Review
Time Crisis: Razing Storm Review (PS3)
Aren't Namco Bandai lovely so-and-sos, eh? With the release of the Playstation Move not too long ago, we were hoping a couple of decent on-rails shooters would come bounding along to provide us with plenty of mindless multiplayer blasting action. So what do Namco Bandai go and do? They provide us with not one, but three shoot-em-ups, and under the Time Crisis franchise no less!
Time Crisis: Razing Storm is an exciting prospect indeed, and one that partially hits the mark. See, the problem is that, while the two older titles are definitely welcome additions and will have you blasting away for hours on end, the new stuff is rather pap. Playing the actual Razing Storm game is like having a lesson in how not to make an arcade shooter, and the new story mode is even worse.
We don't like to start off on a bad note, however, so let's begin with Time Crisis 4, the one you've most likely already played. Originally released at the end of 2007, Time Crisis 4 is exactly what you'd expect from a Time Crisis game - kill baddies, move, kill baddies, move, repeat until fin. This setup has always worked well for the series, and here is no different.
Aiming at the screen with the Move controller and pressing the trigger fires shots off at the enemy, and holding the Move button allows your character to hide and reload their weapon. The story is around forty minutes in length, but you won't finish it the first or even second time through, and it provides the multiplayer experience you were hoping for. Yes, it's all very silly, with terrible dialogue and the world's worst storyline, but come on - this is Time Crisis. It was never meant to be an epic tale of good vs. evil - it's a mindless on-rails blast-em-up!
Of course, all the little niggles of the series are present and ready to make you screw your face up in frustration. The cheap deaths are the worst - popping up from cover and instantly getting hit is enough to make anyone stamp off in a huff - and changing weapons really isn't as simple as it should be.
Now let us move on to the main reason you should consider buying this package. Deadstorm Pirates is a thoroughly enjoyable shooter set on the high seas and around a mysterious treasure island. Equipped with a special golden gun, you're tasked with keeping hordes of undead pirate skeletons and ghouls at bay, fighting your way through them and finding the treasure.
What makes Deadstorm Pirates so entertaining is the wonderful set-pieces and scenarios. While the Time Crisis games have you fighting your way through mostly boring environments and areas, Deadstorm Pirates relishes the chance to throw all sorts of exotic locations at you. Fighting on board a pirate ship that is slowly being swallowed up by a huge Kraken is pretty epic stuff, as is moving quickly down river rapids while being attacked from all sides by demon crabs and killer bugs.
There are also plenty of extra bits and pieces in place to keep the action fresh. Special power-ups and treasure chests allow you to temporarily upgrade your weapon, while enjoyable ship-steering sections see you taking the wheel and moving your vessel out of harm's way. Then you've got several lovely boss battles and plenty of reasons to jump back in once it's all over.
The game is also relatively challenging, which is great for replay value prospects. Levels can be tackled in any order, so it's simple to get the most difficult ones out of the way first, then crack on with the killing and find that treasure. This is easily one of the best on-rails shooters I've played in a good long while, and it really makes the whole package worth a gander.
We're two-thirds of the way through the supplied content, and things are looking good. Then we hit the 'Razing Storm' part of the package, and everything goes to pot. Razing Storm was originally an arcade game from last year, and the arcade more is present here, along with a brand new not-on-rails story mode.
Both are as poorly designed and horrible to play as each other. The arcade offering is around 15 minutes long, and it would appear that Namco Bandai completely forgot what the Time Crisis series is about while they were developing it. The entire game can be played by simple holding down the trigger and spraying the screen. No precise shots or aiming are needed here - you really can simply aim the Move controller all over the screen whole constantly shooting, and every bad guy will fall at your feet.
It's a huge departure from the classic Time Crisis formula we've come to know and love, and one that really does not work at all. There are a couple of interesting visual effects to be found - in particular, the fully destructible environments are really something special - but gameplay-wise, there is nothing that could be described as fun to be found here.
We came away from the arcade mode believing that it couldn't get any worse than this - and stumbled into the utterly diabolical story mode. A first for the Time Crisis series, Razing Storm's story mode is not on-rails - you control your character's movement via the Move navigation controller and by aiming at the edges of the screen.
When enemies appear, you are then given the option to take up the 'G-action' position. During G-action, you can hold the Move controller vertically, and your guy will duck or hide behind cover, just like in the arcade version. Aiming back at the screen causes him to pop out again, at which point you may continue with the killing.
Sounds intriguing, right? Maybe it would be, were it not for the terrible controls, the constant stop-start action, the dull as ditchwater environments, the boring weapons, the idiotic team-mates... the list goes on. If interrogators forced their victims to play this game as a method of torture, they'd soon have all the information they needed.
The online battling is just as bad (if you can manage to find a game, that is!) and the sentry mode - which sees you stopping waves of prisoners from escaping - wraps up what is essentially one of the worst shooters you could ever play. When you look at the full package, it's rather hilarious that the game is titled Time Crisis, and yet the best part of the bundle by far is the non-Time Crisis game.
Taking a step back from this curious mix of great, average and terrible shooting action, it must be noted that, for the price tag, you're getting a hefty amount of content with Razing Storm. Even if you leave the Razing Storm game well alone, Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates easily provide several hours worth of play, with oodles of replay value in the form of high score boards and that lingering idea that if you give it just one more play, you'll easily be able to beat your score from last time.
Time Crisis: Razing Storm is a gaming packaging that brings together both ends of the quality spectrum. Two out of the three games are worth your time and money, and if you can fully ignore the third then you're laughing. If you already own a copy of Time Crisis 4 then don't bother with this - otherwise, this may well be the multiplayer shooter you've been looking for.
Top Game Moment: Keeping skeleton pirates back on your ship in Deadstorm Pirates.
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| Quick, kill the generic enemies and move on! |
Time Crisis: Razing Storm is an exciting prospect indeed, and one that partially hits the mark. See, the problem is that, while the two older titles are definitely welcome additions and will have you blasting away for hours on end, the new stuff is rather pap. Playing the actual Razing Storm game is like having a lesson in how not to make an arcade shooter, and the new story mode is even worse.
We don't like to start off on a bad note, however, so let's begin with Time Crisis 4, the one you've most likely already played. Originally released at the end of 2007, Time Crisis 4 is exactly what you'd expect from a Time Crisis game - kill baddies, move, kill baddies, move, repeat until fin. This setup has always worked well for the series, and here is no different.
Aiming at the screen with the Move controller and pressing the trigger fires shots off at the enemy, and holding the Move button allows your character to hide and reload their weapon. The story is around forty minutes in length, but you won't finish it the first or even second time through, and it provides the multiplayer experience you were hoping for. Yes, it's all very silly, with terrible dialogue and the world's worst storyline, but come on - this is Time Crisis. It was never meant to be an epic tale of good vs. evil - it's a mindless on-rails blast-em-up!
Of course, all the little niggles of the series are present and ready to make you screw your face up in frustration. The cheap deaths are the worst - popping up from cover and instantly getting hit is enough to make anyone stamp off in a huff - and changing weapons really isn't as simple as it should be.
Now let us move on to the main reason you should consider buying this package. Deadstorm Pirates is a thoroughly enjoyable shooter set on the high seas and around a mysterious treasure island. Equipped with a special golden gun, you're tasked with keeping hordes of undead pirate skeletons and ghouls at bay, fighting your way through them and finding the treasure.
What makes Deadstorm Pirates so entertaining is the wonderful set-pieces and scenarios. While the Time Crisis games have you fighting your way through mostly boring environments and areas, Deadstorm Pirates relishes the chance to throw all sorts of exotic locations at you. Fighting on board a pirate ship that is slowly being swallowed up by a huge Kraken is pretty epic stuff, as is moving quickly down river rapids while being attacked from all sides by demon crabs and killer bugs.
There are also plenty of extra bits and pieces in place to keep the action fresh. Special power-ups and treasure chests allow you to temporarily upgrade your weapon, while enjoyable ship-steering sections see you taking the wheel and moving your vessel out of harm's way. Then you've got several lovely boss battles and plenty of reasons to jump back in once it's all over.
 |
| That's a big gun... |
We're two-thirds of the way through the supplied content, and things are looking good. Then we hit the 'Razing Storm' part of the package, and everything goes to pot. Razing Storm was originally an arcade game from last year, and the arcade more is present here, along with a brand new not-on-rails story mode.
Both are as poorly designed and horrible to play as each other. The arcade offering is around 15 minutes long, and it would appear that Namco Bandai completely forgot what the Time Crisis series is about while they were developing it. The entire game can be played by simple holding down the trigger and spraying the screen. No precise shots or aiming are needed here - you really can simply aim the Move controller all over the screen whole constantly shooting, and every bad guy will fall at your feet.
It's a huge departure from the classic Time Crisis formula we've come to know and love, and one that really does not work at all. There are a couple of interesting visual effects to be found - in particular, the fully destructible environments are really something special - but gameplay-wise, there is nothing that could be described as fun to be found here.
We came away from the arcade mode believing that it couldn't get any worse than this - and stumbled into the utterly diabolical story mode. A first for the Time Crisis series, Razing Storm's story mode is not on-rails - you control your character's movement via the Move navigation controller and by aiming at the edges of the screen.
When enemies appear, you are then given the option to take up the 'G-action' position. During G-action, you can hold the Move controller vertically, and your guy will duck or hide behind cover, just like in the arcade version. Aiming back at the screen causes him to pop out again, at which point you may continue with the killing.
Sounds intriguing, right? Maybe it would be, were it not for the terrible controls, the constant stop-start action, the dull as ditchwater environments, the boring weapons, the idiotic team-mates... the list goes on. If interrogators forced their victims to play this game as a method of torture, they'd soon have all the information they needed.
The online battling is just as bad (if you can manage to find a game, that is!) and the sentry mode - which sees you stopping waves of prisoners from escaping - wraps up what is essentially one of the worst shooters you could ever play. When you look at the full package, it's rather hilarious that the game is titled Time Crisis, and yet the best part of the bundle by far is the non-Time Crisis game.
Taking a step back from this curious mix of great, average and terrible shooting action, it must be noted that, for the price tag, you're getting a hefty amount of content with Razing Storm. Even if you leave the Razing Storm game well alone, Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates easily provide several hours worth of play, with oodles of replay value in the form of high score boards and that lingering idea that if you give it just one more play, you'll easily be able to beat your score from last time.
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| It's been scientifically proven that Time Crisis' story mode is the main cause of depression in modern society... |
Top Game Moment: Keeping skeleton pirates back on your ship in Deadstorm Pirates.
