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If you answered yes to one or more of these questions don’t worry, you don’t need therapy, you just need to get up off the couch and buy yourself a copy of Time Crisis II. Things have come quite a long way since the days of Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, or even some of the earlier light gun games. The thing is that for the most part, light gun games haven’t’ had quite the time in the spotlight that they have in the arcade. Games like Virtua Cop, CarnEvil, Time Crisis and the like have always been a part of any local arcade, but importing them to a home system at times has been a bigger issue and problem. How many of us were disappointed by the fact that Silent Scope didn’t come with a gun when it came to the home market? We all knew it would have a high tag price if that was the case, but I don’t think that we really cared about price so much as recreating the arcade feel.

Namco however has always been on top of the situation and managed to do some of the best arcade to home translations of their shooting games, and they always do a damn fine job of bringing the best possible translation home. Case and point: Time Crisis II, the first light gun game to hit the PS2. It’s no surprise at all that Namco would be the first to issue a light gun title since they have always been supportive of peripherals, especially when they are their own.

In TC2, you assume the role of either Keith Martin or Robert Baxter, two agents of an international intelligence agency known as VSSE. The VSSE has uncovered information that Neodyne Industries Ltd has developed a satellite system that is intended for launch is actually strategic military satellites. VSSE had already sent one of their own, Christy Ryan, in to attempt to get the full scope of their plan, but now she’s been captured and it’s up to you to rescue her and foil the plans of the Neodyne corporation.

To begin with, Namco has kept in mind that not every player will own a light gun. Although Time Crisis II is available either as a game or a package consisting of the game and the GunCon 2, it can also be played with a controller or your old Playstation GunCon. Playing the game with a controller is a bit of a pain, but I’m sure the thought behind this isn’t just one of pricing. The fact that there are video stores that will obviously be renting the title out I’ll bet was a huge factor and replacing a broken or lost GunCun isn’t exactly a cheap undertaking. However, playing Time Crisis II with only the controller isn’t quite the same, and not nearly as fun.

One thing I’ve always found annoying about many light gun games is the point off screen to reload tactic. While Namco may not have taken the approach that Midway did with the stock to reload (great touch) they have thought of a creative way to do it. Any of the buttons or even the control pad will allow you to take cover long enough to reload your weapon. It may seem annoying, but these “duck and cover” techniques add just the right touch to the game, and avoid enemy fire as well. Once in a while though, you’ll run across machine guns, giving you some nice automatic firepower without the hassle of having to reload at all. Beware though, this is a short-lived upgrade, and soon you’ll be back to doing things the old fashioned way. (Note: There is a way to get automatic ammo constantly throughout the game play, but I’ll let you discover the trick to that.)

TC2 is actually arranged quite beautifully, and Namco has done quite a bit in terms of graphics and interactivity. The cut scenes blend in great with the overall game play, giving the game an almost seamless flow. If you get tired of watching the cut scenes over and over again, just skip them. Nearly everything that happens to fall into your line of fire can be shot or destroyed in some way, shape, or form. Everything from windows to barrels, and even cars are at your mercy. Tricks like this comes in handy at times, and can do a great deal to pass through stages quickly.

As the title states, time is a huge factor for the game. Each section of the levels allows you so much time to accomplish your mission (i.e. shoot everything in site) and progress to the next stage. This is easier said then done at times however. For the most part, terrorist underlings’ are a minor nuisance, but then there’s those few that run around with rocket launchers that become the bane of your existence. Good thing for that “duck and cover” tactic, isn’t it? The end of each stage has a boss as you’d expect, and most of the time reaching that stage is quite easy. The actions of your opponents when shot are reminiscent of what you may have seen if you’ve played Solider of Fortune. Shoot someone in the leg, you’ll see them grab it, hop around, and fall to the ground. Remember that old saying about, “location, location, location”, that becomes a great issue with scoring in the game. Obviously, tagging your opponent in the head makes the best scores, and the more you can hit consecutively, the higher your point total.

The game can be played with two players, however there’s a bit of a problem with that. The game becomes a split screen, making some things a little bit tougher to see, and some targets virtually impossible to hit. There’s a solution for that problem however. You see, TC2 allows you to play in a two-gun mode al a John Woo, and while it may feel great trying to emulate your favorite Hong Kong action flick, it’s also not a bad idea to use it as a two-player option. Sure, only one of you will be able to use the reload function, but a single screen is far better than that split screen action.

The arcade mode isn’t too hard to complete, but if you get bored with that, then there are other games to keep you interested. If you haven’t gone through the training mode, it’s always available to you so that (maybe) you can pick up a few new skills and tactics. There’s also Quick & Crash, one of Namco’s light gun arcade games from 1999. This is more of a reflex game and you actually have to (gasp) point off screen before you get to fire. I know, it’s a pain when compared with the quick reload feature. There’s also Shoot Away 2, a skeet shooting game, bringing back memories of the good old days of Duck Hunt.

Now, for those of you that think you really have what it takes to save the world and get the girl, complete the game and then jump on into Crisis Missions, your reward for completing the game in any mode. Crisis Mission contains some insanely tough objectives, so you’d best be on your toes. For starters, try having only one life block to try and accomplish these goals. Still not enough, how about lower time limits and very specific objectives? Will that hold you? However, the occasionally high difficulty actually makes Crisis Mission that much more fun.

The only downside of Time Crisis II is the atrocious dubbing. The game is subtitled throughout, so why not just leave it in Japanese? Seriously though, TC2 may very well have some of the worst voice actors ever hired on to do a game voice over. As a matter of fact, they may very well be worse than some of the US anime voice actors, and we all know how terrible they are.

Overall, Time Crisis II is definitely a solid game and offers enough game play options and challenge to keep just about anyone enthralled for quite a while. Don’t let the factor of having to buy a second GunCon for two-player action sway you, it’s definitely worth spending the extra money. Besides, it’s not too often that a game of this caliber could be also considered a stress reliever. As much as I hate to use such and obvious and bad pun, Time Crisis II is an absolute blast to play.

-mike-