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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Namco Bandai Publisher: Namco Bandai |
Over the years, the use of the light gun in video games has been struggling to become a relevant part of gaming history. The Time
Crisis series proves to be one of the last games available to use this piece of equipment in their latest installment of the free movement
first person shooter, “Time Crisis 4” for the PlayStation 3. Sadly, this game misses the point. Players are instead left with a
straightforward dodge and shoot light gun game the fumbles through first person shooter action and awkward motion controls.
“Time Crisis 4” comes with a lot of hardware that is needed to play that game, including the new GunCon3 light gun controller and a set
of infrared sensors that need to be placed near the top of their television set. The infrared setup is similar to that of the Wii sensor bar,
but is not a visually appealing since it consists to two fairly large sensors tied together with a length of wire that is plugged into the PS3
USB port. Also, the bright orange GunCon3 controller is also USB based and looks like a larger version of the GunCon2. Along with the
trigger, there are two buttons on the side of the barrel and two more on the back, as well as an analog stick. There is also a handle that
sticks out of the side of the barrel where the analog stick and two more buttons are.
The GunCon3 overall is a fairly comfortable controller to use, at least for a right handed player. However, the gun controller is a little
intimidating with six buttons and two analog sticks, it all seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a light gun game. One of the
greatest appeals of a light gun game is that it is a simple point and shoot game, not one that requires reading the instruction book from
cover to cover. The appeal is not able to be found in “Time Crisis 4” or the controller that comes with the game. Players can also play
the game with a regular controller, but players would want to do that about as much as they’d want to play a standard first person
shooter with a light gun.
There are two main modes that players can choose from in “Time Crisis 4,” arcade mode and complete mission mode. Both modes
revolve around a trio of ridiculous looking law enforcement people as they chase after a terrorist organization that has gotten its hands
on a biological weapon called the “terror bite,” which is basically a swarm of violent bugs. It’s a really cheesy storyline, but the game
takes it all fairly seriously and makes it quite fun. In the arcade mode, “Time Crisis 4” is pretty traditional to the Time Crisis series.
Players automatically move from one piece of cover to the next, pressing a button to pop up and start to unleash bullets on soldiers that
hop out of doorways and behind objects. Players then return to cover, reload their gun and try to get through the level before the ticking
clock runs out of time.
Like its predecessor, “Time Crisis 3,” players start with a submachine gun, a shotgun and a grenade launcher in addition to the
standard pistol, though the secondary weapons require ammunition that can be picked up by repeatedly shooting specific enemies. At
several points in the game, players will have to defend a location for a set amount of time as enemies come in from several different
directions. Supposedly, by pointing the gun at the sides of the television screen, players move between the different positions, but
players will quickly find that this isn’t as reliable as many would hope for. Instead, players will want to thumb one of the analog sticks to
change views. There are some fun moments in the game that deal with different weapons. One of these moments is when players
take control as a gunner on a helicopter as it flies through skyscrapers while engaging in fire fight with enemy helicopters and ground
units. The arcade mode overall is short, though it will take many players a long time to get through the entire game.
The complete mission mode is the games attempt to modernize the light gun game. The results are nothing impressive, taking the
basic structure of the arcade mode and jams together some lengthy new first person shooter level in between the traditional levels.
The basic controls are the same as any console based first person shooter, using the left analog stick to move around and the right
analog stick for looking around. The twist this time around is that players still aim their weapon with the light gun controller, giving
players a third axis of movement to deal with, which really just complicates things a little bit and makes the action overwhelming. The
actual first person shooter level are quite boring, relying on the same predictable enemies. The moments when the game tries to get a
little trickier, like boss encounters or a fight with a helicopter; reveal how poorly the first person shooter controls work. Trying to track a
fast moving enemy while trying to manage a position in the level, looking around and aiming is a difficult task.
The first person shooter elements in the complete mission mode don’t look very good, with a lot of flat and wide open spaces that look
very unpopulated except for a few boxy objects for enemies to jump out from behind. Really, there is nothing in “Time Crisis 4” that
would make anyone think of this game as a next-gen game, let alone a PlayStation 3 game. From both a technological and graphical
perspective, the game looks like a game from the late 1990’s arcade from which the game originally came. It contains a lot of shiny
and over lit levels that are too clean to have ever really existed.
“Time Crisis 4” is a light gun game that is trying to not be a light gun game, but still uses the light gun controller. Unfortunately, its
attempt to transition into a full first person shooter comes off as a parody of the first person shooter genre, which overall makes the
game feel very dated.
Crisis series proves to be one of the last games available to use this piece of equipment in their latest installment of the free movement
first person shooter, “Time Crisis 4” for the PlayStation 3. Sadly, this game misses the point. Players are instead left with a
straightforward dodge and shoot light gun game the fumbles through first person shooter action and awkward motion controls.
“Time Crisis 4” comes with a lot of hardware that is needed to play that game, including the new GunCon3 light gun controller and a set
of infrared sensors that need to be placed near the top of their television set. The infrared setup is similar to that of the Wii sensor bar,
but is not a visually appealing since it consists to two fairly large sensors tied together with a length of wire that is plugged into the PS3
USB port. Also, the bright orange GunCon3 controller is also USB based and looks like a larger version of the GunCon2. Along with the
trigger, there are two buttons on the side of the barrel and two more on the back, as well as an analog stick. There is also a handle that
sticks out of the side of the barrel where the analog stick and two more buttons are.
The GunCon3 overall is a fairly comfortable controller to use, at least for a right handed player. However, the gun controller is a little
intimidating with six buttons and two analog sticks, it all seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a light gun game. One of the
greatest appeals of a light gun game is that it is a simple point and shoot game, not one that requires reading the instruction book from
cover to cover. The appeal is not able to be found in “Time Crisis 4” or the controller that comes with the game. Players can also play
the game with a regular controller, but players would want to do that about as much as they’d want to play a standard first person
shooter with a light gun.
There are two main modes that players can choose from in “Time Crisis 4,” arcade mode and complete mission mode. Both modes
revolve around a trio of ridiculous looking law enforcement people as they chase after a terrorist organization that has gotten its hands
on a biological weapon called the “terror bite,” which is basically a swarm of violent bugs. It’s a really cheesy storyline, but the game
takes it all fairly seriously and makes it quite fun. In the arcade mode, “Time Crisis 4” is pretty traditional to the Time Crisis series.
Players automatically move from one piece of cover to the next, pressing a button to pop up and start to unleash bullets on soldiers that
hop out of doorways and behind objects. Players then return to cover, reload their gun and try to get through the level before the ticking
clock runs out of time.
Like its predecessor, “Time Crisis 3,” players start with a submachine gun, a shotgun and a grenade launcher in addition to the
standard pistol, though the secondary weapons require ammunition that can be picked up by repeatedly shooting specific enemies. At
several points in the game, players will have to defend a location for a set amount of time as enemies come in from several different
directions. Supposedly, by pointing the gun at the sides of the television screen, players move between the different positions, but
players will quickly find that this isn’t as reliable as many would hope for. Instead, players will want to thumb one of the analog sticks to
change views. There are some fun moments in the game that deal with different weapons. One of these moments is when players
take control as a gunner on a helicopter as it flies through skyscrapers while engaging in fire fight with enemy helicopters and ground
units. The arcade mode overall is short, though it will take many players a long time to get through the entire game.
The complete mission mode is the games attempt to modernize the light gun game. The results are nothing impressive, taking the
basic structure of the arcade mode and jams together some lengthy new first person shooter level in between the traditional levels.
The basic controls are the same as any console based first person shooter, using the left analog stick to move around and the right
analog stick for looking around. The twist this time around is that players still aim their weapon with the light gun controller, giving
players a third axis of movement to deal with, which really just complicates things a little bit and makes the action overwhelming. The
actual first person shooter level are quite boring, relying on the same predictable enemies. The moments when the game tries to get a
little trickier, like boss encounters or a fight with a helicopter; reveal how poorly the first person shooter controls work. Trying to track a
fast moving enemy while trying to manage a position in the level, looking around and aiming is a difficult task.
The first person shooter elements in the complete mission mode don’t look very good, with a lot of flat and wide open spaces that look
very unpopulated except for a few boxy objects for enemies to jump out from behind. Really, there is nothing in “Time Crisis 4” that
would make anyone think of this game as a next-gen game, let alone a PlayStation 3 game. From both a technological and graphical
perspective, the game looks like a game from the late 1990’s arcade from which the game originally came. It contains a lot of shiny
and over lit levels that are too clean to have ever really existed.
“Time Crisis 4” is a light gun game that is trying to not be a light gun game, but still uses the light gun controller. Unfortunately, its
attempt to transition into a full first person shooter comes off as a parody of the first person shooter genre, which overall makes the
game feel very dated.
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