Time Crisis II
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| Time Crisis II | |
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| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Release date(s) | 1998 (Arcade) October 1, 2001 (PS2, North America) November 8, 2001 (PS2, Japan) |
| Genre(s) | Light gun |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) ELSPA: 15+ OFLC: M15+ |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation 2 |
Time Crisis II is the second installment to Namco's Time Crisis series.
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[edit] Background
Time Crisis II was released utilizing Namco's System 23 arcade board in 1998, and was ported to PlayStation 2 (with enhanced graphics and polygon textures) in 2001. The game utilizes the foot pedal system (just like Time Crisis, where players can shoot or hide from enemy fire. One modification to the hide and attack system was the "crisis flash" system which alerts the players whether or not the enemy attack would cause a direct hit, a feature missing from Time Crisis and Time Crisis: Project Titan.
When a player presses the pedal, he can shoot the enemies. Releasing the pedal places the player in hiding. During this time, players cannot shoot or be shot by enemies. A player must defeat all enemies before moving forward. The player's gun magazine contains 9 bullets (though occasionally a machine gun is available, which contains unlimited ammo for the remainder of the scene). Releasing the pedal also reloads the gun (hiding performed two functions, as players can recall from Time Crisis).
When the player fails to release the pedal after he/she spots a "crisis flash", one life is lost. The crisis flash system fixed much of the unexpected life losses that arisen from Time Crisis, though seldom unexpected life loss problems still remain. Each scene has a 40-second time limit (the time limit may or may not be contingent to a cabinet's difficulty setting), but unlike Time Crisis, in which seconds were added to the clock (and kept on running out even during wait animations), the timer only runs down when the battle is ensuing. The timer is reset and/or freezes when the player(s) are on "wait animation". There will also be points where time will reset back to 40 as well.
The time limit system is many times lenient as opposed to Time Crisis, as players only lose one life if time runs out, rather than an instant game over.
This was the first Time Crisis game to introduce two player cooperation by allowing two people to play simultaneously, allowing each player to cover the other. The same system is utilized in Time Crisis 3 and Time Crisis 4.
[edit] The story
Neodyne Industries, LTD, has successfully completed a network of 64 satellites as part of a project named "Starline Network". However, this network is a mere front for a plan to launch a nuclear satellite into space. VSSE dispatches two agents- Keith Martin and Robert Baxter- to find the satellite and destroy it.
The Agents begin by locating Christy Ryan, who has information on the satellite network, but before they can meet up with her, Neodyne troops capture Christy and her laptop. The agents engage in a firefight that eventually engulfs the surrounding streets, and recapture Christy's laptop, which reveals that the satellite in question belongs to the military. The agents proceed to NDI's train depot, only to have the satellite airlifted out before they can reach it.
Meanwhile, Ernesto Diaz and Wild Dog begin preparing a rocket for launch on a sea-based launch site when the VSSE agents arrive. The agents encounter fierce resistance, but are able to beat Wild Dog and recapture Christy, who escapes by raft into the sea. When the agents catch up with Ernesto, he taunts them by revealing that the sattellite is only a prototype, then leaps into the sattelite, proclaiming, "Let me entertain you!" The Agents and Ernesto then face off in a final showdown at the top of the rocket support structure, resulting in Ernesto's defeat, as he is knocked into the explosion of the misfiring rocket. The rocket explodes, and Keith and Robert are blown clear, resurfacing near a rocket booster, at which point Christy spots them and motors over.
The game ends when the trio are rescued by a VSSE helicopter, which flies them back to VSSE headquarters.
[edit] Enemies
[edit] NDI Soldiers
- Blue: These enemies are armed with handguns, and they have slightly improved accuracy from the original Time Crisis game. They occasionally get a crisis sighting.
- White: These soldiers act as commanders and they direct troops of soldiers .They also have handguns and their accuracy is slightly better (similar to the brown enemies in the original Time Crisis) than the blue soldiers. They can get a few crisis sightings just like the blue soldiers. In a rare case, they carry missile launchers. They appear at the end of Stage 1, Area 1 on top of a truck. The missiles they fire always show crisis sightings.
- Red: They have the same firearm as the blue and white soldiers, and they have excellent accuracy. When they first appear, they fire a shot that always gives a crisis sighting.
- Orange: They act as Path Decision soldiers. They are armed with handguns and they have approximately the same accuracy as a blue soldier. If a player shoots the left hand orange soldier, he'll take Keith's path. If he shoots the right hand orange soldier, he takes Robert's path.
- Yellow: These enemies RARELY give a crisis sighting. They fire one from their handguns when a player is traveling on a secret route, but in the normal route, they just show up for a very brief moment and not shoot before they run away. Every time a yellow soldier gets shot, the player gets bonus points.
- Green Fatigues: They are either armed with grenades, machine guns, or missile launchers. Here, the grenadiers and machine gunners are slightly faster than those in the original Time Crisis. This time, the grenadiers only throw one grenade when they first appear. After that, they switch to handguns. The grenades have no crisis sighting but a player can shoot them to avoid getting hit. The machine gunners can’t get a direct hit with their first bullet but their constant firing makes them dangerous. They can get several CSs in a row. The missile launchers fire a salvo of missiles that always shows CSs. Luckily, they are the slowest enemies of the game meaning that they have to steady themselves before firing. Their missiles cannot be shot down.
- Knifemen: Armed with field knives, they either slash the agents up close (no CS) or throw them from a distance (red spark warning instead of a C.S). Some of the knifemen in the game even plan a surprise attack by dropping down in front of the agents.
- Aqua Soldiers: They only appear in the boss area (Jacob Kinisky) of Stage 1. They can be seen swimming very fast underwater before they emerge and slash the agents with sharp blades on their arms. They can't be shot while in the water.
[edit] Vehicles
- Helicopters: This time, their accuracy has dropped dramatically from the original Time Crisis game. They just hover around and shoot randomly. They have more hits to be taken down than any of the soldiers.
- Army Tank: This big tank appears in Stage 1. It has a big automatic machine gun that can fire several CSs in a row (meaning that its accuracy is very high). It houses two missile soldiers inside.
- Battle Wagon: This appears in Stage 2. The rockets it fires are always a direct hit (they do have CSs).
