Cosmowarrior Zero (Playstation)

 I don't know much about the works of Leiji Matsumoto, but obviously his stuff is well-known enough that a lot of it is recognisable just from natural cultural osmosis. That's how I can easily tell you that not only is this game a tie-in to a TV show of the same name, released in the same year (2001), but also a big crossover dealie with characters, locations, and other stuff being drawn from the likes of Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, and others. Plus, it's a third person shooter released late in the Playstation's commercial life (but not late enough for it to have become a budget shovelware dumping ground), and as we already know from Gungage, that's cause to be excited.

 

The game's story mode has you playing as the eponymous Zero, as you visit various locations to shoot robots, monsters, soldiers and other enemies. The stages are pretty fun, though it's not always obvious where exactly you're supposed to go, and it was a little annoying that stages 2 and 3 both take place in boring deserts where every area looks exactly the same. The really exciting part of the game, though, are the boss fights! They're tense one-on-one gunfights taking place in various smallish arenas.

 

The bosses have similar abilities to you (something I'll get back to later), so all of the fights against them are exciting and well-balanced, and there's no "wait for the big thing to cycle through all its atacks until it reveals a weak point" nonsense. Just fast-paced battles between you and another character running around, hiding around corners, and taking shots at each other when you can. As well as shooting, you also have a melee attack that does a ton of damage, but it's risky, since of course every character has a powerful melee atack, and getting within range to deliver one also puts you in range to receive one. 

 

I should also mention that this game has one of the coolest boss fights I've ever seen! You fight against some lady (like I said, I'm not The Big Matsumoto fan, sorry) amongst some stone ruins at sunset. But a short time into the battle, the sun actually does set, plunging the arena into darkness, partially lit by the searchlights of an overhead zeppelin, along with the momentary light of the combatants' laser pistols striking out in the darkness. Not only is it conceptually incredible, adding a ton of tension to an already tense situation, but it's also very impressive, I didn't think the Playstation could do a scene so complex!

 

As well as the story mode, it's clear that the developers recognised what a great thing they'd put together in the game's boss fights, as there's a mode made up of nothing else. You can even play as other characters in this mode! Unfortunately, all except Zero and Captain Harlock are locked at the start, and I can't find any information online as to how the rest are unlocked. The absence of a versus mode is also sad, but I think the Playstation's abilities are probably being stretched to the limit already, without having to do it twice in a split screen mode. 

 

Going back to that mention of Gungage, I'm also pleased to report that Cosmowarrior Zero doesn't use standard 3D ation game controls! The D=pad moves you forward and back, and swivels you left and right, while L1 and R1 make you strafe left and right. I think this control scheme fits the action found in the game perfectly. There's just something about cautiously strafing around a corner, ready to shoot or dodge with these controls that really adds to the feel of a gunfight that would be lost if your character had more modern twinstick controls, that sometimes make characters feel like superhumanly flexible and dextrous heavily armed rubber chickens.

 

Cosmowarrior Zero is an excellent game in pretty much every way that matters. There's no translation available, official or otherwise, but there's also no language barrier to playing it. So anyone interested in low poly graphics being pushed to their limits, or even just anyone who likes 3D action games should definitely seek it out and play it at their earliest convenience.