Metal Slug 3

"I don't know why there are zombies either"

SNK are famous (Or used to be, at any rate) for 2D fighters more then anything else. While other companies moved onto 3D fighters, it stuck with 2D, along with Capcom and now Sammy. But there was one other series it made, almost as famous as its King of Fighters series. A great hit in the arcades, the original was ported to the original Playstation- a game renowned for it's difficulty, fast paced action and weird, if well animated, 2D graphics.

Metal Slug.

Metal Slug spawned 5 sequels, and Metal Slug number 3 managed to get ported to the PS2 and Xbox.

Its gameplay isn't that different from it's predecessor. You choose one of 4 battle hardened veterans (and of three difficulty settings) to take on the armies of the evil General Mordon. Then, you blast your way through the game, firing whatever weapon you have into the oncoming enemy hordes (With the D pad controlling the direction of your aim as well as the, with a knife replacing your gun if you press the “Fire” button right next to an enemy.

The enemies themselves range from soldiers to helicopters to zombies to yeti, each colourfully drawn (though it's not on par with other 2D games for the PS2 and Xbox, most notably Guilty Gear XX), every move animated, and with their own attacks. At the end of each level, keeping with the action game tradition, is a (normally huge) boss, who fills the screen with attacks and destroys the scenery (and like the rest of the game aren't quite about to the PS2's standard, but good enough) in its attempt to destroy you.

However, if you are hit once, you're dead- no health bar, just a couple of second invulnerability. The only way to last slightly longer are he vehicles- ranging from camels to planes, to the infamous Metal Slug tank, each with a weapon, a sub weapon, a kamikaze attack and armour that can take three hits (apparently camels are tougher then they look). Thankfully, even if you lose all your lives and use a continue, you're still where you were, albeit without any of the weapons you picked up.

Oh, stop complaining. The challenge is part of what makes it great.

The weapons act like power-ups- they replace whatever weapon you're using currently. Each has a limited ammo supply, meaning that you'll have to change it constantly in order to keep up with the huge waves of soldiers and monsters that fill the screen. There's a continuously firing laser, a dual machine gun, the (as voiced by the bodiless announcer who helpfully tells the name of weapon you've picked up as if you're too stupid to notice the letters on the screen) RAW-KET LAWNCHUR. If you're in a tight spot, you have a limited number of grenades to throw in order to give yourself some breathing space.

In each level, there are also a certain number of hostages captured by General and the aliens- if you manage to finish the level without using a continue, they're recorded to a list and added to your point totals- and due to the fact that they are different hostages per difficulty level you have thousands to save- not to mention the fact that going through a level without using a continue, even on easy mode, is no mean feat.
Each of the hostages drops something- food to heal you (and also eventually makes you fat, which powers up your attacks insanely, though I'm not sure why), weapons, serums to de-zombify you (in case you get turned into a zombie or a mummy- it apparently happens more often then you think) and some back up- ranging from a rain cloud shooting thunderbolts to a chimp packing an uzi.

Talking about back up, there is also a co-op mode. The game is still difficult enough with a friend to be interesting as you both blaze through the levels in an attempt to destroy as much as humanly possible. The only real problem is both of you MUST remain on the screen at the same time, so none of this split screen nonsense. It also adds a sense of tactics to the game which before had merely needed an outrageous amount of skill- should you take the tank or does your friend need it more then you do?

Of course, you'll probably take it and laugh as your friend dies and over and over, but there's always the possibility that you could give it up. At some point. Maybe.

The music is, quite frankly, average- it doesn't grate and you, but it's unlikely you'll be humming it along to yourself later- but it does the job. The sound effects are great- from alien deaths, to gunfire, to the BZZT of a laser (Or as the announcer would say, LAYZUR GAN- I'm still not sure what the hell his first language is- possibly esperanto), the death cries of zombie alien clones (No, I'm not making this up) and the millions upon millions of explosions. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

As for a plot- there isn't one. No cutscenes or any of that crap- just full action.
Okay, maybe there is a backstory- General Mordon had been defeated again, and the four characters now have the job of cleaning up his remaining forces, despite one of them attempting to leave. However, the two army forces are then sent to investigate strange happenings- giant animals, aliens, zombie infestations, the usual.
Actually, there is one part that could possibly be called a plot twist, and it is slightly unexpected- but it's more there to add to the gameplay then any real attempt at a storyline.

New to the PS2 and Xbox ports are two modes of gameplay, both single player and multiplayer. First, there's Storm the Mothership where you play as one of the (weak) enemy soldiers and attacks the aliens along with your computer controlled allies (and one other player, though both the mini-games can be played single player). Then there's Fat Island- grab as many food items as you can while fighting off the enemy (And again another player)
In conclusion, Metal Slug 3 is a great game to buy if you've got the spare cash- and it blows Contra: Shattered Soldier and Alien Hominid out of the water.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/05, Updated 04/07/05