The light gun game has always been fun in the arcades, and Time Crisis 3 is no exception: Many a pound has been wasted on my part in the arcade, but I have never finished it... so I jumped at the chance to play it at home. It is just fun: nothing revolutionary in the big picture of gaming, but it offers more than your standard light gun game, in terms of longevity and gameplay.STORY: 7/10
A typically simple story is in Time Crisis 3: you have to stop an invading country launching tactical missiles. It is a small army, and there is only 2 of you to stop them: fortunately, you meet the lovely alicia winston to help you. Standing in your way are henchmen, a ferocious leader and an old rival. Riveting indeed...
Game Play - 8/10
This is the part that makes or breaks games: and it makes Time Crisis brilliantly... OK, it's repetitive: shoot, cover, shoot, wait, shoot, fight a boss, shoot, but it is a lot of fun, and each boss offers something different: one wields the gun from the airplane! Shooting the enemies is actually quite fun, however, and in Time Crisis 3, something more has been added. Now you can change weapons: machine gun for some quick kills, shotgun for multiple kills at a time, and a grenade launcher for the tougher opponents. Time Crisis fans have called for this since the original Time Crisis release, and while it is not a huge addition, it adds to the gameplay. In all, the Gameplay is great, if repetitive.
Sound - 7/10
Gunshots, Music, explosions... that's it. In all fairness, the music is done well, and I find the music that is in the background greatly dictates the pace of your shooting. The music is well composed, The gyunshots do sound good, but sometimes they sound tinny and hollow, however.
Graphics - 7/10
Nice, clean, smooth, detailed levels. The shadow effects especially are quite somethging, and it looks like effort was put into the drawing. However, a small niggle. While fighting, look at your partners, or a boss' face: note the facial rendering and how bad it is: it looks like PS1 graphics. In fairness though, you'll be too busy shooting to look: I guess that was the aim.
Longevity - 7/10
Well, it's an arcade game, it'll obviously be short, but the home version offers some more longevity: the rescue and crisis missions: the rescue mission is playing as Alicia Winston, in a parallel storyline. The crisis missions are playing in the same areas with a different backstory: also, each of these are impossible to beat first time: everytime you get further, you get an extra continue, which artificially adds longevity to the game.
Buy or rent?
To get the full potential from this game, I would say Buy, definitely.
Overall - 8/10
Overall, Time Crisis is a fun, noisy, explosive, if a little repetitive, expierience. Buy it with a lightgun, and enjoy shooting a screen. While it's unlikely to win Game Of The Year, it is still an expierince worth buying. I say go for it, as you won't regret it.