Play It:
For the arcade only.



Story:
No real plot to speak of. Each level features a different branch of law enforcement tackling crime. Patrolmen apprehend bank robbers on the streets, the Coast Guard stops a smuggling ship, detectives fight gun dealers, SWAT takes down terrorists at an airport, the military gets in when terrorists attempt to steal nuclear material from a power plant, and then the most elite part of the military puts an end to an attempted coup. All said though, it is a nice idea.



Graphics:
Oh man, what happened here? The game isn't really ugly. It just looks nowhere near as good as other recently (at the time) released games like Virtua Cop 3 or Time Crisis 3. It does have a more realistic art direction though so maybe it was a necessary sacrifice. I'm not a graphics whore, but I definitely notice a drop in quality.



Sound:
Well, I can only remember 2 tracks, and 1 wasn't very good. SFX consists mostly of your gun going BANG BANG. No complaint there I guess. The speech is entirely in Japanese, since the game takes place there. Therefore, I can't really tell if the acting is any good (although Japanese VA's do generally actually take their role seriously so it probably is.) However, the subtitles provided are clearly written by a nonnative speaker, as it reads like a cheap Jap DVD. Some of the sound effects and at least one music track are taken straight from Police 911.



Difficulty:
Fair to somewhat difficult. It seems to be self-adjusting. I can beat any given stage no problem right off the bat, but once I play another I notice I start to have trouble.



Enjoyment:
This game is basically just a slightly updated Lethal Enforcers with a new mechanic. It takes a page from Time Crisis and features the ability to take cover behind a shield to prevent damage. It is activated by a "Dead Heat System". It looks to me more like a "pointing the gun off the screen" system, you know, just like about EVERY OTHER LIGHTGUN GAME. Now I must say I like this method better than stepping on a pedal. I'm not going to pretend to understand how Dead Heat works, but an educated guess would say it involves using temperature. I doubt it, but maybe I'm right since it seems unreliable as there were innumerable times I got killed even though my gun was not pointed at the screen. Perhaps it's not an instantaneous system and I'm just cutting it too close; I still say it is too long a lag.

Again, this is really just Lethal Enforcers with updated graphics and sound. The problem is that just isn't exciting anymore. Enemies just run, roll, or stand up, then shoot. I was able to have fun with this game, unlike End Game, but the action is just dull. I can't even figure out where powerups are since there's absolutely nothing memorable (was it in this room? This one?), which pretty much max at out 3 per level for the most part. At least in Virtua Cop, the machine gun would be in a sign right after the car drives through (note: that was an example; don't fire up Virtua Cop looking for this powerup. Much better game though.) I'll gladly play this game to burn some time, but I yearn for something more.

Well, there is something more: the first truly competitive shooter that I can remember. It's a dual screen affair like the Time Crisis sequels or Silent Scope 2. However, it is NOT a cooperative effort. Players proceed independently of each other depending on how quickly they can shoot their enemies. Essentially, you're racing each other the end of a stage. Once there, the winner gets awarded while the loser gets his loss rubbed in the face. Lamely, the winner gets to sit and wait until the loser finishes. If you have a shooting buddy, and prefer competing rather than co-op play, this game may please you. If you play alone, the computer takes over, although its performance seems to fluctuate between sucking or running a perfect game.





Rant Session:
Due to the game's realistic (and unambitious) story, there's not much to critique. The game does do a good job of conveying the highly-charged rivalry that cops feel. I mean come on, in the Rival Heat stage, the dispatcher actually refers to the guys as "Rival Detectives". Anyway, these officers take part in the proud Japanese tradition of charging recklessly into rooms to kill as many people as fast as possible whilst simultaneously fucking your partner over by blocking his line of fire.

Of course, the mission outlines pretty much speak for the overall quality control of the game.

"Radicals caused a terrorism at the airport!"

"(Something along the lines of 'stop the revolution') and save our bright future!"

Now that's Japanese propaganda for you.

I said the game had a more realistic art direction than most other shooters. However, the cinema for the Justice And Judgment stage is done in an animated style. Why one single FMV is done so was beyond me. "NO, Tanaka, we're NOT going anime-styled. It's supposed to be realistic... Dude stop crying... All right fine, you get to create ONE anime-style cutscene."





Bottom Line:
Lethal Enforcers returns, but the shooters it helped birth have since surpassed it. However, the competitive play will certainly appeal to some. It isn't horrible, but I'm sure your arcade has better shooters to play.

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