Time Crisis Razing Storm
Destructible environm...wait...Razing! I get it!
Posted October 25, 2010
If there was ever a genre of game that was created for the Playstation Move, it's light gun rail shooters. Namco must have been thrilled to hear about the Move, since they get to bring motion controller support to their Playstation 3 version of the Time Crisis series rather than just the Nintendo Wii. Enter Time Crisis: Razing Storm, a featured first person shooter in the form of Razing Storm along with a couple rail shooter additions as well (Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates). Unfortunately, the narrative in Razing Storm (Story Mode) is incredibly weak, mostly due to poor acting and a silly script. Often times, I wasn't sure if the game was taking itself seriously or not. The presentation tries to tread the line between over-the-top action and comedy, neither of which it's particularly good at.
As a game that takes advantage of the accuracy of the Playstation Move for shooting, it's fantastic. Lining up a shot on an enemy peeking out from behind cover is just as fun as it was back in the arcade. But movement is a completely different story. In Razing Storm (Story Mode), you have control of character movement rather than the standard rail shooter format. To move the character, you have to point the Move in the direction you want to go, typically off the screen. It's painfully spastic and even using the nav or dualshock in combination with the Move feels unnatural. Player movement on the Move is beyond problematic and often feels broken. Obviously, if you don't have Move, you can opt for the regular controller, definitely superior to directional movement with the Move. This isn't a huge problem when taking down enemies though, mostly because the A.I. is just plain stupid.
On the other hand, the controls on the arcade version of Razing storm as well as the other two rail shooter mini-games is superb, ideally because all player movement is being controlled for you and you can focus on lining up quick shots. Also, teaming up with a co-op partner for the main story makes the game actually bearable. Going in with a partner means you won't be caught off guard while trying to turn your character around. There's even a side mode, branched off from the main game, where you play as a prison guard trying to keep the prisoners at bay. If you have a co-op friend, you can trade off trying to halt the prisoners with head shots.
Oddly, the more entertaining mode, Deadstorm Pirates, didn't get top billing. It's a rail shooter where you take on villainous skeletons and their ghost pirate ships. It's really entertaining and can be played multiple times without getting old. Time Crisis 4 is also fun to play with the Move controller. In TC4, you have the ability to switch weapons on the fly and use the cover system to take out enemies safely. It's a rail shooter as well so memorizing patterns is the key to victory. The only drawback to both titles is they are retreading over old ground. If you have played Time Crisis 4 before, nothing much has changed. Beyond the main game, there are also 44 trophies to earn if you are an achievement hunter. Most of them are secret, but the main achievements are story and mutliplayer related.
Namco's biggest problem is that they featured the wrong game. Razing Storm (Story Mode) is absolutely painful to play through and doesn't do the other mini-games included in the package any justice. Even the arcade, rail shooter version of Razing Storm is more fun to play than the main feature. This is mostly due to the oddball control scheme for player movement (Move in one hand and nav in the other) and poor storyline / presentation. It's only saving grace is that it can be entertaining when playing with a friend in co-op mode. Beyond Razing Storm, Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates are pretty fun to play with using the Playstation Move. If you have the Playstation Move, love rail shooters and have a co-op partner to team up with, you may want to consider a purchase when it comes down in price a bit. Otherwise, just consider renting the title whenever you get around to pick up that fancy new motion controller.
Discuss This Game on Our Official VGT Forum
As a game that takes advantage of the accuracy of the Playstation Move for shooting, it's fantastic. Lining up a shot on an enemy peeking out from behind cover is just as fun as it was back in the arcade. But movement is a completely different story. In Razing Storm (Story Mode), you have control of character movement rather than the standard rail shooter format. To move the character, you have to point the Move in the direction you want to go, typically off the screen. It's painfully spastic and even using the nav or dualshock in combination with the Move feels unnatural. Player movement on the Move is beyond problematic and often feels broken. Obviously, if you don't have Move, you can opt for the regular controller, definitely superior to directional movement with the Move. This isn't a huge problem when taking down enemies though, mostly because the A.I. is just plain stupid.
On the other hand, the controls on the arcade version of Razing storm as well as the other two rail shooter mini-games is superb, ideally because all player movement is being controlled for you and you can focus on lining up quick shots. Also, teaming up with a co-op partner for the main story makes the game actually bearable. Going in with a partner means you won't be caught off guard while trying to turn your character around. There's even a side mode, branched off from the main game, where you play as a prison guard trying to keep the prisoners at bay. If you have a co-op friend, you can trade off trying to halt the prisoners with head shots.
Oddly, the more entertaining mode, Deadstorm Pirates, didn't get top billing. It's a rail shooter where you take on villainous skeletons and their ghost pirate ships. It's really entertaining and can be played multiple times without getting old. Time Crisis 4 is also fun to play with the Move controller. In TC4, you have the ability to switch weapons on the fly and use the cover system to take out enemies safely. It's a rail shooter as well so memorizing patterns is the key to victory. The only drawback to both titles is they are retreading over old ground. If you have played Time Crisis 4 before, nothing much has changed. Beyond the main game, there are also 44 trophies to earn if you are an achievement hunter. Most of them are secret, but the main achievements are story and mutliplayer related.
Graphics
- There's a good bit of detail in the Razing Storm story mode, more similar to Modern Warfare than House of the Dead quality. The destructible environments look good, Namco did a great job of pulling off the particle effects on the PS3. The visuals on the rest of the mini-games are average at best, but in line with what you would expect for a rail shooter.
Audio
- The music in all three titles is pretty lacking in quality, but that's not particularly shocking considering the arcade roots. The sound effects are passable, but the voice acting is not. The corny, hammy voiceovers tear down the presentation of Razing Storm, but whoever wrote the script is also to blame.
Conclusion
Namco's biggest problem is that they featured the wrong game. Razing Storm (Story Mode) is absolutely painful to play through and doesn't do the other mini-games included in the package any justice. Even the arcade, rail shooter version of Razing Storm is more fun to play than the main feature. This is mostly due to the oddball control scheme for player movement (Move in one hand and nav in the other) and poor storyline / presentation. It's only saving grace is that it can be entertaining when playing with a friend in co-op mode. Beyond Razing Storm, Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates are pretty fun to play with using the Playstation Move. If you have the Playstation Move, love rail shooters and have a co-op partner to team up with, you may want to consider a purchase when it comes down in price a bit. Otherwise, just consider renting the title whenever you get around to pick up that fancy new motion controller.
Discuss This Game on Our Official VGT Forum