There is a level of polish, consistency and quality-design
through every facet of Namco's PSX port of their hit arcade
light-gun shooter "Time Crisis" that is simply not present
in its closest competitor, the Saturn port of Sega's arcade
shooter "The House of the Dead". Graphics are 85% of what
the arcade game was, the sound effects and music are
dead-on, and the addition of the 'duck' command is the
biggest improvement to the stale light-gun genre (not known
for evolving as fast as the technology housing it) since
Sega's "Virtua Cop" introduced polygon-sensitive characters
that reacted differently when shot at different body
parts. Throw in a PSX-exclusive Special mode and the
accurate GunCon controller for an acceptable $59.95 (the
GunCon retails for $34.95 by itself), and the only excuse
not to own the second-best 32-bit light-gun game on the
market (after Saturn's still-king "Virtua Cop 2") is the
shortage of units that seems to plagua the game's
availability.
GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: B+
Rachel MacPherson, the daughter of the President of Sercia
(you change the 'b' into a 'c' and you avoid lawsuits; how
sweet), is kidnapped by the evil Sherudo and his henchmen
(led by the nasty Wild Dog) and only secret agent Richard
Miller has the guts and the insanity to take the mission of
rescuing this lady and getting her out of Sherudo's castle
alive. This was the set-up for the arcade game, and it's
still there for the PSX version but it also comes packed
with a bonus scenario (Special mode) with its own story:
after saving Rachel, Richard receives new instructions to
infiltrate the weapons-factory of the terrorist group
Kantaris, which is hidden under the facade of a legitimate
business (a nice hotel by the lake). You're basically
getting "Time Crisis 2.5" when you get the PSX version,
which makes you wonder if Namco will develop the arcade
sequel for this PSX or will hold it as a potential early
killer app for PSX2 (or whatever they end up calling it).
The GunCon comes packed with the game and it is a sweet and
cold piece of... eh... plastic! There's a button on the
side of the GunCon to make Richard duck/take cover which
can only be reached by playing the game with both hands,
unless you plug a regular controller on the second slot and
either (a) hold it behind your back with one hand while
shooting with another (you'll look so cool), or (b) put it
on the floor and step over the 'duck' button to simulate
the arcade set-up (recommended if you have stinky feet and
want to have your friends develop some sort of fungus
sickness). After a brief calibration test pattern, you'll
be able to shoot the bad guys, sensitive explosives and the
hard-to-reach goons that give you extra seconds to the
pixel; shame that the GunCon doesn't support previous
light-gun games like the "Die Harder" segment in "Die Hard
Trilogy", or "Project: Horned Owl" (developed by the same
folks that did "Elemental Gearbolt", the Working Designs
game that will support the GunCon when released in the US).
Despite being a single-player game (boo!) and the absence
of hostages or innocent bystanders that could get
accidentally slaughtered (one of the many guilty pleasures
in Sega's arcade light-gun games), "TC" manages to
entertain with its simplistic game premise: shoot everyone,
and don't get shot in the process. There are two types of
game in the Arcade Mode: Story, which recreates the game's
original arcade premise (three stages with four areas each
and bosses to defeat), and Time Attack (choose one of the
game's three stages and try to clear it ASAP and get the
lowest-possible time score). The Special Mode offers the
PSX-exclusive mission with the Kantaris terrorist group,
and introduces the Branch Reflected Conditions (BRC) system
that assures that playing through the hotel will not be the
same twice, based on what objects and/or guards you shoot
(very similar to the 'branch' system in Sega's "House of
the Dead"). If you played the arcade version of "TC", then
you'll be glad to know that Namco outdid themselves with
this port, which is as good and polished as "Tekken 3"
minus the CG movies.
GRAPHICS / VISUALS: A-
The resolution drops a couple of notches, and the polygons
look a little funny when the camera moves Richard Miller
from location to location (the frame-rate seems to move
faster than some of the polygons, particularly the shots of
Sherudo's castle during the opening). Other than that,
everything from the arcade game of "TC" plus the bonus
Special Mode are as solid and well-designed a bunch of
polygons as you could ask for from a four year-old console:
the cheesy cinemas, the many castles and breakable objects,
the life-like movement of the guards and their
funny-looking light-blue outfits (Sercia's National
Guard??!!), etc. After seeing the game in motion there
will be no doubt left in your mind that, if Namco put their
collective effort into it, a PSX version of "Time Crisis 2"
is not only possible but very likely (because PSX2 ain't
coming out anytime soon).
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: A-
Music ranges from militaristic drums and jingles (the
opening) to some freakish A-Team soundalike tunes during
the heat of gun fights; they aren't exactly the best tunes
Namco music composers have developed for PSX (that honor
still belongs to "Ridge Racer Revolution"), but for the
genre they are OK. Sound effects are movie-quality in
their clarity, consistency, resonance and high
rate-sampling; you'll actually feel and/or duck from the
screen when a bullet from the enemy hits the screen, and
feel like Schwarzenegger spreading carnage when brandishing
your GunCon because they all sound so realisitc. The
voices are ridiculous and over-the-top, but I guess that is
what Namco had in mind when selecting such generic
character names as Rachel MacPherson, Richard Miller and
Wild Dog; although at some points the dialogue can get
atrocious, it is crystal-clear (unlike the bosses in the
"Virtua Cop" series) and nowhere near as offensive and
embarrassing as Capcom's "Resident Evil".
OVERALL: A-
There are more light-gun peripherals for the PSX market
than there are good games to use them with: "Crypt Killer"
and "Lethal Enforcers 1 & 2" (both from Konami) are a joke,
and the Midway shooters ("Area 51" and "Maximum Force") are
as exciting as seeing Benny Hill in a thong. "Time Crisis"
easily rockets to the top of the PSX light-shooter genre,
and looks like it'll stay there for quite a while because,
except for the quirky "Elemental Gearbolt", there are no
other 'A'-caliber games in the genre coming in the near
future. If you like to hold cold hard plastic between
your...ugh... hands (you dirty-minded teenagers!) and
already have the Saturn trilogy of Sega's best arcade
shooters ("VC", "VC2" and "House of the Dead"), then you
might want to spring for "TC" and even consider its sister
product, Namco's "Point Blank", as an alternative
multiplayer shooter feast (just watch those credit card
balances). Recommended.
