|
The Lowdown
Pros: Hilarious two player shooting, loads of secret, well done sprites
Cons: Ho-Hum music and sound effects, short game length
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
     |
Who knows how SNK came up
with the concept for Metal Slug? It feels like a parody of Contra, but the
game doesn't rely on its comic value alone. To say Metal Slug 3 is a deep
game would be an overstatement. However, even with stale gameplay
mechanics and Super Nintendo quality graphics Metal Slug 3 feels both fun
and cutting edge.The premise for the Metal Slug games has always been
very simple. There is some evil force that is invading the Earth that you
must stop. Hey, the story isn't going to win any awards, so it doesn't
need to be the game's forte. You start the game by picking one of four
soldiers (two in two player mode) who have identical stats. Each of the
players start with a machine gun, high damage bombs and an instant kill
knife weapon for close range combat. You move your character in the
standard left to right side scrolling style to blast what seems to be like
an endless swarm of enemies. You'd better shoot fast because one tiny
touch of an enemy or projectile will lead into your death. Thankfully, you
have infinite continues so you can trek through the game at your leisure.
Power ups come in flavors of a heavy machine gun, a thundercloud gun pod,
homing missiles, shot gun, lasers and even a flame thrower. The real fun
are the vehicles in the game, such as submarines, tanks, copters, and even
a camel. The vehicles provide more powerful attacks and with air vehicles
the option to fly. Each vehicles also has a "metal slug" attack, which is
a bomb attack that can be used when the vehicles is about to explode.
Besides weapons and enemies there are hostages that can be saved by
touching them. At times these hostages provide essential power ups and at
the very least extra points.
OK so the game isn't going to win any awards for original gameplay, but
Metal Slug 3 has a lot going for it. First of all the Metal Slug series
has always been renowned for its humor. In one level zombies are the
primary enemy and they attack by vomiting on you. In the same level lies a
monkey wearing a diaper who can be your ally. The game has a Saturday
morning cartoon feel to it. Besides the presentation the game features
multiple paths in each level. For instance in the first level you have the
option to fight on the shore of a beach or underwater against giant
squids. These paths provide plenty of replay value, which other games of
this genre don't contain. Each level is packed with secrets. For instance
on the first level of you shoot directly underneath you at the starting
point fish (which provide points) start flying out of nowhere. Secrets
like this are all over the game and it will take a true master to find
them all. Add two player support to this and you've got a pretty good
game. Though, we do wish for four player support with the multitap.
The graphics aren't half bad. Sure you're seeing spites in a
Playstation 2 game. Sadly, they do come out blocky at times since the PS2
isn't designed to handle 2D graphics. On the plus side the sprites are
very well animated. All the characters and most of the enemies have a
number of facial expressions and a lot of frames of movement, which is
excellent. The backgrounds have a hand drawn feel to them, which makes
them feel like they have been given a lot of TLC by the graphic designers.
Control-wise the game is very responsive. The controls are also very
easy to learn for anyone that has played even a tiny bit of video games.
However, the sound is a mixed bag. The music sounds like MIDI music from
an early Super Nintendo game and it gets awfully repetitive. The sound
effects aren't much better there are muffled screams from the enemies and
standard blaster effects that sound like they are from the first Metal
Slug game. It's time for a sound overhaul.
Challenge wise the game is also teetering. Most gamers will blow
through this game taking advantage of the infinite continues, which is fun
but this gives a deft blow to the longevity of the game. Even with
multiple paths the game doesn't hold much ground. First you have to
remember this game was designed as an arcade game, which by nature isn't a
long game and should be an easy game to jump in. Because of this the
challenge of Metal Slug 3 isn't to beat the game, but to beat the game
using the least number of continues. Old school gamers are familiar to
this challenge, but younger gamers may not dig it and get tired of the
game when they reach the end. The game also features a stage select mode
and two mini games. One game you play as one of three enemy troops in an
alien space ship. This game is neat first because you can control an enemy
and second because each of the three troops are different. The other mini
game is a race to collect the most food power ups as you can. Neither of
these games are deep, but are fun for arcade style play.
Also be warned, if you're a Neo Geo owner (yeah the few of you out
there) there really isn't anything new from your version of the game
except two mini games so it probably isn't worth your hard earned cash to
buy the game for a second time (especially after buying that pricey cart!)
Import Friendly?
Move, jump and shoot... hmm.. not to hard to understand. You won't be
missing out on any story either and the voices are all in English. On this
level this game is super import friendly.
US Bound?
Update: Metal Slug 3 has been rejected by Sony's concept and design
board, which means it is not going to have a US Playstation 2 release.
However, an Xbox version is due out in May of 2004.
Overall
Metal Slug 3 is a great two player game that provides a healthy break
from any other game. However, Metal Slug 3 is an arcade game by design and
lacks depth. Challenge comes in the form of finding inane secrets, getting
the highest score and not dying. For a new game, it suffers old-school
syndrome.
|
|
