Time Crisis II

"Shooting People Will Always Be Fun.."

Shooting people will always be fun; no matter how many times you point the gun at the screen and pull the trigger, it's still a great feeling. There's something immensely satisfying, possibly primeval, about aiming a plastic gun at a digital character and blowing him away.
It was about one hundred percent that when I got this game, I would love it. I loved the other two Time Crisis games on he PS One, but I thought this had something else, an extra zing maybe.

Aswell as this, it's the only light-gun game available on PS2. So without even going into the game modes, style or anything that may e vaguely considered a critique of the game, I could tell Time Crisis 2 had something about it... I was right!

Time Crisis 2 was based along this storyline; you play an agent who must progress through three levels, killing terrorists en-route, take out the end of level bad guys and kill the final boss, against a time limit.

Your character can duck behind object we you get shot at or need to reload. You don't make the character move, you just shoot. When the enemy tries to shoot a red muzzle flash comes out, so you've got a fair hint that you should be taking cover.

A brief refresher course in the gameplay mechanics of Time Crisis 2 : It's the same as above but now two can play simultaneously. Indeed, not much has changed, but this time it's in blistering hi-res with double vision--bravo!

To complain how long the game lasts is missing the point, because simply beating Time Crisis 2 should never be the object of any players desire. Sure, you've done it! But how about completing it without missing a shot or completing it in the least amount of time. Then once you sot a guy, when he flails into the air shoot him again as many times as possible.

It's the rivalry and the one-upmanship that made the previous games sing, but it's only really something you get if
you take turns at the gun. With Time Crisis 2 however, you and a friend can take on the game together, thus taking away the pedantic shot-counting, since you can't be sure to who shot who without resorting to mind-reading. The two-player mode has an uneasy togetherness with it.

You can even play the game alone, with two guns and become a weapon fetishist.

I love Time Crisis 2 and I'm not ashamed of it. It's a version of the PS One game with polished graphics and a whole lot more fun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/01, Updated 06/12/02