TGS 2000Silent Scope PS2 Hands-On

OK, pop quiz time. You've got a hot sniper game in arcades that uses a cool little custom screen inside the light gun's scope, and you want to bring it to the PlayStation 2. Building a home controller with a built-in screen is far too expensive to even consider. What do you do? Konami has hit upon a solution.

Konami has solved its sniper-rifle dilemma by moving to an entirely controller-based system. Now, holding down X turns your normal-sized reticle into a zoom-view, which lets you pick off bad guys from the safety of rooftops, helicopters, and any number of other high places.

The version of Silent Scope shown at the Tokyo Game Show has a nice look to it, and it even looks a bit smoother than the arcade version. While the gunless control scheme is innovative, this is truly a case of "no gun, no fun."

The problem here is that the analog pad is too sensitive when you aren't zoomed in, which makes it very easy to move your cursor past your target. When zoomed in, the aiming isn't sensitive enough and this forces you to constantly switch between the two views to hit anyone with any expediency. Hopefully the game will be adjusted, or perhaps the final product will include some controller-sensitivity settings.

Silent Scope is scheduled for a late November release in Japan.