Crisis Zone

Crisis Zone
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Designer(s) Takashi Sano (Producer)
Series Time Crisis
Platform(s) Arcade, PlayStation 2
Release date(s)

Arcade

PlayStation 2

  • PAL September 17, 2004
  • NA October 19, 2004
Genre(s) Light gun shooter, Rail shooter
Mode(s) Single player
Cabinet Upright
Deluxe
Arcade system Namco System 23 Evolution 2
Display Raster, standard resolution
horizontal orientation

Crisis Zone is a spin-off of the popular Time Crisis arcade shooters.

Plot

In 1999, the Garland Corporation opens "Garland Square" in the heart of London. Full of modern amenities, it is considered the future of urban living. A day before its grand opening, however, the entire complex is taken over by the United Resistance Defense Army, a terrorist group. With no demands made, the government orders its newly formed counterterrorism squad, the Special Tactics Force, to liberate Garland Square. The STF, in turn, assigns Squad 1, led by Claude McGarren (or Croad Macgalain, as he's known in the arcade version), to spearhead the effort.

Slowly but surely, the STF liberates Drycreek Plaza shopping mall, Garland Park, and the Garland Technology Center, eliminating the URDA's twin lieutenants Tiger and Edge (Tyger and Edgey in the arcade version) and wiping out their air force and tank defenses. Shortly afterwards, McGarren receives word that Derrick Lynch, the URDA's senior commander, is attempting to overload Geyser 1, an experimental nuclear reactor built to power Garland Square. Making their way down to the control room, McGarren and his men defeat Lynch's troops before taking out the general. They then shut down the reactor just before it begins to melt down.

Six months later, Lynch's successor Jared Hunter launches a fresh attack, seizing control of the newly opened Grassmarket District of Garland Square. With STF Director Grant Kessler's daughter Melissa as a hostage, Hunter demands that the surviving URDA members be released from custody in return for Melissa's life.

McGarren and Squad 1 are sent to rescue her. They fight their way through Grassmarket Square, defeating an experimental defense droid called the A-0940 in the process. They then storm the Belforte Hotel, where Melissa is held on the rooftop swimming pool. There, they are confronted by Hunter and his airborne attack squad. Declaring his intent for revenge, Hunter engages and loses to Squad 1. He then attempts escape in a modified, heavily armed speedboat, but is killed when the boat is destroyed by McGarren's chopper. McGarren and his men then take Melissa to safety, having ended the URDA's terror once and for all.

Background

In Crisis Zone, the player controls the elite anti-terrorist Special Tactics Force (S.T.F.) leader, Claude McGarren. The game uses the same pedal system to reload and hide; however, the player uses a machine gun, a customized Steyr Mannlicher TMP with a sight laser and a capacity of 40 rounds. Players take cover behind a portable ballistic shield that is strapped to the character's left arm. The "crisis flash" is replaced with a warning target icon to remind players to hide from a threatening shot, though it is possible to interrupt the enemy from shooting. Crisis Zone is the first Time Crisis game to date to allow the player to select between three levels to play in any order. Upon completion of all three of them, the player can then play the final level to beat the game.

Remake

A PlayStation 2 (PS2) remake of the game was released in 2004 in the UK and the US with smoother polygon textures, higher difficulty, and an additional mission taking place six months after the Crisis Zone Arcade mode. The PS2 port is compatible with GunCon II lightgun, and is available with an unusual two-player cooperative gameplay mode named "two-gun mode" by allowing two players to play simultaneously on a single-player mode without the use of split-screen, or weapon switching system (similar to Time Crisis 3, with some changes) allowing the player to switch between a fully automatic machine gun, a standard 8-round handgun and a 6-round shotgun, depending on settings. Unlike Time Crisis 3 and Time Crisis 4, where only the handgun has unlimited ammunition and other weapons are replenished by shooting certain enemies, all weapons now have unlimited ammunition in Crisis Zone, though they all must be reloaded. As with the PlayStation 2 version of Time Crisis II and Time Crisis 3, players can access the Crisis Mission exercise menu through prolonged gameplay. The US version of the PS2 remake is called Time Crisis: Crisis Zone.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings67.44%[1]
Metacritic66/100[2]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comB−[3]
EGM7/10[4]
Eurogamer7/10[5]
Game Informer6.75/10[6]
GamePro[7]
GameSpot6/10[8]
GameSpy[9]
GameZone7/10[10]
IGN5/10[11]
OPM (US)[12]
The Sydney Morning Herald[13]

The 2004 remake has received average to mixed reviews, as GameRankings gave it a score of 67.44%,[1] while Metacritic gave it 66 out of 100.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  2. 1 2 "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone Critic Reviews for PlayStation 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  3. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (2004-10-04). "Crisis Zone". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  4. ↑ EGM Staff (December 2004). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone". Electronic Gaming Monthly (156): 170.
  5. ↑ Reed, Kristan (2004-08-27). "Crisis Zone Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  6. ↑ "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone". Game Informer (139): 158. November 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  7. ↑ Bones (2004-10-19). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2005-02-08. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  8. ↑ Davis, Ryan (2004-10-18). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  9. ↑ Leeper, Justin (2004-10-18). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone". GameSpy. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  10. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (2004-10-19). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  11. ↑ Sulic, Ivan (2004-10-11). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone". IGN. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  12. ↑ Baker, Chris (November 2004). "Time Crisis: Crisis Zone". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 138. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
  13. ↑ Hill, Jason (2004-09-16). "Mind games". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2014-02-20.

External links

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