 |
SILENT SCOPE
Copyright © 1999 Konami Co., Ltd.
Arcade
Shooting
1 Player
Available in USA Arcades
FAQ
—by Eugene Moon
|
|
Konami's recent efforts in arcade gun games left this reviewer yearning for
the glory days of LETHAL ENFORCERS 1 and 2. While CRYPT KILLER's shotgun was entertaining to use, the game itself fell
far short of the standards set by other games of that time. TERABURST
and EVIL NIGHT looked so bad compared to L.A.
MACHINEGUNS and HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 that they didn't even
warrant a single play. In SILENT SCOPE however, Konami has an
innovative gun game for the arcade that is both challenging and fun to play.
SILENT SCOPE's main attraction has to be the cabinet-mounted sniper rifle. A
small LCD screen built into the gun's scope displays a magnified view of the
playing field and helps create the illusion that the player is using a real
rifle. The player uses this gun to advance through one of three modes of
play. There is the standard Story mode, a Time Attack mode, and a Shooting
Range mode where players can show off their sniping skills.
Story mode puts the player in the role of a sniper called out to the Midwest
after terrorists kidnapped the President and his family. Starting off in and
on the skyscrapers of Chicago, Illinois, the action proceeds to the highways
leading north into Wisconsin before the final showdown at the terrorist
headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin. If Time Attack mode is selected, the
player is given three mini-scenarios of varied difficulty assembled from
stages in the Story mode. The object, as in all Time Attack games, is to
defeat the scenario in the shortest amount of time. Finally, Shooting Range
mode is a police-training shooting gallery where the player has to shoot
moving targets without accidentally hitting any innocents.
Though SILENT SCOPE relies on a gimmick to get people to try out the game,
it succeeds where other gimmick games fail by supporting the gimmick with a
well-executed game. The graphics, though not as polygon-intensive as those
found in Sega's Model 3 games, are good enough that the player can get into
the game. The sound is about the same as other games in the genre. The story
is a well-used cliche, and some of the stages are quite comic for their
similarity to Hollywood action movie sequences. Yet, there are things that
the game does quite well. The feeling of actually being a sniper thrust into
a hostage situation is realistic enough to be believable. Part of this must
be attributed to the quality of the character animation. Players who miss
their targets will see their quarry reacts to the sound of a bullet striking
nearby by looking around, or ducking behind a tree for cover. The game also
features a branching paths system that, though not as impressive as the one
in Sega's HOUSE OF THE DEAD series, is quite welcomed here. It's also quite
a relief to discover that the final boss for the game is not of the "shoot
vital target points until your arm falls off" variety.
SILENT SCOPE is a worthy effort, and in spite of its bad points it's a game
worth playing. After going through a period of time where all its gun games
were utter dregs, Konami has finally hit another high water mark.
Rating: 8.5/10 |
|
