Why Game? 1 - TextFiles.com

much more consistent, possibly even better than
in the anime. I was sort of expecting the game
art to look as rushed as the cover. The game’s
initial cutscene ends by panning the camera into
position behind Major Kusanagi into and giving
you control. This direct transition suggests that
the game is actually part of the story instead
of two separate entities being forced to work
together as in the original.
Now that I had control, the feeling of
generic 3rd person shooter really sunk in. I
would have turned it off right then, but I hadn’t
gotten used to the controls and I wanted to give
the game a fair shake. Eventually I reached an
area where you have to climb a stack of cargo
as you make your way to the top of a tall piece
of heavy machinery slowly grinding back and
forth. When I reached the top of the cargo stack
I panned the camera around and viewed the
meticulously designed backdrop. The shipyard
full of cargo is a staple video game setting, but
the sense of height and scale that this game
presented it with was really incredible. I hadn’t
felt that sense since the PS1 original, and I
wondered if the first game had been more of an
inspiration than the gameplay of this new one
seemed to imply. As I continued through the
game, I would come to a genuinely unique and
interestingly designed section every few minutes
that made all of the generic parts in between
seem worth it. I would have quit playing
without regret if these moments of inspiration
hadn’t kept coming. I felt compelled to continue
playing in nearly every moment of my free time
for a week.
In one of my favorite sections, Kusanagi
had to use her wall-jump to scale the side of
a building and reach the only unlocked door.
The game provides little markers telling you
where the next destination is, but leaves finding
the way to that destination up to the player -
eliminating my biggest pet-peeve of 3D games.
I often get stuck not knowing where to go next
and have to rely on finding the next set of
enemies to know I’m going in the right direction.
This type of indicator wouldn’t work in all game
worlds, but within the context of the Ghost in
the Shell universe it feels right at home as the
character you’re playing is part machine.
Another one of my favorites involved
outracing an army helicopter’s machine guns
while racing through the open hallways of a tall
building. At the end of this stage you have to
make a leap of faith off of the building and into
the moving helicopter. This stage will go down
in my memory as one of my favorites right next
to; the first level of the original Panzer Dragoon,
the mode-7 level of Castlevania IV and the
battleship level of Sin and Punishment.
Thinking about it, really well-designed
action sequences split up by average filler is a
lot like the Ghost in the Shell anime itself. If
it weren’t for the really neat action sequences,
nobody would sit through the droning techno
babble and introspective ponderings that the
artsy people laud the movie for.
I haven’t mentioned this yet, but most
importantly of all, through almost all of the
game you’re staring at Major Kusangai’s
beautiful, round ass. The Tomb Raider team said
in interviews during that game’s creation that
Within the Shell of a License 21