Time Crisis 5

[JBC]

Okay? You can opt out of the convo anytime, I'm just enjoying discussing a game I like. I like to chime in in it's defense as it's a tragically underrated entry. I really only think the first stage is underwhelming because it introduces the disappointing protagonists & has a bland white color scheme. The gameplay is mostly fine as long as one is aware that swapping weapons constantly is vital, that roughing it out pistol only will not reward an inexperienced player. I think these things combined fool people into thinking the game is awful when it's not.

Anyway, earlier someone mentioned that the Terrobites were annoying but that's only when you feel threatened by them swarming the way they do. With practice I've found the machine gun makes such quick work of them that I see them as a reprieve from actual combat & as sort of a stress relieving popcorn enemy. They just feel like a mini game & I thought it was an interesting new aspect for the series. Not one I would want in every entry or anything of course, but they seem only meant to stick around for that one story.

[gameoverDude]

The Terror Bites are no problem with the right weapon.

Handgun only is good for Wild Dog's 3-wall trap if your fire rate is good. Turn left, smack that wall as fast as you can until it's destroyed. Ignore the cautions that come up. Then treat the other two walls the same way. This will save your MG & SG for Wild Dog so you can rack up a decent hit count on him.

Late in the game when there are "a huge number of Terror Bites swarming around the enemy leader", I'll chuck a grenade on him to end that part. It's good to have a lot of MG rounds right before the Final Battle, so you can milk the laser cannons for many hits. What I like on TC4 is how it encourages use of all weapons. If you want to score high on the Jack Mathers battle, you'll be switching quite a bit.

The Terror Bites theme "Something's Coming" is pretty awesome, just like the rest of TC4's OST. Thank you Takeshi Miura.

Here is Namco's own official promo video for TC5, which does a good job demonstrating the dual-pedal system. One player circles around a HACS and totally tears him apart by tagging the tank on his back.

[xxx1993]

It's already March. Let's keep an eye out for this game at the arcades when it's released, and keep our fingers crossed for a console port!

[xxx1993]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwJ_EQOQqwg

Someone has uploaded a full playthrough of the entire game. And yes, the end teases the True Mastermind Edition.

[Pretas]

If this gets ported, it'll probably be the first PS4 game to support Move. I can't see Namco making a GunCon 4 after how unsuccessful the GunCon 3 was.

And yes, the PS4 does natively support the Move, though Sony has yet to bring attention to this.

[xxx1993]

It has to be. And there definitely has to be a GunCon 4 to go along with it. But we don't need a FPS mode, we can just have the extra modes without first-person shooter gameplay.

[Pretas]

The FPS story mode in Razing Storm was one of the most wasteful additions to any arcade -> console port, that's for sure. Couldn't even bear to finish the first full mission. Even Tekken 5's Devil Within mode was better.

[JBC]

Even Tekken 5's Devil Within mode was better.

Oh it's bad but it's not -that- bad lol. I still haven't finished it & I have to to unlock Starblade. Hm, actually I just remembered I can download a save & use my PS2/3 transfer cable.

[xxx1993]

The FPS story mode in Razing Storm was one of the most wasteful additions to any arcade -> console port, that's for sure. Couldn't even bear to finish the first full mission. Even Tekken 5's Devil Within mode was better.

I eventually did try the story mode in Razing Storm, and I managed to complete it.

[xxx1993]

After watching the playthrough of Time Crisis 5 on YouTube, I have a question that's really bugging me...

Spoiler

What if Keith Martin from the second game is the true main villain of Time Crisis 5?

[boagman]

What if Keith Martin from the second game is the true main villain of Time Crisis 5?

Would that mean he's liable for stealing Wild Dog's voice and replacing it with Cesar Romero's? Sheesh...just awful. Wild Dog was an *awesome* character, and they've turned him into a whooping idiot.

[xxx1993]

You heard his voice, right? Wild Dog? Also, he blew himself up AGAIN when he was defeated.

[xxx1993]

Another thing I noticed, Wild Dog is the boss at the end of each level. In the first, you fight him in a giant robot. In the second, he has a truck armed with a missile, sort of like in Gunblade N.Y. And in the third, you fight him when he's on top of a truck.

[JBC]

Robert's voice over is worse than Wild Dog's if you ask me. The video is pretty noisy but from what I can tell most of the characters are atrocious as usual.

I really love this series for it's gameplay & action but the characters have been total shite since part 3. I wouldn't be caught dead dressing like that.

[xxx1993]

I do find VSSE's choice of attire kind of odd, actually.

[boagman]

I do find VSSE's choice of attire kind of odd, actually.

This bugged me, too, but it was something I was more willing to let go of. Wild Dog's voice, however? Just stinking awful. *Nothing* like the original, nor even his personality, really. Yes, he blows himself up with the thumb trigger, but that's about it.

[JBC]

Time Crisis, Project Titan, II, Crisis Zone, & Razing Storm all have perfectly tolerable characters (RS's are meatheads but in such an over the top way it's funny).

TC 3, 4, & 5 all share this terrible metrosexual thing that clashes horribly with who & what those characters are supposed to be. The worst out of all of them is Evan from part 4. Looking at him is worse than looking at Tidus from FFX.

Why does the VSSE keep hiring these ninnies?

[boagman]

The worst out of all of them is Evan from part 4.

I fully admit that I was so disinterested/annoyed with TC4 that I honestly can't remember (and don't care to) anything about what that character looks like. Not saying you're wrong or that I don't believe you...it's just that the game itself was so awful that I didn't care.

[xxx1993]

Time Crisis 4 was a great game. I love the entire series. Regardless of what the characters look like.

[boagman]

Time Crisis 4 was a great game.

Aaaaaaaaand you lost me, there.

[JBC]

Time Crisis 4 was a great game.

Aaaaaaaaand you lost me, there.

As soon as that airport section ends it becomes pretty fun. I will say it is my least favorite entry in the series but it's not as bad as they say. Still works & plays just like any other Time Crisis.

[xxx1993]

Well, Time Crisis 5 will blow everything out of the water. This has potential, it could be the ultimate Time Crisis game, or rather, the ultimate light gun game.

[JBC]

It does look really good but that playthrough is so short. I'm hoping the inevitable port contains the True Mastermind Edition, which it undoubtably will.

Nothing has beaten Crisis Zone for me yet save for it's own enhanced PS2 port. Razing Storm had the potential, but was also too short. Why in the heck they put all that effort into a FPS mode instead of going Crisis Zone's route of adding an extra traditional scenario is beyond me.

Actually... it's not. They did that because they wanted to sell copies to 11 year old CoD fans & it's just one of the many reasons why I hate first person shooters. Get off my lawn!

[Pretas]

House of the Dead 4 is still the best on-rails arcade gun shooting game. The term "light gun shooter" isn't suitable for the entire genre, because many such games actually use positional guns.

[JBC]

I like HotD IV but it's pretty simplistic compared to anything from the Time Crisis series. It's also hard as nails on PS4 (the only version I've played).

I'm sort of the odd man out when it comes to that series. Having burnt out on parts 1 & 2, I prefer 3 over the others.

Still, I think the Crisis series offers a deeper gameplay experience. HotD surpasses it in the story & visual design dept though.

[gameoverDude]

I've got good and bad feelings. For now the length is on par with Time Crisis 1 or 2, which is frankly a step back. I get the same feeling I did when King of Fighters XII came out. I'll give TC5 a chance though.

The A-0940 style vehicle (albeit without any sort of cloaking) is cool. There's even one swarming enemy bit with some sort of flying drones that reminded me of the Terror Bites.

When TC5 gets the True Mastermind upgrade, I want to see some more epic bosses in the other 3 stages. A redub for Wild Dog would be nice- hopefully Namco catches enough shit in the meantime over that goofy voice.

It wouldn't surprise me to see better graphics on a PS4 port. Hopefully there's some kind of dual pedal controller planned.

Dark Escape 4D wouldn't be bad on PS4 either, especially with 3D TVs on the market. The pulse check feature could be done with a Bluetooth wristband. All you'd lose would be the air blower effects and the vibra-seat.

[Skykid]

Time Crisis 4 was a great game.

Aaaaaaaaand you lost me, there.

Same.

[xxx1993]

I hope the True Mastermind Edition has the most epic final boss battle of the series, surpassing even that with Wild Dog, Ernesto Diaz, Giorgio Zott, and Gregory Barrows.

[yyr]

Posted this on GAF too.

I finally got to try this yesterday. Played it for 3 hours straight. By the time I was done I'd already gotten the 1cc, two separate times, but it was really rough at first.

I'm a series vet...the first game remains one of my all-time favs. 1cc-ed both it and 2, many times. Never spent enough time with 3 or 4 to get that good, but enjoyed them nonetheless, even though 4 seemed pretty uninspired.

The dual pedal mechanic is...really fun, actually, and did not take very long to get used to. The graphics are great, except for the occasional stutter--was not prepared for that. Also, the HACS at the end of 1-2 didn't explode at one point...just continued floating there as I walked on by, lol.

The difficulty seemed absolutely brutal at first. I knew that your amount of time to duck after seeing a red circle had dropped for TC4, but it seems to be even less time now. Thing is, the amount of time can vary greatly depending on the enemy's distance from you. During the final battle with Wild Dog, when he is on a moving vehicle some distance away, you actually have way more time to dodge than you do in Stage 1, where all of the enemies are in close proximity. Making matters worse is the fact that most of the attacking enemies attack again very soon after, sometimes less than half a second later, and then again after that. Casual players all got murdered very quickly and most did not bother continuing or trying again. My first few credits also ended very quickly.

Finally I changed my play style and had much more success; instead of waiting for red-shirted enemies to attack, then trying to counterattack, I instead learned their patterns and shot them down before they had a chance to attack. As usual, the non-red enemies seldom attack, so this generally led to safety. Most of the enemies appear in the same places every time, with few exceptions, and the boss battles/minigame events never change (though the "press the indicated pedal quickly!" event chooses randomly between the two, so you can't just fall asleep), so memorizing my way to victory was not difficult.

My final playthrough was completed in 7'02"85. That's the shortest Time Crisis game ever; while I think it was possible to clear the first game in under 10 minutes, you're talking world-record territory there.

The minigame events are entertaining, and there's nothing frustrating/silly like the 3-screen battles from TC4. Overall, it's a lot of fun, and very intense...while it lasts.

[xxx1993]

Now I wonder what's in store for us in the True Mastermind Edition...