Time Crisis II

The Good
Namco has a habit. It's a great habit. They seem to take some of their greatest arcade titles and make them so much better on console than the original version that a comparison is quite unfair. Time Crisis 2 is at its core the same game from the arcade, but like soul calibur before it, it's better. Way better. The graphics have been completely rehauled making it look an awful lot more polished. The gameplay is similar to Time Crisis in that you duck behind objects and jump out to fire but now it's a lot slicker. There's a great new addition to the game in the form of a warning flash when someone is about to hit you with a gun shot. This gives you a fair warning to get out of the way of enemy fire without making it too easy. The two player mode is fantastic because unlike other two player gun games where you both play from the same perspective, this time each player has their own viewpoint. This makes for some great team-play where one player might go on ahead and the other provides cover fire. Musically, the game rocks. It sounds just like a cheesy big budget action film complimenting the gameplay perfectly. The bonuses in the ps2 version are brilliant. Included besides the original arcade game are some retro namco shooters like the ancient Shoot Away II (which even has a cool updated version which can be unlocked) and a great task-based mode which becomes available when you complete the game. Also worth a mention is the always asked for two gun mode so you can fight John Woo style with two light guns.

The Bad
Even though this game plain rocks it is a bit short. Hey, it's a lightgun game after all! The two player mode also comes at a hefty price in that to play it well you need two ps2 consoles, 2 copies of the game, 2 light guns and a link cable, not to mention 2 TV's. There is a split screen mode but it's far too small to play properly and also suffers some choppiness. Voice acting is also dreadful and despite the graphical update, it doesn't look as good as the best PS2 stuff out there.

The Bottom Line
If lightgun games aren't your thing then you probably won't be swayed by Time Crisis II but if you enjoy them and have a PS2 then you simply must have this game. It's one of, if not the best examples of the genre.