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| Developer |
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| Publisher |
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| Platform |
Arcade |
| Arcade System |
Epic Games' Unreal Engine |
| Release Date(s) |
Arcade: March 12, 2015 (first edition) |
| Director(s) |
Shogo Itou |
| Producer(s) |
Norihiro Nishimura |
| Designer(s) |
Takehiro Shimizu (Lead level designer) |
| Programmer(s) |
Shuji Takahashi (Lead programmer) |
| Composer(s) |
Takeshi Miura |
Time Crisis 5 (タイムクライシス5, Taimu Kuraishisu 5) is a rail shooter video game developed and published by Namco. It is the fifth installment in the main series with two release dates. The first edition was released on March 12, 2015. The True Mastermind Edition was released on August 20, 2015 with three additional stages. As opposed to the games before this, Time Crisis 5 is powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine. Time Crisis 5 is the only game in the franchise that has yet to get a console port.
Gameplay
Time Crisis 5 deploys a two-pedal system, similar to the Multi-Screen Battle sequences from Time Crisis: Project Titan and Time Crisis 4, allowing players to take cover and attack from different angles to bypass bulletproof shields and enemies taking cover. In the earlier games, players were restricted to one pedal in which time had to be wasted when taking on enemies with bulletproof shields.
Some sections have activities unique to this game. They are: "Evasion Activity" which the player has to step on the correct pedal within the time limit and shoot items if they step on the correct pedal, and "Crisis Event" which the player has to shoot down markers within the time limit while not being able to use the pedal. In both activities, players have infinite ammunition for their handgun.
The gun controller is redesigned. For starters, the weapon selection is changed to allow the player to change weapons by just pressing the red button on the gun. This can be done even with the pedal pressed. The blowback system is also remade to simulate gas-actuated recoil, similar to the handguns the next-generation V.S.S.E. agents use.
Chain combos have been adjusted to ensure players are not hitting enemies twice after a head hit is landed, which staled gameplay since Time Crisis II. The purpose of the hit system was to ensure the nostalgia from the original Time Crisis was adhered to, but with the combo mechanics borrowed from Time Crisis 4 [1]. There were a lot of qualms about players shooting for very high scores due to accuracy streaks in Time Crisis 3 and for head hits to extra hits in Time Crisis 4. In addition, the ability to keep the gauge increasing due to continuous hits in 4 resulted in players intentionally going for plenty of combo hits which diluted the purpose of the huge time bonus introduced in that game. Finally, destroying specific background objects does not give +5,000 point bonuses which is present in II, 3 and 4.
While the special weapons introduced in the previous two games are retained (M4 Carbine machine gun, Kel-Tec KSG shotgun and H&K XM320 grenade launcher), the maximum ammunition capacity for each special weapon is reduced [2]. In addition, there are much fewer yellow-clad soldiers to gain ammunition for the special weapons [3] and the ammunition they give is specific [4]. Like Time Crisis 3, the ammunition from yellow soldiers is not shared for both players in two-player mode. Finally, the machine gun fires slower [5]. To compensate this, the special weapons are refilled, if there is less than default amount after a stage is completed, up to default amount [6]. Each machine gun round deals 5% more damage compared to the one from 4. Although the shotgun fires as fast as it did in Time Crisis 3, the handgun is programmed to do more damage to ensure that players are not abusing the supplemental weapons.
Scoring is far different as opposed to the earlier Time Crisis games. Players earn more points for landing a good deal of side attacks and one-hit kills against certain enemies. In addition, taking too much time to complete an area decreases the amount of points earned through time bonus for that stage [7]. Hence, the game was redesigned to have players be more judgemental on what to shoot for/at (similar to Crisis Zone and Razing Storm).
Voice Cast
| Character | Japanese voice actor | English voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Luke O'Neil | Yūjirou Ōtsuka (大塚 雄史郎 Ōtsuka Yūjirou) | Dominic Allen |
| Marc Godart | Shinichi Tsunoda (角田 真一 Tsunoda Shinichi) | Eric Kelso |
| Robert Baxter | Tetsu Inada (稲田 徹 Inada Tetsu) | Stuart O |
| Catherine Ricci | Hiroko Ushida (牛田 裕子 Ushida Hiroko) | Soness Stevens |
| Wild Dog | Yūjirou Ōtsuka (大塚 雄史郎 Ōtsuka Yūjirou) | Bill Sullivan |
| Keith Martin | Hideo Ishikawa (石川 英郎 Ishikawa Hideo) | Charles Glover |
| Wild Fang | Hiroaki Miura (三浦 祥朗 Miura Hiroaki) | Maxwell Powers |
Plot
Three months prior to the events of the game, a V.S.S.E. auditor was murdered. The briefcase contains information about a traitor within the V.S.S.E. ranks, but due to the auditor's murder, the briefcase was never returned to V.S.S.E. possession for information retrieval. Luke O'Neil and Marc Godart are sent to retrieve the briefcase, with Robert Baxter as the officer in charge of the briefcase retrieval. Catherine Ricci serves as the agents' air support. It is suspected that Wild Dog retrieved the auditor's briefcase hours after the auditor was murdered.
The rumors saying the traitor selling intel to terrorist groups for money surfaced even before events of the game. The internal auditor was tasked in keeping tabs on the traitor as well. Due to V.S.S.E. intel requiring eyes-only clearance, the briefcase has became serious coin to all participants involved.
Luke and Marc fought Wild Dog in the freeway, but in spite of their victory, Wild Dog ejected the briefcase out of the agents' touch before blowing himself up for a fourth time. This prompted Luke, Marc, Catherine, and Robert to make a trip to the jungle, in which the briefcase was spotted in Wild Dog's factory. Marc questioned Robert as to why he would shoot the briefcase en route to the jungle, in which Robert replied that "he wasn't shooting that thing for target practice".
Luke, Marc, and Robert found Keith Martin attempting to crack the case lock of the auditor's laptop. Robert demanded Keith to turn the case in, but Keith refused, as he believed there's something that's important to him. This forced Robert to fight Keith, in which Keith refused to fight the rookies. Throughout the factory, Keith told Luke and Marc that even though he was in love with the internal auditor, Christy Ryan, he reveals his intent in front of Luke and Marc as he finally got the lock cracked for the next generation agents to see. Luke was stunned to know Keith's bona fide collaboration with Christy would dupe the next generation agents. Having been exposed as the traitor, Robert attempted to kill Luke and Marc, but Keith saved the young agents' lives with bullets nullifying Robert's knives.
Luke and Marc were aghast to know that Robert used them all along to erase everything the V.S.S.E. did throughout the years. Keith reluctantly agreed to act as Luke and Marc's direct officer, but when Keith realized that the next wave of enemies were zombies, he consulted Catherine whether or not a failed mission from three years ago was on file. Catherine couldn't find such file, so Keith had to take matters in his own hands with the rookie agents helping him out.
Keith and the rookies were forced to fight Wild Fang as well as more zombie soldiers inside a primitive cave, and after besting Fang, finally went to Robert for the final showdown in a cargo plane. Robert ordered Keith to protect a drug that was meant to negate pain and fear, but the mission went sour as Robert stole the drug, knowing the consequences the V.S.S.E. knew about. Robert wanted to transform the world into zombies with the drug-infused missile, but Catherine supposedly sacrificed herself to prevent the missile from being launched into New York, causing Luke to have beliefs of a pyrrhic victory.
In spite of a tough fight with Robert and the droid, the rookie agents triumphed with Robert neutralized. Catherine was alive much to Luke's amazement, and to this day, Keith vows to rebuild his reputation as a V.S.S.E. agent once more and see the brighter future.
Trivia
- This is the first game in the numbered series which has regular enemies armed with assault rifles instead of handguns as their primary weapon. Said weapon is the AK-12 assault rifle.
- Before this game, Crisis Zone and Razing Storm are the games which have regular enemies armed with assault rifles [8].
- The beginning cutscene is reminiscent to Time Crisis 3, where Luke and Marc are incognito, just like Alan and Wesley.
- This game has several references to Time Crisis II.
- Keith Martin, Robert Baxter, and Christy Ryan (only mentioned) return.
- The scene where Keith opens Christy's case is reminiscent to the post-stage 1 clear scene in Time Crisis II.
- The VSSE rookie agents' boss fight against Keith Martin is a reference to Keith's final Crisis Mission against Richard Miller. The way Keith shoots his gun and runs in a quick pace is identical to Richard's movements during the Crisis Mission and his case he can throw both shurikens and smoke grenades and to slash his opponent with his katana. But once Keith was defeated by the rookie agents is the same as how he defeated Richard in the Crisis Mission with both men alive.
- The final battle with Robert Baxter is similar to the last battle with Ernesto Diaz as they control a robot which needs to be destroyed before dealing the final shot(s) to each of them.
Gallery
Notes
- ↑ With the removal of the ability to keep the gauge increasing due to continuous hits. To compensate this, stepping on the opposite pedal not only changes screens, it stalls the decrease in combo bar
- ↑ 180 machine gun rounds compared to 200 in Time Crisis 3 and 300 in Time Crisis 4, 20 shotgun shells compared to 50 in Time Crisis 3 and Time Crisis 4, and 2 grenades compared to 5 in Time Crisis 3 and Time Crisis 4
- ↑ 1 in stage 1-3, 3 in stage 3-2 and 1 each in stages 5-2 and 6
- ↑ Shotgun shells in stage 1-3, machine gun rounds in stage 3-2, and all three weapons in stages 5-2 and 6 in the order of 20 machine gun rounds, 5 shotgun shells and 1 grenade for every increasing hit
- ↑ 10 rounds per second compared to 15 from Time Crisis 4
- ↑ 100 machine gun rounds, 10 shotgun shells, and 1 grenade
- ↑ In stages 2-1, 2-2, 3-1 and 3-2 where time bonus is not applicable, accuracy becomes the main source of points
- ↑ OTs-14-4A "Groza" in Crisis Zone before changing to MP5A3 in the PS2 version. H&K XM8 assault rifle (compact version) fitted with a H&K UMP stock in Razing Storm