Razing Storm

Razing Storm is a light gun rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the System 357 board. It is the second spin-off of the Time Crisis series published by Namco after Crisis Zone.

Razing Storm was released for the PlayStation 3 as Time Crisis: Razing Storm in North America, and as Big 3 Gun Shooting in Japan) in October 2010, and features support for the PlayStation Move controller and Namco Guncon 3 controller.

Plot
Razing Storm's story places the players - referred to as Alpha One and Alpha Two in-game - in a massively destructible environment to fight futuristic terrorists and renegade soldiers in a South American country under a bloody revolution as part of a special forces unit called S.C.A.R. (Strategic Combat and Rescue), sent to capture the leader of the rebels, Paulo Guerra, who masterminded an attack on the United States.

Gameplay
Razing Storm is similar to many of its Time Crisis Rail-Shooter counterparts, namely Crisis Zone, using the signature Foot-Pedal cover system, but providing the player with a Machine Gun as the default weapon and a handheld ballistic shield. Pressing down on the pedal allows the player to put down the shield and attack, but leaves them open to enemy fire. Releasing the pedal allows the player to take cover behind the shield, reloading their weapon and rendering the player impervious to all types of damage, but leaves them unable to attack. The game also has a time limit on each section. This forces the player to attack and take risks rather than hide behind their shield, or they will face damage from the timer running out.

Players have a limited number of life marks (a default setting of three) and one mark is taken away for every hit of damage they take and whenever the timer runs out. A one-half mark is taken away for accidentally shooting a civilian in certain situations, but several one-half marks can be earned (even above the default amount) by covering allied squad members in other situations. When the life marks drop to zero or bellow, the game is over. Different from most Time Crisis games, clear warnings are given when an enemy has locked-on and is about to attack, usually in the form of a shrinking crosshair mark around an enemy's gun, or a yellow triangle around flying projectiles. As the player keeps progressing without taking damage, the warning time shrinks and projectiles travel faster, forcing the player to defend much more quickly and efficiently to avoid damage while moving forward, much like the Virtua Cop series.

Unlike its Time Crisis counterparts, Razing Storm puts a unique emphasis on the player's score and performance, with frequent checkpoints, score reports, and commentary for hit chains to let the player know how he's doing, and how he compares to other players before him. As the player scores continuous hits on enemies in short periods of time, his hit counter increases, giving score bonuses and compliments from other characters at certain milestones (Scoring a 30, 60, 100 hit chain, etc). The hit counter/chain is also added to and extended by destroying the surrounding environment, such as shooting out windows, railings, fruit stands, and concrete barriers. Large score bonuses are also given for quick completion of areas, as a time bonus, and for destroying environmental hazards that harm enemies. This scoring system gives players incentive to attack and shoot continuously and recklessly, taking risks for a high score, rather than playing defensively to simply complete the game.

Stage

 * Stage 1 Encounter - the first stage where the Alpha Unit's helicopter are shot down by Kraken in Diamante Hotel. They're intend to breakthrough the enemies (Rogue Soldier, Militia, H.A.C.S Power Armor, Raptor and later Kraken) in order to escape from the hotel and support Bravo unit.
 * Stage 2 Breakthrough - the second stage where Alpha Unit had arrived on the scene and provide backup for Bravo unit to the rendezvous point. At the end of stage, Alpha unit has heading to Paulo Guerra's base operation while Bravo has arrived to the destination.
 * Stage 3 Showdown - the third and final where Alpha unit has arrived on the building aside of Paulo's base operation. Players must cover Fortune for transfer the data for Bravo unit to uses the Satellite Laser Cannon.
 * Stage 4 Rescue (Bonus Stage) - the fourth and bonus stage where Alpha unit must breakthrough the enemies to the Bravo unit, who just attacked by enemies.

Weapons
Most of the game primarily involves the use of a machine gun that is effective against soldiers and light armored personnel. At specific sections of gameplay, the gun will be replaced by different weapons: The Cluster Shot, The Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle. The Cluster Shot is usually acquired during confrontations involving fast moving enemy combat armor (such as Raptors or H.A.C.S) while the Rocket Launcher is provided against gargantuan sized mid to end level bosses. The sniper is used later in the game during a stealth mission, requiring the player to pick off targets from afar. These gun alterations are only available during these specific encounters and the player reverts back to the default Machine Gun when the encounter is completed.

The players have access to multiple weapons in differing situations.
 * Cluster Shot, similar to a shotgun. While it has a wide hit-area, accurate shots cause more damage. It is often provided when raptors are present.
 * Rocket Launcher, used against the Krakens and other large armored enemies. This will destroy most surroundings in one hit, so the player can clear a line of sight to an enemy when faced with surrounding buildings. It has a large splash radius, allowing players to hit multiple targets at once, but also a short travel time, which can cause misses on extremely fast moving targets.
 * Sniper rifle, a variable zoom (computer-controlled) long-range single shot weapon used to eliminate the enemy while a fellow comrade activates the Pathfinder to destroy the enemy's base of operations via satellite laser cannon. A headshot on the enemy provides a one-hit-kill, while a shot anywhere else stuns the enemy and takes half their health. It used only once in Stage 3.
 * Satellite laser pointer, which sends the coordinates of the target (an unnamed spider-resembling weapon) to the Bravo unit controlled satellite laser cannon. It used only once in Stage 3.

Enemies
The warzone is littered with innumerable amounts of enemy soldiers as standard cannon fodder with the occasional special unit added in.
 * Raptor, A fast moving machine that walks on bipedal legs, has fast jumping movement and can cling to walls as it attacks. It launches rockets and rams the player. Well aimed shots can destroy the missile pods that the Raptor uses, causing damage.
 * H.A.C.S. Power Armor, A humanoid mech twice the size of a person. It runs around the screen and fires its Machine Gun at the player. At certain times it will strike with a chainsaw melee weapon up close. When backed up back enemy soldiers, the enemy's accuracy goes up considerably. Focused fire can damage the armor, allowing the player to cause more damage.
 * Kraken, a juggernaut that is normally faced in open areas. It is usually considered a boss early in the game and several variants of it are found throughout. It walks upright on long tentacle like legs that will occasionally ram the player. It has an array of weapons ranging from rockets, sweeping lasers and pulse cannons.
 * Militia, poorly equipped soldiers who attacks the player in human wave tactics.
 * Rogue Soldiers, the main enemy in the game. They are well equipped, but easy to kill.

Trivia

 * The words "Wait" and "Action!" have been replaced with "Stand By" and "Engage".
 * The intro of the game features the licensed track "Ashes" by Five Finger Death Punch.
 * The real name of Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 are unknown, and not revealed yet.