Crisis Zone is a spin-off of the Time Crisis arcade shooters, released in 29 March 1999 in the arcades.
Plot
In 2000, the Garland Corporation opens a new complex known as "Garland Square" on the outskirts of London. Full of modern amenities, it is considered the future of urban living. A day before its grand opening, however, the entire complex is taken over by the United Resistance Defense Army, a terrorist group. The terrorists have taken no hostages and made no demands upon takeover, causing a string of confusion among intelligence officials around the world. With an unknown threat, Scotland Yard and MI6 dispatch the Special Tactical Force's First Platoon Unit to suppress the URDA, and to ensure that the terrorists don't access their hidden agenda, whatever it may be. Slowly but surely, the STF liberates the Drycreek Plaza shopping mall, Garland Park, and the Garland Technology Center, eliminating the URDA's twin lieutenants Tiger and Edge and wiping out their air force and tank defenses. After securing Garland Square, McGarren receives word from Vital Situation, Swift Elimination officials that Derrick Lynch, the terrorists' ringleader, is attempting to overload Geyser 1, an experimental nuclear reactor built by Garland Electric to power the complex. Making their way down to the control room, five kilometres below the complex, McGarren and his men defeat Lynch's troops before taking out the ringleader himself. McGarren shuts down and secures the nuclear reactor seconds before it melts down. After the S.T.F evacuate and enter a nearby lift, the control room explodes. The unit declares their mission a success. The PlayStation 2 version features a special "Grassmarket District" mission, which takes place six months after the main story's events. Lynch's successor Jared Hunter launches a fresh attack, seizing control of the newly opened Grassmarket District of Garland Square. With STF Director Grant Kessler's daughter Melissa as a hostage, Hunter demands that the surviving URDA members be released from custody in return for Melissa's life. McGarren and Squad 1 are sent to rescue her. They fight their way through Grassmarket Street, defeating an experimental defense droid called the A-0940 in the process. They then storm the Belforte Hotel, where Melissa is held on the rooftop swimming pool. There, they are confronted by Hunter and his airborne attack squad. Declaring his intent for revenge, Hunter engages and loses to Squad 1. He then attempts escape in a modified, heavily armed speedboat, but is killed when the boat is destroyed by McGarren's chopper. McGarren and his men then take Melissa to safety, having ended the URDA's terror once and for all.
Background
In Crisis Zone, the player controls the elite anti-terrorist Special Tactics Force leader, Claude McGarren. The game uses the same pedal system to reload and hide; however, the player uses a machine gun, a customized Steyr MannlicherTMP with a sight laser and a capacity of 40 rounds. Players take cover behind a portable ballistic shield that is strapped to the character's left arm. The "crisis flash" is replaced with a warning target icon to remind players to hide from a threatening shot, though it is possible to interrupt the enemy from shooting. Crisis Zone is the first Time Crisis game to date to allow the player to select between three levels to play in any order. Upon completion of all three of them, the player can then play the final level to beat the game.
Remake
A PlayStation 2remake of the game was released in 2004 in the UK and the US and KOR with more detailed polygons and textures, higher difficulty, redone voice acting and an additional mission taking place six months after the Crisis Zone Arcade mode. The PS2 port is compatible with the GunCon and Guncon 2 lightgun, and is available with an unusual two-player cooperative gameplay mode named "two-gun mode" by allowing two players to play simultaneously on a single-player mode without the use of split-screen, or weapon switching system allowing the player to switch between a fully automatic machine gun, a standard 8-round handgun and a 6-shell shotgun, depending on settings. Unlike Time Crisis 3 and Time Crisis 4, where only the handgun has unlimited ammunition and other weapons are replenished by shooting certain enemies, all weapons now have unlimited ammunition in Crisis Zone, though they all must be reloaded. As with the PlayStation 2 version of Time Crisis II and Time Crisis 3, players can access the Crisis Mission exercise menu through prolonged gameplay. The US and KOR version of the PS2 remake is called Time Crisis: Crisis Zone. The special story mode also features special weapons such as the flamethrower, the missile launcher, the laser rifle, the Gatling gun, and the grenade launcher. The downside to this feature is that they can only be used once per area.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Crisis Zone on their February 1, 2000 issue as being the third most-successful dedicated arcade game of the year. The 2004 remake received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.
