3RRDC Confidential

Time to dust off that old light gun that's been laying in your closet for a
few months, because Sega has finally released a real "killer" shooter
for the Dreamcast.

This being the third shooter I've played for the Dreamcast, it is a very
corny but fun game. You enter the world of Secret Agent Howard
Gibson with his partner Jean Clifford. You are assigned a mission in
which you have to stop an evil commander (also known as "the guy
with one eye and a French moustache"). You have to successfully
complete three Missions in order to reach him, and then put an end to
his destruction. What destruction is he plotting, you may ask? It's the
whole spy thing: he built a satellite and he's going to destroy the
headquarters of the good guys-a pretty recycled plot. But I'm sure the
developers at Hitmaker have seen all the James Bond and Die Hard
movies because about every line from the game is stolen from some
spy movie. Oh well, so much for a movie-turned video game.

Now, I've told you about the story, but I'm sure you're going crazy
saying, "But how is the real gameplay?" Well, as I told you in my
opening comment, it is one great experience. Better than Virtua Cop 2
and up to par with House of the Dead 2. Let's just leave it at that. But
the things I especially like in this game are the little things. No, I don't
mean that the agents step on gum and shoot it off of their shoe. I
mean, the game is packed full of "special events." During these events
you have to shoot at certain spots or tap a button repeatedly in order
to take an easier path. If you fail, however, it will result in a longer and
slightly more difficult path. Another little twist is that aside from just
your pistol you can pick up an assault rifle and carry body armor.
Howard, you loaded agent!

The graphics? In a word: Arcade. Yes my friends, another fantastic
arcade-quality beauty. I've played a few shooters at the arcades (such
as Time Crisis). Up to expectations? Yes. Above? Certainly. When you
shoot someone there's a hit scanner at the top of the screen showing
the location on the body on which you shot your enemy (ha ha, I shot
your left pinky!). You shoot a guy and he rolls over and dies. Correct?
NO. There are three ways to rid the earth of a human being in this
game. You can just get rid of him, or there are two special shots-
combo and justice. A combo is when you shoot a guy more than once.
A justice is when you shoot the weapon out of the enemy's hand,
disabling him to defend himself. But what I don't get is why the fat guy
at the end of Mission 1 takes about six rounds before he keels over. I
mean, are all fat people this hard to kill?

The sound is a mixed bag. I mean, it has great spy movie-quality music,
but the voice acting and dialogue lines are pitiful. And by pitiful I mean
stolen from other movies and spoken by really, really bad voice actors.
And will someone tell me why the peoples' mouths don't move? I guess
they're God's dummies… but hey, aren't we all?

Here's the piddly little stuff. The framerate is solid, with liquid smooth
and clean animations all around. The gun cooperates with the game
and the aiming is decent: it depends on the gun you have. But the
game is surprisingly short, even with the extra modes and Missions.
And, finally, it's easy. If you're looking for a "classy spy" light-gun game
then heck, this is for you. But if you like a challenging ground-breaking,
game-of-the-year quality gun game, I suggest you rent it first before
slapping down thirty-five bucks for a copy.

Grades

Gameplay - 85%

The great light gun action is slightly marred by difficult and frustrating
glitches.

Graphics - 90%

Great arcade-quality graphics and textures. Coupled with a solid
framerate and you are left with a good-looking game. But will someone
tell my why the mouths don't move when they talk?

Sound - 80%

Thrilling music, but the score is brought down by recycled lines and
putrid voice acting.

Presentation - 85%

Nice spy theme. Menu system is a nice looking agent profile type thing.

Replay Value - 75%

This is usually where most light gun games collapse. The story mode
will keep you occupied a few hours, and the extras like the training
might be fun, but it won't take too long before the game gets old.

Overall - 85%

The Overall rating is not an average of the preceding scores.

Review by: IronKnux