TGS 2005: Chaos Field New Order Hands-On

TOKYO--Sega is showing a playable version of Chaos Field New Order--an arcade shooter that has been available only on the Dreamcast--in its booth at the Tokyo Game Show. The game is a top-down shooter that hearkens back to the days when you guided your ship trough skies thick with enemies and bullets. We tried out the game to see how it has fared in its trip to the PlayStation 2.

The work-in-progress version of the game on display let us test our shooter skills to see how long we could survive in the game's challenging levels. The action is fast, and the enemies are big on swarming at you in waves. As with every game in the genre, you can plan on dodging copious numbers of bullets, and in some cases you'll be forced to quickly slip through briefly available holes in the incoming wall of fire or face destruction.

Though the odds may be obviously against you, your ship is no slouch in the destruction department. You'll be able to unleash all manner of fire on incoming enemies and even power up your arsenal as you play. When things get rough you'll be able to ward off certain types of bullets in a pinch. The system provides you with the basic tools for survival, and it's up to you to master them to make it through, which is something that we do enjoy.

The visuals are glossy, although they fall a bit short of the sharp crispness seen in the arcade game. The detail and effects for your ship and the many enemies you face off are good. The boss craft that you fight are especially menacing thanks to their large size and seemingly endless gun emplacements.

All told, Chaos Field New Order is a solid little shooter for the PlayStation 2. The game looks good, and the challenge will make those who haven't kept up on their twitch skills cry. Chaos Field New Order is currently slated to ship this December in Japan for the PlayStation 2. While we'd like to be able to say that the game will be hitting the US sometime thereafter, we can't, as the odds the game will make it over to the US are pretty slim. Anyone looking to play Chaos Field will want to preorder it, since language isn't much of a problem.