Game:

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2005)

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Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (commonly abbreviated to GitS:SAC) is a video game based on the popular anime of the same name by Production I.G., which in turn was based on the original "Ghost in the Shell" manga by Masamune Shirow. There is a little confusion surrounding the "games", as this game was released outside for both PS2 and PSP under the same name, but they are different games by different developers. The PS2 game is a third-person shooter/espionage title developed by Cavia (who developed Drakengard, NieR, etc., and was one of their better games) and the PSP game is a first-person shooter developed by G-Artists (who developed Philosoma, PoPoLoCrois, etc.). The PS2 game takes place some time between SAC and SAC: 2nd GIG, whereas the PSP game is a sequel of sorts to the PS2 game, not a port.

The PSP game is... well... not that great... I'd say it's so-so. To be fair, the game is an early PSP game, being first released in 2005 in Japan. However, the combat is very sluggish with a somewhat inconsistent framerate, the graphics outside of the character models is fairly bland (and the character animations are very limited), the game has pretty frequent loading, and the controls are rather cumbersome where you have many different commands and features to utilize, not all of which are explained in detail (controls similarly to many other FPS on PSP, but targeting and such is not as good, but you can at least change your control scheme a good degree). The game is also quite story-driven, as it should be, but if you like your shooters to have more action, then you'll want to skip this one.

The game makes up for these shortcomings somewhat with an interesting plot, four main characters that you can play with (Major Kusunagi, Batou, Saito, and Togusa), a variety of weapons and upgrades you can obtain for your characters, and the ability to use and customize four different kinds of Tachikoma to come assist you on missions, who are usually a big help. What's cooler is that you can hop inside them to use their weapons, give them commands, and utilize their abilities such as Optical Camouflage and greater jumping skills. You can also hack into certain targets to get important info or key data to progress. The game features a decent, largely techno/industrial soundtrack.

The basic plot takes place in A.D. 2030 of May, where the members of Section 9 try to solve an intriguing mystery behind an unprovoked terrorist attack, where said terrorists are trying to prevent the release of a newly declassified top-secret report codenamed H-88. You'll go on a variety of missions gathering clues that bring you closer to sloving the mystery and thus the game's conclusion (though be forewarned that the story is a bit cryptic and has loose-ends, though this is the general nature of the series as a whole, making individuals think). The game really doesn't do much you haven't seen before and there are games that do it better, but it's serviceable for fans of the franchise, though little else. Because of the lengthy story scenes and general nature of the game, we've provided three samples of the game in action which go over two missions. We've only edited the loading in two spots in these three videos, both of which are in the first part (before and after the introduction). We kept the majority in to show you how the game moves and operates in realtime. The movement shown is also the game's actual framerate. Enjoy.

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