It's not the ultimate arcade shooter, but Time Crisis 4 still hits its mark.
Posted by Robert Workman on Monday, November 26, 2007
Time Crisis 4 Review
Time Crisis 4 operates in the same manner as previous games in the arcade series. You move along a pre-destined route, shooting terrorists and occasionally facing off against a boss character. The game utilizes a simple duck-and-cover tactic. You stand out in the open to shoot enemies and then hide behind an object to avoid return fire while reloading your weapon.
Just don't expect an easy ride. Waves of killer bugs known as Terror Bites crawl towards you in swarms, requiring precision – and lots of ammo – to wipe them out. Objects fly out of nowhere, including trolleys and runaway vehicles. A couple segments even resemble Sega's Gunblade New York arcade game, where you fly around in a chopper and destroy everything in sight with a rocket launcher. There are also new multi-screen segments, where you force the included GunCon 3 peripheral left and right to shoot down enemy soldiers approaching from multiple directions.
The GunCon 3 is an interesting device. It's a bright orange light gun with a grip on the side and two analog sticks set up on a separate handle and on the back. Its functionality is good once you set up the necessary LED sensors on top of your television. However, sometimes it acts bizarrely, failing to read and pushing you to the wrong target. Overall, though, the gun works moderately well, with precision aiming and weapon switching coming off without many hitches.
Namco Bandai also included a pair of extra modes to boost replay value. (It needs it, too, since Arcade Mode is over and done in a couple of hours.) Complete Mission is the most noteworthy mode, a series of first-person shooter stages where you invade a terrorist organization with side character Captain William Rush. You move with the analog sticks while pressing other buttons to crouch, jump and, as expected, fire away at enemies on-screen. It's a noble attempt at introducing something new to the series, but it comes up short in two areas. One, there are no multiplayer options – you're clearly on your own here. Secondly, it's nowhere near as intense as the Arcade Mode. You face clusters of enemies at a time, move around for a few minutes and face a few more. No insane firefights or over-the-top boss battles in this mode, sad to say. On top of this interesting mode, there are also several unlockable Crisis Missions, perfect for testing reflexes.
Visually, Time Crisis 4 isn't the most stunning PS3 game, but it still looks great. Vehicles blow up real good, bugs crawl across the screen in large hordes and enemies scamper about convincingly without much slowdown or glitching. As for the audio, above average music and sound effects pair up with some hokey dialogue. A few lines into the story, you'll wish Captain William Rush's vocal chords would wear out.
Time Crisis 4 isn't without its flaws. The characters are pretty much a joke. The heroic VSSE agents look more like spoiled fashion models than world saviors. Rush is under-designed as well, with a nasty hair weave and an over-patriotic attitude. The story doesn't make much sense either, despite Namco trying to draw on military tension. Worst of all, the game comes to an end way too soon, even with the additional modes. That makes spending near $100 for the package hard to accept. Two-player action in Arcade Mode is fun, but you'll need to bring another GunCon 3 to get the optimal arcade experience – and Namco doesn't sell those separately.
All nagging aside, long-time fans of the series should pick up Time Crisis 4. Despite having a story and characters that don't really click and a questionably high price, it brings enough shooting action and likable modes to make up for them. It may not be the most stylistic gun-toting game on the market, but it hits the bulls-eye.
Final Score: 7/10
