"Flashy, sexy and repetitive"

When a company like Capcom releases a game it’s very hard to berate it. With so many outstanding titles behind it we’ve come to expect only the best. Now, a bad game will always be bad, no matter who made it. But what about the average, sleeper games that Capcom puts out? Should they be considered a failure simply because they don’t astound us like “Devil May Cry” or “Mega Man?”

Depends on what you’re looking for in a game. If you want something deep and rewarding, Capcom’s latest, “Product Number 03” is one game you need to avoid. Those who enjoy an old school, finger-cramping challenge, however, may have a gem for their Gamecube that others will overlook.

“P.N. 03” throws you right into the senseless action, and changes very little throughout the course of the game. You are Vanessa Schneider, a futuristic mercenary with little backstory and an impossibly attractive silhouette. You’re handed missions from a client, which mostly consist of blowing up various cores of identical space stations.
As you run room to room, robot guards will teleport in and attempt to hinder your mission. Once you destroy them all you proceed to the next room, and eventually will face a boss. Kill the boss, collect your money and go to the next mission. That’s the entire game: Run around and shoot machines for hours. Sounds kind of repetitive, doesn’t it?

Well, it is. But a few things spice up the action. The most pervasive feature of “P.N. 03” is Vanessa’s habitual dancing and gyrating. Even when standing still she taps her foot to the ever present techno music. As unfriendly projectiles come your way you can send her prancing left or right, side step those missiles and return fire, all in one fluid motion. Once you get the hang of the controls, which are occasionally spotty, gracefully dodging the countless attacks becomes very enjoyable.

Also somewhat breaking the monotony are the assorted power-ups, which include new battle suits to wear and their subsequent weapons. Each suit excels in certain areas but all share the same basic design. Only the color changes with each upgrade. Actually, there is little difference from the first and last suits, gameplay-wise. No matter how much you enhance your suit, the gist of the game stays the same. You never learn new moves like a lateral jump or the ability to run and shoot simultaneously.

And as you start to notice the fun is wearing thin you may also perceive how sterile and drab the locales are. To some extent they serve a purpose, in that generic-machine-ruled- future kind of way, but once again nothing drastically changes throughout the game. If you’ve played the first two stages you’ve played them all.

As a way to prolong the few stages the game has each level contains five trial missions. The goal in them is to simply reach the end with as many rooms completed as possible. You’re given the equivalent of money after each victory, which helps you afford the costly new suits. The trial missions, however, are nothing more than an assemblage of random rooms from earlier stages. Sometimes the same room will appear twice, or even consecutively during the same mission. While it may be fun to dress Vanessa up in sleek new costumes, it’s not worth the effort.

She’s a cool character that really needs some fleshing out. Other than Samus Aran and Lara Croft there aren’t any other solid female adventurers in video games. The world of “P.N. 03” would probably slide right into “Metroid’s” timeline, and would give some much needed context to Vanessa’s adventures.

Then again, sometimes action is just action. And the chaos found here is good while it lasts, it just doesn’t last forever. There doesn’t always have to be a reason to blow up a base, or to shoot first and never ask any questions. If you can swallow the shallowness of “P.N. 03” you’ll probably dig it just fine.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/28/04