Play It:
For the Arcade. An XBox port was planned, but SEGA announced that
the plans to do so have been scrapped. God damn. Keep your fingers crossed.
I know mine are. UPDATE: Okay, now it's past 2008, so I'm really
doubting it.
Story:
Well, there really is no established plot, as in what you know when
you start the game. You begin dealing with a group of men who have taken
over a pharmaceutical company building, and the plot develops from there.
This isn't necessarily bad, since the police don't have special intelligence
and spy satellites, and there actually is plot development. Time Crisis
generally doesn't have plot development. Except for a few surprises,
you know the entire plot from the start, and how this is going to end
up. Here, you spend the game wondering what the criminals are planning
to do and what the scope of their intentions are. Like it's predecessors,
this game is just like those buddy cop movies, only this one takes place
in the future, I guess.
Graphics:
Top of the line. Running off that Cochiro (or whatever it is) board,
these graphics are looking mighty good. In ES mode, you get these cool
distortion waves when the bullets pass by you. The FMV's and the general
look of the game is really slick.
Sound:
As far as music goes, I'll say that I have insufficient data. Like all
arcade games, it is impossible to hear the music unless you are really
listening for it. It also doesn't help that that damn Dance Dance Revolution
Extreme 3rd Mix: John Travolta Edition is right next to it. The sounds
are good, and the speech is all right. The lines are slightly cheesy,
but the acting is well done. However I must point out the voice of Glitter.
He's got a whiny little voice, and when he says his "I didn't expect
you so soon." Line, he sounds disturbingly like my grandmother.
Also, characters talk in 'blocks', where the characters stop talking
because the subtitles won't fit anymore. SEGA seems to have known this
too, so this isn't too noticeable. However, one instance of this is
when Janet speaks on the intro of Simple Mission. The target building
has bullet proof glass installed that cannot be penetrated... with standard
weapons.
Difficulty:
Aye, this is what puts Virtua Cop above Time Crisis. Time Crisis is
good, but as a certain MXC contestant once put it...
MXC contestant: "Hey, you know what? This game is so (beep)(beep'in)
easy!"
Wow! She's right! This game really is (beep)(beep'in) easy!
Kenny: "Nah, she's just (beep)(beep'in) lucky!"
If you don't know what you are doing, this game can take you out in
mere seconds. This game isn't really all that difficult now that I've
played The House Of The Dead 2, but this game is still much harder than
TC. I like challenges, so I find this awesome. Although I do have a
complaint about the bosses, which are the real reason for the difficulty.
If you have a special weapon, they are quite easy, provided you don't
lose it. If you don't, you are in for a hell of a fight. The last boss
is redonkulous and is all about grabbing an automatic weapon if you
don't want to get utterly wasted, unless your skill is Jesus level.
Enjoyment:
This game rocks. If you thought Time Crisis was too easy, this is for
you. The ES Challenges are a cool touch, although SEGA had put these
in another lightgun game first, so I can't give this game special credit.
As for the ES mode, I have to give SEGA the thumbs up here, as they
have taken a concept and did something original with it unlike someone
else. I'll just END my comments here, and not mention that particular
GAME. ES mode is not a Time Crisis rip-off. However, it is a Matrix/Bullet
Time rip-off. But this is forgivable, since Bullet Time has not done
in a shoot em' up before, and its pretty cool. You can use dual guns
for max enjoyment, although switching weapons may be a bit tricky. I
have a quibble about the machine design, though. Rage's ES pedal is
on the left while Smarty's is on the right. Now, when playing as Rage,
I have to either use my left foot (while for TC I always use my right)
or stand completely sideways in order to use my right foot. No biggie,
as I have learned to live with it, and you could always play as Smarty.
Of course, you might not be able to (broken gun or someone else playing.)
Replay Value:
It is kinda disappointing as there really are no different paths unlike
part 2. Normal mission has 2 paths you can take, but that's it. However,
there are multiple endings (at least 3), and they are good ones (in
terms of content, not outcome.) Passing or Failing ES challenges will
occasionally also alter the gameplay.
Rant Session (spoilers):
Well, I may love this game, but I also love to rip things completely
apart. My main gripe is with the special weapons, since they apparently
must be referred to by their fucking proper, technical names at all
times. I'm shooting away with my MP7, and I see the M269, which sounds
pretty badass. So I pick it up, and it's a damn revolver! I gave up
fully automatic firing for a shitty six-shooter? Well, the magnum is
pretty powerful, but still, I want my machine gun back. Now, I remember
to look out for them, but in the heat of battle... Doesn't this lead
to any confusion in the field?
It seems that SEGA is making these games to be less plausible than the one before it. The first one was fine except for the goofy armored golfcart Vise drove. The second one had you fight Mr. Universe, several guys with rocket-launcher jetpacks, cat-tanks, and an unorthodox flying bomb. This one has human cloning, ninjas with lightsabres and inviso suits, possible Shadowrun-esque deckers (at least, I suspect Brand might have cybernetic implants), and the grand daddy of them all... Joe Fang actually merges his DNA with a dinosaur's, and you have to fight... Dino Fang!... and he's armed with a chain gun. The last boss is a huge monster with a friggin' huge ass chaingun. Why does a dinosaur need a chain gun? How come Steven Spielburg and Michael Crichton didn't think of this first? And what in the hell was SEGA smoking when they thought up this?
Guy 1: "Hey, let's make a game with ninjas! They're pretty cool."
Guy 2: "No, we need something special."
Guy 1: "Why don't we throw in some bad guys with guns? He'd be outmatched!"
Guy 2: "That's already been done too."
Guy 3: "Oh! How about a helicopter full of ninjas?"
Guy 1 and 2: "Yeah, that would be sweet!"
Guy 3: "Yeah, he could also fight Godzilla and Spider-man, and go surfing with robots!"
I did not make any of that up.
While on the subject of twists, the pharmacy and bank that gets ripped off are said to be 'linked with the criminal organization'. It would seem the robberies were thus staged. But if they had the items in their possession in the first place, WHY create an elaborate setup? They could just as easily have simply leaked the dinosaur data or smuggled out a cloning cell. Who's gonna report it stolen? The crooks? Hell, the real owners of the dinosaur info would probably NEVER know their data was copied as long as the chip remained.
Also, this game may have taken a few too many pages from Time Crisis. Rage and Smarty behave a little more like VSSE agents than cops. They dive out of planes, hang in the air by cords in order to enter a towering building, and raid a captured military base. Typical police work? Hardly.
Anyway, that's all I got on this game. Enjoy. Oh, and there is one thing I should point out. I'm sure that at least a few people are going to take one look at Joe Fang, think of Wild Dog, and scream "rip-off!" However, Joe Fang actually returned in Virtua Cop 2, which came out in 1995-1996, a year or two before TC2 (WD's first resurrection) did. So there.
Bottom Line:
After a long hiatus, the VC series returns! Go play this game so SEGA knows that they should crank out a home port!