decent gameplay, solid storyline, good sound and graphics. Innate PSP control handicap and lack of depth hold it back.
what problem? THE problem. Controls. everyone had a SAW not because of it's ammo, firepower, or range, but because of it's spray and pray capability. Aiming is something of fantasy for these poor section 9 members.. they can only overshoot wildly in each direction and dream and hope of the day they actually hit the target. well, it isn't quite that bad. I didn't realize until just now that the down button was lock-on >_> and i've been doing just fine. Granted, i've been shunning the sniper rifle and toting a SAW for the entire game, but i have little trouble lining up shots with assault rifles and the like. pistols... that's another story. They just.. aren't worth carrying.. Which is a shame, considering how many of them you get. i would've liked to see some more weapon variety, rather than shiny wood versions of all the pistols. the tachikoma's had some fun stuff.. pulse guns, ion cannons, anti-material rifles... not to mention the endless assortment of missle, rocket, and grenade launchers. maybe some stand-and-fire stuff could've been added, like a mortar or heavy machine gun. still, what's there is pretty good. i like the FNP-90 look-alike assault rifles you start with a lot. :] The sound is fine, by my standards. gunshots sound real and work in stereo, the steady acid trance in the background is perfect. Graphics too. The character models look pretty darn close to the anime, and the sheer number of different surroundings you go through in through is pretty astounding. train stations? yeah, there's more than one level involving them, but they ALL LOOK DIFFERENT. the urban sprawl looks different each time, too. The docks look nothing like the auto-repair facility- it's hard to spot re-used sprites, if at all. Frequent health pickups make the game fairly easy, though you'll have to double back sometimes to fin them (or just to progress in the story). objectives are a somewhat bleh part of the game. They are often rather vague to begin with, and are predictably mundane. when you're told to "find object X in container Y", you can bet there's fourteen Y's and X won't show up till you've hit 13 of them. However, the plot is always fascinating and driving enough to keep you going. Unlockable parts and other things keep you coming back to replay the levels as all characters. Find the "stun the maid android" mission too easy? go back and try to beat it with only a pistol and sniper rifle. Overall, the game is underrated. For a pioneer game on the system, it packs a very good story and gameplay that, while frustrating sometimes due to controls, is easy enough to master. it's a not-quite-complete package, but is definitely worth a rent, at least.