By definition, light-gun games are meant for the arcade. However, when console manufacturers invented the home light-gun, the definition was slightly broadened.
Now, with consoles growing so powerful, great arcade games such as can be ported over with relative ease.Unlike Konami's excellent arcade game, Silent Scope, which requires a specific kind of gun (i.e. The sniper rifle that's part of the arcade unit), Namco's Time Crisis 2 just needs the standard USB light-gun, and itself makes a very good one for the PS2 called the GunCon 2. With the GunCon 2 in hand, any light-gun game, but in particular, is transformed into a near perfect arcade experience. The quickness, feel, and mobility of the light-gun cannot be matched by a Dual Shock, and it helps make this arcade port very, very attractive.Time Crisis 2 for the PS2, the core of which is a straight port from the arcade game of four years of age, is a great action game. With the GunCon in hand, it's pure action, a total adrenaline rush, and it delivers that happy, satisfying feeling of owning an excellent arcade game right in your own home.Gameplay Just like its earlier games on PlayStation, Namco always produces high quality ports to consoles.
Time Crisis 2 Ps2 Gun
Everything from the Tekken and Soul Calibur games to the light-gun games themselves have always been good-looking, fast, fun, and packed with dozens of extras, exclusive to the home versions. Time Crisis 2 is exception.
It's packed with extra goodies, mini-games, and whatnot.But before I get ahead of myself, let's get to the basics. With Time Crisis 2, you can use the game with a standard Dual Shock controller, a new GunCon 2, or a regular old PlayStation 1 GunCon. The game is phenomenally well priced at $59.99 including the GunCon 2 at most retailers, so it's really only an extra $10 bucks for the peripheral, a great deal (I mean, damn, just look at the price of a standard PS2 controller - $39.99, and it's plain to see).The game itself takes players into a crime scene involving mastermind criminals who want to take over the world (ho-hum, same old story), and you and your expert team of elite street forces are there to stop the launch of a rocket satellite that will set things off. The game starts off with you and a partner, who adds the neat gist in Time Crisis 2. As you progress, the second player, who can be controlled by the computer or a real human, fights by your side all throughout the game. Quite often he's right next to you, but just as often he'll get in your way, and he becomes a clever obstacle to avoid.
There are several situations when this happen, but perhaps the best example is found when you're both on inflatable, prop-boats and he weaves in and out of the screen between, behind, and in front of two to three enemy crafts. It's an smart way to trick the player, and it's just as good as training him or her to be careful of what to hit, and what not to.Also worth noting are these fun facts: just like in the arcade game you'll face off with three bosses (one per stage), there are a few interactive backgrounds (explosive cars, etc.) that provide extra points, and yellow bonus baddies (who give you extra points). There are also at least two areas to use machine guns with infinite rounds.The PS2 game itself, because it's a coin-op title, is rather short. It comprises a straight port of the arcade game (Story, or One-Mission Select), but Namco has added four extra mini games, Agent Trainer, Quick & Crash, Shoot Away 2, and Crisis Mission. Agent Trainer is a standard target practice range with human figures or straight targets, Quick and Crash includes four mini-games on its own (Standard Game, Chain Hit, One-Shot, and 10 Seconds), which is either one or two player. Shoot Away 2 is an early '90s skeet-style game, and Crisis Mission, which opens up after beating the Story mode, offers four totally new min-games based in the areas from the Story mode. They are different missions, however, and range from single-shot missions, to avoiding civilians, to beating the clock, etc.
There are six of these!In Story mode there are three stages, each with a trio of missions in them. A player can beat this segment of the game in less than an hour once they're learned in the ways of the light-gun, and if they haven't played a light-gun game in a while, it'll take anywhere from 2-3 hours maximum to beat all three stages. My point is by no means to complain about the length of the game - it's a frickin light-gun game from the arcade, it's clearly going to be short.
My real point is to let you know that after playing through it once, it's incredibly enticing to play it again and again and again. I found myself entirely obsessed with opening up everything in this game, and all throughout it, I just wanted to open up new areas, and improve my score and stats.
Short this game may be, but Time Crisis 2 is so worth the money, but you do have to like light-gun games.Lastly, Namco has set up a sweet two-player mode, which enables players to either play a remarkably smooth and fun split-screen mode, or an I.Link version, which involves two PS2s, two games, and two TVs. This experience is exactly like the arcade game, and is just a blast.Graphics Being a nearly straight port of the arcade game, which, mind you, came out around 1997-'98, Time Crisis II still looks relatively good. It's by no means a game to show off the 'power of the almighty PlayStation 2,' but believe it or not, Namco has worked on several aspects of the game's visuals to improve them. So, yes, you still may see a little shimmering here and there, and the character models are unrealistic and awkward, and the game is rather simple in its use of textures. BUT, whether you notice it or not (I didn't at first), Time Crisis II actually shows off slightly improved textures, more polygons in the characters and in the backgrounds, and better lighting.The short end of it is that Time Crisis II is a decent looking game that really isn't so much about stunning graphics, volumetric fog, or anything resembling 'dirt mapping.' It looks good, and the things it does graphically, such as creating shattering glass, throwing tons of moving characters on screen at once all of which shoot, duck, roll, and which actually grab the part of their body that's hit, it does with flair.Sound Time Crisis II is filled with the sound of one thing -guns being shot. You'll hear a lot of it, accompanied by guys yelling in pain, the high squeal of the first boss, and lots of exploding stuff and breaking glass.
It's real simple that way. Sound wise, it's layered with a fast-beat, strings-accompanied, action-film score that races at every moment. In other words, it's perfect for the game.
VerdictAs far as light-gun games go, Time Crisis II is the best on the system. And with the incredibly reasonable MSRP of $59.99 with the GunCun, it's a deal that's hard to beat.The game conversation is spot on, and the load times are fast.
The whole game moves along at a quick clip, and with the extra split-screen function, and the even better I.Link mode, Namco's gun game is well equipped to bringing sensational light-gun action to your home. (By the way, for those paranoid people out there, the GunCon 2 is bright orange, and nobody in their right mind would mistake it for a real one.)Yeah this game is short, but you know what? It's a great, addictive shooting game. If you like light-gun games, or if you love the Time Crisis series, or if you simply want something fun to play around with that's all action, go buy Time Crisis II. Heck, if you just like games, go get it.