Time Crisis 4 w/ Guncon 3
Genre: Action/Adventure, Shooting
ESRB Rating: Rated T
Developer: Namco Bandai
Platform: Playstation 3
Price: $89.99; Released: Nov 20, 2007

Go to any movie theater or arcade and you’re bound to see a rail shooter. One blue gun, one pink gun, and $1.00 per credit. They’re certainly popular, and with good reason. They’re fun, very easy to play, and very often look amazing. There are tons of rail shooters out there, but only a few popular series. One such group is the Time Crisis series. Though the series has never opted for blood and guts in their games, they’ve enjoyed a lot of success in arcades and home system ports. The latest entry, Time Crisis 4, continues that trend on the Playstation 3 with the invention of Guncon3, the newest light-gun system for home use. Overall, the game will surely score points with fans of the genre and series; and the Guncon3 has a lot of potential in future game use. The only major drawback to both is they try to do too much with the additions made to the home version.

The first thing to consider with games that come with special controllers is the ease and time-consumption involved with setup. Light-gun games are usually pretty easy, but at first glance the equipment for TC4 looks complicated and a bit intimidating. Progressive scan technology has created a few problems for light-gun games, but the makers of TC4 have found an effective solution. Two connected LED-infrared sensors powered through a single USB port are laid on top of the TV, a small bump in the center of the connecting chord makes it easy to keep the sensors centered. Both sensors are surprisingly small and light given the size of older sensors and setup takes less than a minute. Despite the extensive warnings about the many ways the sensors can be misplaced, setup is pretty self-explanatory and the sensors come with the option of attaching thin weighted rubber straps to keep them in place atop flat panel TVs. Honestly, once they’re in place they’re not even noticeable.

Then there’s the Guncon3 controller itself. My first concern out of the box was chord length. Gamers are spoiled now with wireless being the new standard, but the Guncon3 must be plugged in at all times in order to play, which could be a problem for gamers who have adjusted to or even rearranged their playing area without regards to chord length. Even so, the chord is fairly lengthy, allowing a player to stand nearly two meters away from the screen with plenty of give still in the chord. This is more room than arcade gamers are given, and unless you are playing on a big-screen TV, you wouldn’t want to stand any further away for the sake of accuracy. The bright-orange controller is a bit intimidating to look at at first, with two joysticks and six buttons in addition to the trigger, but nearly 90% of the in-game controls for Arcade more come from manipulating the two buttons and joystick on the back of the gun where the player’s thumbs will likely be resting anyway. Basic and common commands such as hiding/reloading and switching weapons are easy enough to do, no real learning curve required.

The joysticks are essential to the new gameplay options in TC4. Even though the game primarily plays like all other rail shooters, at several points the player is surrounded by attackers, and must make frequent turns on their own to defend themselves. This new feature adds a new challenging feature and variety to the game. It’s a nice change that is probably the most significant upgrade to the Time Crisis series.

Anyone who has played the previous three entries in the series should be fully prepared for what the fourth has in store. Those who haven’t should know a little about the series. Time Crisis is set in bizarre version of our world where characters who look like they are from the Final Fantasy universe get caught up in long series of shootouts with ninja-like terrorists who wear different colored shirts based on their accuracy with firearms. The plots are amusing in that they are so unbelievably cheesy that their absurdity provides plenty of comedic material. Like TC3, players now have the option to switch weapons throughout the game as long as they have ammo. Rather than take on the world with a pistol, players can use machine guns, shotguns, grenades, and occasionally special weapons the game automatically equips for certain battles. Ammo is easy enough to replenish, just shoot the guys with yellow shirts and ammo is automatically added to your inventory. As long as you’re not horribly inaccurate, there’s a good chance you’ll rarely run out anyway. There is a lot here that mirrors the previous entries in the series, albeit with much improved graphics. Players who enjoyed the previous games will certainly enjoy this one, and the game itself looks great. The repetitive gameplay is offset by the game’s timer and adjustable difficulty levels. Like playing a round of golf, players may find more fun and challenge in trying to top their previous scores than anything else.

Where the game falls short is the new first-person shooter story mode where the game makers clearly toyed with a new concept. In this new mode exclusive to the home version, the player controls Captain Rush, the computer controller character who escorts you around in Arcade Mode, through new, more open levels that provide backstory to the arcade version. Unlike the Arcade Mode, however, the player has complete control over the movement of the character, and must explore the board, find keys, and navigate through obstacles on their own using the duel joysticks and 6 buttons on the gun. If it weren’t for the fact that the enemies in this mode have worse aim than stormtroopers, this would be insanely difficult. Trying to incorporate the elaborate controls of modern FPS games while shooting with the controls of a light gun are too much. To compensate for the difficulty players may have in avoiding being shot, the game allows the player to take several shots before losing an energy bar, and they can recover from damage by standing still. Despite all the new features, this new mode is not very fun and feels more like an experiment in gameplay than anything else. There is definitely potential for future game development there, but the first time out certainly has some flaws.

Additional features include a few mini-games, which are various target practice games in a shooting range setting. Surprisingly, this mode is actually a lot of fun and more challenging than the main game at times. Playing against a friend or trying to top your your own scores can be quite a challenge. A refreshingly nice option allows you do download some game content directly to the PS3 Hard Drive. It takes up approximately 2.5 GB of space, but allows for faster loading times during the game, and if players find the memory isn’t worth the time saved, the feature can be just as easily uninstalled. This is a nice feature I wish more games for home systems would implement. I would gladly give up hard-drive space for smoother gameplay.

Lastly, a few technical considerations when playing the game:
– Whenever you plug in the Guncon3, your PS3 will display an error message saying an unknown device has been plugged in. This is normal, and can be ignored.
– Before playing the game, unplug other USB devices, including other controllers that are not in use, as they seem to interfere with the Guncon3’s responsiveness.