Review of Time Crisis by Shawn D. Samuels

I brought Time Crisis for two reasons.  One is because I'm a big fan of 
the arcade game.  Two is because I wanted to see just how accurate the 
Guncon was going to be.  Time Crisis for the Sony Playstation is a 
remarkable game.  I brought it a few weeks ago and I really like it.  
I've finished the arcade game and am now working on the special game. If 
you're a fan of the arcade game or just a fan of gun-type games then you 
will enjoy it also.  I'll try to make this review a little different 
from ones from the video game magazine/sites.  I'm going to focus on 
stuff I think you'll be interested in as you consider purchasing or 
renting this game.  

This game shows how far video games (gun games in particular) have come 
over the years.  My first system was an Atari 2600.  I later moved onto 
the Atari 5200, Colecovision, Nintendo, Super Nintendo and now here with 
the Playstation.  I can't remember which system I had when I got my 
first gun game, nor can I remember the title, but it was horrible now 
that I think about it.  I could purposely shoot off the screen and it 
would register as a hit.  It was the joke of the family on Christmas 
day.  Then other gun games came along that were fairly more accurate 
(the duck game for Nintendo, Lethal Enforcers I & II for Super Nintendo) 
but didn't have much in terms of replay value. Now comes the best gun 
game you can buy, Time Crisis.  Time Crisis combines challenge, 
strategy, fun, and replay value all in one package.  All this with the 
most accurate gun you can get for any video game system.

Play Modes

With Time Crisis there are two different games on the disk and two 
different modes of which you can play them.  There are the Arcade game 
and the Special game.  The Arcade game is the Arcade game ported over to 
the Playstation.  The Special game is an entirely new game exclusively 
for the Playstation.  The modes of play are regular and Time Attack.  In 
regular mode you get so many lives and continues to complete your 
mission for a given game.  In time attack mode you are given unlimited 
lives to try to complete your mission as quick as you can.  

Graphics and Animation

The graphics in Time crisis are not as good as the arcade, but for the 
Playstation they are great.  The animation of the characters is 
outstanding though.  The way people fall over the staircase after you've 
shot them, the way they fall out of the air when they are descending 
from the roof or swinging onto the screen by rope, or the way they fall 
down the steeps as they are running toward you. 

Surprises

An aspect of the game I like is the ability to go in different 
directions.  At some points in the game there are two directions in 
which you may go.  I've only experienced this on a few occasions so I 
haven't quite figured this out yet but it seems to be based on how 
accurate you were on the previous level, because I've rushed through 
these areas a few times (in regular arcade mode) so I don't think it's 
based on a fast time.  Every time I try to be more accurate my time runs 
out.

Strategy

The best part of the game I like though is using strategy.  At times 
there can be at least 8-10 enemies (if you don't shoot them as they 
appear) on the screen at once.  There are some enemies who have 
excellent aim (watch out for the red guys) and some that can shoot at 
you up to 5 times until they hit you (blue scrubs).  As you advance 
through your mission everyone seems to have good aim (Arcade, area 3, 
level 3 comes to mind), and you have to duck constantly to pick your 
shots.  There are parts of the game where you have to shoot around or 
duck obstacles as well.  Wooden boxes moving along an assembly line in a 
factory.  An axe from a statute swinging at you.  Giant hooks from 
another part of the factory.

Accuracy - Calibrate that Guncon!

Before you start the game you have to calibrate your Guncon.  This is 
necessary to adjust the gun to your aiming style.  A few examples are if 
you change shooting positions.  I've played the game lying down, 
standing up, sitting in a chair, and kneeling down on one knee.  For 
every different position I've had to recalibrate the Guncon.  It's that 
accurate.  If you and a friend are alternating your play, then you 
should also recalibrate the Guncon before playing.  People aim 
differently.  My girlfriend plays and she is dead on with her aim, but 
when I tried to play all my shots were to the right.  As a result, I had 
to recalibrate the Guncon to adjust to my aiming style.

This game comes with a special video wire which conncts from your Guncon 
plug-in to the back of your Playstation video output.  This wire enables 
the Guncon to be so accurate working with your TV screen.  It's a good 
thing the Guncon is accurate because with this game you need an accurate 
gun.  There are some instances when you have to hit a tiny little head 
way in the background.  These instances occur often during the course of 
the game.  These shots will seem like cupcakes once you come to the 
areas where you have to hit a portion of an enemies leg through a even 
tinier hole to kill them off.  Then there are some enemies which are 
constantly moving.  Ducking behind objects, lying down on the ground, 
moving around on the screen.  You really need accuracy and good judgment 
for situations like this.   

Get Skill Stars

At the end of the game there is a board that shows how many shots you 
fired, how many shots hit an enemy, the hit percentage, the time it took 
you to complete the game, and best of all skill points.  They rate you 
from 1-10 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest) based on these stats.  
So far the highest skill rating I have gotten is 5 stars.


Cons 

Sorry to say, but just about every games has cons to it. You may want to 
invest in an extension cord for your Guncon.  The cord from the gun to 
the Playstation is very short (est. Between 3-4 feet in length).  While 
this is somewhat disappointing Namco saw this as a short coming and made 
the cord from the video output to the Guncon very long.  So when add 
your extension cord there is no shortness of the extra video wire when 
you play. Another thing I didn't like was the fact that you can't shot 
weapons out of the air.  I thought it would've been cool to shot bazooka 
missles, knieves, granades and such out of the air.  The most annoying 
part of the game was the repeating "arghs" and  "get him" sound effects.  
The only good sound effects were when the enemies fell off the 
staircase, sounds like a crying baby.  All effects sound good, but you 
get tired of them real quick. 

Overall, Time Crisis is an excellent game.  With all the options, you 
will have a blast with this game.

- Shawn Samuels