Razing Storm

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Razing Storm™

Information

Developer
Publisher
Platform	Arcade,
Director(s)	Norihiro Nishimura Rio Hamamoto (Sound director)
Producer(s)	Hajime Nakatani Hirofumi Kami
Composer(s)	Takeshi Miura

Razing Storm (レイジングストーム, Reijingu Sutōmu) is a light gun rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the System 357 board. It is the second spin-off of the Time Crisis series published by Namco after Crisis Zone.

Razing Storm was released for the PlayStation 3 in October 2010 as Time Crisis: Razing Storm in North America, and Big 3 Gun Shooting in Japan. It features support for the PlayStation Move controller and Namco GunCon 3 controller.

Gameplay

Razing Storm is similar to many of its Time Crisis rail shooter counterparts, namely Crisis Zone, using the signature Foot-Pedal cover system, but providing the player with a machine gun as the default weapon and a handheld ballistic shield. Pressing down on the pedal allows the player to put down the shield and attack, but leaves them open to enemy fire. Releasing the pedal allows the player to take cover behind the shield, reloading their weapon and rendering the player impervious to all types of damage, but leaves them unable to attack. The game also has a time limit on each section. This forces the player to attack and take risks rather than hide behind their shield, or they will face damage from the timer running out.

Players have a limited number of life marks (a default setting of three) and one mark is taken away for every hit of damage they take and whenever the timer runs out. A one-half mark is taken away for accidentally shooting a civilian (marked by a yellow rectangle) in certain situations, but 6 one-half marks (1 in stage 1, 1 in stage 2, 2 in stage 3 and 2 in stage 4) can be earned (even above the default amount) by covering allied squad operatives in other situations (the enemy soldier(s) who will harm them is/are shown in yellow crosshair(s). If the warning time for those crosshair(s) reaches zero, the allied operative(s) will be hit but will not assign the player(s) any penalty). When the life marks drop to zero or below, the game is over.

Different from the Time Crisis games, clear warnings are given when an enemy has locked-on and is about to attack, usually in the form of a shrinking crosshair mark around an enemy's gun (red for player 1 and blue for player 2), or a yellow triangle around flying projectiles. As the player keeps progressing without being defeated (prevented from reaching zero marks), the warning time shrinks (grenades and rockets however travel at the same speed regardless of difficulty or progression), forcing the player to defend much more quickly and efficiently to avoid damage while moving forward, much like the Virtua Cop series. If the player receives damage from enemy hits or time out, the warning time slightly increases with the increase being greater if damage is received from enemy hits than from time out. However, receiving damage from shooting civilians does not increase the warning time. If the player is defeated and continues the game, the warning time and shrinks revert back to the first time you play the respective stage (e.g. the warning time and shrinks is less in stage 4 than in stage 1).

Razing Storm also presents new features known as Dog Tags which the player must destroy the environments in order to get dog tags from stages 1 to 3 to strengthen the bridge's durability in the Emergency Mission in stage 3. The more dog tags acquired (a total of 10 dog tags which 4 are in Stage 1, 3 are in Stage 2 and 3 are in Stage 3), the more durable the bridge will be and less chance of failing the mission.

Razing Storm has 4 stages of gameplay, in which playing all four stages is contingent on how well the player performed. Players encounter militias, rogue troopers, and mechanized enemies throughout. Players are also given different weapons based on the situation the player is in (machine gun, cluster shot, rocket launcher and sniper rifle). Note that stage 4 is only available if the player survives the emergency mission in stage 3. Failing that mission will end the game and players will not be able to enter their initials in the high score board.

Originally an arcade game, Razing Storm was released as a part of Time Crisis: Razing Storm for the PlayStation 3. In this PlayStation 3 port, a First-Person Shooting Story Mode (similar to Time Crisis 4's "Full Mission") covers cliffhangers and plot holes purposely omitted from the arcade version.

Scoring

Unlike most of its Time Crisis counterparts, Razing Storm puts a unique emphasis on players' score and performance, with frequent checkpoints, score reports, and commentary for hit chains to let players know how they are doing, and how they compare to other players before them. As players score continuous hits on enemies in short periods of time, the hit counter increases, giving score bonuses and compliments from other characters at certain milestones (scoring a 30, 60, 100 hit chain, etc.). The hit counter/chain is also added to and extended by destroying the surrounding environment, such as shooting out windows, railings, fruit stands, and concrete barriers. Large score bonuses are also given for quick completion of areas, as a time bonus (only applicable in solo play as time bonus for link play is only available at the end of the stage), and for destroying environmental hazards that harm enemies. This scoring system gives players incentive to attack and shoot continuously and accurately, taking risks for a high score, rather than playing defensively to simply complete the game.

Continuous Hit Bonus

For shots on objects, enemies and machines, the scoring is as follows:

Scoring

Type	Individual shot	Kill/Destruction shot
Background object	10	10/5000*
Dog tag	N/A	5000
Civilian Militia/Renegade Soldier	10	510
Sniper	10	2430**/2450***
H.A.C.S.	10	3010
Raptor	10	5010
Helicopter	10	10010
Small missile	N/A	1000
Large missile	10	5010
Kraken main laser cannon	N/A	5000 + 10000****
Aircraft laser cannon/electric orb emitter	N/A	910
Aircraft main laser cannon	N/A	510 + 10000****

*For certain objects.
**For headshots and those registering nine hits.
***For headshots and those registering six hits.
****As an additional bonus.

Additional Bonus

The combo system is pegged to the continuous hit combo system and gives point bonuses as follows:

Point bonus for every 10 hits

First 40 hits	50th to 90th hit	100th to 140th hit	150th to 190th hit	200th to 240th hit	250th to 290th hit	300th to 340th hit	350th hit and after
300	500	800	1000	1200	1500	1800	2000

For completing certain objectives, the point bonuses as follows:

Point bonus

Type	Point bonus
Completing the data upload to the satellite laser cannon in Stage 3-1	50000
Surviving the emergency mission	30000

Time Allocation

Note that the final areas of each stage are listed here for placeholder purposes.

Time Allocated Per ENGAGE Sequence

Area	Time Allocated (in seconds)
Stage 1-1	60
Stage 1-2	60
Stage 1-3	40/60*
Stage 1-4	60/80**
Stage 1-5	90
Stage 1-6	60/80***
Stage 1-7	70/80****/40*****
Stage 2-1	60
Stage 2-2	45/80******
Stage 2-3	45
Stage 2-4	80/60*******
Stage 2-5	60/80********
Stage 2-6	30/80*********
Stage 3-1	60
Stage 3-2	60
Stage 3-3	50/80**********
Stage 3-4	60
Stage 3-5	80
Emergency Mission	60
Stage 4-1	60
Stage 4-2	90
Stage 4-3	90
Stage 4-4	60
Stage 4-5	60/70***********

– There are time replenishments at certain segments of an ENGAGE sequence in Stage 1-1, Stage 1-4 (first ENGAGE sequence), Stage 1-6 (for ENGAGE sequences whose time allocation is 60 seconds), Stage 2-1, Stage 2-4 (second ENGAGE sequence), Stage 2-5 (second ENGAGE sequence), Stage 2-6, Stage 3-2, Stage 3-4, Stage 4-1, Stage 4-4 and Stage 4-5 (third ENGAGE sequence).
*For the first raptor.
**For the second ENGAGE sequence.
***For the second part of the first ENGAGE sequence and the first part of the second ENGAGE sequence.
****For the second part of the first ENGAGE sequence.
*****For the part which has only Renegade Soldiers.
******For the second part of the second ENGAGE sequence and the entire third ENGAGE sequence.
*******For the second ENGAGE sequence.
********For the second ENGAGE sequence.
*********For the second ENGAGE sequence.
**********For the second ENGAGE sequence and the second part of the third ENGAGE sequence.
***********For the first part of the second ENGAGE sequence and the entire third ENGAGE sequence.

Time Bonus

This game gives time bonus at 2,000 points for every second saved which is calculated by taking the difference between time spent and maximum time per area except for the overall timing in the final area which is calculated by linking all the areas per stage. For linked play, the time bonus is only available at the end of the stage.

Maximum Amount Of Time Per Area

Area	Solo Play (in seconds)	Link Play (in seconds)
Stage 1-1	61	N/A
Stage 1-2	62	N/A
Stage 1-3	44	N/A
Stage 1-4	66	N/A
Stage 1-5	55	N/A
Stage 1-6	60	N/A
Stage 1 (overall)*	325	435
Stage 2-1	52	N/A
Stage 2-2	59	N/A
Stage 2-3	30	N/A
Stage 2-4	59	N/A
Stage 2-5	42	N/A
Stage 2 (overall)*	235	325
Stage 3-1	60	N/A
Stage 3-2	95	N/A
Stage 3-3	60	N/A
Stage 3-4	61	N/A
Stage 3 (overall)*	268	358
Stage 4-1	46	N/A
Stage 4-2	66	N/A
Stage 4-3	95	N/A
Stage 4-4	83	N/A
Stage 4 (overall)*	310	380

*Includes one more area per stage. Hence, Stage 1 has 7 areas, Stage 2 has 6 areas, Stage 3 has 5 areas and Stage 4 has 5 areas.

Plot

Razing Storm's story takes place in the year 2030, with the players - referred to as Alpha One and Alpha Two in-game - in a massively destructible environment to fight futuristic terrorists and renegade soldiers in a South American country (presumably Brazil) under a bloody revolution as part of a special forces unit called S.C.A.R. (Strategic Combat and Rescue), sent to capture the leader of the rebels; Paulo Guerra, who masterminded an attack on the United States. Guerra's schemes are shrouded in mystery, as much of his doings are unrevealed the PlayStation 3 version of the game, which also wraps up the cliffhanger from the Arcade release.

Trivia

• This is the first game which does not have different soldier types such as "Leader" class, "red" or "sharpshooter" class (first introduced in Time Crisis II), "yellow" or "armorer" class (first introduced in Time Crisis 3), and "special enemy" or "specialist" class.
• This is the first game since Time Crisis II which does not have Crisis Missions.
• This is the first game in which the handgun does not appear as a player-usable weapon or as an enemy weapon in both the Arcade and console releases.
• This is the first game in which melee weapons are not used by foot soldiers.
• This is the first game in which there are no human bosses in the Arcade Mode.
• This is the first game in which some of the characters speak in another language other than English or Japanese.
• This is the first game whose Arcade version has a different ending depending on mission outcome. If console versions are included, this is the second game as Time Crisis Special Story Mode from the PlayStation version is the first.
• This is the first game which has civilians in the Arcade Mode and the second game to do so for all modes. The first is Time Crisis 3 "Rescue Mission".
• This is the third game which has a life recovery system. The first is Time Crisis and the second is Time Crisis: Project Titan.
• This is the last game which Takeshi Miura composed music for the Time Crisis series. He would subsequently be replaced by Kazuhiro Nakamura in Time Crisis 5 who previously composed music for the first two Time Crisis games and Crisis Zone.

Gallery

Credits

• Razing Storm/Credits

External links

• Official arcade website (Japanese)
• It is announced on January 2016 that warranty support for this game on arcade cabinets has ended. Link: End of warranty support (Japanese)

Time Crisis Series