Time Crisis: Razing Storm

My trepidation of the new motion control tidal waves hitting our shores is widely known, and frequently documented, so I want to make a statement about Time Crisis: Razing Storm right off the bat; I did play this game with a Move controller, and it did improve the experience dramatically. However, wipe that smug look off your face, Sony; the Playstation Move is far from perfect.

Time Crisis: Razing Storm is right at the forefront of the Playstation Move release, and is a prime example of why the Playstation Move is at least a useful piece of kit. Sure, Time Crisis 4 was released with a G-Con gun a few years back for the PS3, but Razing Storm decides that not only do they want to release a new game (Razing Storm) in the package but they want to bring Time Crisis 4 to the party along with its new best friend ‘Deadstorm Pirates’. All three are classic arcade shooters which the Time Crisis franchise has made its name for, and honestly this pack could only have been released with this much success after Move hit shelves.

The super quick breakdown: Time Crisis 4 is the same as the arcade version, and the same as the one  previously released on the PS3, but it’s a nice extra for anybody (like myself) who skipped over it after the horrid G-Con gun it was included with was the only control option. Deadstorm Pirates is exactly what you’d expect from the title; it’s Time Crisis but with a healthy supply of zombie pirates to kill (imagine if Pirates of the Caribbean had a love child with House of the Dead and left it at the ‘NAMCO’ orphanage). Razing Storm does things a little differently; don’t panic, it’s still the same rail-shooter style you’ve come to love in the franchise with plenty of new cheesy voice-acting enemies to gun down til your brain squeals with joy. There’s a new catch to Razing Storm, though; you can select a first person shooter control scheme. BOOM! The rails are gone and you are left to control with a combination of the Navigational Controller/Dual Shock to walk and the PSThriimote to direct which direction you walk.

The arcade mode works so well it can almost smell what rail-shooter perfection had for lunch that day, with the only very large, glaring elephant in the room exception – the Move controller itself. Put down the pitchforks! I have but one reason to justify that statement. In order to duck and/or reload, you need to push circle, square, X, triangle or the ‘Move’ button – why is this an issue? Because they’re on top of the controller! I (wisely, and I recommend you do the same) bought the gun attached for the Move because I knew this was the one instance that I would be happy to payout for a piece of plastic. This meant that I had to keep my other arm fully stretched and, quite literally, cup the ball of the Move to be ready for any reload and duck. Two of the three most important options on Time Crisis. It’s a glaring problem with the equipment at hand and a real pain when you’re expected to take quick, precise shots. After an hour I confess I began to adapt to it, but it was such a glaring design flaw that I could not let it stand.

Which brings me very neatly on to the first person shooter mode. This worked quite well for what is essentially the first FPS game with Move compatibility; where it failed was the controls (shocker). Lurching around the environments by pointing the PSThriimote is not the swift fast-paced action Time Crisis thrives on, and it suffers even more when it comes to ducking and covering. It gets around the awkward button placement by making the Navigation/Dual Shock buttons reload, but then smacks face first into a brick wall by making the control to duck, pointing the Move controller up. Yes, really, UP. Even worse, when you point the controller back at the screen you have to readjust your bearings because your cross-hair has to gently float back down from space. Which means that if you were say, oh, I don’t know, trapped in a fire-fight against heavily armed enemies with projectile weapons in a confined space – you may have difficulty aiming your shot with less than a second to react!

Luckily, they made it optional, and credit to the man in the meeting who suggested doing both because the FPS mode will definitely be enjoyed by some who are after that experience on the PS3. I, however, wanted Time Crisis. I wanted cheesy dialogue, big explosions, techno music pumping rail-shooter nirvana. This was delivered to me not once, not twice, but thrice with Time Crisis: Razing Storm. At current pricing it drops to less than a tenner for each game and you know that you’ve dropped more money than that if you’ve ever seen one of those cabinets in an arcade – don’t lie. If you felt burned by the old G-Con guns – buy this with Move right now. The button issue aside it’s accurate to the touch. I can’t even count how many nut-shots I was able to string together. Just keep making these please, Namco, no more Time Crisis FPS’, you do rail-shooters too damn well.