Messiah (GOG)

A foul, overcrowded future city becomes the battlefield for Bob, a wisecracking cherub sent on a divine cleanup job. Messiah is a strange late-1990s action adventure that mixes cyberpunk decay, religious satire, and body-swapping infiltration into something few games even attempt. Bob looks harmless, but his mission leads through brothels, prisons, factories, and fortress-like streets ruled by corrupt humans, mutants, and Satan’s followers. The tone is gleefully nasty and darkly comic, with a world designed to feel as unpleasant as its inhabitants.

Bob’s central power is possession: he flies into a nearby person, animal, or engineered creature and takes control of its body. Each host offers different weapons, health, access rights, movement options, and combat strengths, so progression often depends on finding the right body for a locked door, guarded area, or dangerous firefight. A weak civilian may help Bob slip through a checkpoint, while a heavily armed guard can clear enemies with rifles, explosives, or brute force. Levels combine third-person shooting, stealthy navigation, environmental puzzles, and platforming, though the camera and controls retain the rough edges of their era. Death is part of the trial-and-error process, especially when a possession choice leaves Bob exposed or trapped behind enemy lines.

What makes Messiah memorable is how thoroughly it builds its missions around identity theft rather than simple combat. The same room can play out differently depending on whether Bob hijacks a guard, a technician, a dog, or another specialized host, giving the game an improvisational edge well ahead of many later immersive action titles. Its chunky 3D visuals, exaggerated character designs, and grimy industrial architecture unmistakably mark it as a classic PC oddity, not a polished modern shooter. Fans of cult games such as MDK, Oni, or early Deus Ex-style experimentation should find plenty to admire, while newcomers should arrive ready to tolerate dated presentation in exchange for an unusually inventive premise.