A Step-up of Time Crisis 3
Anyway, Time Crisis 4 is a minor step-up of Time Crisis 3, the first TC to use the weapon selection system. I don't know about you, but I personally think that Namco-Bandai thought the system is a tad underrated, so they make the weapon select system more important than ever. Now, there are certain weapons [or 1, maybe 2, since there are 4 weapons (pistol, machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher) in the game] that a certain enemy really hates, mainly the annoying bugs known as "Terror Bites." If you don't know what weapon is best for a certain enemy, the game does a good job of making you switch to that weapon because is very effective against that enemy, but later levels, you can't but you should know which weapon is very effective against an enemy.
Of course, the points system is back. A lot of stuff, mainly enemies, worth a certain value of points, depending where you shot him. A shot to the head will give you about 1,000 points, while a shot to the leg will only give you a hundred points. Terror bites have a fixed value, and since you shoot a lot of those annoying insects, I have no idea how many points they are worth. Whatever the value it is, it is small, but fortunately, two types of insects are gathered in clusters, making the easiest 1,000 points possible.
I love the storyline (finally, something held in the United States for once!!!), where you have to save the nation. The cutscenes are very good, and with plenty of meaning. It's a bit dramatic, but I think the cutscenes are really good.
The graphics are awesome! It's pretty. More like XBox-like graphics. Very beautiful, especially the second stage-area two, where it is held in a national park, full of trees and such. Appreciate the graphics, it's well done.
The sound? Not the greatest out there. The good music is plagued with gunshots, the sound of you getting hit of a "crisis sightings," the announcer yelling "Action!", "Machine gun", etc. Oh well, who cares about the background music?
In summary, TC4 is a very good game, but couldn't better the more popular rail shooters, as opposed to the pedal system the TC games have. But appreciate it, at least you don't have to shoot away the screen to reload!