Review: Time Crisis 2nd Strike - The Firefight Against Time

Overview

Namco has just released Time Crisis 2nd Strike, another iPhone-exclusive version of the legendary arcade game. Giorgio Bruno is back to fight both powerful terrorists and the menacing time limit in an exciting battle against the clock.

Features

The campaign takes you through 10 episodes where your goal is to complete missions by killing all the enemies on the screen. A time countdown in the center of the screen prevents you from taking too long and helps to give the game its swift pace. There is also a time attack mode, where you try to finish a chapter as quickly as possible, and a score attack mode, where you aim for headshots to gain more points. 4 weapons, different types of terrorists to fight, several maps, and 2 control options are included as well.

The Good

Time Crisis 2nd Strike excels at being the most fast-paced and intense shooter available on the iPhone. During every mission, the time counts down quickly, and time bonuses are given for clearing all the enemies in a certain area of the episode. There are few, if any, occurrences in the game where you'll have spare time, as Namco gives you just enough time to complete each part of a level. Two control options are available, both of which are executed efficiently. The touch controls provide two buttons at the bottom of the screen to look up to shoot. In tilt mode, you move your device up to look at the enemies and down to duck and reload. To shoot in a normal mission, you simply tap anywhere on an enemy, but you can earn bonus points in score attack mode by getting headshots. For each chapter of the 10 episodes, you can earn up to 10 stars based on your accuracy, remaining time, and number of enemies dispatched. Time Crisis 2nd Strike feels fantastic to play and is extremely challenging. You'll have to replay even the beginning levels several times to complete them before the clock reaches zero, especially on hard difficulty level.

The Bad

Although the game is supposed to have a retro feel to it, the graphics seem like they could be much better. Many other shooters on the iPhone have produced polished environments with smooth effects, and Time Crisis 2nd Strike's choppy maps and poor animation just aren't on par with the rest of them. Each mission starts off with a cutscene featuring a female agent that informs you on your objectives. The cutscenes have awful character voices to match the blocky graphics. In-game voiceovers that warn you when you're about to run out of time or die aren't much better.

The Verdict

In order to be able to enjoy this lightning-fast arcade shooter, you'll have to hand over a hefty sum of $9.99. Although the game is really fun and a great improvement over Namco's first Time Crisis Strike, the high cost and potential future sales are some things to think about before clicking the buy button. Time Crisis 2nd Strike is worth it for $9.99 and brings you an experience different from that of most shooters.

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