Why the hell is she dancing when a million robots are firing at her? *watches her shake her ass a little bit more* Bah, who cares.
Overview
Last year Capcom announced five games that would be GC exclusives, it's now four. RE4, which we all knew was going to happen, plus three original titles: PN 03, Viewtiful Joe, and Killer 7. PN 03 is the first of the big four, once five. Capcom promised original game play, which they suceeded in. The orignal trailer showed Vanessa, the main character, blasting robots w/ a laser gun in a stylish way. PN 03 took a drastic change after that, from a gun to shooting from her palms. They also gave her some rhythm, hence all the ass shaking. Sit tight as I review the first of the Capcom Big Four.
Graphics 7/10
Mix bag on this one. Vanessa looks fantastic. Capcom designed her very well, with all those lovely curves and all that ass shaking. She moves almost fluidly, thanks to the controls. Decent animation and more ass shaking, prepare for me to say that, a lot. The enivorments are ok. The outside stages look good, even though it's all sand. The indoor stages are the same, mostly white hallways. Too bad it's the same shit over and over again. It looks good, but I wish they did more. You run into the same areas starting in the second stage, that's right the second stage. The enemies look cool as well, but they are like the stages, the same guys in every room. It's very repetitive and I wish Capcom did more.
Gameplay/Controls 6/10
This is another catergory that has mix views. PN 03 is not an action game like DMC or RE. It's more like a classic shooter, like Ikaruga, it just looks like a 3D action/adventure. You go from room to room, fight a legion of bad guys. It's all about tapping the A button and standing in the right spot, not to get hit. Sounds just like a classic shooter eh? The way Capcom did the controls makes feel like a shooter too, which I will get into later. Vanessa has a lot of cool moves, side steps, jumps, rolls, energy drive attacks, etc. Unfortunately, you can't fire while you're moving, which will irritate some. There is also a combo system which helps you rack up points, but for some reason, the enemies are too far and between to get a high combo, which makes it pointless. All the points you earned can be used to upgrade your suit, buy continues, or purchase a brand new suit w/ different attributes and energy drives.
Everything cost an arm and a leg so it's necessary for you to play it more than once, the question is would you want to? The game story is told through MGS like cut scenes (Codec), without all the voice acting. Unfortunately, there isn't much of one, just a mysterious benefactor telling Vanessa what to do.
This also can sway gamers from keeping this game. A button fires while the B button jumps. You can jump forward and backward, but no side step jump. X toggles the lock on while Y ducks, which leads to a variety of rolls. The triggers side step, double tap them for a no handed cartwheel. The analog stick moves while the d pad, with the A button, does your energy drives. Like I said before, you can't shoot while you're moving, which will frustrate some. You have to use the enviroment to your advantage, basically moving around, avoiding enemy fire, then quickly retaliate. So it has a classic shooter feel to it, which I like, but you need a lot of patience with it since you can't go in and start blasting. The camera is alright, You can pull it away and move it around some, but not much. Mostly it's right behind Vanessa, and that ass. Hubba Hubba!
Sound/Music 4/10
It's decent. The sounds effects are cool, explosions, lasers, and whatnot. The music is pretty good. It cool how Vanessa dances to the beat and shaking her ass to it. Nothing memorable though.
Replay Value 1/10
You can beat this game in one sitting, it’s very short. You do have multiple difficulty settings plus all the other suits and energy drive attacks. Nothing else other than that. I played through it once, never touched it again.
Overall 5/10
Overall:
I enjoy it since I'm a big fan of shooters, but I can't ignore all the negatives. The repetiviness of the monsters and the stages, the useless combo system, and the inability to shoot while moving brings it down, moreso if you don't like these kind of games. I can't really recommend a must buy, a rental maybe. If you're thinking about getting it, then rent it for the weekend. You might like it, you might not. It has it's own style that only a few will enjoy. You might just want to wait for Viewtiful Joe.
- By Cold Man X
