It goes without saying this game, like many others, will go heavily unnoticed to many gamers.
Is it possible to release games of older style to now-a-days systems of limitless possibilities? Absolutely. Metal Slug 3 on the Xbox proves this. It’s not alone however, as Ikaruga was released on the Nintendo Gamecube, and R-Type Final hit Sony’s Playstation 2. Those games do have a bit more of an updated feel than Metal Slug 3. Sure, Metal Slug 3 was released in 2000, but it kept the same style as the games before it, so Metal Slug 3, aside from being a port, doesn’t bring much of anything particularly new to the table, and that’s perfectly okay.
Gameplay
If you’ve ever played Metal Slug before, you should instantly know how this handles. The game only asks you to use five of the Xbox controller's twelve buttons. Those would be the X button that allows you to fire whatever held weapon you have, the A button that allows you to jump, the B button that allows you to launch your sub-attack, and on the rare occasion, the L trigger to quickly exit a vehicle, and of course, the Start button that lets do none other than pause the game. Aside from the D-Pad or the joy stick for movement, that’s all you need. Needless to say the game is kept pretty simple, but that’s only control scheme deep. The action for this 2D shooter is far more intense and carries a surprising amount of depth on its shoulders.
Getting Started…
The game begins pretty basic enough. Your character is introduces by parachuting onto a beach, and you force your way up using your standard handgun to blast through the oncoming giant mutated crawfish. This level slowly builds up to help you cope with the game’s flow and pace. You’ll be introduced to a few of the games’ weapons, and three different vehicles, depending on what of the three paths you choose. One leads to a submarine, one leads to a humanoid mech, and the other to a tank when you face the screen-filling boss battle. By the end of the first mission, you should have a pretty good feel for the game, and its’ use of vehicles.
The Weapons and Enemies…
There’s plenty of weapons to be found in the game. Your default handgun is nothing special, and its’ amount of good use depends entirely on your skill, since it only fires as fast you push the button. Of course, overall, the handgun is a pretty poor choice for battle in comparison to much of the highly impressive firepower you can wield. Each time you pick up a new weapon, it replaces your current one, and if it’s the same one you already have, it’ll just give you ammo. Weapons range from Heavy Machineguns, to Shotguns, Rocket Launchers, laser guns, and even metal rats that scoot across the ground and explode upon enemy impact. You can also use your knife, but it works automatically. When you are near a knife-able enemy or object, simply press the shoot button, and the character will swing his or her blade dishing out more damage than the average pistol shot. You’ll often obtain different weapons from the many POWs scattered throughout levels, tied up. Shoot or knife them free, and be rewarded with whatever they drop when you approach them. The substitute weapons that replace the handgun, naturally only have so much ammo. Once you run out, it’s back the default handgun that has infinite ammo. Of course, some weapons will have more ammo than others. Destructive weapons like the Rocket Launcher, Enemy Chaser (the name says it all), and the Flame Shot (don’t ask) will have ammo around the thirties to the fifties, while weapons that bombard enemies with bullets, like the Heavy Machinegun, or the laser gun, have ammo in the one hundred and fifties to the two hundreds. One small problem I have is aiming down. Aiming the rest of the time aside from pointing down, I simply push the stick or the D-pad in the direction I want when aiming vertically up or horizontally. To aim down, you have to jump, then point the stick or D-pad vertically down and shoot as much as you can before you hit the ground. Pointing the stick or D-pad vertically down with your’ characters’ feet plant on the ground result in a simply crawl position. A minor complaint, because it only bothers in rare occasions.
There’s quite a variety of enemies to face. Many are military soldiers armed with knives, rifles, Vulcan cannons, and etc. You also face some mutated crabs, zombies, jellyfish, some evil flesh eating plants, attack choppers, tanks, airplanes, and even mummies that can offer different results when being attacked, or having different patterns, attacks, and AI. And of course the awesome boss battles. The bosses are absolutely huge and offer some great challenge and fun stitched with tons of health and some devastating looking attacks. It doesn’t mean much however, since every attack there is in the game (except one) that nails your character kills em’ in a single blow. Yeah, it’s that kind of game.
The Levels…
Like the enemies and weapons, the levels are highly varied. Taking you from beaches, to underground facilities, yeti filled caves, deserts, mines, and even the far reaches of outer space (but are you surprised?). Each level has its own set of enemies and vehicles for fun use. The artistic styles of the levels are very wacky, yet intriguing and perfectly realized, filled with great, subtle details that take an open mind to really appreciate. And quite possibly the best thing about the levels is their amazing design. Different paths encourage insane replay, so just exploring new areas might find you some new enemies, weapons or vehicles you’d never seen before. The only mission that I don’t think has multiple paths or secret areas is the final 5th mission. Of course, I could be wrong. One thing I did however dislike about the design, is that you can’t back track. If there’s a weapon you want or need, and it’s off-screen behind you, too damn bad, you’re SOL.
The Difficulty…
The difficulty itself isn’t overall hard. It is very skill based, and certainly not as easy as many of today’s cakewalks, but it offers a pretty decent challenge on its own. Multiple difficulties are varied between enemy health and the like. But being the arcade based game that it is, it must have a continue system, and that continue system is what makes more than half of the games’ difficulty. If you’ve played Metal Slug X on Playstation, you’ll most likely remember how the continue system worked. After losing so many lives, you were forced to use a continue, which started you right back where you last died (and giving you a machine gun!). Not the case here.
After dying so many times, you are forced to continue. But you don’t start at the point that you died. You start at the very beginning of the mission. Extremely frustrating. I can’t hate it to much however, because it does imply you to get better, and that’s the point of the game, and the first four missions aren’t a big deal. It’s the last one. I’m sure many of you are bothered by how there only five main missions, and two extra modes. Considering the 5th and final mission takes up about half of the game’s entire length, don’t be pissing to much. The last mission takes insane skill to master and beat successfully, even on the Easy difficulty setting. It encourages replay, and getting better, and memorizing the enemies, but it also encourages broken controllers and game discs by those impatiently skilled ones. Two players makes it easier, but it’s still one big gaming rock to overcome. I personally think going through half of the game with only getting hit four times at the most is a little too demanding. Because of this continue system, it makes the final mission seemingly impossible no matter how “hardcore” you are. You can however, select what mission you want to play once you complete them, so you don’t have to blow through the entire game in a single sitting.
Eye Candy and Visual Appeal
You can’t deny it. It’s extremely easy to pass off any 2D game now-a-days. 2D games seem to be meant for the handheld market, and even that’s heading 3D with the upcoming PSP and Nintendo DS. Two years from now, will 2D gaming even exist? A scary thought, yes, but it’s already started. Great 2D games like Disgaea go far too unnoticed, quite possibly because of their style. Metal Slug 3 may unfortunately fall into that dreaded category of terrible sales because of its style.
Regardless of being 2D, Metal Slug 3(along with the entire franchise) ranks pretty high up there as one of the most stylish games ever. An amazing blend between the 2D sprites and backgrounds help immerse the player. The little subtleties such as foot prints in the sand, and blowing pollen show the great amounts of talent and detail placed into the game. But undoubtedly, the greatest visual aspect of Metal Slug 3 is its’ animation. Simply unmatched. Seemingly millions of animated happenings fill the screen in a fandango of awe-inspiring entertainment. Characters even react to different levels. Sometimes they’ll shiver when it’s cold, or attempt to keep their balance near ledges. They’ll wipe the sweat off their faces and reload their weapons. It’s incredible to look at, and it’s arguably the best aspect of the game. The style reeks with cartoon wackiness and far-fetched exaggerated military themed operas of the one (or two) (wo)man army out to save the world and being the macho badasses that they are. And the game has zero amount of slowdown.
It’s dated, and it’s not even technically sound, but it’s highly impressive no matter what console it’s seen on.
The Sound Department
As heavy as a graphical extravaganza this game is, its’ sound is also good, but not near as spectacular. Each level has its’ own cool and unique soundtrack. The main menu has a military inspired heavy drumming theme to it. The zombie infested Mission 2 has an eerie and creeping, campy, and cheesy (to match the games’ style) music to it, while the dog fighting opening on Mission 5 has a great epic and grand track. There’s lots of different musical tracks to be found in the game’s many different areas. The boss fight music thumps and roars with heart pounding feeling and terrifying velocity up against your’ huge, screen filling foe. The various death cries, zombie moans, electric zaps, gunfire and explosions are all standard, but sound awfully dated, but are great due to their corny and wacky feel. The sound never bogs down, so it always matches and keeps up with everything happening on screen.
The best in the sound department however, is the announcer. Odd huh? Announcers are usually loud and annoying fiends that you want to die by you just can’t kill them. This however, never gets old. His roaring voice matches everything in the game very well, and voices out weapons when you pick them in a very satisfying tone, so Metal Slug 3 is funny and wacky on all fronts.
In the End…
It goes without saying this game, like many others, will go heavily unnoticed due to lack of advertising or the games’ style and whatnot. It happens all the time. But please, if you have even the slightest interest in some old-school badass side-scrolling shoot em’ upping, don’t let this slip under your radar. Highly competitive online scoring, fantastic multiplayer, seven challenging levels, tons of multiple paths, and a brutal continuing system make this game worth the rather steep $40 entry price.