I completely missed the last Time Crisis game on the PlayStation 3, mostly due to my aversion for extra peripherals (I'm drowning in guitars, weight scales, guns, and microphones). But hey, I'm already onboard for this PlayStation Move thing, so let's check out one of my favorite rail shooters of all time. Namco's newest entry into the series, the not at all dumbly named Razing Storm, mixes classic Time Crisis gameplay with a first person shooter mode. I know, right? Sounds weird to me, too, but keep reading.

I had to jump into Arcade mode first because, let's be honest, the arcade is where Time Crisis lives. It's very much a Time Crisis game, which is enough description for anyone who has played the series. Instead of ducking behind cover this time, pressing the Move button brings up a riot shield. It works the same way, letting players reload and hide from gunfire. The T trigger fires weapons, and players simply aim their wand at the screen, using the reticule to target enemies.

It's straight up fun arcadey Time Crisis. The enemies still stand there like douchebags while players mow them down. There are still insane bosses in giant machinery. And I still shoot civilians in the face and lose one of my lives every couple minutes. But it's fun. People came by and wanted to do co-op with me while I was playing because Time Crisis is like an instant party. That doesn't speak to its quality, per say, but it's a fun series that has been consistently entertaining.

There's also a story mode in Razing Storm which is interesting because it turns Time Crisis into a sort of FPS game. Now at first I was screaming angrily because I'm of the mindset that Time Crisis is just fine as an arcade rail shooter. But the game does do some cool stuff that keeps it feeling like Time Crisis. Players can run freely around the level, though it's a very linear setup from what we've seen. Thoughout the level there are spots to take cover behind. When players get to cover spots they can hide behind them, and the game then operates exactly like Time Crisis. Players can lean out from behind the cover, shoot enemies, then retreat back to reload. What made it cool was that I could, at any time, just walk out from behind it to take out a hard to reach enemy, move to another cover spot, or grab a dropped weapon, so it adds a new dynamic to the Time Crisis formula.

It's a cool concept, but I actually found myself having trouble snapping into the cover spots. It required tilting the Move wand up when the game prompted me, but half the time it didn't work right away. Oh, and the game also requires that Sub Controller, or for players to hold onto their DualShock in their free hand, which isn't an ideal set up.

Razing Storm comes with two additional games: Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates. Personally I'm pretty excited about the bonuses. Time Crisis 4 is the one I played more than any other (mostly because I worked in an arcade during its release).

Deadstorm Pirates is particularly cool because it only came out in arcades this year. Most of you have probably never heard of it because finding new arcade games is like looking for Bigfoot. It's an arcade shooter starring two pirates as they take down waves of zombie pirates, sea monsters, and other ships.

The arcade cabinet was cool because it had seats on hydraulics that moved and shook as the ship did. And it had a big ship wheel for the steering portions. The Move version will have players wave their wand in a circle to mimic those portions of the game.

Three arcade shooters on one disc is reason enough for me to check out Razing Storm when it hits stores. And honestly I will be using Time Crisis to convince my friends to play Move more than I'll use any of the family friendly party games. I'm not sure how fun this story mode will end up being, but I'll keep you posted.

Source

Go to the source for some gamepaly footage, had trouble embedding them

This game can't come soon enough, this and Motorstorm are on top of must have among me and my friends as of now. It's gonna be a lot of fun