P.N.03

[:mediadavid:]

Or maybe that should be - can anyone play this? I don't have the edge at hand, but I seem to rememeber it getting at least a respectable score. A fun if brainless shooter with some fancy moves was what I understood this game was. Well, I saw it cheap preowned, and bought it expecting some quick trigger finger fun.

Well, having played through the first level, I am very dissapointed. Not because it's limited, i expected that - though the clear the room gameplay would probably get tired pretty quickly. No, Its because its completely and utterly unplayable. The Control is terrible. Once you've pressed a button to do one of your fancy moves, you can't do anything until the move has finished, If you get what I mean. Trying to work the combos mean taking your thumb off the control stick, and their is no fluidity there whatsoever. Trying to, for example, Jink right then jump is just painful. But worse than any of these, there is a flaw that destroys any potential enjoyment.

You can't shoot while moving. Yes, every time you press the fire button, you are immediately rooted to the spot. Since the gameplay (In theory, at least) consists of you using your skills to dodge the enemy fire in slim corridors, being stuck in the same point for ages while you blast an enemy means quick death and frustration. I thought maybe I wasn't doing it right, but no. the controls really are that bad.

Oh Capcom, how did it go so wrong? You should be brilliant at this sort of twitch gameplay!

Or am I not 'getting' it?

Out of interest, what score did Edge give it?

[rgraves]

Or am I not 'getting' it?

BINGO

It's a marmite game for sure.

[Miner Willy]

I thought it was pretty good once I got in the rhythm of it. Shoot, shoot, shoot, dodge, shoot, shoot, shoot etc. Then repeat.

Edge did that reviews special on it with guest reviewers. Scores ranged from 4 to 7, I think.

[:mediadavid:]

Well, I've already given it more chances than It should need, but i will try again. But why oh why can't you move and shoot? It would be so much better if you could, say, shoot while jumping as you can in...every shoot em up ever!

[Miner Willy]

But why oh why can't you move and shoot?

I think that would destroy the appeal for me. It's all about getting off as many bullets as you can before diving out of the way and firing off another volley.

This is going on memory - I haven't played it for ages. I didn't like it that much.

[rgraves]

Well, I've already given it more chances than It should need, but i will try again. But why oh why can't you move and shoot? It would be so much better if you could, say, shoot while jumping as you can in...every shoot em up ever!

Why would it be better? Only being able to do one at a time (a very deliberate decision by Mikami) makes it much more strategic...can I get one more shot in before I dodge, what's the best way to complete this room with maximum combo etc.

If you are just putting yourself in front of an enemy and then tapping fire until they are dead, you are playing it all wrong. Shoot, dodge, shoot, dodge is the way the game is meant to be played. Once you 'get it', it looks fantastic in motion.

[EditDroid]

Or am I not 'getting' it?

FWIW, I loved it. One of the most underrated (and misunderstood) games of 2003 in my opinion.

I thought it was pretty good once I got in the rhythm of it.  Shoot, shoot, shoot, dodge, shoot, shoot, shoot etc.  Then repeat.

Exactly. The gameplay is not about fluidity, it's about rhythm.

[:mediadavid:]

Well, as I said I'll try it again. But as of right now, I'm extremely dubious.

[Aardvark]

FWIW, I loved it. One of the most underrated (and misunderstood) games of 2003 in my opinion.

I thought it was pretty good once I got in the rhythm of it.  Shoot, shoot, shoot, dodge, shoot, shoot, shoot etc.  Then repeat.

Exactly. The gameplay is not about fluidity, it's about rhythm.

Spot on, I really liked it. THe whole trick to the game play is learning the rhythm the enemy attacks follow, and then matching it.

[Mr. Pin?]

yeah I liked it too.

So much, I played it until I unlocked the Papillon suit

It's not so much fun on hard, though. The enemies aren't smarter, just do more damage and take more hits.

I found I was using the specials more as 'dodge' moves, as Vanessa is invincible while she is performing them.

And to say that it's crap because you can't move and shoot at the same time is missing the point entirely. The game is about learning patterns while using the scenery and your dodging ability to your advantage.

[biglime]

It's brilliant.

[Hello Goaty ♥]

I thought P.N.03 was laughable, considering it was part of the Viewtiful Joe Megaton!!! lineup.

Horrible game. Shoddy programmng and very unfinished code

[___]

Shoddy programmng and very unfinished code

You got a source code disc too? Was that Limited Edition?

//TODO Finish this bit

[squirtle]

I really like it. Unfinished my arse. It's also very beautiful - I love the spartan design work and Ms Schneider has an arse that's far to nice for a virtual creation.

Control wise - it does take a little getting used to, but once you learn the triggers are your best friends it's ace as you don't really have to use the control stick when in combat. Left and right trigger to dodge, left thumb on the D-pad to pull off the special moves and right thumb as per normal over the other buttons. Once you figure this, it's great.

[mrsambarlow]

I thought it was pretty good once I got in the rhythm of it. Shoot, shoot, shoot, dodge, shoot, shoot, shoot etc. Then repeat.

Edge did that reviews special on it with guest reviewers. Scores ranged from 4 to 7, I think.

The point of the Edge article wasn't to get a range of reviews, it was to show the range of reviews _if the reviewer only had 1 hour to play the game_ (as often happens in other publications) IIRC.

So the range of marks you mention was there to illustrate how someone could "miss-score" a 7/10 game as a 4, due to not having the time to get to know the game.

--Sam

[Keyboard Koala]

Superb action game.

[Miner Willy]

The point of the Edge article wasn't to get a range of reviews, it was to show the range of reviews _if the reviewer only had 1 hour to play the game_ (as often happens in other publications) IIRC.

So the range of marks you mention was there to illustrate how someone could "miss-score" a 7/10 game as a 4, due to not having the time to get to know the game.

--Sam

Um, I know what the point of the article was thanks, and I didn't say it was to get a range of marks. I merely pointed out the range of scores as a reference, since I couldn't remember the official score and the original poster asked what Edge gave it.

I don't recall there being any mention of the guest reviewers only having an hour to play the game either. The article wasn't about mis-scoring so much as how different people will interpret a game in different ways. It would have been a bit hypocritical to talk about mis-scoring in an article which (if I remember correctly) started by saying that there's no such thing as a definitive review.

[Cyhwuhx]

.::: P.N.03. Gamecube's very own GUNVALKYRIE.

[Keyboard Koala]

.::: P.N.03. Gamecube's very own GUNVALKYRIE.

Oh, but that's not true. Gun Valkyrie's control scheme was way to complicated to be enjoyable. Can't really say that about PN03.

[Cyhwuhx]

Oh, but that's not true. Gun Valkyrie's control scheme was way to complicated to be enjoyable. Can't really say that about PN03.

.::: Complicated? It's far from complicated. Hard to get into maybe, but not complicated. Or else I wouldn't have made the comparison.

[Keyboard Koala]

.::: Complicated? It's far from complicated. Hard to get into maybe, but not complicated. Or else I wouldn't have made the comparison.

Well, maybe not complicated. But playing the game like you're supposed to play it (linking lots of different moves together) sure takes a lot more time than getting into PN03.

Plus, I liked PN03's mechanical design a lot more than GV's organic style. But that's a matter of taste of course.

[___]

I absolutely love this game so far.

I started out being annoyed at how clunky it seemed not being able to move and shoot at the same time - you just can't look at the artwork without thinking of Vanessa Z. Schneider spinning through the air, loosing off round after round in ultra-stylish fashion (unless you're in dire, dire need of a wank, in which case you'll probably be thinking of yourself loosing off round after round - I've read the "horny" topic - you know who you are, filthsters). The controls initially feel really obtuse - movement isn't analogue and turning with the stick is rather slow (discovering that you can use Z to perform 90 and 180 degree turns makes it a bit better). You don't seem to be able to move with the fluidity you would like to. You are yet to discover that the controls are built around the combat, rather than being designed for smooth 3D exploration...

...after a few levels and as much of the Trial Mission as I could get through, it just clicked - the idea is to stand still as much as you possibly can, for as long as you dare, hammering the fuck out of the fire button, while using your knowledge of the enemy's attack pattern to dive out of the way at the last possible moment. You soon realise that you were so busy being disappointed at not being able to move and shoot at the same time, you didn't even notice that you can keep hammering the A button and press the shoulder buttons at any time to spin gracefully out of the way of any attacks, which is where the fluidity lies.

That's just the simple premise against one enemy, though.

Mix it up and add a few enemies, mix the types of enemies; you have to know their patterns, watch and listen for the signals - which enemies are going to fire? How many shots do you think you can get off? Where do you not want to be when the attacks start coming in? How can you use cover to avoid being flanked? Which attack are they going to use on you?

Now add combos into the mix - killing an enemy activates the combo timer - the harder an enemy is to kill, the longer the amount of time added to the combo meter for killing them. Every time you kill an enemy while the combo timer is running, the combo timer increases by a certain amount (once again, based on the difficulty of killing the enemy), a score is added onto the combo score (the harder the enemy, the bigger the score added on) and the combo multiplier is increased by one. When the combo timer runs down, the combo score is multiplied by the combo multiplier and that's the number of points you've earned. The combo system really encourages you to blaze through the levels as fast as you can in order to spawn the next set of enemies and take them down as fast as possible in order to build a decent combo.

And by Jim Jizzer and his Jizz Jugglers do you need those points. This is the bit I'm least happy with so far - even when you clear an area with the maximum possible combo and earn your "no damage taken" bonus - the amount of points you get is rather stingy compared to what you need in order to buy new suits and upgrades, neccessitating the need to play the Trial Missions over and over again. These are 5 missions, each comprising of 15 rooms which mix up the environments and enemies from levels which you've completed so far. To unlock the next Trial Mission, you must clear each room in the level before exiting, your incentive being that the point rewards and difficulty ramp up as you progress onto the next mission.

After a few of the main game levels have been cleared, you can buy new suits, which seem ridiculously expensive; at the same time, you must spend what little points you already have in order to upgrade your initial suit so that you don't get a complete kicking in the levels and you can progress a bit further in the Trial Missions with your improved stats. This means lots of replaying the Trial Missions, which at the moment I'm fine with. What is annoying, though, is when you scrape together the 300,000 points required for a new suit only to find that the shop has now unlocked an even better range of suits at 600,000 points which make a mockery of what you were going to buy. Yadda yadda yadda, you have your new super studly 600,000 point suit, but it has no upgrades, so your default suit is more powerful than it - back to the Trial Missions in your default suit for you!

This is where I currently am, working to power up my lovely, shiny, new suit. But I don't mind that much, as I love the core game dynamic - building on a simple concept to produce a heart-pounding experience where you live as close to the edge as you dare, with the game hanging the combo carrot in front of your face all the time.

One thing though - you really are hammering the A button all the time - I must have only clocked up about 4-5 hours of in-game time and I've got some quick-acting form of RSI coming on - my arm is starting to look like the muscular specimens which can be found on the 6-a-day-fappers of the Maidenhead Porn Collective.

(For the PARAPHRASE PLZ crowd: I really like PN03).

[CouldBeWorse]

I got it cheap from Virgin. I love it, simple but fun to play. The controls are bit iffy but after a while I found them no problem they suit the game. PN.03 doesn't do anything mindblowing but its still a great game.

[mattSix]

i love it. it's a great shooter with bucket loads of style. & exploding robots!

it is a little rough around the edges though... the backtracking in the training levels could have easily been avoided.

[squirtle]

I'm up to the final boss. Bugger me, it's fucking tough. Back to the training missions to get a better suit me thinks.

[The Sheriff of Nottingham]

Fantastic game. Comments that the controls are wrong are as wide of the mark as they were about Metroid Prime, and for pretty much the same reasons. This isn't a "typical" 3rd person adventure (it was touted as Futuristic Lara by a few misguided magazines early on) just as MP isn't a typical FPS. In pure gameplay terms it's got more in common with Space Invaders than Tomb Raider.

I played it to death until I unlocked the Papillon, now I'm having a rest before going back for more!

And Insin - you really need to be using a suit with Automatic shooting ASAP. I strongly recommend the Ultra Guardian as soon as you can afford it - fully charged it's virtually unstoppable, has a great selection of combos, and Vanessa looks good in pink too...

[squirtle]

Fantastic game. Comments that the controls are wrong are as wide of the mark as they were about Metroid Prime, and for pretty much the same reasons. This isn't a "typical" 3rd person adventure (it was touted as Futuristic Lara by a few misguided magazines early on) just as MP isn't a typical FPS. In pure gameplay terms it's got more in common with Space Invaders than Tomb Raider.

I played it to death until I unlocked the Papillon, now I'm having a rest before going back for more!

And Insin - you really need to be using a suit with Automatic shooting ASAP. I strongly recommend the Ultra Guardian as soon as you can afford it - fully charged it's virtually unstoppable, has a great selection of combos, and Vanessa looks good in pink too...

I've just got the 300,000 guardian suit. Now I just need to get the points to get the too automatic upgrades for it...

[emjay2kay]

It's a lovely game, just not one I feel compelled to go through again in order to unlock all the suits. That would take ages, be realy hard, and I can't be arsed.

But it is nice, and for some reason I absolutely love that train-like robot boss near the end.

And I'll quickly agree with the Sheriff - Vanessa looks lovely in her pink Ultra Gaurdian suit.

[The Sheriff of Nottingham]

My only real criticism of the game is that it's too easy to miss the trial missions or assume that they're a kind of optional bonus game. If you don't play through all the trials then you get to the final boss (i) very quickly and (ii) without a sufficiently powerful suit. If you complete all five between two chapters then you get a BIG points bonus in addition to what you get from the trials themselves and this helps enormously with buying your upgrades.

So Squirtle, yes, you'll need something a bit stronger than an un-upgraded Intera Guardian I'm afraid...

[Version2.0]

I liked it. Didn't have that much of a problem picking up the control method and was prety fun when I got into the swing of things.

Still havent beat the last boss yet though.