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Namco finally brings the arcade game to PS2. A few years back, I remember spending many a quarter at the local arcade because of Time Crisis: Crisis Zone. It was an ideal arcade game, with hectic action and excellent visuals. It’s 2004 now and the visuals don’t seem nearly as great anymore and once you actually sit down and play the game, you notice that it is quite short. What was easily worth the $3 or $4 at the arcades is a much more difficult purchase when it costs $50.
As with other games in the genre, you’re part of an antiterrorist team going against a mean group of terrorists who take over civilian-friendly areas and cause generally havoc. In this aspect, Time Crisis: Crisis Zone doesn’t do much to differentiate itself as it features the same story I mentioned with a few more details, of course.
In the game, you’ll be moved to a number of different areas in the levels where you’ll need to shoot enemies as they pop-up or otherwise move into your field of view. These enemies are quite sturdy and a few shows before they go down and will certainly shoot at you without much thought before they finally go down. You’re given a number of different weapons to take care of these enemies and while there are a few parts that are a bit difficult, going through the story mode shouldn’t require more than a few restarts. Aside from shooting and shooting, you’ll need to duck behind your shield which also reloads the weapon. Moreover, the game allows you to go crazy on the many dynamic and destructible environments.
Although you can play the game without a Gun Con 2, it isn’t worth it. The Dual Shock cannot offer the precise control needed for the game. Fans of the series probably have a Gun Con 2 laying around from Time Crisis 3 and if you do, you can pick up the game for $50, but there is also a bundle with the gun for $60.
The game’s length is easily the worst aspect. Unless you are incredibly bad at shooting games (or perhaps playing with the Dual Shock?) you’ll be able to complete the game easily in less than two hours; probably nearing the one hour mark more than the two hour mark. The game includes a number of additional and pretty darn difficult side missions to increase the length which are basically regular shoot-outs with a stipulation like destroy the environments fully, get a certain number of points, etc.
The game’s visuals were excellent five years ago but are now pretty dated. The character models are rather simple and the environments, while very dynamic are rough around the edges. Nonetheless, the game’s visuals aren’t bad in this day and age which just goes to show how superb they were when the game was first released.
The game’s soundtrack is largely fitting to the fast-paced action that goes on. Meanwhile, the sound effects are decent, loud and sort of believable. Lastly, the voice acting isn’t commendable at all and is quite humorous although always unintentionally.
Time Crisis: Crisis Zone is a pretty fun game for the few hours that you’ll go through it. It just doesn’t do anything particularly different enough to warrant purchase. Unless you were really looking forward to using that Gun Con 2 again, you’ll be better off spending your $50 elsewhere. -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Nov 2, 2004
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