Bounty Hunting
A colonial settlement on a distant planet (bit vague, isn't it?) goes out of control after a Computer Arms Management System (C.A.M.S.) goes haywire. Enter Vanessa Z. Schneider, mercenary for hire and long time hater of robots. Hired by a mystery client, Vanessa travels to the settlement to sort out the mess, and possibly settle her grudge with those responsible for killing her parents. Could Vanessa's past come back to haunt her, and interfere with the mission?
Shake it
At its core, PN03 is a shooter - but not just any ordinary shooter. It's fair to say that it delivers the no-frills shooting experience, but brings enough to the table to set itself apart from the other, more traditional shooters. PN03 focuses a lot of its attention on defense, due to the fact that, well, you're weak, and your opponents are stronger than you - some can kill you in a single shot. The control method lends itself well to this defensive focus, with the shoulder buttons controlling your strafing, and face buttons controlling rolling, jumping and shooting. Pressing a strafe button twice in a row will cause Vanessa to chain dodging moves together.
Merely dodging your opponents' laser fire in a fight isn't going to help you win - sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and Vanessa packs all sorts of offensive abilities. The main weapon of sorts is the Palm Shot - a small laser fired from Vanessa's hand. It doesn't stop there though, as Vanessa gains new attacks with each new Aegis suit she acquires. Aegis suits and other upgrades (stronger Palm Shot, Auto Fire, more suit power, etc.) can be bought with points earned during missions. Each suit has two of its own unique Power Drive attacks - attacks performed by the D-Pad in conjunction with the A button. While these attacks are very effective, the execution is somewhat hampered by the Gamecube's notoriously touchy D-Pad. As with most shooters, you're rewarded more points for chaining combination attacks - PN03 brings up a small combo timer in the corner of the screen, which gives beginners a little better idea of how much time they have to keep the chain going.
Stage structure is probably the main downfall of PN03. There are 12 main missions in the game, but between each of these you're able to take on 5 trial missions in order to gain some points to power up Vanessa's abilities. Each of the indoor missions is comprised of a series of rooms, each filled with a number of enemies which usually have to be destroyed in order to progress. This isn't so much of a problem in the main missions, because you have some sort of objective at the end of the line of rooms, but in the trial missions, you'll find that the exact same room may be repeated two or three times - sometimes consecutively. After doing about 5 of these missions, you'll find that the game quickly becomes rather bland, with the main missions only barely bringing interest in the game back up to speed.
Skin Tight
Presentation in PN03 is very mixed. The menus are very basic in both appearance and function, but they get the job done. Environments are very sterile both inside and outside. Sure, this is supposed to be the future, but I never expected the future to be as lively as an X-Ray laboratory. A little more life and variety in the texturing and architecture could have gone a long way.
The same cannot be said for the main character herself, as Vanessa Schneider, while a little generic in design, has been modeled and animated brilliantly - by hand, not motion capturing. Vanessa's dance choreography is very smooth and stylish, while other little things, such as the clicking of the fingers, the tapping of the foot while idle, and the wiggling of the ass during one of the Power Drives all contribute in showing off just how well some hand-made animation looks. There's also support for 60 Hz play mode, for those who like to play the game at its proper speed.
PN03's soundtrack consists of dull technosynth pieces, all which seem to be lacking in volume and are repeated endlessly. There's no voice acting to speak of, but considering some of Capcom's other efforts, this isn't such a bad thing. Sound effects are quite good, and are assisted by support for Dolby Pro Logic II, which should prove advantageous to those with DPL2 capable systems.
Déjà vu
PN03 is a niche title. Many people will be alienated by the way the game plays. But those who enjoy the game's mechanics are likely to not be bothered by the fact they're running through the exact same rooms time and time again. It's a tough game, and there's a lot to learn in the way of combos, but the sheer repetition is enough to put a lot of people off.
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