Game Reviews

Time Crisis Strike

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Time Crisis Strike

Time Crisis Strike puts a pistol in your hands and orders you to shoot everything on sight. Who you're fighting, what you're fighting for, and where you're fighting aren't of consequence - the only thing that matters is how quickly and accurately you shoot.

You play by tapping the screen to fire your pistol at enemies. No worrying about movement - the game keeps you on rails, guiding you through each level so you can focus on shooting. The 3D levels would have made navigation cumbersome anyway, so opting for an on rails approach works to the game's benefit.

Time Crisis Strike retains the motion mechanics of its light gun iterations by having you tilt to reload your gun and take cover. Alternatively, you can touch a button lining the bottom of the screen to take cover. The placement of the button is occasionally problematic, though, since it gets in the way whenever you try shooting enemies near the bottom edge of the screen.

Your shooting spree goes down in three modes: Arcade, One Stage Trial, and Crisis Mission. Unlocking levels in One Stage Trial and Crisis Mission requires playing through Arcade mode first.

Organized into three stages - "Into the Fire," "To the Core," and "Showdown" - Arcade mode involves beating back increasingly tougher waves of enemies in a trio of environments. How the levels are related is anyone's guess, but that doesn't inhibit any enjoyment to be gained from dispatching the enemies encamped within each.

One Stage Trial allows you to play any of these stages individually to set a high score. Crisis Mission, thankfully, introduces a handful of different missions. Five in total, each providing you with an objective. For instance, "Yellow" requires you only shoot enemies clothed in yellow.

Their cleverness is sadly marred by short duration. Each stage is over in less than a minute. The same issue is evident in Arcade mode and One Stage Trial where it takes only a couple of minutes to burn through a stage.

This makes Time Crisis Strike great for quick play, but not a value comparable to the asking price. In the span of 15-20 minutes you could play through everything offered here.

Greater variety could compensate for the lack of length, yet Time Crisis Strike holds back. You only get the default pistol; no other weapons or special abilities.

Even throwing in a few more stages or randomising where enemies appear in each level would help. As it stands, though, this is far too stingy with the content to earn a rousing recommendation.

Time Crisis Strike

Time Crisis Strike runs out of ammo as soon as you start firing. Too short for lasting value, despite its entertaining on rails action
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.