City Crisis Preview

Agoraphobic gamers won't be any closer to leaving the house judging from the state of the world in City Crisis for the PlayStation 2 from Take Two and developer Syscom Entertainment. Best known for Action Bass on the PlayStation, Syscom changes gears and shifts its gaming focus from sea to land in its first PS2 game. You take the role of a helicopter pilot sent out to extinguish spontaneous fires, which are breaking out across the city, and rescue hapless victims caught in the blazes. One part "Rescue 911" and "Brave Firefighters," the game is shaping up to be a quirky blend of gaming.

The game offers solid visuals and a steady frame rate, although there's a fair amount of PS2 shimmer on display as well. The levels are large and showcase a good amount of detail. The camera's overhead view is the sole camera angle and provides you with a wide view of the city. In levels set in the day, it's possible to make out everything from billboards to differences in sidewalk and street texture. Pedestrians and cars calmly go about their businesses--until buildings explode in flames, anyway. Levels set at night offer a nice variety of lighting and subtle detail, which works well in the game. In addition, the game manages to spice up what could be boring environments with a liberal use of color in places to break the monotony of flat city grays.

The game offers a standard assortment of modes. A training mode offers three tutorials, which cover the basics of flight, rescue, and fire fighting. A time-attack mode offers the challenge of racing through levels (in either day or night) while trying to go through rings, which appear in front of them. Skillful players will eventually unlock a "disaster" level to play through as well. The main game can be found in mission mode, wherein you are charged with playing the Good Samaritan. The levels are broken up into two types, rescue and chase. Rescue missions find you fighting fires and saving everything from the elderly to house pets. Chase missions put you hot on the heels of shady folk who've run afoul of the law and are trying to escape. You must follow a car and keep your spotlight on it until the police arrive. Successive levels will be unlocked after you have performed well in each mission. If you manage to score high enough on your missions, you will eventually unlock the "Final Rescue" level, which ups the challenge significantly.

The mission mode's structure is as straightforward as it gets. You select a mission type and a helicopter, then you head out. There are initially three selectable choppers, but it appears more can be unlocked. To help you select the helicopter that's right for you, the game rates the various choppers by top speed, rotation, body, and capacity. Capacity translates into the maximum number of rescued victims a copter can carry at one time, ranging from four to eight.