Time Crisis 5 (Arcade) (2015)
Developer: Nex

Review by Faididi and Co.

Directional crisis

Story: Average

Luke and Marc, the newest pair of Vital Situation Swift Elimination (VSSE) agents, waste no time in starting to save the world. Guided by a distinguished VSSE veteran, the two heroes embark on a mission to stop the terrorist mercenary leader, Wild Dog, from delivering a secret super weapon. The story revisits characters from the second arcade installment, although the two key returning figures are so drastically altered that they feel like originally unrelated characters whose identities have been changed at the last minute in an awkward, ineffective shot at nostalgia.

Gameplay: Average

Nex's Time Crisis 5 is a rail shooter that is clearly out of meaningful new ideas. Although the series' trademark cover-hiding action continues to be the best thing introduced to the genre since the very original Time Crisis nearly two decades ago, this sequel adds nothing spectacular or even sensical.

The problems begin with the change from the single-pedal to a dual-pedal system, which reflects Luke's and Marc's ability to hide at two spots instead of one at every action point. This setup doesn't add tactical depth so much as it feels like a hindrance, because it forces our heroes to frequently switch spots to find bad guys who are out of sight. In addition, several action points require the heroes to arbitrarily begin at one particular side, defeating the idea of having a choice between two hiding spots.

Time Crisis 5 runs surprisingly long, having twice the usual number of stages, but the level and enemy designs hold no true improvements. Except for the motorcycle pursuit on the freeways, none of the scenes in this sequel really stand out. The slow-motion sections are essentially a redressing of the bug attacks in Time Crisis 4, because Luke and Marc merely need to blast every highlighted target within a time limit there, without needing to take cover. The uncreative zombie enemies in the later scenes simply suck up lots of bullets while running straight up to punch the heroes in the face. Having hardly anything to do with the series' cover-hiding concepts, these new challenges only reduce the game to the most generic of rail shooters.

Controls: Above Average

Needing to deal with two pedals mucks up the controls a little, detracting from the clean, streamlined flow of action that is central to the past installments. Ironically, Flying Tiger's Project Titan has already featured a limited version of the dual-hiding spot system, and its method of changing places (by aiming at arrows near the edges of the screen while hiding behind cover) works fine without requiring more than a single pedal.

Graphics: Above Average

The characters are fluidly animated, and the environments are more detailed than before. Too bad Luke and Marc look like Shinjuku street skaters on steroids, and the way they snap between hiding spots in a tacky ninja blur doesn't help.

Audio: Above Average

This game is comparable to the preceding installment in terms of sound. The gunfire and the explosions are still the best, and the dialogue is still plentiful, but the music is nothing special.

Overall: Average

Despite its new arcade hardware, Time Crisis 5 disappoints as a rail shooter sequel. The dual-pedal system interrupts the flow of action without providing any true tactical depth, while the slow-motion challenges and the zombie monsters fail to build upon the cover-hiding thrills and the relatively realistic enemy design that form the core of the series. With a redeeming console port being unlikely in this age, when FPSs and third person shooters on the consoles have long outpaced rail shooters, Time Crisis 5 marks a sad chapter in its genre.