems just started to show up. And they really showed up in full force. I even waited for a patch before continuing just to make sure that what I played was actually worth the slog and well, it really wasn’t.

So what exactly is wrong with this game and is there a way for it to be fixed in the future?

In MindsEye, players will take on the role of Jacob Diaz, a freshly retired military soldier who was implanted with the titular “MindsEye” device in his neck. Allegedly decommissioned, the device plays an important role in the game by affecting Jacob’s perception of reality. The premise actually sounds cool on paper and the game onboards you quite well with an introductory sequence that was honestly, really not bad at all. However, the problems start to mount the further you get into the game.



The gameplay in MindsEye is where things start to unravel. On the surface, it looks like a solid action adventure third-person shooter similar to games like Grand Theft Auto and Saint’s Row but unfortunately there’s just too much blatantly missing here that it’s absolutely baffling how the game made it past quality assurance testing.

First and foremost, controlling Jacob is fine. You can move around your environment just fine and controlling him on foot is standard fare. I thankfully never had major problems with aiming and shooting different weapons was actually enjoyable. The cover system used in the game could use a bit of work but it’s serviceable. Something more akin to how The Division or Gears of War’s cover system worked would have been better but that might be asking for too much.



Now, enter problem number 1. Enemies in MindsEye are quite easy to defeat. They are simply cannon fodder that keep you from your objectives. There’s no real challenge here and even shooting at the mech enemies with breakable parts feels too easy. This suddenly changes though at some points in the game and the difficulty spikes into bonkers territory for no reason with an abysmal checkpoint system that will frustrate you immensely. Problem 2 with combat is that enemies will close in on you and you’ll have to defeat them.

There’s no real challenge here and even shooting at the mech enemies with breakable parts feels too easy.

That’s sounds normal, right? So let me elaborate. In any self-respecting modern third-person action shooter, you’ll be able to attack enemies with a melee weapon. Or melee them with your gun. Or perform a physical close quarters combat attack. In MindsEye? Nope. Nothing. This actually snuck up on me in one of the early missions and I was left gobsmacked that there was no option for a melee attack at all in a video game in 2025.



Problem number 3! You inhabit Redrock City. A city with some cool-looking vehicles. And since this is a game that’s similar to Grand Theft Auto or Cyberpunk 2077, you’d assume that you can drive any vehicle you see, right? Well once again, nope. You can only drive specific vehicles. If you can swallow this fact, you’ll encounter problem number 4. The game world is quite large but for some unknown reason once again, there isn’t an in-game map for you to look at. Just a small mini-map which doesn’t help with navigating Redrock City. Oh, and let’s not forget that there’s plenty of driving sections between missions where the game is just deathly silent because there is no in-game radio! Absolutely crazy stuff when you’ll be driving for easily 2 to 5 minutes just getting yourself to mission locations.

Since this is a game that’s similar to Grand Theft Auto or Cyberpunk 2077, you’d assume that you can drive any vehicle you see, right? Well once again, nope.

The game is also littered with small story mini-games which seem so out of place. An early story segment has you performing CPR in a rhythm game manner but it’s so atrociously presented to you that chances are you’ll struggle through this and be left confused as to why it was even in there in the first place. Another segment draws inspiration from Watch Dogs and has you using surveillance cameras to track someone. However, this takes way too long and needed to be far more interactive to be engaging. In fact, playing through these segments just made me wish I was playing Watch Dogs instead…



Circling back to the open-world aspects with Redrock City, even if you go on a rampage with your car and cause massive destruction ramming into other vehicles or people, there’s absolutely no consequences and everything just resets itself magically in no time flat. This is not only jarring but I was so perplexed as to whether or not this was a bug or if it was actually intended to be this way.

Travelling through Redrock City, there was a lot of texture pop-in and unfortunately the environment just looked dead despite having some pretty areas in-between. The desert is bland and eerily devoid of life and even the city itself seems rather generic despite a sci-fi theme to the game. Enemy designs are repeated and NPC designs too so it feels even more generic because of this.



The soundtrack of MindsEye does the absolute bare minimum with nothing really standing out. The lack of radio stations or music while driving is unforgivable. The voice acting is okay though, but given the fact that the characters are written into the story so poorly, you won’t really connect with any of them much. When you finish the game and unlock the free roaming mode, you also somehow take on the role of an old man with no real explanation as to why. You also can’t customise your character so you’re stuck with this model.

The voice acting is okay though...

Graphically, MindsEye actually looks quite pretty with some cinematic moments and areas in the game being visually appealing. It’s such a shame that the gameplay doesn’t match the game’s visuals and it all feels like such wasted potential. Like a project that ran out of money at the 60% mark and was just shipped out. This is a game that needed at least another 6 month’s worth of development time and even then, I don’t think that would have been enough to fix the disappointing story and baffling design decisions. If it launched at a fraction of the asking price and with a big disclaimer saying it was still under active development, maybe I could be more forgiving.



However, MindsEye as it stands right now and even after a hefty patch, is still a fundamentally flawed game with a mediocre story that seemingly goes nowhere and is not worth the price tag. The game honestly feels like it might have succeeded more if it was a movie rather than an actual game. It has a distinct almost “tech demo” feel to it and you’ll notice this more and more the further you get into it. Only grab this if it hits the bargain bin or after numerous patches fix its glaring issues.

PS5 Review code provided by IO Interactive