By Elias Dounis on September 20th, 2003

Genre: Shooter
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4
Publisher: Capcom Co. Ltd
# of Players: 1
Memory: 5 blocks
ERSB: Teen
Released On: September 9, 2003
Supports: Progressive Scan, Dolby Pro Logic II
MSRP: $39.99
Also On: None
Website: http://www.capcom.com/P.N.03/index.html

Gaming has evolved over the years… Many will say for the better, others will say for the worse. However, no matter what your personal opinion is on gaming, someone will always have an opinion different from your own. Capcom’s P.N. 03 (Product Number 03) is a game of a more classical gaming nature. A shooter, something most would refer to as arcade-like by today’s standards. GameCube owners may have come across a title like P.N 03 before it with Treasure’s Ikaruga, and just like it the masses’ opinion on P.N. 03 will vary so greatly -- that it becomes understandable to label P.N. 03 as a love it or hate it game.

P.N. 03’s protagonist is the ultra-sexy and voluptuous Vanessa Z. Schneider. A bounty hunter who is hired to destroy the military defense system gone haywire named C.A.M.S. (Computer Arms Management System). Miss Schneider is more than eager to take on this mission, despite her “Client” being a mysterious entity who will not reveal his or her identity (just yet). The reason for her enthusiasm? The death of her parents came from the mechanical “hands” of C.A.M.S. While this storyline may seem a bit uninspired or even dull to most, there’s a nice little twist that will definitely keep the best of us entertained, and quite possibly even make sense of the game’s title.

The gameplay of P.N. 03 comes from the mind of Capcom Production Studio 4 producer Shinji Mikami. With Mikami’s name in the game’s credits, many may have expected P.N. 03 to be the GameCube’s Devil May Cry. However, it’s nothing of the sort -- P.N 03 is a repetitive and linear shooter. Throughout the game, you go from one room to the next, destroying all these various sized, yet nicely designed mechs, and moving on until you reach one of the game’s massive bosses. Bosses which even make multiple appearances in the game!

P.N 03’s control scheme seems to be a bit slow and unresponsive. Oddly enough, it resembles the control scheme of Mikami’s Resident Evil series (180 degree Quick Turn anyone?) and that may explain why it’s unresponsive. Though, since there’s a decent lock-on function, it works well enough. Often, you’re just repeatedly smashing the A button to fire an array of lasers from Vanessa’s fingertips, and when you have enough energy to launch an “Energy Drive”, (after performing a Street Fighter-like move) Vanessa will perform an attack that can basically annihilate most of the mechs found onscreen. Of course, there are times when the action gets a bit intense (resulting in the framerate taking a drop). Those are the times when you have to utilize Miss Schneider’s jump and evasion abilities, and unfortunately (for the evasion maneuvers…) it seems that whenever you press either L & R triggers in order to move to left or to the right, everything happens a second too late (Most likely due to the fact that Vanessa seems to be dancing when evading an attack). Nevertheless, players will have to deal with the game’s control scheme in order to get some great combos, which, just like Ikaruga, involves destroying a chain of enemies within a specific amount of time. Time which is extended with the more enemies destroyed. Now, why would you want to do that? “Elementary my dear Watson!” As if I haven’t made enough comparisons to Treasure’s Ikaruga already… P.N 03 isn’t just about completing the game’s five levels. No, just like any good arcade-inspired game, there’s also the objective of getting the highest scores, and in P.N 03’s case, from room to room.

With only five playable levels in the game, one may question the lasting appeal of Mikami’s latest GameCube project. Truthfully, you can complete P.N. 03 on the Easy difficulty setting in just about an hour. However, the game makes it obvious that you must work you way towards the harder difficulty levels; thus, truly testing your gaming skill. That’s where the appeal of P.N. 03 will divide amongst gamers...from being a just stylistic 3D shooter, P.N. 03 becomes a gamer’s game, or in other words, a game that the hardcore gaming crowd will love.

The style of P.N 03 is mostly due to the games presentation in terms of graphics and sound… The visuals come off as being a bit monotone. You could say that everything is black and white, with no real color, just a generic sci-fi look. However, it works for the game. But one can’t still help but ask for more in terms of graphics. While the lighting and texturing is good enough, there’s nothing too impressive to look at other than Vanessa’s excellently animated rump. And oddly, the game seems as if it’s not using the GameCube’s anti-aliasing tools, since it features the “jaggified” look of a first generation PlayStation 2 game. The soundtrack on the other hand seems to get the job done with generic techno beats that suit the game perfectly. However, while sound effects such as explosions sound okay, the sparse voice acting found in the game is terrible. From what it seems, Miss Schneider has a British accent, but her voice tends to jump around a bit causing you to question if she’s part Australian.

Final Thoughts:

It’s a bit difficult to sum up my experience with P.N 03. The game is flawed, yet I cannot help but enjoy every second of thumb numbing button mashing. P.N 03 is definitely a game that the hardcore gamers will enjoy, only because it tests one’s gaming skill. However, most will be turned away by that aspect. So, try out Mikami’s latest GameCube endeavor. See if it’s worth your time. You may be surprised!