Wow, the PS3 really seems to be pushing out the old PlayStation standard bearers at the moment, and here’s one of the more famous ones. Time Crisis first appeared around 1995 in the arcades and a couple of years later on PlayStation, selling well despite a tasty price tag thanks to the inclusion of the must-have Guncon controller. Amazingly a lot of gamers bought it and played it without a Guncon, because for the time it played quite well as a pop-out-shoot-and-reload on-rails first person shooter, and had a decent ‘super cop Vs. tons of bad guys’ plot. But things have evolved a lot since those days, so what niche does Time Crisis 4 fill?

Well for a start, most of the top first person shooters now allow loads of freedom and have been heavily refined in terms of control, and so have the joypads we use to play them with. Time Crisis 4’s basic arcade shooting mode differs little from light gun games of old and doesn’t really use any of the Gun Con 3’s new features, but its first person shooter sections won’t exactly be making Bungie or Infinity Ward quake in their boots either.

The new Gun Con 3 light gun isn’t a thing of beauty either. It’s bright ORANGE for a start (because if it was black or gunmetal coloured you’d immediately be overcome with an irresistible urge to go down the Bank or Post Office and rob it presumably). But it does have two analogue sticks, the placement of which has been subject to huge debate. It’s extremely accurate, and it works fine for most of the game if you’re right handed, but with the left stick (used for movement in the FPS sections) set on the left hand side of the barrel, the makes it a totally right-handed controller, it would seem next to impossible for lefthanders to use! Other weaknesses include the fact that it isn’t wireless, and requires calibration every time you load up the game. Problems also arise with the game’s weapon selection system, which requires you to quickly scroll through the weapons list with the B1 button (it’s where the hammer would be on a real gun). This is sluggish making it difficult to pick out the one you want in a hurry, and worst of all, changing grenades to grenade launcher involves pausing the game, entering an options menu and selecting the optional sixth weapon from there – which is obviously ridiculous. On the plus side, it is extremely accurate when set up properly.

Another large part of, what is frankly, a ludicrous plot are the Terror Bites, which are biological weapons created by the Hamlin Battalion (great name for an enemy organisation, huh?). There are four types of Terror Bites: beetles, bees, exploding mites, and a sort of mantis type that can give you a nasty slap. These are all best dealt with by a particular weapon, but here TC4 drops yet another clanger; there just isn’t enough ammo to go round, and you’ll frequently find yourself popping away at swarms of insectoid enemies with no more than a handgun. I thought this lack of ammo might be due to playing the game on too high a difficulty setting or my inaccuracy, but trying to shoot more accurately doesn’t work, and dropping the difficulty to ‘Easy’ made little difference either. It did however make some of the gut-churningly tedious boss fights more bearable and do-able. Playing with a friend doesn't really help either. We didn't have 2 Gun Cons available (and I suspect not many people will) so the second player has to play with a joypad, which is about as much fun as umm... paddling with your wellies on. You won't be surprised to hear there's no online 2-player option either.

Oh well, I guess that’s said it all really; poor graphics, clichéd plot, OTT sound and characterisations, inane boss fights, clunky weapon selection system, but… a nice controller (as long as you’re right-handed). Light gun games are always fun – for a while, but the honest news here is that TC4’s arcade sections are weak, and the new features mean that all the Gun Con 3 does is make a plain-looking FPS overly demanding to play. PS3 owners who long for games with rubbish graphics and daft or quirky controllers would probably be better off buying a Wii. What you basically have here is another once decent franchise seemingly ignoring the PS3’s power completely in favour of a quick and unambitious port.