Silent Scope Complete (Xbox) (2004)
Developer: Konami

Review by Faididi and Co.

Not entirely complete

Story: Average

Falcon, the sniper hero in almost all the installments involved, is a busy man. Whether he is rescuing the president's family, preventing the deployment of deadly chemical missiles, or just saving the world in general, he has to take down hordes of terrorists with little more than his rifle and his skills. Story has never been the strong point of this series, but the plot for each game works just fine.

Gameplay: Average

Konami's Silent Scope Complete is a compilation of four Silent Scope installments, all of which are rail shooters. The first entry is the original Silent Scope, which lets Players use a lightrifle with a simulated scope (in the arcade version, at least). The next one is Innocent Sweeper (Silent Scope 2), which features two sniper heroes who take on the bad guys together. Then, there's Sogeki (Silent Scope Ex), which returns to the single-Player setup and contains challenges that are somewhat more down-to-earth. Rounding off the package is Silent Scope 3, an installment based on Sogeki's engine that has been previously available only on the PS2.

The gameplay across all the installments is fundamentally the same: snipe at enemies to avoid running out of time and to avoid getting shot in return. No game in this compilation totally dominates the others, because each carries strengths that are unique to itself. The original Silent Scope comes with lots of different paths, none of which are easy. Innocent Sweeper offers two heroes who fight as a team, with each character taking different (but overlapping) paths to better cover one another. Sogeki contains shorter yet more intense stages. Silent Scope 3, besides providing a handy save option, lets Falcon face different directions at certain points of the game. The varied level and enemy designs across the installments keep things interesting enough.

For a four-in-one deal, Silent Scope Complete sounds like a great package, but it suffers from one major flaw, and that is the missing multiplayer support for Innocent Sweeper. That's right; the 2-Player options here are cut out, so you can't play through the story mode with a friend.

Controls: Average

This compilation includes lightgun support, which the previous console versions of the Silent Scope games lack. However, this lightgun support is flimsy, due to some irritating sensitivity issues with the brightness of the screen. The games can still be played with a standard controller, which isn't too awful, considering the controls are no worse than those of the previous console versions.

Graphics: Average

Don't expect to find any updated graphics. The visual effects for all the installments here are arcade-perfect (or PS2-perfect, in the case of Silent Scope 3), without being enhanced in any way.

Audio: Above Average

The loud gunfire and explosions can't sound any better. The voice acting is deliberately cheesy and corny, not meant to be taken seriously. The music on the whole isn't anything special. The original game's tunes are mediocre and forgettable, and the same can be said for Silent Scope 3's. The tunes in Sogeki are more spirited, if scant. Innocent Sweeper's music is the best, carrying a dramatic flair that makes it more impressive than the rest.

Overall: Average

Silent Scope Complete isn't as perfect of a compilation as it sounds. Even though it contains all four Silent Scope installments to date, its half-assed lightgun support and its omission of Innocent Sweeper's multiplayer modes make it an unworthy package for those who already have the console versions of the different installments.

OST: Average

Published by Konami Music Entertainment, Silent Scope Trilogy isn't a collection of games; rather, it's a compilation of the soundtracks of the first three installments: the original Silent Scope, Innocent Sweeper, and Sogeki. It also contains a bonus track, which is a lengthy if unspectacular mix of various themes from those installments.