There are times when you look at a game based on a franchise and wonder who in the world decided it was a good idea. Thankfully, this isn’t one of those games.
Based on the popular anime series Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, this PS2 release allows you play two of Section 9′s most important agents: the Major and Batou. The plot centers around an autonmous military research center the size of a small city, special rice, and shattered dreams. If that sounds vague that’s because it’s supposed to; Ghost in the Shell has a highly involved plot, and giving anything away other than the minimum would ruin the gameplay experience.
Fans of the anime will definitely want to check out this title. Not only is the story as tightly-plotted as the best Ghost in the Shell episodes, it also stays true to the spirit of the series. It certainly helps matters that the designers were able to get the original English voice cast to do the OVA work for the game.
Another high point is the control scheme: it is extremely simple and intuitive. After running through the training mode the controls became second nature and they meld very well with the overall gameplay. Ghost in the Shell fuses elements of third-person shooting with Prince of Persia-style platforming along with a small bit of Metal Gear/Splinter Cell sneaking and planning.
The levels alternate between the Major and Batou, and the gameplay elements shift accordingly. The Major’s levels emphasize the Prince of Persia/Metal Gear game elements, while Batou is much more about plowing through enemies and spraying them with an ungodly amount of bullets. Both level types are fun, but I tended to enjoy playing the Major a bit more.
Really, the only gameplay element I didn’t like was the ghosthacking feature. One of the premises of the Ghost in the Shell universe is that practically everybody has some level of cybernetic implants ranging from full cybernetic bodies like Batou and the Major to less-severe limb replacements like those with cybernetic eyes. Along with these implants, just about everyone is mentally jacked into the internet, which makes it possible for their brains to be hijacked–or ghosthacked as it’s called. At various points in the game you have the ability to ghosthack enemies, effectively taking them over for a few seconds so you can use them as puppets to take out other enemies.
It’s a great concept, but the mechanism is frustrating. When you ghosthack two circles appear on the screen, looking like gears or lock tumblers. They spin at various speeds and your job is to stop them so that the interlocking sections match up. Unfortunately you only get thirty seconds to do this and there can be up to three levels. Even worse, if you make a mistake, it shaves off a good five seconds from your time. As you can imagine, it can get rather frustrating rather quickly.
The saving grace of this gameplay aspect is that it’s only necessary once or twice throughout the whole game, so it’s pretty much a non-issue unless you’re stubborn like me.
I wouldn’t go so far to say that this is a stellar, groundbreaking game experience, but it was incredibly fun. I’ve already played through it once and now I’m going through it again to unlock all of the extras. Considering the lack of time I have for most parts of my life I’d say that this is a pretty strong indication of the game’s quality. In fact, I don’t actually own the copy I’m playing–it was loaned to me by a friend, but I enjoy it so much I’m going to eventually buy it.
