Invasion
Not all is at peace in the world, especially after the unprovoked invasion of the Astigos Island nation by the Zagorias Federation. The Zagorias Federation has managed to take over 80% of the island, despite brave attempts by the Astigos resistance. On top of this, Zagorias have installed a number of tactical missiles around the island, which have the capacity to endanger the surrounding islands. The V.S.S.E. has responded to the threat by sending out their two best agents, Alan Dunaway and Wesley Lambert. Alan and Wesley must nullify the threat before the situation gets out of hand.
Blast 'em!
If you've not played a Time Crisis title, it's more than likely you've been living in a cave for the past ten years, licking the moss off a stone. Time Crisis is essentially your average arcade based gun game - i.e. you're on a set path, and you shoot any enemies that lie between you and the end boss. The main thing that sets Time Crisis apart from the competition is the fact that you can hide behind the scenery to avoid bullets and to reload your gun. The game is designed with the use of a gun peripheral in mind - in fact, we'd go as far to say that using a Gun Con is a necessity when it comes to playing a Time Crisis game. Not only is using a controller to play the game sacrilegious, but it is also detrimental towards your ability to fully enjoy the game.
On the surface it may seem like there have been some major changes made to Time Crisis in the time between the second and third games, but in reality, you're just really seeing more of the same - not such a bad thing, but progression in a series is always welcome. The main change is the fact that you now have access to four different guns - the regular hand gun, a machine gun, a shotgun and a grenade launcher. Your hand gun is the only one with unlimited ammo, so you must use each weapon in the type of situation which calls for it. Weapons can be changed at any time by pressing the trigger when you are behind cover. The only really disappointing issue with the weapons is that they're more for convenience rather than necessity (in arcade mode, at least), as you could quite easily make it through the entire game with just the hand gun.
A completely new addition, exclusive to the home version of Time Crisis 3 is the Rescue Mode, which places gun toting bird Alicia Winston under your command. Playing as Alicia allows you to sample the new Sniper system, which seems to be rather confusing. Once you've completed the Rescue Mode, you get to play through the Crisis Missions, a favourite of many fans who played the Playstation 2 version of Time Crisis 2. Crisis Missions take the basic Time Crisis formula up a notch, giving you various objectives to achieve in a limited amount of time.
Given the arcade nature of Time Crisis 3, it's fairly unreasonable to expect that you will get too much time out of the piece - it's essentially a perfect rental. Arcade mode will last players one night, and the bonus missions will add an extra few days, tops. The formula looks to be becoming a tad stale, with the lack of any sort of significant addition to the main game. Multiplayer seems particularly dodgy in this release, as the game shrinks the display into a disturbing 4:3 split screen aspect ratio, effectively removing the sides of the screen, and making it difficult for anyone without a massive TV to be able to see the game. i-Link would be the recommended option, but be wary that all new model Playstation 2's lack the IEEE1394 (Firewire) port required to perform system link. It is also quite annoying trying to configure the Gun Con on higher end sets, as the peripheral is quite difficult to set up on widescreen sets, and is incompatible with 100Hz sets. One final note is that the two gun play option from Time Crisis 2 has been removed, effectively putting an end to any John Woo-inspired shenanigans.
Stabbed in the Eye
Presentation is an aspect of Time Crisis 3 which has left a lot to be desired. Menus are relatively simple to navigate and easy on the eyes, but the in-game graphics are particularly disturbing, particularly considering that we're now into the Playstation 2's fourth Christmas. Plenty of blurred textures, jagged edges and flicker make the general look of Time Crisis 3 rather despicable. Character models still look fairly decent, with a few new types of enemies making an appearance, but the sheer level of jagged polygons and on-screen flicker degrades their appearance. That said, Time Crisis 3 is based around fast paced action, so after the initial round of nausea, players are likely to forgive the appearance of the game, especially when they see massive explosions, and the game's environment falling down around them.
If you're a fan of indistinguishable guitar rock tunes in your arcade games, then you'll be pleased with the soundtrack. Time Crisis 3 also continues the series' proud tradition of woeful voice acting and dialog. The actual in-game sound experience comes together fairly well, as it does a good job of giving you the feeling that you're in a fire fight, but it seriously looks some of the "oomph" of the arcade version, more than likely due to the fact that the home version doesn't support any form of surround sound.
Crack Shot
Time Crisis 3 is sort of like the videogaming equivalent to a Hollywood popcorn film - it's not really brilliant by any means, but it's fairly enjoyable while it still lasts. Perhaps the biggest chip on the game's shoulder is that it wasn't really a great departure from the second, as all of its additions are not fundamental to the gameplay. It's a rental at best for most people, but you should probably pick it up if you are looking for an excuse to buy a Gun Con 2, or are just a big fan of the series in general.
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