Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

A FPS in the universe invented by Masamune Shirow is always worth a look

Among the titles available so far for the PSP, the FPS genre has not been excessively exploited, indeed after the release of Coded Arms we had to wait for Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (from now on only GITS) to see something again. If the first could easily embody the type of frenetic shooter focused exclusively on action, GITS proposes itself in a different way, focusing more on the tactical component with some brief hints of RPG mold, or at least these were the intentions of the developers.

Technically GITS makes a good figure, the polygonal models are good even if they often lack variety, the textures are quite defined even if the spaces in which our character will move are small, repetitive and unfortunately sometimes interrupted by uploads. From a scenic point of view, the license of Ghost in The Shell has been exploited very badly, apart from the Tachinoma and the weapons of the protagonists there is very little of the cyberpunk future created by Masamune Shirow. In GITS there is also multiplayer in lan, no online clashes but only with some friends with PSP. It is possible to impersonate both a member of Section 9 and a Tachinoma in single or team deathmatches of up to six players. You can use the weapons collected during the single player but strangely our character settings do not remain in memory. The clashes are sufficiently well done even if at times we have encountered a bit of a delay in the connection, probably due to an imperfect software synchronization of the wireless network.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex had made us almost “dream” at the time of its announcement but after this careful test we cannot be satisfied. The adventure is too simple, the Shirow universe has been exploited too little, the level design seems to be done too quickly to be able to hit the target, not to mention the RPG component that should have given depth and instead is only hinted at. . Right now there are very few alternatives to GITS so we advise you to take a look at it anyway, if nothing else the technical part is sufficiently well done.

Pro
• FPS on PSP
• Technically discreet

Against
• Too simple and hasty level design
• It doesn’t exploit the world of Ghost in the Shell as it should

The title developed by Production IG and produced by Bandai is a first person shooter set in the world created by the great mangaka Masamune Shirow, world-class icon of the sci-fi setting comic. We will have four characters to choose from to face the adventure: Motoko Kusanagi, Batou, Saito and Togusa all members of Section 9; we will have to try to solve the mystery behind a terrorist attack that took place without any provocation, but only in order to avoid the publication of the H-88 report. What lies behind the elusive H-88 ratio? Only by getting to the end of the game will we understand more. The missions are very linear, they usually take place in not very large environments and with various objectives but in principle to complete them we will have to make extensive use of our arsenal. The pure action missions will alternate with those of the stealth type or others in which we will have to act as an armed escort. Before seeing a mission well done we will have to play about a dozen or so, initially in fact the “levels” seem to have been created too quickly, and to define infiltration missions stealth it takes a lot of courage. Unfortunately, this component has not been exploited at all, for example if we are discovered during one of these missions we will always have the possibility of saving ourselves by killing the sentries in a limited time, which even if expert guards of the future will not be equipped with any tools to give the ‘alarm … really not very credible. In general, other internships will see us solving simple puzzles, often killing our target and his personal guards. So fire at will and nothing more. Sometimes while playing we had problems identifying our target, but not because of our inability but because the developers did not deign to create a polygonal model that differed from its bodyguards. Things are not improving in the missions in which we will act as bodyguards, we will not be able to move away from our “protégé” and however vigilant we will always be surprised by the enemy who will suddenly appear before our eyes. Each character of Section 9 has its own peculiar abilities, but if we tackle the missions first with one character and then with another we will unfortunately not notice any changes, a bad blow for the replayability of the title. The arsenal has more than 50 different models of weapons and of these we will be able to show off throughout the adventure, being able to also recover those left on the ground by dead enemies and unlocking new ones in the course of the action. The RPG elements are almost all concentrated on the Tachinoma, mini tanks of the future, controlled by an autonomous AI, which will follow us on our missions. Each Tachi has its own personality which in theory should vary its behavior during missions, unfortunately this does not happen if not in a minimal part. The only thing that will give us satisfaction will be equipping these mini tanks with the best possible and imaginable weapons of destruction. Finally we must remember that during the missions it will be possible to enter the Tachinoma and pilot them, except that we will not derive any benefit, nor will we be able to do particular maneuvers as it happened in Ghost in the Shell for PlayStation.