Sunday, November 21, 2004
Four-legged leopard tongues
I finally tore through a rented Neo Contra earlier this weekend with Tom, and it was definitely good times while it lasted. And really, it lasted about an hour the first time through. We were almost done with it a second time when I had to take my companion to the train station, and we were at the half-hour point. So yes, it is a very, very short game. Five levels, usually book-ended by some of the silliest, most stunningly non-sensical cinemas you will ever see. They're pretty, especially the CG ones, but the slooooow voice acting and character design that wishes it were whimsical (three words - commander talking dog) makes the original Contra seem like a gloriously compelling sci-fi epic.
I might as well keep ranting about all of the ridiculous things in this game, even if I enjoyed it quite a bit. You can pick from three different weapon sets right off the bat, but the third choice is easily twice as good as the first two. The two playable characters look completely different from each other, but play exactly the same - not that any previous Contra has done otherwise, but you don't give a samurai from the future a gun, I'll tell you that much. The 'dodge' move works on some attacks and not on others - not fun to experiment with in a game when one hit kills you. The parts where you're not on foot are a nice change of pace, but are all way too short. There's not really any level design to speak of - simply different enemy types more or less dropped into linear, vaguely futuristic environments with the camera angles providing most of the variety.
Though like I said, none of these problems are really new to the series, and none really take away from the blistering run and gun gameplay. The boss fights are all unique and fun (and there are several per level), some of the creature designs (like the titular tongue-beast) are pretty freaky-sweet, and the basic shooting and new lock-on mechanics are rewarding enough. Also, they might say it's 3D, but all of the action happens on a 2D plane so it's kind of irrelevant how the levels are represented. The game is more or less the perfect rental - it's great fun playing through it in one session (despite all my nitpicking), especially with a buddy. It would assuredly wear thin after the third time through, and it doesn't present nearly the challenge (or variety, for that matter) that Shattered Soldier did, but hell, I had a good time.
I might as well keep ranting about all of the ridiculous things in this game, even if I enjoyed it quite a bit. You can pick from three different weapon sets right off the bat, but the third choice is easily twice as good as the first two. The two playable characters look completely different from each other, but play exactly the same - not that any previous Contra has done otherwise, but you don't give a samurai from the future a gun, I'll tell you that much. The 'dodge' move works on some attacks and not on others - not fun to experiment with in a game when one hit kills you. The parts where you're not on foot are a nice change of pace, but are all way too short. There's not really any level design to speak of - simply different enemy types more or less dropped into linear, vaguely futuristic environments with the camera angles providing most of the variety.
Though like I said, none of these problems are really new to the series, and none really take away from the blistering run and gun gameplay. The boss fights are all unique and fun (and there are several per level), some of the creature designs (like the titular tongue-beast) are pretty freaky-sweet, and the basic shooting and new lock-on mechanics are rewarding enough. Also, they might say it's 3D, but all of the action happens on a 2D plane so it's kind of irrelevant how the levels are represented. The game is more or less the perfect rental - it's great fun playing through it in one session (despite all my nitpicking), especially with a buddy. It would assuredly wear thin after the third time through, and it doesn't present nearly the challenge (or variety, for that matter) that Shattered Soldier did, but hell, I had a good time.
// posted by Nick @ 6:14 PM 
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