Contra: Shattered Soldier

"You would think that the Red Falcon would have given up by now."

You have to love the Contra series. From the time that I first popped the original Contra into my NES, I was hooked. There is nothing more satisfying than basically being a commando in a one man army. You get to blast aliens; huge and small; grotesque and disgusting. Sadly, when the Playstation came out, people decided to make Contra into 3D. Big mistake! Both of the PS1 games were terrible. So the game developers decided to go back to 2D for Contra's next installment. They decided to use 3D backgrounds set in a 2D world. The end result is the best Contra game that I have played since the original. Contra: Shattered Soldier is an awesome game, plain and simple.

Don't be fooled. While this game is set in a 3D world, the game is a side scroller, and is basically a 2D game. This game is much different from a normal Contra game. Past Contra games all allowed you to pick up different weapons during the game as long as you found a power up. Contra: Shattered Soldier is a bit different. You are only given three weapons for the entire game; a machine gun, laser whip, and remote bombs. Also these three weapons can be charged up to fire a more powerful shot. Controlling your character is a breeze. Because it's a 2D game, there are no annoying camera issues. I must say that this game is very hard; when you first start playing it. After a while you will begin to learn where all of the enemies are placed in the game, and because of that, you will become a pro like me at this game. Actually this game reminds me of the Splinter Cell series. The same thing happens in those games where you need to keep playing for a good amount of time, but eventually you will learn where all of the enemies are placed.

The storyline is a bit unique. Bill Rizer is your main Contra character, having appeared in all Contra games. Bill however, has been accused of killing his partner Lance, and destroying 80% of the earth's population. He was sentenced to a cryogenic state for 10,000 years. However, an impending disaster happens; a disaster that just smells of our old friend the vile Red Falcon. Bill is released in order to save Earth, and is paired with a pretty hot partner; a woman named Lucia. I must say that if you are good enough to unlock the "extra" levels, you will get an extended storyline. This storyline will actually help explain the entire Contra series, and why the Red Falcon and his alien army keep attacking earth. Of course you will have to unlock the hidden levels to see the "true" ending; an ending that does explain why the aliens and the Red Falcon have been attacking earth for so many years.

Graphically the game looks pretty nice. All of the environments have nice detail, and the bosses are as nasty as ever; in a good way. I must say that the idea of combining a 2D game in a 3D world is brilliant. The backgrounds look out of this world, as do Bill and Lucia. Nothing compares to the first boss, a mutated turtle/baby head. It's the grossest thing you will ever see, and yet it is kind of beautiful at the same time. The boss starts of as the turtle boss from Contra 3. After you have done enough damage to it, it will turn around and let you blast its other side; a giant baby head that blows snots, bees, and barfs up a storm. The music is heavy metal. I love it. It actually makes you more pumped up to play this game. There is a remixed Contra song from the past that I'm sure everyone will know. It's a remix of the first level's music from the original NES Contra with the heavy metal feel to it. It goes nice with the original NES jungle stage remix as well.

As for replay value, there is lots of it. First of all the game is very short. It will only take you about 60 minutes or so to beat it. However, there is a ranking system in the game. You'll never unlock everything the game has to offer on the first trip threw, so by replaying it over and over, the game will give you lots of replay value. There are videos, artwork, and a music box to unlock. In all, this game may not be perfect as it does get a bit hard at times, but I advise anyone who likes the Contra series to pick it up. Contra: Shattered Soldier is worthy of the Contra name. I wanted this game so bad that I bought it used, since I didn't have a PS2 when this game first came out. That's right, buying used is your only way to play this game since it isn't being made anymore. In fact, this is only 1 of 4 games that I have ever bought used (Castlevania Chronicles, Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night were the others). To get right to the point, I don't buy used, but with Contra: Shattered Soldier I made a small exception. This game is fantastic, and was worth every penny.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/05, Updated 12/06/06