Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

Game Title: Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Date Launched: 03/04/04 (Japan), 11/08/04 (North America), 04/22/05 (Europe)
No. of Players: Single Mode and a Multi Player mode up to 4 players
Console: Playstation 2
Amount of Memory needed: 68 Kb
Difficulty: ALL (There is a mode for each: Easy, Normal, Hard)
Genre: Action (Shooter)
Extras: Multitap for the Playstation 2
Publisher: Bandai
Developer: Cavia Inc.
Rating: 17up

Game Play
80/100
It’s GiTS people, they could have had Motoko running on a shopping errand I would have bough it. Ok seriously now, the game is solid. If you are familiar with GiTS then the game doesn’t stray from it. You get to play with three characters: The Major, Batou, and in one mission the Takichoma. The stages certainly reflect the character, for example the Major’s stages tend to be more complex and require a bit of thinking to reach to a certain point, where as Batou’s stages are usually smash and fire. They isn’t very long to play, you might only find yourself figuring out what to be the hard part. The stages are pretty simple, but require a bit of thinking to figuring out what to do because although the chief will cybercommunicate with you all the time–resulting in you being shot because you’re trying to hear what he is saying and not concentrate of the enemy behind you–he won’t give you any hints. While up front that might seem annoying I enjoyed it, it might take you a few minutes to figure out how to get on the top of the building but when you do, you’ll say to your self saying “I shouldn’t seen that.” Each stage consist of certain points that you are suppose to reach, and when you reach those points another point will appear. You might wonder now long a stage could be–some are pretty long. I’ll tell you up front you’re going to die a few times before you figure how to do something but that’s the way it goes: trial and error.

There aren’t too many weapons available to use, and if you run out of ammo it’s going to be your bare hands. Which is good and bad, because when you use your arms as weapons your player goes into a cool cut-scene where the enemy is KO (Dead) in the coolest fashion. However, certain situation demands certain weapons and it sucks when you run out of ammo, it just helps to teach you to conserve.

There are very few boss battles; usually a stage just requires you to reach a certain point, and the bosses that there aren’t tough at all–at least in easy mode, which was the mode I did it in.

I was let down by the fact that ability to ghost hack was very present in the game. You could have done it about 6 or 7 times through the entire game, and even when you did it wasn’t for very long. I wanted to ghost hack everyone and just watch them kill themselves, but then again I’m weird so I guess it was a good thing–although those that I did ghost hack fell to their dooms.

Graphics
80/100
Usually for actions game you don’t expect much in terms of Graphics but like all things GiTS, Stand Alone Complex for the PS2 goes beyond the boundaries. The graphics are perfect but they sure aren’t a pain on the eyes.
The cut-scenes are really well done, not perfect, but good. And the stages themselves are well put together. Both enemies and players are given enough detail to be sufficient and content.

Control
75/100
I personally had a bit of trouble dealing with the camera positioning. There is no way to zoom out or in, and I could not tell you how much that would have helped.
Firing wasn’t pretty good, although they would have add a “lock on” feature which would have made it much easier (for me).
There is a dodge feature which works pretty well in those sticky situations.
The jump button (R2) is a bit tricky because of the fact that’s (R2) and sometimes you not click it at the right moment–which is very crucial at certain times–but you’ll eventually handle it.
The game play screen isn’t crowed with a bunch of stuff and so you can have your eye on the battle field at all times.

Story
85/100
Section 9 is currently investigating a mystery area known as the Autonomous Region, an area that was under military control but now seems to be the HQ of terrorist group that wants to fit for its independence. What was to be a simple collection of information turns into a rush against time to stop an organization and their plan that could harm thousands?

The military seems to have played a part in this and is now trying to cover up the case. Section 9 is now stuck in the middle of something that started years ago, will Motoko and Batuo be able to stop the terrorist group in time.

Sounds & Music
75/100
No Inner Universe here. The in-game music is ok, it isn’t boring or anything. When you get into a tough situation the music shifts to up temp beat to reflect that. Players are also lucky enough to get the real actors voices for the dialogs, which only makes even more realistic.

Replayablilty
80/100
The game is pretty short; however, you do have the option to complete three modes (easy, normal, hard). After complete the game in each you unlock certain bonuses (unlimited ammo–which you can turn off if you want, new weapons, or customs for your character) you also unlock things for the multiplayer mode (up to 4 player, with the multitap for PS2, like new characters, fields) in that regard the game does have a sufficient amount of replayablity appeal. There is also the collection of fans which are for expert player of the game, since if you die once you loose it, which unlocks the best of the best of weapons. It’s going to take you a good couple of hours, if you are good at it, to finish everything.

Overall
80/100
The game is good, it’s some what short but I enjoyed. It’s definitely aimed towards fans than regular players though. I think the game kind off assumes that when you play that know something about GiTS. You’ll go through it fairly quickly if you are good gamer, it might take you a while to figure out what to, but never to the extent that you’d want to drop the controller and give up on it. The game as a good story that follows you at every step of the way. It’s very much like watching an episode of GiTS: SAC on TV.
If you are a die hard fan of GiTS I strongly recommend renting this, if you only want to see what it’s like, or buying it if you want you unlock everything and have a kick ass time in Multiplayer.

By Cherubim

Get your shtuff here:

Ghost In The Shell - Stand Alone Complex Volume 3: White Maze (Ghost in the Shell)