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»Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
"A great attempt at a FPS on PSP."
Coded Arms was a nice attempt at a FPS on the
PSP, but with shaky controls and no variations, it left me feeling a
little dry. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the genre either, but I have
been known to enjoy a few in the past. Playing them on the PSP on the
other hand, is something that I’m definitely not a fan of, but I gave
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex a shot and actually enjoyed most
of it.
Ghost in the Shell is based on the anime of the same
name, and I haven’t seen any of it. I saw an episode of the original,
got confused, and stopped watching. In the game, you take on the role
of Motoko Kusanagi, and your missions include finding kids in garbage
cans, rescuing the mayor, finding criminals and kicking ass. The story
is probably the most impressive part of the game, because of the way it
is presented. The loading times range from 10-20 seconds on average and
somewhat ruin the suspense. However, there is full voice acting, and
nice cutscenes that engulf you in the world of Ghost in the Shell;
where brains can be fried by thought and the line between human and AI
is completely shattered. Kusanagi is the ultimate main character due to
her sex appeal, but she’d be nothing without her little annoying robot,
Tachikoma.
Tachikoma makes the gameplay much more balanced
than it was in Coded Arms. Instead of doing all the work yourself,
you’ve got your annoying robot sidekick to take out half of the
enemies. This makes getting used to the controls a little easier. If
you want a challenge or need to sneak by in stealth, you can have
Tachikoma stay behind. Tachikoma is also a nice safe haven for a dieing
Kusanagi. You can enter Tachikoma and control her.
Probably
the most important part of any FPS is the controls. Coded Arms had many
options to choose from, as does Ghost in the Shell, but you can’t use
the nub to look around. Personally, I use default controls because I’ve
finally gotten used to it. I still hate using the face buttons for
looking around though, but it seems to be the best way without two
analogs. The lock-on system is great, and is a lot easier than aiming
alone. PC gamers will probably hate Ghost in the Shell, and a low
percentage console gamers will enjoy the controls. On the whole, I like
the controls here more than I did in Coded Arms, as they felt more
natural, but they still aren’t perfect.
Throughout the game you
pick up or earn upgrades. Before each mission, you’re given options to
customize what guns you want your character and Tachikoma to have. My
personal favorites are any pistols, and the automatics with short
bursts. Aiming in Ghost in the Shell is already a pain; I can’t deal
with the recoil of a full auto.
The background music sounds
great. I recommend using headphones because the PSP speakers really
don’t do justice for nearly anything on the PSP. The guns and sound
effects in general sound great, but I do have one main complaint. Some
noises are really confusing. When Tachikoma jumps and moves around, it
seems like an enemy is shooting or moving around near you. Also, when
you move around, you hear your own footsteps and when you’re barely
moving you’re hearing loud footsteps which make it seem like an enemy
is close.
Graphically, Ghost in the Shell isn’t the prettiest
game. It falls victim to the PSP’s lack of Anti-Aliasing and looks
extremely jaggy. There are some levels that look a lot better than
others, and I’ve noticed a little bit of blurring when moving around
some things. Characters look pretty good and close to their anime
counterpart. I personally enjoyed Bleach’s use of cell-shading for
anime characters, but Ghost in the Shell does look pretty good.
Kusanagi’s sex appeal is kind of lost, but they kept her in her
swimsuit outfit, so fans should be happy.
Ghost in the Shell
offers a bit of lasting appeal with 20 levels spanning across 6
chapters and offers even more with the multiplayer mode - a 6 player
ad-hoc death match. There are 8 levels to choose from, and you can play
as the main characters or a Tachikoma.
If you’re looking for
the best FPS on PSP, personally, I think it’s Ghost in the Shell. Coded
Arms is great and all, but it felt a little too constrictive on what
you were doing. Ghost in the Shell has the better story and controls.
Coded Arms had better graphics and more options for controls. I’d
recommend trying both before buying one.
Article by: Knives
Posted on: Dec. 3rd, 2005 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| The way the story is presented is great and really gets you into the game. However, the controls still aren’t that great on the PSP. |
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Graphics |
| It’s not as impressive as Coded Arms, and looks pretty blocky, but overall it looks pretty good. |
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Sound |
| Besides a few confusions, the soundtrack is great and I can’t argue with full voice acting. |
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Replay Value |
| The multiplayer mode is kind of fun, but it’d be better if you could play some single player missions with a friend. |
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Comments |
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February 9, 2006 |
paul(medievil crazy) |
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medievil medievil!!!!ME WANT MEDIEVIL BEFORE P IN PANT OR KILL MYSLEF!!!!!!
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September 2, 2006 |
Mr. Jackhammer |
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Ghost in the shell has better controls? Do you EVER play FPS games? Using freelook without some sort of analog control is like performing brain surgery with a chainsaw. I can't believe you said the controls are better... I just started playing this game and the crippling controls are making me want to smash my PSP already.
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