Time Crisis 4

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Time Crisis 4
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	Hajime Nakatani (producer), Takashi Satsukawa (director)
Release date(s)	June 20, 2006
Genre(s)	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Platform(s)	Arcade
Input	Light gun
Arcade cabinet	29" Standard twin 4:3, 52" Deluxe twin 4:3
Arcade system(s)	Namco System Super 256
Arcade display	Raster horizontal orientation

Time Crisis 4 is the fourth installment in Namco's Time Crisis series.

Contents 1 Background 2 Plot 3 Enemies 4 Game-related tracks 5 Cast 6 References 6.1 External links

[edit] Background

Time Crisis 4 was first shown at E3 2006 prior to its recent final revision arcade release.

One major change is the addition of the multi-screen/multi-hiding system, introduced in Time Crisis: Project Titan. Unlike Project Titan (which players went on the offensive), players are placed on the defensive. In Project Titan, players had to hide and shoot arrows to switch screens. Screen switching has been refined to allow the player to point the gun outside the screen to move around.

Time Crisis 4 also utilizes a new light gun control with infrared emitters. Prior to this, all Namco light gun games used gun controllers that relied on cathode ray timing. Because Namco's light guns with cathode ray timing utilized memory chip-to-lens pointing, the arcade cabinet designers had to ensure that the infrared-emitting light gun controllers would provide the same accuracy as their cathode ray timing-based gun provided in the past. This delayed the game's release given past accuracy issues with IR light guns.

Time Crisis 4 also refines the multiple weapon system introduced in Time Crisis 3, by encouraging strategic use of the additional weapons. The game also features a voice navigation system that guides players through different situations.

The players can choose to customize gun calibration and/or turn the blowback on or off with a pre-game code explained in the cabinet. Time Crisis 4, like its predecessors, is available either in a 29" standard twin cabinet or a 52" deluxe twin.

For the first time in the Time Crisis franchise, the game employs Seiyuus for the Japanese-language cabinets. Prior to Time Crisis 4, the game was voiced exclusively in English.

This game is currently available only in arcades. It is unknown whether Namco will port this game to a home console platform, like was done with other Time Crisis games.

[edit] Plot

Note: As of March 30, 2007, an article based on the game's plot is slated for the future

When the VSSE receives information about a possible arms black market taking place in the United States, they send agents Giorgio Bruno and Evan Bernard to California to investigate.

At an airport, they are suddenly attacked by a group of mysterious soldiers who are assisted by a horde of insect-like creatures. The VSSE rendezvous with Captain William Rush of the U.S. Joint Intelligence Division, who briefs them of the current situation. After a helicopter chase and a tense gunfight with the arms dealers, they discover U.S. Army dog tags on the arms dealers' corpses, and determines that the smuggling deal is actually an act of treason.

Giorgio, Evan, and Rush infiltrate Wyoming to suppress unlawful retrieval of the weapons only to discover that it has been utilized for a top secret coup d'etat by a mutinous bio-weapons unit called Hamlin Battalion. Discovering that Buckley Air Force Base near Aurora, Colorado has been hijacked by the Battalion, the trio makes a rush arrival to the battered AFB. As Giorgio and Evan attack the Hamlin Battalion through the air, Rush leads the National Guard to attack by ground. Nearing the end of the trio's joint pursuit against the Hamlin Battalion's outdoor defense, a couple of Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs) begin to depart for unknown reasons.

Shortly after the UCAVs leave, the mercenary Wild Dog appears without warning to attack the VSSE by utilizing his grappling hook weapon-arm option to slam the agents' helicopter into a watch tower. After eluding Wild Dog's helicopter grip, Giorgio and Evan follow Wild Dog inside the underground silo. Wild Dog lures Giorgio and Evan through various traps and reveals his latest weapon-arm option: an object-lifting tractor beam. After Giorgio and Evan defeat Wild Dog, the debris buries Wild Dog underneath. Wild Dog detonates himself a third time—the explosion was strong enough to knock Giorgio and Evan off-balance.

In spite of a harsh landing, Giorgio, Evan, and Rush finally rendezvous at the scene of the crime—the UCAV silo.

In the game's closing tense moments, Giorgio, Evan, and Rush engage in a race against time to prove the Hamlin Batallion guilty of grand treason and ultimately stop the destructive coup from occurring.

[edit] Enemies

• Foot Soldiers (White): They form the bulk of the entire Hamlin Battalion troops. They have the lowest accuracy in the game although they can still fire life-threatening shots occasionally. Certain foot soldiers attack with an army halberd (military-issue compact hand axe) by either swinging it at close-range or utilizing the axe as a projectile.
• Ammunition Personnel (Yellow): If the player kills those enemies, they drop additional ammo for the side weapons (machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher), but unlike Time Crisis 3, they have slightly better accuracy than foot soldiers. Although ammo personnel also carry army halberds, they don't use it as often as the foot soldiers.
• Field Commanders (Black): These high-ranking soldiers lead a small group of white troops. Their accuracy is higher than foot and ammo soldiers combined. A few field commanders toss army halberds at the player.
• Marksmen (Red): The marksman has the highest accuracy among all normal troopers, and can also perform surprise attacks when the player is seemingly low on guard. They rarely use army halberds.
• Special Weapon Troopers (Black and Green): The Special Weapon Troopers are armed with rocket launchers and grenades, in which they use alternately on the player.
• Terror Bites Clerks (White and Red with Shield): The Terror Bites Clerks are in control of the Terror Bites. They can control the Terror Bites to attack the player. If the player destroys all of the Terror Bites, the Terror Bites Clerk will come out to attack. They wield machine pistols (hand pistols with full-automatic firing capability) with high accuracy, and they are also equipped with shields to protect themselves from the player's attacks.
• Elite Soldiers (Heavy-Armored Machine Gunners): The Elite soldier is equipped with a machine gun and heavy armor (Rush refers to it as "High-tech reinforced armor"). The armor worn by these enemies is durable and can withstand multiple shots from the player. Players can use the machine gun at far range or the shotgun when they are at either close or moderate range.
• Terror Bites: A biologically-engineered insect-like weapon always attacking in seemingly-endless swarms. These enemies appear at various points throughout the game. There are four different types of Terror Bites (beetle, mosquito, armadillo, and mantis), each can be destroyed most efficiently with a specific weapon. If they get too close to the player, they will slowly drain away each "hit point" until shot off.

[edit] Game-related tracks

Described herein are the game's BGM music tracks^[1]:

• Top Secret Plan
• Beginning
• Something's Coming... (Terror Bites theme)
• Infiltration
• Shower of Bullets
• Metropolis Mayhem
• In the Dark
• Crimson Sunrise
• To Live or Die
• Launch
• Once Again (Wild Dog's theme)
• Showdown
• Leave it to us!
• Save This Country!
• Rejoice!
• Take a break

[edit] Cast

Character	Japanese Voice Actor[2]	English Voice Actor[3]
Giorgio Bruno	Hiroaki Miura	David Vincent
Evan Bernard	Hiroaki Miura	Travis Willingham
William Rush	Akio Ohtsuka	Christopher Sabat
Elizabeth Conway	Mariko Suzuki	Megan Hollingshead[4]
Marcus Black	Hisao Egawa	Sam Riegel[5]
Jack Mathers	Daisuke Gouri	Chuck Cope
Wild Dog	N/A	Dave Mallow
Gregory Barrows	Hisao Egawa	Harry Molloy
The Head of VSSE	Daisuke Gouri	Michael McConnohie
Narration 1	N/A	Michael McConnohie
Narration 2	N/A	Patrick Seitz

*Note: Wild Dog solely speaks English and has no Japanese voice.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Namco's Official Time Crisis 4 Page (Japanese)
• "Time Crisis 4 location test announced". Retrieved on January 23, 2006.

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