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Time Crisis 3 (PS2)
by Burning_Darkness
The original Time Crisis was an innovative arcade lightgun classic, with impressive, dynamic visuals and a great duck-and-cover system that required you to release a foot-pedal in order to hide from enemy fire and reload your gun. The second game improved upon the formula of the first, with better graphics and more exciting levels, and ... is the definitive instalment in the series. The third game is still great, but doesnt really manage to improve upon its predecessor.
The level design remains innovative- the game even has you doing things like hanging upside down from a doorframe to shoot at enemies this time-, and it also tries to develop the in-game weapon system. In the second game this was quite simple- in addition to your standard semi-automatic pistol, you could also collect limited sub-machinegun power-ups from time to time that allowed you to hold down the trigger and blaze away at your foes until you'd emptied the clip. This time around, you can now get a total of three additional weapons- the sub-machinegun, a shotgun and a grenade launcher. The sub-machinegun is great, as before, but the shotgun feels rather odd- it unsurprisingly causes damage over a wider area- being effectively four or five pistol shots all fired at once, but it can be fired at the same rate as the standard pistol and doesnt feel as realistic or gratifying as the original weapons, making it considerably less fun to use. Finally there is a slow-firing grenade launcher, which basically kills all enemies on the screen (or delivers considerable damage to bosses), and this is nicely implemented, actually firing a rendered projectile into the level, but neither of the new weapons really add to the gameplay, and worse, they tend to detract from it, as constantly collecting power-ups and cycling through them when ducking tends to distract from the core blast-em-up gameplay that is the series' staple.
The game is still non-stop action, and the enemies are as suicidally enthusiastic as ever- one part sees you shooting at gun-toting motorcyclists, whilst another part places you in an army jeep tearing down the road in pursuit of a giant bomber plane, whereupon the rear loading bay opens, and troops with flamethrowers somersault onto the front of your vehicle, before a huge, minigun-toting boss emerges and begins firing at you from the plane.
It's still all great fun, assuming you have a lightgun and compatible TV (modern flatscreens tend not to be compatible with the peripheral), and the quality of the port from the arcade is excellent, but it's not a great improvement on the second game, and is just more of the same really, with a fiddly weapons system thown in. Still well worth picking up for rail shooter fans, though.
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Resident Evil 4 (PS2) Platinum (PS2)
by The_Baron
Remember excitedly waiting for RE5 to be even better than the prequel, and then it sort of wasn't? I'm probably exaggerating the emphasis put on waiting for a game release, but I wanted a game with the same atmosphere, depth, scares, jokes and gore but with a new setting and better graphics. The setting was new and the graphics improved ... but it felt a bit soulless. But now, Resident Evil 4, one of the best games on the PS2, has come to the PSN it's got a slick, new HD re-release. This is the version I'm reviewing, obviously.
--Graphics-- Most HD releases for old games are more like getting a better DVD player rather than upgrading to blu-ray, but the new RE4 is comparable with almost any early-mid release PS3 game, especially regarding character models. The game is also brighter than I remembered it, straying away from the old problem which used to be characters, buildings and objects blurring into a confusing tapestry. The textures can look a drab and dated, especially in contrast with the new characters but overall this is one of the best HD updates. This can be make some of the psychics of the game stand out, but there's literally nothing to do to get around that. It also appears as if only some of the cut scenes have been updated, some are clearly PS2-era but I suppose this just makes the us see how much the other graphics were improved. 7.5 /10
--Gameplay--The game revolutionised horror action gaming. There is a constant sense of panic fighting, groaning Spanish peasants with pitchforks and sickles rushing at you from out the darkness yet it's creepy and unnerving at the same time. The game uses laser sighting throughout (aside from rifles) which can make shooting limbs or the heads off ganados all the more fun; As for the guns themselves, it can be seen as the father of the modern game gun upgrades. We get at least two models of each gun (pistols, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, magnums, explosives) which can be upgraded to do more damage, fire faster, reload faster and take more rounds. This suits the variety of enemies, blind prisoners with huge metal claws attached to their arms, deformed fairy-tale giants, crossbow wielding monks and parasites spurting huge menacing tentacles and teeth from their human hosts, the kind Freud would have a field day with. Six years on, the balanced mix of action and horror, and the mix of lonely, disturbing horror and shooting the f**k out of mutated creatures horror still works just as good. 10/10
--Story--The plot itself is atypical for a horror game, an ex-cop is sent by himself, to rural Spain, to look for the daughter of the President. Just go with it, it gets good. The game is separated into three parts: The Village, The Church and The Island. All sound menacing enough, right? The plot remains interesting and enjoyable throughout, and the different characters and leaders of each of the districts are fun to play against. The Village's final boss is a tall, brutish and solemn villain, with a beard, who looks more like a 17th century torturer. By contrast, the main guy in charge of the Castle/Church is a small, sick-looking twenty year old, but with a powerful parasite of course. The cut scenes aren't a chore, and the dialogue can be pretty funny so the story does enrich the experience, especially the originality of it. 8/10
--Sound--The sound has not been updated, which can make it seem a bit fake compared to the new graphics, because the sound quality doesn't match the looks. It's a reversal to the Susan Boyle phenomena basically. However, apart from the Mexican and not Spanish accents, the voice acting of the villains is scary, the heroes is convincing and the main villains suitably Machiavellian and evil. The music is a big plus, you'll probably remember it and associate the soundtrack with the game more so than you would a different one. Sometimes adrenaline-charged, sometimes unsettling and suspenseful other times lonely and haunting. The music CAN get a little repetitive, but that doesn't really come in till you're over half way. 7.5 /10
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Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS2)
by Connor-
Star Wars Battlefront 2 was the first game I had bought for my PS2 and i enjoyed it all the way upto the release of the Ps3!
First thing to notice about this game is that it is an online game which is rare for such an old game and believe it or not, the community is still thriving! Well in terms of thriving, i mean theres ... still a good 20 maybe 30 people on the game at the same time. The community was never really huge, maybe only a few hundred people.
You will lag playing online, its a simple fact. Although you might not notice this lag while moving, you will certainly notice it when attempting to kill someone. Sometimes, well quite often actually the shots will not hit the intended target which can be a pain but in my opinion it just makes the game more fun. The characters you play are very much based on the films so whichever soldiers you see in the films you are most likely to be able to play as them. You also get to play as Jedi's online as one player will be picked to become one at any point during a match. Theres a variety of different game modes such as Conquest, Capture the Flag, Jedi only modes etc and you can team up with other players on maps such as Hoth to take down the massive At's which people can drive. This is achieved by two players getting in a plane, one drives and one has a line which attaches to the At's legs. Once it is attached, the driver circles around it and eventually the line will cause the At to fall over and get destroyed. You can use headsets online so you can organise you're team or just to chat with fellow players.
As for offline, its very much just a sequence of missions to defeat the dark side. It features maps based on places in the films such as Hoth, Polis Massa etc which also feature as maps online. Theres not too much which can be said about online really as its just more or less following the films but in game form.
Overall the game is fantastic, really cheap as you can probobly pick a used one up for a couple of pounds and the game still has a decent online community.
This review is also on Ciao under the username Connor131
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