(I speak for the Arcade version of this as that is where a majority of my time has been spent, the other two games will be reviewed at some point separately)
This is a prime example of what a rail shooter should be:
- Fast action whilst not being unfair. I will admit sometimes it attempts to catch you off guard but in comparison to rail shooter games nowadays, it's nothing.
- Enemies keep on coming instead of making you wait ten years like Time Crisis 5 does. TC5 also had a problem with too many cutscenes making the games pacing really weird but that's not the case here.
- A fully interactive environment. Since this game uses a fully automatic machine gun, you really feel like you are causing major destruction because almost everything in the surrounding area can be damaged/destroyed.
- Differing sections where you use a different weapon (E.g. Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher) to spice up the gameplay but not too gimmicky to the point where it's obnoxious.
- Not amazing but decent writing. Dialogue repeats sometimes which is annoying ("GOOD WORK ALPHA 1!!! YOU'RE LIKE A MACHINE ALPHA 2!!!!") but the characters are distinct and likable to enough keep you engaged. Time Crisis, and many other rail shooters as a matter of fact, aren't needed in the story department. All I am saying here is that the writing isn't cringe like Time Crisis 5.
- Oh yeah and the soundtrack SLAPS.
This is a prime example of what a rail shooter should be:
- Fast action whilst not being unfair. I will admit sometimes it attempts to catch you off guard but in comparison to rail shooter games nowadays, it's nothing.
- Enemies keep on coming instead of making you wait ten years like Time Crisis 5 does. TC5 also had a problem with too many cutscenes making the games pacing really weird but that's not the case here.
- A fully interactive environment. Since this game uses a fully automatic machine gun, you really feel like you are causing major destruction because almost everything in the surrounding area can be damaged/destroyed.
- Differing sections where you use a different weapon (E.g. Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher) to spice up the gameplay but not too gimmicky to the point where it's obnoxious.
- Not amazing but decent writing. Dialogue repeats sometimes which is annoying ("GOOD WORK ALPHA 1!!! YOU'RE LIKE A MACHINE ALPHA 2!!!!") but the characters are distinct and likable to enough keep you engaged. Time Crisis, and many other rail shooters as a matter of fact, aren't needed in the story department. All I am saying here is that the writing isn't cringe like Time Crisis 5.
- Oh yeah and the soundtrack SLAPS.