Time Crisis
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| Time Crisis | |
| Developer: | Namco |
| Publisher: | Namco |
| Game designer: | Takashi Sano (supervisor) |
| Release date: | 1995 |
| Genre: | Fixed Shooter |
| Game modes: | Single player |
| Cabinet: | Standard |
| Controls: | Lightgun; 1 pedal |
| Monitor | |
| Orientation: | Horizontal |
| Type: | Raster, standard resolution (Used: 640 x 480) |
| Notes | |
| First game to use a pedal for ducking/covering | |
Time Crisis is a video game initially available in arcades and later released for the PlayStation. A first person rail shooter similar to Virtua Cop, its distinguishing feature was the presence of a foot pedal that controlled whether the player's character ducked behind cover (and was thus invulnerable but unable to shoot) or was in a standing position (and could thus attack but was vulnerable). A countdown clock, recharged by clearing an area of "bad guys", forces the player to take risks and stay up and vulnerable most of the time, shooting quickly at any enemy he sees.
| Contents |
Story
The main plot of the original Time Crisis arcade release involves an attempted coup in the fictional republic of Sercia. For 1 millenia, the Garo Family ruled Sercia with an iron fist. Year after year, the Garo Family's grip became weaker and in 1995, an International Intelligence Agency called the VSSE (Vital Situation, Swift Elimination) sends out its then best agent William MacPherson (who would later become the president at the time the incident occurred) to lead the resistance in overthrowing the Garo Family and to democratize Sercia. MacPherson succeeded in destroying the imperial rule, resulting in free elections. It has became obvious that William MacPherson would become the first president of the Sercian Republic with the Sercian Resistance Leader being his Vice President. The Republic of Sercia was then enacted in January 1996.
The security of the newly-formed republic was not as secure as it seems. The Wild Dogs, acting under orders from a scourned monarch named Sherudo Garo, kidnaps William's daughter Rachel in order to pressurize President MacPherson to hand control back to him in exchange for Rachel's life. What really irritates the public good is that Sherudo gave President MacPherson only up to sunset of the next day in order to resign his position as President of the Republic and declare Sherudo dictator for life. President MacPherson's inexperience in politics really took a toll on him since his stepdown from the VSSE. President MacPherson then sends a video to the VSSE Grand Director and VSSE Team Director Porter Davis regarding about this atrocity. Recognizing the situation of this matter, Porter Davis sends an encrypted message through cyberspace, stating that if "The One-Man Army", Richard Miller can't rescue Rachel MacPherson and bring the situation under control, no one can.
Executing the Rescue
Following the emergency order from the directorship, Richard boards the castle basement to deal with the first wave of Wild Dog guards. Miller made his way towards the grassyards and inside a kitchen table where Rachel MacPherson was being held at. The rescue could not be achieved in an easy way because the ninja assassin Moz set a trap for anyone who wanted to rescue Rachel. After defeating Moz, Richard coaxed Moz in revealing Rachel's whereabouts. Moz points out that the clock tower would be Richard's next stop but thinks that Rachel would be dead now. Richard didn't take Moz's comments since he, as a hero, will be insisting that Rachel was to be alive.
Richard then infiltrated the hallways, a jewelry room, and made his way up to the Clock Tower where Rachel has been transferred to. As Richard approached Rachel, knives started flying across, cutting Richard off. The scourned monarch, Sherudo Garo, greeted Richard in the following dialogue:
- My name is Sherudo. I rule this nation now. So you are the fool that came to rescue Rachel. Since you have travelled this far, be my guest and let me entertain you!!! (knives pop out of Sherudo's hands)
A Gun-versus-Knife fight ensued between Richard and Sherudo, ending with Richard fatally wounding Sherudo. Unfortunately, Wild Dog has re-kidnapped Rachel, attempting to press Richard's patience. Dog cuts Richard off and then attempts to escape with Rachel. Richard then found to catch up with Dog, who's now yanking Rachel away from Richard's sight. Dog tried everything to hold Richard off with his last bastion of guards, but Richard managed to pin him right through the helicopter. Dog then started detonating the castle to ensure that Richard does not do anything stupid and attempts to escape with Rachel on a helicopter. Rachel then tried to run towards Richard but Dog shot Rachel in her arm. Richard, enraged about Rachel's condition, challenged Wild Dog to a fight. The fight ends when Richard staggers Wild Dog with a nice shot to knock the detonator out of Wild Dog, falling to the ground and exploding to the area Wild Dog is at.
Richard comes up to Rachel and sees that she is OK. Richard takes Rachel with him at the helicopter and both Richard and Rachel escape the now-exploding castle and leave behind what was to be the last of the Garo Family.
The Kantaris Deal
This was the side story made exclusive for PlayStation version of Time Crisis. Richard has received orders to infiltrate a mysterious hotel known as Chateau Du Luc operated by the beautiful but deadly Kantaris, leader of the smuggling network of the same name. Intel came up empty on Kantaris, but this didn't stop the VSSE to receive positive verification that Kantaris did supply arms to the Wild Dogs.
In this mission, players take routes depending on pre-set conditions. For example, if Richard was fast enough to complete a certain section, he will go onto Route A as opposed to Route B.
More Time Crisis
- A followup exclusive to the PlayStation, Time Crisis: Project Titan, came out in 2000.
- A two-player sequel, imaginatively titled Time Crisis II, featured two machine linking together, allowing players to cover each other.
- The spin-off to this game, Crisis Zone (also supervised by Takashi Sano), was also produced. While Crisis Zone had similar play mechanics as with Time Crisis, Crisis Zone featured a different storyline centering through the anti-terrorist tasks of elite STF Trooper Claude McGarren.
- In 2003, a direct sequel called Time Crisis 3 was released.
External links
- KLOV entry for Time Crisis (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=10114)
- Arcade History Database entry (http://www.arcade-history.com/history_database.php?page=detail&id=2903)