Time Crisis Strike Review

When I first heard that Namco was bringing their über popular “Time Crisis” series over to the iPhone I was very skeptical to say the least. However after playing through the game Im pretty impressed with the iDevice rendition minus some annoying design flaws.

Time Crisis Strike is labeled as an Adrenaline-pumping rail-shooter based around the duck-and-shoot gameplay element. Your single objective is to unleash an all out attack on Wild Dog’s army and save the day!

Converting a immensely popular light gun game over to the iDevice isn’t as simple as it seems, but Namco/Bandai has done an excellent job at redesigning the gameplay around the iDevice’s interface. Instead of pointing a weapon, you tap the screen to fire your weapon. Tilting your iPhone forward or backward depending on your choice of settings will reload your weapon and/or take cover from enemy.

The interface is very clean with a pause button, the time left to complete your mission, numbers of lives left, current rounds in your weapon, and your score displayed across the bottom of the screen. While this display is very clean, it’s also the biggest complaint I have with the game.

The current layout of the interface while minimal and clean has one gigantic flaw that must be addressed. That flaw is the location of the shooting or hiding icon display.

Not only is this located snap dab in the middle of the screen, but it’s also the only icon that spans more than one row. While this might not seem like a problem looking at screen shots or even some gameplay footage, it will cause you a lot of frustration in some missions as the icon will in essence hinder your view of a target you need to kill, and with mere seconds to complete the stages this becomes a problem quickly.

For example on just level 2 of the Crisis Mission mode entitled ” yellow only” the object is to shoot only the yellow characters. OK simple enough just shoot the yellow characters, but once the game starts one of the targets the pops up is hidden directly behind the icon which changes colors from red to yellow. However because your view is obstructed you can not tell what color they are and you end up shooting a red character and failing the mission half the time.

This is just one example and this does repeat itself throughout all the gameplay modes periodically. This is something I feel must be addressed in an update. Though it’s not a deal breaker as you can work around it, I feel it’s a serious design flaw.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I can tell you why even with this one flaw you should be buying this game.

Time Crisis Strike offers 3 different modes of gameplay each with multiple stages and difficulty levels to test your finger skills on. There is Arcade mode which is the main game mode where you play through multiple stages, culminating in a final showdown with Wild Dog. Than there is a One Stage Trial mode that allows you to compete in any previously complete levels for high scores. Than we have the Crisis Mission mode which is where your sharpshooter skills will be put to the test with multiple unlockable mini missions.

Before each mission you are told the objectives and the time to complete these objectives. Each mission is broken down into 3 to 4 areas that must be cleared of multiple types of enemies. Some can be killed with one shot while others require 3 or 4 shots to dispose of them. As these areas are cleared, the timer will reset and you begin the process once again until you complete the entire level.

If you should either fail to meet an objective or let the timer reach zero, your gameplay session will end and you will have to repeat the entire level again.

The gameplay is very challenging which is great; but even on easy this game brings it. I wish they would have made the timer adjust for the difficulty level. How about adding an additional 10  seconds for easy mode, 5 seconds for normal mode, and leave expert mode as is instead of just adding more difficult enemies to the screen?

However; this might just be nit picking, as that’s what these games are all about. I understand that fact but I feel that the casual market will quickly lose interest in the game and not get to see it in it’s full beauty due to the sheer difficulty of the game.

The game also incorporates a leaderboard; however it does not include any online rankings or gameplay currently.

Graphically the game is a mixed bag, and while it’s adequate I was hoping for a few more of the iDevice graphic abilities to be on display. However with multiple enemies and bullets filling the screen I’ve experienced no noticeable slow downs, although character animations seem blocky and there is some texture repeats, but overall the game does a good job of keeping the game’s graphics from becoming overly repetitive.

Audio wise the game is good with adequate sound effects as well as over the top macho testosterone voice overs for action commands. The game also includes different themed music for each level helping to keep it fresh.

Overall I found Time Crisis Strike to be an excellent rendition of arcade series. It’s set the bar pretty high for future games of this genre and while it’s not perfect, and it’s certainly not made with the casual gamer in mind, those of you who put the time and effort into the game or for fans of the series you will find the game to be a very addicting and challenging experience. Now if Namco/Bandai will just tweak the game ever so slightly for the more casual market I think they have will have a huge winner on their hands.

The Good
——–
Excellent controls
Addictive gameplay

The Bad
——–
Obstructed view in some missions
Short mission timers

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Tags: bandi, light gun, namco, time crisis, wild dog

Category: Games