Namco vs. Sega. One company is the creator of Pac-Man, the first icon of the video game industry. The other company is responsible for Outrun and Virtua Fighter, two of the most influential series ever. In the past these two companies have locked horns more times than anyone can remember, whether it be over fighting games or racing games. One genre that they've also competed in has been the light gun genre. While Sega has won critical acclaim with their Virtua Cop series, Namco has also garnered a lot of popularity with Time Crisis. Featuring a revolutionary pedal that allowed the player to reload and dodge enemy fire at the same time, Time Crisis has been a fan favourite for years. With the first two games in the series appearing on the PSOne and PS2, it was only a matter time before the latest installment made the transition from the arcades to console.

Time Crisis 3 puts you in the role of two VSSE elite agents as you battle the Zagorias Federation, who have taken over a small country by the name of Lukano. With the help of a beautiful resistance fighter (isn't that always the case?) you set out to take down the federation and bring liberty to Lukano. Time Crisis: This Time It's Personal? Not quite, but why does an involving storyline matter when you're just blowing up crap anyway?

So I'm sure you're wondering, "what makes Time Crisis 3 any different from the first two?" The biggest change to the game is the new Weapon Select System, which allows you to use four weapons at a time in every mission. You have access to your handgun (unlimited ammo), machine gun, shotgun and grenade launcher. Although you start off with a limited number of ammo for the three other weapons, you can pick up more by shooting down specific enemies.

In the very early build that we had a chance to get our hands on, the game starts off with our heroes lounging around on their yacht until the Zagorias Federation guards spot them. With a little handiwork and a couple of jet skies, our heroes are able to make a slick getaway into the action, which goes from the shorelines to the trenches in a matter of minutes. Once you have taken out the forces outside, you'll have to do some quick thinking inside a giant cargo ship, all the while a madman with an arsenal of missiles wrecks havoc outside.

Although Time Crisis 3 was made on Namco's System 246 arcade board (which is similar to the PS2 hardware), don't expect a lot of graphical improvements over Time Crisis 2. In fact, both games look very similar visually. At this point it's unknown if Namco will enhance the game in a visual manner before release.

With Virtua Cop 3 still available in select arcades in North America, Time Crisis 3 has taken up the spot of top light gun game in the arcades. Whether that translates to success on the home console remains to be seen. Given the pedigree of the first two games, it seems like a sure bet that Namco's latest battle with Sega will be one that will leave gamers satisfied yet again.

· · · Reno