Jump to content

MindsEye

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MindsEye
Developer(s)Build a Rocket Boy
Publisher(s)IO Interactive
Director(s)Leslie Benzies
Designer(s)
  • Benjamin Dumaz
  • Lukasz Gomula (Arcadia)
Programmer(s)
  • Jonathan Lee
  • Lambert Clara
  • Tom Owlett
Artist(s)
  • Sebastian Livall
  • Thomas Woode
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)
Release10 June 2025
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

MindsEye is a 2025 action-adventure game developed by Build a Rocket Boy and published by IO Interactive. In the game, players assume control of Jacob Diaz (Alex Hernandez), a former soldier with a mysterious neural implant, known as the MindsEye. Suffering from memory loss and flashbacks, he heads towards the fictional desert metropolis of Redrock (based on Las Vegas), where he aims to discover the secrets behind this implant.[1]

MindsEye was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 10 June 2025. The game received generally negative reviews from critics.

Gameplay

[edit]

MindsEye is a linear third-person action-adventure game that has a pseudo-open world similar to Mafia: Definitive Edition. Redrock City serves as the game's main playable area.[2][3] As part of the game creation system Everywhere, players are able to add user-generated content to MindsEye's world and create content using Everywhere's tools, with associate game director Adam Whiting comparing the game to custom Minecraft servers. Assets from MindsEye can also be used in other aspects of Everywhere.[4]

Plot

[edit]

Jacob Diaz accepts a job offer from the Silva Corporation based in the desert city of Redrock, though he suffers from memory loss and traumatic flashbacks of a military operation gone wrong three years ago. He reports to his superior, Kerry Rigby and is put straight to work dealing with several of Silva's automated robots which have mysteriously gone rogue. However, his true aim is to find the missing scientist Hunter Morrison, who developed the MindsEye neural implant he received in the military which has afflicted him with numerous mental and memory issues. He manages to thwart an attempted theft of Silva Corp technology by a mercenary group called Red Sands, whose leader apparently also has a MindsEye implant along with a bionic arm. He also rescues a hacker named Charlie from Red Sands, who agrees to assist him in his investigations.

Jacob's performance attracts the attention of Silva Corp's eccentric CEO, Marco Silva, who assigns Jacob to be his personal bodyguard. While guarding Silva, Jacob learns he has an intense rivalry with Redrock's mayor, Shiva Vega, who is an obstacle to his desire to launch rockets to fulfill his dream of interstellar colonization. After Jacob rescues Silva from a kidnapping attempt by Red Sands, the latter reveals he knew Jacob was looking for answers about the MindsEye and Morrison, and promises to provide them. Silva then reactivates Jacob's Mindseye, allowing him to slowly regain his lost memories as well as improve his control over drones. Jacob then continues investigating the rogue robots, the conspiracy against Silva, and Morrison's whereabouts. He eventually gets a lead on Morrison at an abandoned mine, but suffers from a flashback where in his last mission three years prior, where after exploring mysterious ruins in a cave, he somehow lost control of his drone which then killed his entire squad. His superior Colonel Lamrie proceeded to forcibly extract his memories from his MindsEye, which is what caused his memory loss. Jacob later wakes up in Morrison's hidden lab, and Morrison instructs him to install several listening devices around Redrock in order to communicate with beings dubbed the "Kin".

After ensuring the safety of Silva's Echo II rocket, Jacob is instructed by Silva to help him and Rigby confront Vega, who is apparently attempting to steal and sell Silva's code to the military who is secretly backing Red Sand. They crash the meeting, and Jacob is shocked to learn that the mastermind is Lamrie. However, before the confrontation can escalate, the Silva robots Vega was attempting to sell suddenly go rogue, and both Silva and Vega are shot. Vega accuses Silva of attempting to murder her, while Jacob evacuates Silva to Morrison's lab. Silva admits he sold the MindsEye design to Lamrie, who wants the rest of his tech to complete the program. He then hands Jacob the Echo II launch key and requests he ensure it launches safely. After the Echo II launches, Silva reveals the original MindsEye chip that contains Jacob's memories of the ruins is located in his home, but has destroyed every device that tries to connect to it. Morrison then activates his devices, which begins to cause robots and technology all over the city to go haywire. Lamrie then arrives and puts Redrock under martial law, forcing Jacob, Silva, and Morrison to flee to the latter's lab.

Studying the rogue robots, they realize some type of virus has been released that is causing their programming to go haywire. In addition, Lamrie captures Morrison and seizes Silva's factory to build his own army of robots. Jacob recovers a transponder needed to shut down Silva Corp's systems, but Charlie sacrifices herself to save him from one of Lamrie's men. Jacob successfully launches a second rocket with the transponder and tracks Morrison's location to an old archeological site. Inside, Jacob realizes they are the Kin ruins he had originally explored three years ago, and witnesses Lamrie stealing a Kin Orb. Jacob rescues Morrison, and the latter explains that Jacob's contact with the Orb changed his DNA to make him part Kin, as well as the carrier for the virus making robots go rogue. He further explains the Kin are an alien race that exist in a higher dimension.

Seeing that more and more robots are converging on the Orb, Jacob and Rigby decide to assault Lamrie's base to recover it. Lamrie boasts that he has been preparing a way for the Kin to invade Earth. Jacob and Rigby manage to kill Lamrie, but the robots steal the Orb and use it to open a portal to allow the Kin to invade Earth and harvest humanity. Realizing he is considered a Kin now, Jacob throws himself into the portal, sacrificing himself to close it and saving Earth.

In a post credits scene, Rigby searches the scene for Jacob, and one of the robots suddenly reactivates when it hears Rigby calling out Jacob's name.

Development and release

[edit]

MindsEye was developed by Build a Rocket Boy, a studio based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Leslie Benzies, known for his work for the Grand Theft Auto games, served as the game's director.[5] The game was created as a proof of concept for Everywhere, a game creation tool.[6] It was envisioned as a premium experience set entirely within the free-to-play Everywhere platform. In 2023, it was revealed by the team that MindsEye would be an episodic game. Each episode of MindsEye would be set in "different time periods and parts of the universe", though the episodes would be connected by an overarching narrative.[7] MindsEye was described by the team as a cinematic story-focused game, one that would last for about 20 hours. The narrative would explore themes such as artificial intelligence, technology, greed and corruption.[8]

MindsEye was first teased at the end of the Everywhere teaser at Gamescom 2022.[9] A full teaser for the game was released on 23 March 2023. On 16 October 2024, it was announced that IO Interactive, the developers behind the Hitman series, would publish the game.[6]

On 27 May 2025, Mark Gerhard, co-CEO of Build a Rocket Boy, made claims in a Q&A on Discord that the negative pre-release reception was part of a paid campaign by a third-party to make a "concerted effort to trash the game and the studio".[10] However, IO Interactive's CEO Hakan Abrak would later dismiss Gerhard's claims.[11]

In the lead up to release, advance review codes were not given out.[12] The Chief Legal Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Build a Rocket Boy left the company a week before release.[13] The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 10 June.[14]

Build a Rocket Boy has released multiple patches after launch in order to fix some of the worst performance issues reported by players. Patch 3 is set to release by the end of June.[15][16] Following the game's negative reception and reports of refunds, it was reported that Build a Rocket Boy had begun the redundancy process, where over 100 employees could be affected.[17][15]

Reception

[edit]

MindsEye received "generally unfavorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[18][19] OpenCritic determined that 4% of critics recommended the game.[20] Luke Reilly of IGN described it as "simply not ready to be released", and GameSpot's Richard Wakeling called it "stringent and relentlessly dull".[25][24] The Guardian's Christian Donlan was more positive, stating that despite "all its failings", he "rarely disliked playing it".[23] The game also launched to "mostly negative" to "mixed" user reviews on Steam.[26][27][28]

Wakeling described the game's missions as having a "formulaic" design, calling them "both archaic and uninspired", and Reilly said they were "restrictive and dull".[25][24] GamesRadar+ reviewer Alan Wen called them a "reminder of the worst GTA missions", noting their failure-prone nature. Outside of the missions, Wakeling called the world "pointless", and Wen criticised the "lifeless desert city", with the latter stating that many characters failed to plausibly react to the player's actions.[24][22] The combat also was also received negatively; Eurogamer writer Rick Lane thought that it was "the worst I've encountered in a big-budget game in at least a decade" with "haphazard" enemies, and Reilly described it "plain" and "janky".[25][21]

The story also was largely criticised by reviewers. Lane saw the premise as promising but the resulting tone as "wildly inconsistent", with the later parts of the game being "weapons-grade sci-fi shlock".[21] In an early impression, PC Gamer writer Tyler Wilde described the characters as having began "existing the moment the game started".[26] Wakeling criticised Jacob, stating that he was "one of the most generic protagonists you could ask for".[24] Multiple reviewers saw the ending as disappointing, with Reilly calling it a "colossal anticlimax", and Wen saying that the game failed to "end on a satisfying note".[25][22] More positively, Donlan described the overall plot as enjoyable but "hokey".[23]

The game's visuals and art received a more positive reception. Reilly called its "near-future" setting "accomplished and credible", and Wakeling described the artistic direction as "impressive".[25][24] 'Wen praised the soundtrack by Rival Consoles, calling it "moody [and] pulsing", but criticised its visuals as lacking "imaginative rocket fuel".[22]

Describing its "uneven performance", Reilly said that the game was "regularly blurry and choppy" and frames would "flutter and sometimes hang".[25] Many social media users also criticised it as bug prone; Wen noted while that he did not experience this, he still dealt with unfixable "annoying screen tearing".[22]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Marnell, Blair (12 February 2025). "Ex-GTA Producer's MindsEye Brings Sci-Fi Action To PS5 This Summer". GameSpot. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  2. ^ Lewis, Catherifki (21 March 2025). "Dystopian action thriller from GTA veteran has a "fake open world," and its devs want playing it to feel like "bingeing your favorite Netflix show"". GamesRadar. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  3. ^ Wood, Austin (13 February 2025). "Former GTA 5 lead properly shows off his new city-sized action game coming this summer, and yep, it looks like Cyberpunk 2077 meets GTA". GamesRadar. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  4. ^ Serin, Kaan (24 March 2025). "GTA 5 veteran's new open-world game sounds like a mix of the wildest Roblox and Minecraft servers". GamesRadar. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  5. ^ Purslow, Matt (24 March 2023). "Everywhere: The Ex-GTA Dev's Game Creator That May Be Too Late to the Party". IGN. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b Bailey, Kat (16 October 2024). "Hitman Dev IO Interactive Teaming With Ex-GTA Producer's Studio to Publish MindsEye". IGN. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  7. ^ Phillips, Tom (23 March 2023). "GTA producer's not-crypto project Everywhere is part episodic blockbuster, part Roblox rival". Eurogamer. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  8. ^ Tapsell, Chris (28 March 2025). "MindsEye, from former Rockstar developers, wants to revive the tight, linear, cinematic blockbuster game". Eurogamer. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  9. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (24 March 2023). "Everything Announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live". IGN. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  10. ^ Chalk, Andy (29 May 2025). "MindsEye co-CEO claims there's a 'concerted effort' to trash the game ahead of its release: 'I do KNOW that there are bot farms posting negative comments and dislikes'". PCGamer. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  11. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (10 June 2025). "Hitman Boss Says He 'Doesn't Believe' People Are Being Paid to Post Negative Comments About MindsEye". IGN. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  12. ^ Gach, Ethan (11 June 2025). "MindsEye From Ex-GTA Producer Is A Day-One Car Wreck [Update]". Kotaku. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  13. ^ Phillips Kennedy, Victoria (3 June 2025). "MindsEye studio execs depart Build a Rocket Boy, one week before game's debut". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  14. ^ Romano, Sal (28 March 2025). "MindsEye launches June 10". Gematsu. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  15. ^ a b Gach, Ethan (23 June 2025). "MindsEye Maker Facing Mass Layoff As Players Seek Refunds". Kotaku. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  16. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (13 June 2025). "MindsEye Dev Releases Performance Improvement Hotfix as First in Series of Emergency Patches Designed to Address Disastrous Launch". IGN. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  17. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (23 June 2025). "MindsEye Developer Build A Rocket Boy Begins Layoff Process Amid Disastrous Launch, Studio Sources Say". IGN. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  18. ^ a b "MindsEye — PC Critic Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  19. ^ a b "MindsEye — PS5 Critic Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  20. ^ a b "MindsEye Reviews". OpenCritic. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  21. ^ a b c Lane, Rick (16 June 2025). "MindsEye review - calling it outdated is an insult to old action games". Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  22. ^ a b c d e Wen, Alan (13 June 2025). "MindsEye review: "An uninspired and forgettable sci-fi action adventure that feels like a Netflix movie you watch while on your phone"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  23. ^ a b c Donlan, Christian (13 June 2025). "MindsEye review – a dystopian future that plays like it's from 2012". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  24. ^ a b c d e f Wakeling, Richard (16 June 2025). "MindsEye Review - Not Like This". GameSpot. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g Reilly, Luke (13 June 2025). "MindsEye Review". IGN. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  26. ^ a b Wilde, Tyler (11 June 2025). "I've played 2 hours of MindsEye and it's pretty bad so far, I'm afraid". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  27. ^ Rai, Priye (11 June 2025). "Former GTA Producer's New Game Has Mostly Negative Reviews on Steam". Game Rant. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  28. ^ Valens, Ana (11 June 2025). "Uh Oh. 'MindsEye' Isn't Off to a Great Start on Steam". VICE. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MindsEye&oldid=1297498013"