Philosoma

"What a long strange trip this is...."

I first set eyes on this game a few months after I bought my first Playstation, a long long time ago at a store far far away when the system still cost the then-ungodly price of $200. I had a bundle of cash, and decided to build upon my modest collection of PSX games, which was at the time just MK3, Battle Arena Toshinden, and Jumping Flash(i miss that game). There wasn't anything else there that appealed to me, having not yet developed my present love for the Wipeout series, and having a deep-seated hatred for sports games, which is all that was there, this being the early days. However, there was one dark horse game there that i hadn't considered. This one, Philosoma.

Now, I hadn't really had any interest in this game before. I had only seen anything on it in one place, the original Playstation Demo Disc with Wipeout, Toshinden, ESPN Xtreme and such. And the game didnt really catch my eye. So, just out of curiosity, and having money to burn, i picked it up.

For those of you keeping track, scrolling shooters are in short supply nowadays. The last one that got any sort of attention was the ''just average'' Gradius 3 & 4 collection on PS2. And that was just lacking.

Philosoma isnt any better. It's mostly an amalgamation of shooter concepts that all but died with the early days of the Super NES and Genesis. However, the game is genuine proof of the idea that any rehashed idea done well can work. Parts Gradius, parts Afterburner, parts R-Type, hell there's even a throwback to the old Neo-Geo game Viewpoint. Throw all this together with one of the more intriguing storylines any game of this type would ever have, and you have a decent piece o' gaming here.

Graphics--Well, this IS an early PSX game. Don't go in expecting TOO much now. Even still, there are some decent visuals in here. With the exception of the extremely bland, white-bread by the numbers first few levels, the level/boss design is very good. Most of the better effects come from objects zooming in and out. The FMVs are, as i said, very early PSXish, but they tell a damn effective story, a few of the images are actually pretty disturbing, especially the nearer you get to the end. But I'll get to that.

Sound--Nothing too fancy. Generic shooter sounds, explosions and such. The voicework varies. At times, it's pretty high in cheese value, but when it works, it works wonderfully. Especially the computer's voice. And how it changes. It's also of note that you actually get radio transmissions from the computer and the rest of the team you travel with giving you warnings, boss classifications and other little bits as you go throughout the stages. Nice touch.

Music--Nothing too hyperkinetic, but its good enough to drive you along when things get fast. For some reason, the music that plays over the end credits disturbs the hell out of me, though. I suppose part of that can be credited to the image in the background, but still...

Control--Pretty simple, although changing weapons while theres dozens of ships to fend off can get grueling.

Gameplay--Just like every other shooter you've played. Grab weapon powerups, avoid the walls/sides, shoot anything that moves, and for God's sake don't EVER take your thumb off the fire button. Oh, and in this game's case, toss out an occasional badass bomb. Not much to it. Well, there's also the four different weapons you can power up that end up being pretty useful. But with the exception of two stages, you could get through the whole game without ever switching from the primary weapon if you wanted to.
With the ever switching viewpoints, its sorta like 5 or 6 different games in one, and each tougher than the last. The first boss is simple, but as you go on, youl find things getting weirder, and weirder, and consequently harder and more frustrating. The guy who tells you he got through any stage beside the first on one life like so many other shooters before it(You heard me, Life Force) is a lying bastard. The final phase will either prove to be your greatest shooter challenge, or force you to rip your controller from the socket, and pitch it through the TV screen. The game is tough, ladies and gentlement, no doubts there. But, no matter what, one thing will keep you going....

Story--Whoa. OK, I'm not going to spoil the goods on this. But know that while the game starts out pretty generically as a ''bunch of space pilots set out to save the planet'' sort of thing, as you go on, you learn this is the furthest thing from the real plot as you can get. The final couple of FMVs have some jawdropping ''what-the-f***?!'' images that i guarantee WILL stick with you. There isn't much else i can say without ruining it.

Replay value--Well, there are three difficulties, and the closing dialogue is different for all three, and as far as the story's concerned, they are worth beating the game for, especially Normal mode's ending with the computer doing the dialogue. And a video screen with a hot japanese girl changes midway through the game. Not much, I know, but its worth a couple of run throughs.

Rent/Buy--I dont even know if you can find this game anymore in a store. Your best bet is probably through the miracle of EBay...but, if you do happen to set eyes on it, know that it is worth a look.

One thing will be certain, however.

The words ''Mission Accomplished'' have never been so creepy.

You'll know what I mean.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/02, Updated 03/20/02