...is your average top down shooter. Which makes little sense in why its actually so hard to come by.
http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/games/wanted-corp/98545
Anyway, there's nothing really special going on here in this game...maybe besides the PS Move compatibility. Since I didn't bother testing it out for this game, I can't comment on it one way or the other. The gameplay is much like your stereotypical top down shooter. You move around, side to side, gunning down swarms of foes with different weapons. There is one other option to clearing enemies of the screen besides just shooting them all...arresting them for money. Fugitive and wild life alike can be frozen/bound by secondary fire and then transferred to Wanted Corps for money. Besides clearing missions and maintaining a high kill multiplier, this is the main method of earning in game currency. And as probably predicted, this currency is used to upgrade your offense or purchase health refils/upgrades. You can also switch between two different bounty hunters: Mad Dog who uses guns, guns, and more guns and Irina who uses mostly psychic based powers. When not in direct control of one, the other will become A.I. controlled unless you're playing either the local or online multiplayer modes. The contrast in the methodology of these characters did feel oddly out of place at times, but at others made the game feel a bit unique. I found myself using Mad Dog for about a good 90% of the time as it just felt more natural to in a top down shooter like this, where I used Irina for the sections that required here psychic abilities to move forward or grab an off screen item. Irina felt more like a character you would use in a top down action RPG like Marvel Alliance. Which brings me to my next point: often times using her psychic abilities would felt awkward and very difficult to control. You have these pointless collectables called "intel" you can find in hidden areas and during the latter part of the game, at least 1 or the 5 per level will be hidden some where that will require Irina to pull it toward your current location. I cannot tell you how many times where I pulled the damn intel box towards us and tried to put it down only to have it fly off screen to my frustration! Not just in the background either...I would try to face a wall to ensure safe landing and wouldn't you know that it flies right through that too (I BS you not). Oh and the awesome part about this is that you have finish the entire mission for your total amount of intel collected to count...meaning that if lost a particular piece of intel, you would either have to start from the last checkpoint (which I still have no idea what constitutes one) or from the very beginning! Surprisingly, Wanted Corps didn't become as repetitive as many other games in its genre. The constrant introduction and integration of new enemy types and gradual difficulty increases are to thank for that. It attempted to add a sense of variety to the combat by adding button sequences when finishing off bosses and sub bosses but they're not challenging to pull off nor do they lead to anything mindblowingly impressive.
Story wise, a plot is present and the story telling mostly happens before every mission but neither is that strong. However, in Wanted Corps' defense, the game does appropriately make light of this in its product details (•Mostly Superficial Story: Yep, the story is mostly irrelevant. Play the game. Now!). The story is pretty much about two intergalactic bounty hunters sent to a planet by a pharmacuticals company to find and arrest two gangs of criminals that survived the crashing landing of a prison transport there. The plot does grow from there but not by a lot and it ends up being very predictable and cliche'. On thing that bothered me is that, the game would imply that there was some sort of connection between Irina and the main antagonist but it was never full explained or even explored. For that matter, neither was Mad Dog's and especially Irina's background. Who or what is she? How did her and Mad Dog meet? How and why did they become bounty hunters...and why under Wanted Corp? The world may never know...
My Breakdown:
What's Good:
- Nices pacing in difficulty
- Differences in character type does add variety to gameplay
- New enemy types keep you on your toes
- Capturing and arresting enemies for money can be fun
- Simplistic gameplay
What's Not-So-Good:
- The story was there but felt unfinished
- Due to the lack of background given, there's no connection to the lead characters
- The visuals where "ok"
- Grinding early in the game makes upgrading everything WAY too easy
What's Bad:
- Intel collecting can be a chore!
- Using Irina's telekenisis to collect intel is broken...in worst way possible
- Unclear checkpoint system
- Mad Dog is very annoying and unlikable
- Other characters come off a very cliche
- Overall, the game felt like a very mediocre top down shooter
In all, Wanted Corps isn't that bad of a game but I have no reason to recommend it to anybody. If you're bored and have nothing else to play, then its worth check out I guess.