TIME CRISIS II ENEMIES GUIDE Written by Desmond Hew wilddog_tc@hotmail.com 17 April 3 August 1999
Such a wonderful yet ambiguous feeling one would have, to know that Time Crisis has finally spawned a sequel and one which is already well known as among THE BEST ones of all time!! It's not just a simple gun game, it's a genuine masterpiece, and that's a fact! As in its prequel, Time Crisis 2 features countless foes that live for no reason other than to serve their bosses to stop you at all costs from saving the day. The solution is simple; annihilate them all!. The bad news is that they are now armed with even more heavily fire-powered weaponry than ever before. This time, there are 4 main boss characters [unlike the first, which had only 2], killer armored vehicles and a handful of new regular baddies who all have a thirst for your blood! In my guide, you'll find info on every enemy, strategies to beat all bosses, and various ways to gain yourself high scores to impress your pals. Remember though, a guide is useless if you're not bothered to learn. So as true gamers, practice sufficiently and you'll improve yourself in times to come. If you have any inquiries or comments on this guide, then you are all welcomed to e-mail me on any of those [my address is above]. Anyway, read all you need and have a great time!
This guide is under the property of its author, Desmond Hew Su Peng [me of course] and is strictly NOT to be used for any profitable purposes whatsoever. Distribution is highly recommended as long as credit is given to me. Time Crisis II, the Time Crisis II logo and all its characters are registered trademarks of Namco Ltd. All rights reserved. This guide is copyright [C] 1999 by Desmond Hew. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS:- I.) The Basics II.) The Enemies III.) The Bosses IV.) The New Ranking System V.) Gaining More Points VI.) Bonus Point Opportunities VII.) The Hidden Yellow Soldiers VIII.)Secret Routes in SOLO mode XI.) My Thoughts on the Game X.) Special Thanks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BASICS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to get yourself acquainted with the Time Crisis world, knowing the basics is important if you want to stay alive. Yeah I know it sucks, but without them, you're pretty toast so just bare with them, read up and be a man! One good reason why you should read the basics is because a few changes have been done to this sequel, to set itself apart from the original.
YOUR GUN The most accurate arcade light gun is back and even better than ever! It is always a joy to play any gun game using Namco's. This section looks long, but it may be useful if you read it. Basically, your objective is the same as before and that is to gun down all baddies in your sight! However, instead of having the usual 6 bullets in a clip, you now have 9! I suppose this was specifically made to make the 'combo streaks' a little easier [I'll explain that one in THE SCORING SYSTEM] and to enable players to keep up with the action, now that over 7 baddies can appear on screen [unlike the original]! However, one of the newest additions to this sequel, is the MACHINEGUN! Due to constant demand from most gamers, Namco have finally allowed players to use a different weapon at certain points in the game. When in your possession, the machinegun will replace your regular gun UNTIL a certain task is completed. The best part about machinegun is that it has unlimited bullets!! Plus, you DON'T need to keep pulling the trigger to constantly fire [unlike your regular gun]. Like a real machine gun, you just need to HOLD its trigger! Hey, it even vibrates like a real one!! Better yet, you won't have to try and get it yourself; your faithful heroes will gladly pick it up for you! But this is not to say you can jump for joy. The only reason why it's picked up is so your heroes can take out some of the enemies' heavily armored vehicles! To get more info on them, refer to their profiles in 'THE ENEMIES' section somewhere below. NOTE: The number of times you'll use a machine gun depends on which character you're playing. For instance, if you are Keith [Player 1], you'll only use the machine gun ONCE in a 2 player game [in SOLO mode, it's variable]. But if you're Robert [Player 2], you'll use the machine gun TWICE in a 2-player game. This trend is however variable when playing in Solo Mode. SPECIAL NOTE: There is a way to gain high bonus points when using the machinegun. Refer to 'GAINING MORE POINTS' [look for its location at the 'Contents'] for full details.
YOUR PARTNER Another new addition to Time Crisis II, is that it can now be played using 2 players simultaneously! But unlike the other gun games, Time Crisis II features the most revolutionary 2 player cooperate game ever! Instead of always standing side by side with your partner to shoot bad guys, the 2 of you normally stand at different locations to cover each other's back which requires excessive teamwork for great success. There will be times when your partner is being pummeled by more than 5 soldiers, while you just only have 3 on your spot. So it's your job to fulfill your duty and help your partner. Hmmm it makes me wonder whether your VSSE superiors will increase your raise for this! He! he! Only joking! Anyway, in some other places, you yourself will be in tight situations and that is when your partner has to give you a helping hand. However, Time Crisis II doesn't fully stick to this 2 player teamwork on a regular basis. In some areas, each of you will take YOUR OWN separate routes into different parts of the background. So not only you get an awesome 2 player game, you also have several chances to blow away baddies entirely on your own, which brings back the feel of the first Time Crisis. Now you know why Time Crisis II has the most revolutionary 2 player cooperate game ever! NOTE: Don't ever shoot your partner anytime during the game, or you'll automatically lose 1000 points from your current score!!
YOUR CHARACTER In general, Time Crisis II can almost be as tough as its prequel. However, the character that you pick, actually does alter some bit of the game's difficulty. In other gun games, the challenge is perfectly the same regardless of which player you choose. Not so for Time Crisis II though. For my ENTIRE guide, it is imperative that you know who am I speaking of, to understand my tips. So in case you aren't aware, you automatically play as Keith Martin [the blonde guy with the red jacket] when you select PLAYER 1 for your game. If you have selected PLAYER 2, then you're Robert Baxter [black hair guy with the blue jacket]. So the question is, who do you pick, and who is best? Well, inspite of the fact that you both will face stiff resistance throughout the game, Keith Martin [player 1] is generally much easier than Robert Baxter [player 2]. You'll really get the idea when you read my guides on the bosses and discover that he has more 'bad luck' situations than Keith. Robert will face more annoying ambushes from the KNIFEMEN than Keith and in some battles with the bosses, he'll have a hard time aiming, plus most bad guys will always be firing at him. For the record, Robert is for the slightly more advance player. Not bad, because when you're done mastering Keith's routes, Robert will give you yet another challenge. Although I may be exaggerating, Robert's route overall, isn't way too tougher than Keith's. So it's not all that much harm to pick him as the character that you choose to master. For Keith, using him can sometimes be a little hard, but also easy in some points throughout the game. To be frank, they BOTH have their own share of advantages. So as usual, the choice is yours, but for me, I chose to master both of them! Not to show off, but to enable myself to really, really know the game.
YOUR PEDAL The original feature that literally made the first Time Crisis different from any gun game, was the use of its unique action pedal. Here, it's back and you have to make full use of it as usual. To get right into the action, you must step on the pedal to make your character stick his head out. Only than can you start shooting. However, there is yet another rule and that is you're only allowed to start your attack AFTER the computer shouts the infamous line, "ACTION!". Throughout the game, you must release the pedal which in the process lets you take cover to prevent yourself from getting hit. Other than dodging various ammunitions, you're also required to duck under any moving objects that pose a danger. The computer tends to warn you of such harm by showing the usual text words [it even says it out] "DANGER! DANGER!". Release the pedal for your safety if you see any such warning. What are these moving objects? That I won't spoil for you! Just look out for "DANGER! DANGER!". You also need to use the pedal to reload your trusty gun by also releasing your foot off the pedal. Unlike the first one, Time Crisis II's pedal instantly reloads your gun the very second you lift your foot up from it. For its prequel, you would have to wait until your character is completely hidden behind, to reload your gun.
YOUR GAME MODE Just like in the original, Time Crisis II lets you choose from 2 different game modes. They both are '2 PLAYER/LINKED MODE' and 'SOLO MODE', which are discussed below. Personally, I think it would have been better for Namco to include a 'SCORE ATTACK MODE' [or something like that] to enable players to practice themselves on stages that they are weak at. In the first Time Crisis, there was another option called 'TIME ATTACK MODE' where players were able to select any of the 3 stages to make a fast time record and sort of like practice themselves to master that specific stage. In this sequel, that isn't possible and you have to work yourself all the way if lets say you only needed to master you skills on the last stage. a.) 2 Player/Linked Mode This is the mode everyone loves! It's where 2 players play the game together and pulverize all bad guys as a team! If lets say only one person is playing, another person on the opposite side, can join in at anytime, but ONLY if that current player has selected LINKED MODE for his game. Your routes [for that particular character you're using] will be fixed and can't be altered.
b.) Solo Mode There are several differences between both SOLO and LINKED modes. First and foremost, you're required to complete the game as usual, but this time, ENTIRELY on your own without the help of a partner! You'll still see a computer partner in the background but he doesn't do anything to help you. When selected, the computer automatically restricts access to anyone who tries to join you. This means that anyone else who wants to play, will have no choice, but to select SOLO mode for his game, since LINKED mode is inaccessible now. As tough as it sounds, SOLO mode is generally for potential experts who want to complete the game without relying on a partner to help him out, which is in fact very useful. For me, SOLO mode is honestly my top choice when playing Time Crisis II! In this mode, SOME soldiers who were programmed to aim for your partner in LINKED mode, will now fire their weapons at you! Several enemies even have slightly better accuracy now, which of course gives more challenge than just an ordinary solo mission. On a bright side, SOME battles [especially during boss areas] during the game will be slightly shortened! For instance, in a battle with Wild Dog [at the end of area 1] he seems to flee a lot quicker than in LINKED mode. Apart from that, SOLO mode also features some cool stuff that the LINKED mode doesn't/can't offer. In a 2 player game, your route is completely fixed and cannot be changed in anyway at all. For SOLO mode, a player can choose to ALTER his route and take his partner's one instead! If lets say, you're player 1 [Keith], you can take Robert's path at certain points in the game for a change! NOTE: To know how to change your route in SOLO mode, refer to 'Dark Orange Soldiers' found in 'THE ENEMIES' section. SOLO mode also features a total of 3 secret bonus paths where almost all the regular soldiers [fought regularly in LINKED mode], are REPLACED by Yellow/Bonus Soldiers! These routes are only accessible through specific methods, and can be found in the 'BONUS ROUTES' section [refer to the CONTENTS]. So generally from all this, SOLO mode is still fun if you know how to make use of its exclusive features. I find it way more challenging than LINKED mode, so once you get the hang of that, give this one a go!
AREA STRUCTURE An important thing I would like to clarify is that the structures of the stages in Time Crisis II are slightly different from the original. Each stage in the first Time Crisis consisted of 4 areas, each varying in lengths; Area 1, Area 2, Area 3 and Boss Area. For the sequel, there are now only 3 areas within each stage; Area 1, Area 2 and Area 3 [the boss for every stage will appear in Area 3]. But this doesn't mean Time Crisis II is shorter than its predecessor. In fact, it's longer! Despite that it only has 3 areas per stage, each one is pretty long and is almost equivalent to the size of 2 areas from the first!
RED FLASH! A surprising new thing about this sequel, is that the computer now warns you when an enemy is about to get a direct hit. In the first Time Crisis, you could only guess when an enemy could really hit you when you pay attention to their uniform color. In some cases, the computer is capable of being cheap by randomly selecting a regular soldier from anywhere to suddenly get a bullseye shot at you, without warning. If you've played the first Time Crisis frequently, you'll notice this [though the odds of that happening are 1 out of 40]. Now in Time Crisis II, a red flash can be seen from an enemy's weapon [whether a bullet, missile, rocket, etc] which warns you when you're about to get hit. The computer can STILL cheap by randomly picking an enemy within the area, to suddenly surprise you with a direct hit, but at least the red flash WILL warn you. BUT THIS IS NOT TO SAY TIME CRISIS II IS VERY EASY!! It's mainly an excuse from the computer to blast you off with a surprise. Unlike its prequel, Time Crisis II's regular baddies are generally more accurate! The blue soldiers for instance, have better eyes with their targets this time and can even fire 2 consecutive red bullets at you in some cases! So your NUMBER ONE PRIORITY for survival in Time Crisis II, is to DUCK [by releasing the pedal] the very second you see a red flash from anywhere at all! This is extremely important and you have to regardlessly duck as quick as you can [since almost all bullets, missiles and rockets travel at the speed of light!] or you'll instantly lose a life. You know "Ouch! That hurts!". So you'll have to take my word for it when I say you DON'T want to be overconfident, when it comes to red flashes! For beginners, this needs a little bit of getting used to, since not every gun game around uses a pedal. If you refuse to fulfill this obligation, than I'm afraid there's virtually NO HOPE for you winning, ever. Concentration and alertness is most essential and you'll still need them even when you've gotten used to the game. However, there's more to all this than just simple red flashes. You see, NOT EVERY direct hit from an enemy will have a flash. Enemies like the KNIFEMEN will always pop-out in front of you [up close and personal] to slice your face. When in close range attacks like that, there WON'T be any flashes! For some boss battles, the bullets from Buff Bryant's [example] chaingun [in the 1st scene of his battle] WON'T have any red flashes. But still, you CAN CLEARLY see the bullets he shoots out are red in color so at least that alerts you a little. One more important note I have to add, is to remind you NOT to stay down for too long whenever you intend to dodge, say a red bullet. Remember that all bullets travel at the speed of light, so all you have to do is release the pedal and IMMEDIATELY step on it again; there's NO risk of getting hit by the bullet that you wanted to dodge earlier! NOTE: Rockets and missiles travel SLIGHTLY slower than the speed of bullets, so try to stay down until the rocket/missile passes you before resuming your battle.
THE TIMER As in the original, Time Crisis II has a timer that forces you to take things more seriously and keep up with the action before it runs out. But compared to the first, the timer in this sequel is much more lenient. If the timer goes down to zero, you'll only lose a life [the screen will be covered in light blue]. In the first Time Crisis, you'll instantly lose the WHOLE game and you must continue [either YES or NO] if the same thing were to occur. When your time gets extended, it'll only be added with a specific amount, WITH the time you CURRENTLY have [just before you proceed to the next scene]. It goes without saying that getting "TIME IS UP" in the first Time Crisis was most likely to happen with average players who found the game too difficult. NOT SO ANYMORE for Time Crisis II; regardless of what happens, the timer will ALWAYS be extended to a full 40 seconds EVERYTIME you move on to the next scene! In a way this does make things easier, but also as a way to make up for the fact that more soldiers are now accurate! Although Time Crisis II now focuses mainly on score, that doesn't fully mean that there isn't any incentive for you to finish an area at a fast time. The computer actually adds some bonus points to your score when the time you take for an area's completion is short; or if you do not exceed a certain time. For more info on this, check out 'GAINING MORE POINTS'.
THE SCORING SYSTEM A dramatic change in Time Crisis' sequel is that it now uses 'scores' as the main basis instead of 'time' [which was used in the first]. Still, there is yet a sense of originality that makes Time Crisis II's scoring system different [and very unique] from other games. During the game, the computer shows you text words that inform you of certain things. If you take a glance at the top-left side of the screen after you shoot enemies, you'll see text stuff like '3HIT! +460'. '3HIT!' designates the number of bullets that have SUCCESSFULLY HIT your enemies. In this case, '3HIT!' means that 3 bullets have hit your foes. So generally, a single shot is equivalent to '1HIT!'. The very minute you shoot an enemy, the computer instantly shows both the number of shots and the points gained from them. The '+460' shows you how many points you've gained from the number of 'HITS'. You're able to INCREASE the 'HIT' rate and gain more points at the same time to get yourself a very high streak! You can bump up the number of HITS from 12, to over 56 HITS, but ONLY if you're skilled enough. Just think of it as a combo in fighting games [especially the classic Street Fighter!]. In a handful of some battles, you can even get over 99 hits! There's just one little catch; if you're unable to continue the streak within ONE second, it goes straight back to zero! This occurs if you stall for too long or can't shoot anything efficiently within the duration. Supposing you miss a couple of times along the way, BUT still manage to continue shooting accurately in LESS than a second, your streak will STILL be able to increase. Although you only need to shoot a soldier once to kill him, you can actually shoot him several times more to increase the 'HIT' rate and gain yourself more points! Bare in mind however, that the maximum amount of hits you can shoot for each soldier is only 3 times. When that happens, you'll have to aim at another soldier in the background to continue your streak. This is slightly different when it comes to bosses though. In certain battles, you can continuously shoot the boss [some of them] as many times as possible until he ducks for cover. I'll cover this part in 'THE BOSSES' section. Anyway, the amount of points you get for each shot is based on which part of a soldier's body did you shoot. For instance, your points will vary when you shoot them in the leg, body, or head. As you continuously shoot for the same body area, you get more points based on that particular area. To give you more background, refer to the little chart below which I've made specially for your reference:
# of times you shoot it BODY AREA: 1 HIT 2 HITS 3 HITS a.)Head 800 960 1240
b.)Body 400 560 720
c.)Legs 200 320 460
Now if you look closely, you'll notice that shooting for the enemy's head is one of the best ways in gaining more points. And since that's the case, I did a little more work to find how much more points would you gain if you constantly shoot for more soldiers, each specifically in their heads. Below are the answers:
So you can now guess that their heads are more valuable than their miserable bodies! Doubt it means they're smart but hey, it's still worth a lot! So you think it's easy to now score high? Wrong! Considering the fact that you get more points when you rapid fire on their heads, it's generally hard to score direct hits since a lot of them constantly move around. Remember that you're required to shoot for either their foreheads or faces, NOT their shoulders. In some cases, some of the soldiers INSTANTLY collapse [fall down flat] to the ground when they've suffered a direct hit in the face or forehead. This irritatingly interferes with your streak once in a while. To prevent this, you'll have to use more cunning methods by learning how to shoot really fast, while still being able to aim carefully for their heads. This is hard [however still fun], but it won't allow the soldiers to fall flat due to your rapid firing. Remember, NO MERCY! NOTE: Any score information regarding the amount of points you get for a specific body area DOES NOT apply to bosses, 'Yellow Soldiers' and the 'Gray Missile Soldiers'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE ENEMIES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most of those stinkin' punks who once made life miserable for you in the original, are back to have the privilege of doing it again in this more-intense sequel! Virtually all of them have been redesigned [though mostly with the same colors] to look more nasty [yet sorta casual!] and professional. Some old ones from the first Time Crisis, have been replaced with even meaner scumbags, while others have generally better accuracy than before! You'll also have to face some crazy tanks along the way. Your objective is the same as before - take no prisoners and pulverize anyone or anything that treats you badly! Below, are the full infos on every regular enemy in the game. Be sure to refer to anyone of them who tends to bother you, for solutions.
BLUE SOLDIERS Clothing: Blue color suit, gray vest, and wears a black mask [some wear goggles]. Weapon: Handgun Accuracy: 40% - 55% Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3 [ALL AREAS]. Stage 2: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 3: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3 [ALL AREAS]. The blue soldiers are back and deadlier than they were before! If you look at their accuracy, you'll know that they have really improved themselves. In fact, it's possible for some of them to have 3 to 4 red bullets bursting out from their guns if they really fire like mad! A lot of them now attack you using more skillful ambushes and various other maneuvers which really convinces you they HAVE BEEN trained well. But even so, blue soldiers are still considered 'weak' since they often move slowly [as they did in the first Time Crisis]. If you shoot mercilessly, most of them won't have any chances. They are basically the standard batch. However so, watch yourself at all times for any sudden red flashes from their guns. Throughout my experience, I can tell you that they are full of surprises and that's a fact! In an intense crossfire, it's possible for them to slowly fire 2 consecutive red bullets. So supposing you've dodged one, don't be surprised if you see another one heading your way [by the same blue soldier] once you stick your head out again. Beware and be prepared!
RED SOLDIERS Clothing: Red color suit, gray vest, and wears a black mask. Weapon: Handgun Accuracy: 90% - 94%! Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 2: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 3: Area 1. What would Time Crisis II be without deadly foes! Well, red soldiers just so happen to be in that list. As before, they are very skillful marksmen capable of getting direct hits the very second they show themselves! Now, they have even sharper eyes which is my little theory to explain why a lot of them can fire 2 consecutive red bullets! To keep yourself safe, you must shoot any red soldier you see in a group first, before you dispatch the rest. In most situations, Red Soldiers are highly skilled enough to shoot out 1 or 2 red bullets when they FIRST REVEAL themselves! Leaving a red soldier on screen for long, only gives him the chance to surprise you with some nasty red bullets! Another danger is that some of them can pop-out in an instant to fire a direct hit at you. It doesn't happen so often in this sequel, but they can still do it in a handful of battles. Anticipating a red soldier's appearance is pointless, so you have to make use of your alertness and duck whenever you see a red flash from anywhere at all. Just remember one thing; kill them quick! If you find it too difficult, than you'll have to try and memorize their appearances in all parts of the game! It's an old method I used for the first Time Crisis, which made me better after some time. Hey, it still works hell of a lot well in this sequel!
WHITE/GRAY SOLDIERS Clothing: White/Dark gray suit, white/dark gray helmet, gray vest and wears goggles. Weapon: Handgun Accuracy: 46% - 58% Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3. Stage 2: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 3: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3. My guess is that WHITE soldiers are the replacements for the old Brown Soldiers from the first Time Crisis. I say this because they also seem to play a role as commanders; something which Brown Soldiers also do. Usually, you'll see them leading a group of baddies and order them to either hurry up or shoot you quickly. Their favorite quotes include "There!Go,go,go!" or "Fire!" etc. So what is it with White and Gray soldiers? Well, I decided to include both of them here, because they seem to look, and attack exactly in the SAME style. Though Gray Soldiers aren't commanders, they generally have the same skill of accuracy as the White guys. As you can see, their accuracy is slightly better than the Blue Soldiers, which is in fact true, though they hardly show up as often as them throughout the game. So are they REALLY dangerous? Well in most cases, they can get just as lucky as Blue Soldiers, but it's generally better NOT to treat them too seriously as they're just an ordinary group. Still, keep a sharp look out for any red flashes they may fire at anytime.
MACHINE GUNNERS Clothing: Green color uniform, wears a green cap and red shades. Weapon: Machinegun Accuracy: 86% - 95% Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3. Stage 2: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 3: Area 1, Area 3. The old Machine Gunners from the first Time Crisis are back, though looking much different and with a few changes. Frankly, I don't really consider them as highly skilled as Red Soldiers, but regarding the fact that they use machineguns, they DON'T have to be! Since machineguns spray bullets all over the area it's aimed at, getting several direct hits are VERY, VERY possible! The same goes when playing this game; leave a machine gunner unharmed, and you'll see him capable of blasting out 3 to 4 consecutive red bullets! However, like their disadvantage from the first game, machine gunners CAN'T straightaway fire red bullets the very second they pull their triggers [something which Red Soldiers ARE capable of doing]. They first need to fire a couple of missed shots [usually from 3 to 6] in order to start getting deadly. A slight change I've noticed from them in this sequel is that their speed is FASTER now! A machine gunner can just pop out of certain corners without the slow habit they used to have from part 1. However, they're still not quite as quick as various others like Red Soldiers. But regardless of what you've heard of them, you must to never be soft on machine gunners! Other than those like Red Soldiers, you must also shoot Machine Gunners off first to decrease the danger rate.
GRENADIERS Clothing: Green color uniform, wears a green cap and red shades. Weapon: Grenades and Handgun Accuracy: 100%! [with grenades]/ 45% [with handguns] Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 2: Area 1. Stage 3: Area 1. Yet another batch that's making their second appearance in this sequel. Just like Machine Gunners, Grenadiers have undergone a few changes. For a start, they [notice that their clothing is exactly the same as Machine Gunners] DON'T really make much of an appearance during the game [compared to part 1]. On a bad side, they are now much quicker in throwing their egg-shaped grenades. If you see one thrown towards you, you'll be forced to duck [which isn't that bad really], but unless you're fast enough, they won't stand a chance. But is it possible for you to just shoot a grenade in mid-air? That's something not many people think about. After my research, I found it IS possible, just like how it was in part 1!! Although it's no big deal to actually do this, you will get an extra 200 points for blasting a grenade that has been thrown into the air; whether to you or your partner. Be warned that your accuracy has to be good [and also fast] before you give this thing a try. If you want a high score, then shooting the grenade can help a little. The most noticeable difference in Grenadiers is that they now only throw ONE grenade! When it's done, they'll then reappear and try to finish you off with their measly handguns. As viewed above, their accuracy isn't very intimidating. I guess this really makes them not quite as annoying as they were before. But as every other baddie, pick them off like the sorry scums they are!
MISSILE SOLDIERS Clothing: Green color uniform, wears a green cap and red shades. Weapon: Missile Launcher Accuracy: 100%! Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 2: Area 1. Stage 3: Area 1. One of Time Crisis II's newest enemies. Just like both Machine Gunners and Grenadiers, these guys all look the same, only they each have different accuracy and weapons. The big news regarding these guys is that they carry a large missile launcher, capable of blasting 4 accurate missiles consecutively. Yes that may sound bad, but the good news is that Missile Soldiers are among the SLOWEST enemies in the game. Since their missile launchers are obviously heavy, they need half a second just to lift it up and aim at you. If speed has always been your style, than it's not likely that these guys will bother you much. Supposing you already see them firing away, you'll have to stay down for a little while to avoid ALL 4 of their killer missiles. Since they're very large, you can easily see all of them traveling pass you WHILE taking cover. Do missiles flash red? Yes they do! It's just that the basic rule here is when you have to dodge one, dodge THE REMAINING 3! Fail, and you may be hit by another one just as you rise up.
GRAY MISSILE SOLDIERS Clothing: Dark gray suit, dark gray helmet, gray vest and wears goggles. Weapon: Gray Missile Launcher Accuracy: 100%! Appears:- Only in Stage 1, Area 1. When you reach the part where Jacob deliberately [or accidentally] crashes his giant lorry, you'll see 4 Gray Missile Soldiers later on in that scene. These guys will attack from above the crashed lorry. What surprises me is that they only appear ONCE throughout the game. Plus, in terms of skill and speed, there's no difference between them and the regular green Missile Soldiers [above]. However, there are still a few things that distinguishes them both, which is why I've prepared this separate space for them. Unlike any other soldier you'll see, every Gray Missile Soldier requires you 2 shots to kill them! Fortunately, they're NOT quick; they have to first advance themselves towards you and they also need time to position their launchers before firing. Another major difference in them is that you'll gain 1000 points the FIRST time you shoot them! You even get a total of 3000 if you successfully kill each one with 2 straight bullets [2 HIT!]. The points you'll get are fixed, regardless of which parts of their body you shoot. Strangely, when you kill each one with 2 consecutive bullets, the computer will count it as '3 HIT!' instead of 2. Stranger still, if you shoot them once [1 HIT! +1000] and then wait for the streak 'hit' to disappear, the computer will state it as '2 HIT! +2000' WHEN you shoot them the second time; despite that the streak hit has already reseted back to zero! Just plain weird. An early part of Stage 1 is where you'll face these guys. You'll see a total of 4, but only 2 will attack you; the other ones will be blasting your partner. After hearing the possibility that you can gain a total of 3000 points for each, I'm sure some of you will be interested in trying to get them all in SOLO MODE [which is in fact very wise to help boost your score]. Despite that, it's only assuring for a person to only shoot 3. Those attacking you, can easily be seen, but for the remaining 2 who will be shooting your partner, ONE WILL BE BLOCKED by the lorry. So can you still get all 4? YES you still can! However, the solution is yet another one that requires some skill and practice. When all 4 of them appear on the lorry, they will be all bunched up and will quickly separate into 2 groups. As they're are separating, you can see them running towards you and your partner. As this happens, look carefully to find which one of them is the fellow who will later be blocked. When you finally do, shoot him FIRST when you see the whole gang. It will take some bit of practice because he moves fast, but it will be worth it. This tip applies to BOTH player 1 [Keith] and player 2 [Robert].
KNIFEMEN Clothing: Green camouflage vest, green camouflage cap, black pants and dark goggles. Weapon: Field Knife Accuracy: 100% [close range attack]/ 92% [far range attack] Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 2: Area 1, Area 2. Stage 3: Area 1, Area 2. FORGET Red Soldiers! The award for being 'Scums of Annoyance' goes to these creeps! Knifemen are generally just as deadly as Red Soldiers, only much faster, swifter and more aggressive! Yes they are THE MOST dangerous foes among all the soldiers you encounter throughout the game. My guess is that they were inspired by Sherudo [a tough boss from the first Time Crisis]. Anyway, they will really start to irritate you in Stage 2, where they skillfully show what they're capable of doing. Knifemen are easily the quickest among all regular enemies due to their unique skills in combining acrobatics with unpredictable ambushes. At far range, they're really accurate with their knifes [almost like Red Soldiers]. But the thing you really should be aware of is that their knifes DON'T flash red in the same way as bullets do when they're about to get a direct hit. What you'll see is not a flash, but instead a little blink [or a shimmer] of red light! You CAN STILL easily see it, but it's just not so noticeable as red flashes from bullets [which I guess is just a little harder for some players]. Usually, you'll see them hopping around like frogs, hoping to confuse your accuracy. However, that's nothing to worry about, cos they're generally not too quick for your eyes; rapid firing from your gun ALWAYS gets them! Inspite of all this, attacking from far range is actually the least of your worries when it comes to Knifemen. Play this game thoroughly, and you're bound to notice that they're more deadly at CLOSE RANGE! I don't know how they do it, but Knifemen are very skilled in stepping in front of your face at a sudden moment to slice and dice you without hesitation. Take my word for it; they're exceptionally fast! Not only that, Knifemen are sometimes found HIDING AROUND your attack position. You'll immediately realize this when they suddenly rise up and slice your face [which in the process really freaks you out!]. Just think of it as "SURPRISE!!". Occasionally, you'll even see one of them teaming up with a Red Soldier, making them both one deadly couple! Ok so you're probably wondering whether do they have any disadvantages or weaknesses. Technically, they DO! Most of them who attack you at close range will just disappear and never return after making just ONE deadly swing of their knife at you. So if let's say you get cut by one of them at close range, chances are, you WON'T get your revenge [damn!]! Regarding the fact that they are very accurate at far range, most of them always have to somersault into the air first BEFORE they're able to throw a knife. This gives you the advantage to try and nail them first if you're quick enough! Overall, I really should compliment Namco for doing such a fine work to make these guys effective! Knifemen are basically a real threat to any Time Crisis player!
DARK ORANGE SOLDIERS Clothing: Dark orange suit, gray vest, and wears a black mask. Weapon: Handgun Accuracy: 40% - 55% Appears:- [ONLY in SOLO mode] Stage 1: Area 1. Stage 2: Area 1. Stage 3: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3. As mentioned above, Dark Orange soldiers are exclusive enemies who only appear when you select SOLO mode for your game. If you read my details on 'SOLO MODE', you'll know I've mentioned that you can ALTER your routes at certain points [when using that mode]. The key to it is with the use of these goons. When playing SOLO mode, you'll notice two strangely colored soldiers who aren't normally seen in LINKED mode. Chances are, it's these Dark Orange soldiers that you see. When found, you may notice that there's always one on the left and another on the right. If you shoot for the left one, then you'll automatically take Keith's route for the next scene. Nail the one on the right, and you'll take Robert's route next. Of course, Dark Orange soldiers will try to sort of resist by shooting you with their handguns. Their accuracy is virtually the same as Blue Soldiers and like them, they CAN sometimes get lucky so watch yourself. But whichever way, the choice is all yours as to which route you intend to take next. This can really be used to your advantage. Supposing the next scene you're about to face will be rough and the opposite route is easier, then changing your route would be a good idea! But if you want to really make full use of SOLO mode and want to get high at your score, than you MUST take the route which would give you the most points! Take note though, that I've noticed several glitches when it comes to selecting your route. Sometimes when you shoot the left D.Orange Soldier, you'll instead take Robert's path! Strange, but rarely. Also, there's a very weird thing about the 2 oil drums found at the end of Area 2, Stage 2; they can be used to change your route! For full details, refer to 'BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITIES' regarding those drums.
YELLOW SOLDIERS [a.k.a. BONUSMEN] Clothing: Yellow color suit, gray vest and wears a black vest. Weapon: Handgun [whoo ] Accuracy: 0% [regular game] 11% - 35% [secret routes in SOLO MODE] Appears:- Stage 1: Area 1, Area 3. Stage 2: Area 1, Area 2, Area 3. Stage 3: Area 1. [NOTE: In a secret route found ONLY in SOLO MODE, they'll appear in Area 2 of Stage 1.] The lovely whacky ex-orange soldiers from part 1 are back to give us more free stuff than ever! Aside from color and uniform, Yellow Soldiers have also changed from how they were previously [though they still have the same cowardly attitudes!]. To all you players who aren't familiar with the world of Time Crisis II, Yellow Soldiers are harmless fools who just show themselves for a very brief moment on screen before running off like chickens! However, if they're shot you'll INSTANTLY get a bonus point of 5000!! In part 1, they would give you a free TIME BONUS, but since part 2 now uses scores, these guys are now gladly enough to reward you with bonus points, for killing them! Anyway, you'll know whether or not you get the bonus points if you see the GREEN text word "+5000" shown on screen AFTER they're shot once. If you've read my notes on 'THE SCORING SYSTEM' you'll know that soldiers can be shot a maximum of 3 times. But what about Yellow Soldiers? Well, the same rule also applies, but instead of getting additional 5000 points for shooting them the second or third time, you'll only get 500 points per shot. This means that you'll only get 5000 points for the FIRST shot and only 500 points for the second and third. For Yellow Soldiers, you'll always get the same points regardless of which part of their body area you shoot. Er, actually that's NOT fully correct! You see, with a certain method, you can get a total of free 15,000 points with just 3 shots on every Yellow Soldier! To do it, you'll have to be HIGHLY skilled, as you must get 3 very fast DIRECT hits into a Yellow Soldier's head! Succeed, and the points are yours! If you get 2 direct hits, then only 10,000 points will be gained. You can tell this by looking at the top left side of the screen after shooting one of them; see if it shows '2 HIT!' or '3 HIT!' and check the points gained as well. So I guess you now understand my little theory here - soldier's heads are precious; their brains aren't! NOTE: Strangely, when you encounter them in the secret routes within SOLO MODE, your capability in getting 15,000 will depend on which route you're in. In one of them, it's so easy to get that much, while in another it's nearly impossible to even get 10,000. Take note of this so you'll be aware of things. Throughout your quest to strip these guys thoroughly of their freebies, you'll undoubtfully encounter some very annoying problems. Though Yellow Soldiers happily reward you for shortening their miserable lives, it's usually tough to shoot them. As I've said earlier, they just love rushing off very quickly. For what I seriously don't know, but I suspect it's gotta be something more important than getting paid! Hmmm maybe it's the other way around; perhaps they're paid to run away! Judging from their persistent speed, I feel as if they're wearing a sign on them which says "Hit me if you CAN!". Oh well anyway, it's very troublesome trying to get a fix on them so if you're hoping to shoot each and every one of them nicely in their heads, it's NOT likely. What's more is that most Yellow Soldiers appear at a far distance so aiming for their valuable heads gets even tougher! To give players an even more challenge, Namco have included various ways of enabling a Yellow Soldier [who is hiding] to reveal himself in some other areas of the game if you perform certain methods that draw them out. To make experienced players even more crazy, there're 3 secret routes in SOLO MODE that contain a number of Yellow Soldiers in them! Details found in 'SECRET ROUTES IN SOLO MODE'. Oh yeah, what about their accuracy? Basically, in the normal routes [both LINKED and SOLO MODE], they don't even pull the trigger, and because of that, it's 0%! However, this is a DIFFERENT matter when compared to their behavior in the secret routes in SOLO MODE. Almost all of them surprisingly have the courage to finally shoot you! And guess what! It's POSSIBLE for some of them to get a direct hit! SPOOKY!
AQUA SOLDIERS Clothing: Black tights, greenish blue vest, underwater helmet [cool red eye goggles!]. Weapon: Long Blade attached to each wrist. Accuracy: 100%! Appears:- Only in Stage 1, Area 3. These are exclusive enemies for Stage 1's boss battle in Area 3. While blowing away some useless punks in your cool mini motor boat, you'll later notice something unpleasant swimming rapidly underwater! Those guys are the one and only Aqua Soldiers! They wear a special gear on their backs that enable them to travel underwater at fast speed. Wow, these baddies get so high-tech everyday! They don't use guns, but they resort themselves to nasty blades which obviously cuts you whenever they swing their arm. Don't get careless, because they HAVE tricky skills, speed and surprises that are very reminiscent to those of Knifemen! The full details on their maneuvers can be found in 'THE BOSSES' section, regarding Stage 1.
HELICOPTERS Description: I guess you already know. Weapon: Missiles Accuracy: 20% - 28% [?!] Appears:- Only in Stage 3, Area 2. The lovely choppers who were once a real pain in the ass, are now just a bunch of hovering scrapped metal who don't know what they're shooting at! You see, their accuracy now sucks; which is actually something to be ecstatic about! It only takes around 5 shots to stop each one for good and you'll get 100 points per shot. Generally, there's not much to talk about these brief enemies. You know something, it's amusing to see some of these baddies using such heavy artillery [which is very costly] that can only be demolished in just a few shots! Heh, heh! I guess only helicopters are worn out. Check out the enemy's more heavy fire-powered vehicles instead!
ARMY TANK Description: Brown in color and with tractor wheels [has the Neodyne logo painted on it]. Weapon: Big Automatic Machinegun [attached on top of it] Accuracy: 88% - 93% Appears:- Only in Stage 1, Area 2. Like I said, these baddies really do get high-tech everyday! Apparently, both the Army Tank and Battle Wagon [below] are sort of like to compensate the severe lameness of the helicopters. For a start, this Army Tank can take DAMN a lot of pain! Common sense tells you that you have to keep shooting until it blows up! This thing is loaded with one really mean machinegun that is generally just as aggressive as the bullets from a Machine Gunner! In LINKED MODE you'll be able to use the MACHINEGUN against it if you're player 2 [Robert]; player 1 [Keith] will just have to use his regular gun on it [groan]. As a very basic chore in Time Crisis [1 and 2], you must also eliminate several soldiers next to it while the tank tries to pound you with lead! STRATEGIES: Taking care of this tank can give you the creeps if you're a beginner due to its massive size. But with practice and exploration, you can beat this thing out with ease; that I assure you. At the very beginning [just after you take your MACHINEGUN] when you hear "ACTION!", shoot both the White and Blue Soldiers you see in front of the tank. If you're too slow, the tank will strangely shoot them off [?] as it slowly moves forward towards you! When it gets closer, it WILL fire 2 to 4 red bullets straight at you! Dodge them and proceed with your shooting. There will be a Blue Soldier appearing on the left side of the screen just BEFORE the tank fires those red bullets; he won't harm you. If you want, you can shoot him for more points. If you're skilled, you can shoot 3 bullets into him and STILL continue your streak on the tank! If you take too long, the tank [which is closing in on you] will then block him and he'll be gone when it backs up afterwards. This Army Tank will move closer and closer towards your face, but it WON'T hit you as it does, so don't be alarmed. When this is happening, you can keep shooting it with your machinegun; there's no fear of the tank's automatic gun, now that it can't be seen on screen. As the tank gets REALLY close, its doors [in front of you] will later bust open to reveal 2 Missile Soldiers, both ready to blast your face! Fortunately, it's easy to get rid of them; if you continue to hold the trigger of your machinegun on the tank's doors, you can instantly shoot the 2 of them just as soon as they open up [don't be afraid to give it a try!]. Ha ha! Suckers! After they're gone, the tank will start to slowly back up; continue your shooting as it does. When it stops, the tank's gun will be clearly in your sight, meaning that it can now shoot you once more! You can destroy the tank a little quicker by concentrating your shots on its automatic gun. While doing this, you will have to keep a very sharp eye on it because several red bullets can burst out in an instant; you will be warned by its red flashes. There will be 2 more Blue Soldiers [appearing when the tank backs up] firing away as you do this; one on the left side and another on the right. But that's not all; a White Soldier will also appear JUST NEXT to the automatic gun; this guy can really be nasty at times. Without a doubt, this part is really rough, but try to blast the soldiers as soon as you see them appear [don't take chances]. This reduces the danger so you'll only have one thing to worry about; and that's the tank's gun. But while attempting to shoot them, the tank may have several RED bursts so be as alert as you possibly can. Continue blasting away with your machinegun until the tank finally explodes into a piece of scrapped metal. A good expert can get a 99 HIT streak in this battle, but only when sufficient practice has been made. To accomplish it, you must perfectly duck under all the red bullets you see and quickly come out again to continue the streak before it automatically resets! THIS NOTE APPLIES ONLY TO LINKED MODE: For poor Robert, practically all the soldiers I've mentioned [including the tank's gun] will be engulfing him with lead when he gets to this scene. Keith on the other hand will be perfectly safe from them, so it's up to the player [who's using him] to help out his partner.
BATTLE WAGON Description: Light brown 4 wheeled wagon with dual windscreens. Weapon: Automatic Rocket Gun Accuracy: 100%! Appears:- Only in Stage 2, Area 1. Surprisingly, some people seem to mistake this thing for a tank. But what the hell, it's still something that needs immediate termination! Once again, you'll be able to use the MACHINEGUN against this mad wagon; this time, BOTH players 1 and 2 can use it! Unlike the first armored contraption [the Army Tank], this Battle Wagon uses a 100% accurate [but very slow] rocket gun and only needs about 60 shots to be pulverized. As usual, a couple of soldiers will be attacking by its side and just like most battles, some of these punks can get lucky! To ensure you get rid of the wagon WHILE not being bugged by red bullets, you must first pick off the soldiers whenever you see any. Since the rockets are dead-on, you can't afford to dodge too many things at once. STRATEGIES: When the battle starts, both you and your partner will slowly advance towards the wagon. It doesn't attack you immediately, so you can start blasting it as much as you can! But due to its tremendous force, you'll notice that the wagon has knocked off 2 tree barks large] from their stems. And because of that, both you and your partner will EACH have a bark slowly crashing down above your heads as the 2 of you close-in on the wagon. As both you and your partner close in on the wagon, 2 soldiers will climb out of it [on top]; nail them as they're getting out. The computer will warn you with the usual "DANGER! DANGER!" style, but the thing is that the tree barks will crash VEEEERRRY SLOWLY - approximately 5 seconds! At first, they'll each move downwards at a slow pace, but as you get even closer, they'll both INSTANTLY drop down when you reach a certain point. If you must, duck earlier to avoid being hit. But if you're a potential expert, than you might wanna continue shooting it to continue your streak and gain more points. In fact, an expert with good timing can actually continue his streak JUST AFTER dodging the fallen bark on his side. To do it, you must first go through this battle several times to get the hang of the timing and know EXACTLY when will the bark fall. This is so you can immediately duck JUST BEFORE it falls on your head [at a sudden moment], then quickly come out again [step back on the pedal] and continue your lovely streak! The wagon will only start attacking AFTER the tree barks have fallen to the ground. This is when it'll take turns to fire a single rocket on either you or your partner; you can tell when you're next by seeing whether its gun is pointing at you. A few seconds later, 2 soldiers, EACH hiding behind one of the tree stems earlier [what's left of them], will reveal themselves and fire their handguns. The one on the right side will be shooting at player 1 [Keith] whereas the other will be going for player 2 [Robert]. These buggers can get red flashes sometimes so I suggest you quickly shoot the one who's bothering you before he gets nasty. When they're gone, you'll have to continue dodging the wagon's rockets. A very short moment later, 2 more Blue Soldiers will appear around the wagon; one on the left side of it and another on the right. Player 1 [Keith] will be attacked by the left guy and his accomplice will try to get player 2 [Robert]. It's not likely for these two to be accurate, but you can get more points by gunning them down. When those 2 show up, the wagon would probably have been greatly damaged at that time. So if you haven't got the desire for high scores, continue shooting the wagon until it blows up. This will instantly kill them both in the process. If you're one good expert, you can get a streak of up to 73 hits [yes it's possible] in SOLO MODE! You'll have to shoot each soldier 3 times, dodge the tree bark perfectly and avoid any of the wagon's rockets as you shoot it into oblivion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BOSSES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As one can really expect, Time Crisis II is just as loaded as part 1 was, with mean bosses, each with their own attacking styles to wear you down. Unlike the first, part 2 has 4 main bosses and you can now shoot them as much as you want to gain more points depending on the AREA or which boss you fight. If you count the Prototype NDI Satellite, that makes a total of 5 bosses! Despite that, most of the bosses aren't quite as challenging, nor as swift as those from the first Time Crisis. Nevertheless, they all are still a joy to beat and let me tell you that gathering all these info on the bosses for BOTH Keith's and Robert's route were really tough! You wouldn't believe the trouble I went through just for them. Even worse, the work was sort of DOUBLED since there are now 2 characters, compared to part 1. I've separated the strategies for Keith and Robert regarding each boss. If you need help on the boss for the specific player you use, simply refer to them by their name; you'll know it when you see it. However for some battles, the guides may apply to both characters. When that happens, I'll state that part as 'BOTH'. I've even added in some notes for experts or those who're hungry for points. The guides apply to LINKED MODE. If there should be a change of some sort for the same event in SOLO MODE, then I will state it in.
STAGE 1 BOSS: Jacob Kinisky
CUT-SCENE Dialogue: After clearing Area 2, both you and your partner continue your pursuit on Jacob. While several soldiers divert the 2 of you, Jacob speaks to a nearby Blue Soldier [who salutes as he speaks]. Jacob: So who are those two? Where's the girl? Blue Soldier: They took her to General Diaz sir. Jacob: We gotta stop them now! Blue Soldier: Yeeess sir.
INTRODUCTION Although you regularly see him throughout the earlier areas of Stage 1, you never actually finish him off until this one. Well, glad to inform you that Jacob's battle won't be such a pain. To be honest, it's generally a CINCH! Most of this battle takes place on a high-speed boat chase against Jacob. After dealing with a handful of soldiers at the beginning, you then pursue him in his 'loaded' speedboat. Aside from him, you'll also have to dispatch lots of soldiers, hot on your trails. Basically, it's more on a fun ride than an intense battle and you only need to watch yourself on just a few things. Jacob is actually just a regular Machine Gunner, only that he needs more shots to be beaten. So for Jacob, the same priority applies with Machine Gunners; DON'T stay out too long in his gunfire [if he's firing at you]. Don't get me wrong, but I really think that this awesome chase adds a whole new sensation to fun in gun games. Once again, Namco should be given gratitude for this!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FIRST SCENE
Keith: When it all begins, you'll immediately see 3 soldiers standing in front of you. There will be a White Soldier on the left, a Blue one in the middle and another Blue guy on the right. The 2 blue soldiers mentioned, will be the ones shooting at you; the white soldier will try to get Robert. Be warned as those 2 can sometimes get red flashes once in a while. Shoot them off first and then quickly dispose the white soldier on the left.
NOTE: In SOLO MODE, it appears that all 3 will be aiming for you! Take care.
If you are very observant, you may notice that Jacob is standing inside his speedboat while you're busy dealing with those 3 soldiers. He'll only stay on screen for a very short moment before he hides. If you could spare a second and try to shoot Jacob when he can still be seen, you'll get 800 points free! After the 3 soldiers are done with, 2 things will happen next. A Blue Soldier will appear from the far right side of the screen and hop into Jacob's boat. After that, he'll then try to shoot Robert from there; just shoot this fellow as he tries to jump in. Another thing is that a lovely Yellow Soldier will reveal himself next to the little house; located from a far distance, somewhere in the middle [don't worry, you WILL notice him]. Definitely he's worth 3 nice shots! When the Blue Soldier who previously hopped into Jacob's boat is shot, a Machine Gunner from the left corner will show up [he's not so fast] and try to blast you [Keith]. Nothing to worry about here; just gun him down. Immediately when he's shot, Jacob will again show himself inside his speedboat. From what can be seen, it looks like he's giving an order to move the boat on the double. Actually, your job in this scene is ALREADY done, but if you want more, you can shoot Jacob at this second time, and get 1000 points a pop! Try to nail him as many times as you can as he tries to take off in his boat before you move to the next scene.
Robert: Although this scene is simple overall, Robert has this one even easier than Keith! Three soldiers will immediately be in front when you start; one White Soldier on the left, a Blue Soldier in the middle, and another Blue fellow on the right. Out of these 3, the White guy will be the only one aiming for you. No doubt your priority here is to first ace him out before he can shoot a red bullet; he's sometimes lucky. Then, get rid of the remaining Blue Soldiers who are bothering Keith. You can also shoot Jacob if you want, for a free 800 points! He'll be standing inside his speedboat at the VERY beginning of this scene and only stays visible for a short moment. This is clearly optional but I like being greedy sometimes! Anyway, when those 3 soldiers are nailed, 2 things will happen next [simultaneously]. On the right, is another meddling Blue Soldier who will quickly hop into Jacob's boat and try to shoot Robert [you] from there. Honestly, he's a snap! Also, look up ahead of the river and you'll see a dopey Yellow Soldier appearing next to the little house. He won't stay on screen long so be quick in blasting him with 3 nice shots! When the Blue Soldier who hopped into Jacob's boat is gone, a Machine Gunner from the left side will reveal himself and try to shoot Keith; he's not very fast so ditch him when you can. When he too is gone, Jacob will again pop-out from inside his speedboat and it'll now start to zoom away. This is when you'll be off to the next scene. However, Jacob has provided you with yet another score freebie; you can rapidly shoot him as he moves off in his boat for 1000 points a pop!! Thanks pal, I'll promise to eat 'your' cream crackers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FINAL SCENE
GLITCH!!: To my surprise, there's a little glitch in this scene when inside your motorboat. Although this hardly happens [in LINKED MODE], it's possible for the computer to sometimes place your character facing the wrong way! You'll notice it when you suddenly find yourself looking in another direction which normally wouldn't occur in a regular game. When this is going on, you can't see any of your foes so you might just get hit! But when that happens, you're then immediately faced back in the right direction. This is just plain weird! I've encountered this thing twice [on 2 separate machines!] throughout my entire gaming life with this game. I consider this the first Time Crisis X- File!
Keith: Now it's time to hop in to your little motorboat and do baddy busting! This scene is very long, but you'll really enjoy the ride. When you start, Jacob's speedboat will be in front of you. You'll notice that it has 2 large chainguns on its back. No doubt that they're there to eliminate you. The chaingun on the LEFT will be shooting at you; no need to worry about the one on the right. They act very much like machineguns so when they fire, expect to see several red bullets bursting out! Your aim here, is to continuously shoot both chainguns until they fall off the boat, but you have to first take care of the one bothering you; it'll take over 10 shots [50 points a pop] for each one. When it's gone, do the same for the one on the right and you'll proceed with the next task.
EXPERT NOTE: If you're skilled in accuracy and really know how to rapid fire, you can blow off the chaingun that's bothering you [at the very beginning] BEFORE it even starts to shoot you! You should then have a streak of over 10 HITS from that. Now, continue it by shooting off the opposite chaingun. Even when both are gone, you can STILL continue your streak and get more free points by shooting Jacob's boat [50 points a pop] before Keith turns his head away from it [automatically].
When the chainguns are gone, Keith will turn around and notice some uninvited guests hot on his trail! Here, you'll have to deal with a total of 9 soldiers [2 white, 7 blue], each of them on their own motorboat! Nothing to worry about; their accuracy really sucks! The only problem is that it's marginally hard to get a clean shot on them because their boats tend to continuously move left and right. For players aiming for a high score, it's really tough to shoot them in the head. Rapid firing does help a little, but you must use a bit of accuracy here as well. When they're shot once, their boats [along with them] will IMMEDIATELY fly off the river. This naturally makes things hard for those who try to shoot them 3 times. I'll tell you straight; DON'T bother about that in this battle because it's just too darn hard! The most you can easily [sort of] get for each soldier is just 2 shots, and to do that, you must aim carefully [and fast!] for their body to shoot them once more as they're flying in the air. Too slow, and your opportunity is gone. Hard huh? Next, Keith will then turn his head to the left where he'll see his partner and more soldiers. This time, you'll only need to shoot 5 [some white, some blue]. Again, their accuracy is bad so you can nicely pick them off one by one. The only exception is that you may accidentally shoot your partner! Some soldiers will move pass his boat so in a way, this tests your accuracy. For all you score-lovers out there, don't get careless here because if your partner gets shot, it's bye bye to 1000 points for you! After dispatching those lowlifes, you then meet one of the game's newest and most unique enemies; the Aqua Soldiers! Their entrance is pretty hot when you spot them swimming underwater like torpedoes. The first one you see will quickly leap out of the water and head straight for your face to slash it; they have a long blade attached to their wrists. To deal with his unpleasantness, nail him as soon as he leaps out; you can't shoot Aqua Soldiers when there're underwater until they do so.
BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: As soon as you see the Aqua Soldiers appearing, look inside Jacob's boat. You'll see a Yellow Soldier attempting to reload his wretched handgun [what for?]! Like all of his kind, he won't stay on screen long; he'll disappear just when the Aqua Soldier [on your side] is in the air, about to slash your face. It's not likely for you to get a full 15,000 point from him, but he's still worth something. Try to shoot him 3 times before you immediately take out the Aqua Soldier in front of you.
GLITCH: Note that sometimes, there's a slight glitch in the camera angle. Both characters [Keith and Robert], will turn their heads to face the Aqua Soldiers [on their sides] when they first appear. As one of them swims forward, your character will then slowly turn his head, keeping a fixed eye on the Aqua Soldier for his side. When he STOPS turning, you're suppose to have a clear view of Jacob's boat, with the Yellow Soldier inside it. In some cases, you can't really see Jacob's boat when the screen comes to a complete stop. This sometimes gets on my nerves. To ensure you REALLY get the Yellow Soldier, start shooting for Jacob's boat WHILE your character is still turning his head. It's a little hard, so I suggest you rapid fire on his boat! Don't forget the Aqua Soldier when you're done!
After shooting the first Aqua Soldier, Keith will turn his head to the left and find that there are more of them, just underneath his boat! Here, 3 Aqua Soldiers [one by one] will appear IN FRONT of your face [attempting to slice it for good], so shoot as soon as you see any of them. It's possible to nail each one 3 times, but you'll have to hammer the trigger! If you think this part is easy, wait until you meet the LAST one! With the Aqua Soldiers gunned down, Keith now looks back towards Jacob's speedboat. He'll notice there are 2 more Blue Soldiers in front of him; one on the left and another on the right. For Keith, he may have a little problem here because Robert [who is now in front of him] will move his boat in a left and right pattern which unintentionally blocks some of the Blue Soldiers. So it's possible for you to accidentally shoot Robert instead! You'll have to patiently shoot those 2 off while trying to avoid Robert's interference if you're in no mood to lose 1000 points or more. Supposing you're a good expert, you can instantly shoot the 2 Blue Soldiers BEFORE Robert's boat starts to get in your way. When any of the blue guys are shot, their boats will come flying towards your face. Relax; they won't hurt you. Now, Jacob will finally appear [inside his boat] and shoot Robert [not you] with his machinegun. I suggest you rapid fire to get him quick here. You only need ONE simple shot here and you'll get 1000 points for doing it. If you totally miss him, he'll quickly duck down and your chance for 1000 is gone. NOTE: If this part is taking place in SOLO MODE, he'll still shoot YOU regardless of who's route you're on. After nailing him [or missing him], Jacob then hides back and you'll have to shoot more pesky soldiers [white and blue; ALL harmless] inside his speedboat. It's not easy to get them in the head and neither is it so to shoot them 3 times due to the movement of your boat. When the soldiers appear, Keith's boat will automatically then circle around Jacob's speedboat [starting from its back], in an ANTI-CLOCKWISE direction. As he's circling, you'll have to continuously shoot more soldiers in the boat; all are harmless. Now here's the part you must listen up. As soon as Keith reaches the LEFT side of Jacob's boat [while circling], look out for ONE MORE Aqua Soldier appearing in front of your face [hoping to slice it]! It's easy to get distracted by the soldiers and not notice this guy. Make him pay by blasting his face as soon as you see him. When he's gone, continue your shots on the soldiers inside Jacob's boat. It makes me wonder how can all of them fit into his boat. I guess it's just like I said - 'LOADED'! After dealing with them, Jacob will now reappear and try to shoot Keith [you] with his lovely machinegun. Blast him as soon as you see him [you'll get 1000 points] and wait for him to reappear. Now, he'll try to shoot Robert; which gives you a safe chance of getting Jacob [he's worth 1000 points] unscathed. When he's shot once more, Jacob will pop-out and now try to shoot Keith. If you get to this very part in SOLO MODE, take note that Jacob will shoot YOU regardless of which character you are; whether Keith or Robert. At this point, you're almost clear to beat Jacob once and for all! The problem though, is that you now need 3 final blows [instead of one] to take care of him for good. It's a little hard to get 3 straight shots into him because of the boat's movement. If you're accurate, you CAN get him! Supposing you're too slow and only manage to land in 1 or 2 shots, you'll have to duck under Jacob's gunfire and then finish him off with the rest. Taking your own sweet time by shooting a bullet into him [one at a time] will still make you win, but it just risks your TIME. Although 3 shots are needed, the computer will only count it as '1 HIT' [look at the top-left side of the screen], but you're instantly rewarded with 10,000 points for these final blows on Jacob!!!
Robert: Jump into your motorboat and let's get it on! This whole scene is really fun as you now take out the bad guys on water! When you first rise up, you'll see 2 large chainguns attached to Jacob's speedboat. These 2 will fire like crazy, very similar to machineguns! The chaingun on the right, will be shooting at you; the other will be concentrating on your partner. The objective here is to shoot off both of them, by rapidly firing your gun on them; over 10 shots needed for each [50 points a pop]. First, take care of the chaingun on your side and then dispatch the opposite one. If you're an expert and have lightning-fast fingers, you can actually blow off the chaingun on your side BEFORE it starts to fire; it won't fire until almost 3 seconds! You should by then get a streak of over 10 HITS if you accomplish it. Afterwards, you can continue your streak by shooting the other chaingun. When it's gone, you can STILL boost it by continue shooting Jacob's boat for 50 a pop! With those 2 chainguns gone, Robert then turns around and sees 9 soldiers [2 white, 7 blue] in hot pursuit of him. All of them will be own motorboats that constantly move left to right. As a result, this makes things slightly difficult for score-lovers to shoot them in the head, as well as trying to nail each of them 3 times. Sadly, that's not likely to be done because the boats they're on, will quickly fly off into the air once they're shot [bringing themselves along in the process]. The good news is that they're perfectly harmless due to their lame accuracy. If you're desperate, the most you can easily get out of them is just 2 hits per soldier. You'll have to aim very well to land the second shot into them, the very second they're flying off the water [don't shoot for their boats as you'll get nothing] after getting shot once. A nifty tip is to rapid fire on them like hell! Oh and for Robert, he'll experience a bit of a problem here as good ol' Keith will be continuously getting in his way! As you aim for those soldiers, you must try to avoid shooting you trusty partner; his boat will tend to move left and right. Remember that 1000 points will instantly be deducted from your score if you happen to carelessly shoot Keith. Robert will encounter this sort of thing frequently throughout the game. Hey Robert! Tell em' to get out of the way! If bullets don't work, maybe nagging will! Next, Robert will turn his head to the right and see more ignorant soldiers trying to get both you and your partner. There are a total of 5 here, all consisting of white and blue ones. Don't worry about their accuracy; worry about accidentally shooting your partner instead! Yep, you have to also aim carefully to avoid shooting Keith while acing out these goons. Some of the soldiers will be in the MIDDLE of the 2 of you so it's possible to make a mistake and shoot Keith unintentionally. Take care and blast them off! After they're gone, Robert then looks down at the water and notices 2 objects that are swimming rapidly underwater. Obviously, they aren't fishes; they are the Aqua Soldiers [exclusive enemies for this battle]! Although Robert sees 2 of them, only one will attack him. Wait until the Aqua Soldiers leaps out of the water [you can't get them until they do] and blast him quick. This guy will try to slice your face with his long shinny blade [attached to his wrist] as he's in the air!
BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: Oh and if you happen to glance inside Jacob's speedboat [when the Aqua Soldiers show up], you'll see dopey Yellow Soldier in it! He's quite far [at the left corner], but he's still worth A SHOT! Get it? Worth a shot! Ha ha! Oh boy, anyway, you'll have to be quick in getting him because he'll start to disappear when the Aqua Soldier on your side, has already leaped into the air [and ready to do some changes to your face]. Note that when this Aqua Soldier leaps towards you, he'll disappear and never return supposing he misses you.
GLITCH: When Robert first lays his eyes on the Aqua Soldiers swimming in the water, he'll slowly move his head forward as he keeps his sight on them. When one of them leaps out of the water, Robert will then stop turning. At certain times, there's a slight glitch with the screen. The Yellow Soldier mentioned earlier, is suppose to be clearly in your sight when Robert's head comes to a halt. Instead in some cases, you can't see the guy. There is still a chance though, for you to get him. As Robert turns his head, following the trail of the Aqua Soldier on his side, he will automatically face Jacob's boat for a split second. You'll have to shoot really fast to get the Yellow Soldier this way.
When the first Aqua Soldier has been shot off, Robert will turn to his right and meet 3 more of them, up close and personal! One by one they'll attack you so look out for them as soon as Robert turns. You can shoot them 3 times each, but you'll have to be quick [as usual] in shooting to get more hits as they fall back into the water. Next, Robert will look back at Jacob's boat where he'll notice 2 more Blue Soldiers [each on motorboat] are now just behind it. When they're shot, their boats [as well as themselves] will come flying towards your face; don't be alarmed, as they WON'T hurt you. NOTE: For Robert, blasting those 2 soldiers will be a piece of cake. But in Keith's scenario, Robert will get IN HIS WAY here. Heh heh! When those 2 are 'off', Jacob will now reveal himself [inside his speedboat] and try to shoot you as he usually does. It's a snap to nail him here; just rapidly fire and he won't have a chance. You'll get 1000 points when you get him. If you're way too slow to get him [something not likely to happen], Jacob will just go back hiding and you won't get another chance for this. NOTE: Jacob will shoot you regardless of which route you're on if this is taking place in SOLO MODE. Jacob will hide once more when you shoot [or miss] him and a number of soldiers inside his boat, will now appear and try to shoot you from inside it. As soon as they pop-out, Robert's boat will then circle around Jacob's boat in a CLOCKWISE direction, starting from its back. As you get to the left side of it [which will be shortly], LOOK OUT for the last Aqua Soldier attempting to rise up and cut your face! Blast him quick, and continue with the soldiers in Jacob's 'loaded' boat as you circle around it. The soldiers are of no threat to you [bad accuracy ya know], but it can be hard to even get a 2 HIT streak out of them if you're hungry for more points! When you've taken care of them all, Jacob will pop-out and fire his machinegun on Keith. This is definitely easy for Robert since Jacob isn't paying any attention to him at this moment. Give Keith a helping hand and blast Jacob [giving you 1000 points when you do]; it only takes one shot! Technically speaking, Keith himself can easily get Jacob too, as soon as the fella shows himself. Think of it as a little game of 'who's faster'! When he gets nailed, Jacob ducks, then reappears and tries to get Robert [you] this time. Though Keith need not worry about his gunfire, Robert also has an easy chance here with Jacob, if he's fast enough; try rapid firing! After blasting him again, Jacob will once more try and shoot Keith. Just to inform you, this is the very final part where you now need 3 bullets to stop Jacob forever. Since he's going for Keith, Robert can easily land the final blows into him! When you succeed, you'll instantly get 10,000 points for it and BOOM! There goes Jacob into his watery grave! Wanna laugh some more Jacob? I didn't think so! NOTE: In the very last part where you have to land in 3 final blows into Jacob, you'll notice that I mentioned he'll attack Keith at that time. However, if this same thing were to happen in SOLO MODE, Jacob will shoot YOU regardless of which player you are! Oh and if you managed to get those 3 shots straight into Jacob in one go, the computer will only take it as 1 HIT, simply because the last one only counts as a shot. Ah but who cares, he's beaten!
CUT-SCENE Dialogue: Despite that both Keith and Robert have gone through hell in trying to recover the military satellite, they both see a very large military chopper [obviously among the bad guys] swooping past them. It then grabs hold of the satellite equipment and our heroes see a stream of bullets fired from somewhere, to break it free. They quickly turn their heads to where the bullets came from and notice their previous assailant, Buff Bryant [who shattered the train's windows in an earlier scene] standing with his chaingun in hand. He then laughs away and speaks out to them. Buff: Nice try boys, but my job's to protect this satellite. It's time for you to say GOODBYE!! [Buff aims his chaingun at them and the battle begins.]
INTRODUCTION Big 'ol Buff is a little bit of a snap if you're a fast learner. Frankly, he's not very skillful in attacking. You just need the usual practice like anyone would to beat the crap out of him [though he can take A LOT MORE damage than Jacob!]. For Keith and Robert, neither of them will have much of a disadvantage in their own routes when dealing with Buff. So theoretically, you can take this battle nice and easy, but not carelessly!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FIRST SCENE
Both: For this scene, Buff will just sit down and take turns to fire on you and your partner with his chaingun. Be warned as he practically NEVER misses here! The bullets from his chaingun won't flash red, but it'll naturally tell you that they're harmful once you notice that they are all RED in color! Relax; this scene is easy. In fact, it's just too easy! When he attacks you, Buff will fire a continuous stream of bullets for a few seconds. As this happens, you MUST stay down all the way. When Buff stops firing, this means he's going to turn towards your partner and fire at him. This is your chance to shoot back at him as many times as you can until Buff turns his chaingun back at you. If he's been shot sufficiently, Buff will react to the pain as if something stung him. The objective is to constantly blast him [50 points a pop] until he gets fed up, so you can move over to the next scene. When you begin, the following situations will be met:
Keith: Buff will be aiming at Robert in the beginning, so start blasting him with lead as much as you can! When Buff FIRST turns over to try and shoot you, LOOK UP. You'll see a helicopter hovering from right to left. Now look carefully as it passes Buff and you will notice there's a Yellow Soldier in it! I guess this thing is here just for those who are observant. Anyway, try to get this bugger as soon as he's visible; rapid fire on him! Watch out though, because when he shows up, Buff will already have his chaingun aimed nicely at you. I guess you'll have to be quick in getting the Yellow guy and duck just before Buff's bullets start flying. Anyhow, take cover from his bullets, and then continue shooting him when he turns away. Repeat the process and you're done with this scene! TIP: When Buff finally gives up on this style, he'll get up and walk forward. As he's doing this, you can continuously shoot him as he walks until 'WAIT' appears. EXPERTS NOTE: A really fast expert can complete this scene with Keith when Buff turns over TOWARDS him the SECOND time! A good gun and hyper-fast finger are obviously needed to achieve this one!
Robert: For him, Buff will be ready to fire his chaingun at the start [unlike Keith]! This forces most average players to stay down immediately in order to keep them- selves safe. However, insane experts who love taking risks [such as myself!] will notice they can get up to 7 shots here BEFORE Buff starts his firing. You see, although Buff has his chaingun ready [at the beginning], he won't actually pull the trigger until 1 second after you hear "ACTION!". This sort of, can be used to your advantage if you want to beat baldy guy here, at a fast time. Don't attempt this stunt though, until you're really confident or if you've gotten used to his timing of attack. But whichever one you pick, you'll still have to duck under his stream of bullets. As he turns away, get out and shoot him as fast and as many times as you can! By the SECOND time Buff turns away, LOOK UP! You should then notice a helicopter slowly hovering up. Inside, it carries [gasp!] a Yellow Soldier! Unlike Keith, there's no risk of you being hit if you decide to go for this Yellow guy because Buff WON'T be facing you when the helicopter shows up! Anyway, continue blasting Buff when you have the chance all the way until he gets mad! You then proceed to the next scene. When this happens you can still shoot Buff for a little more points as he walks forward until 'WAIT' appears. EXPERTS NOTE: For Robert, a really fast expert can finish this scene just when Buff turns AWAY from him the SECOND time! Good luck on your practice with this one buddy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SECOND SCENE
After realizing that his earlier attack pattern was ineffective [obviously!], Buff gets mad, puts down his chaingun and now decides to use something different! He'll walk forward to grab hold the end of one REALLY long missile [looks pretty heavy] on the train. What Buffy boy will try to do here in this next scene is to use the long missile as some kind of baton to smash your head! His accuracy here, is 100%! But like the flaw in a few bosses, Buff will follow a certain pattern when he attacks. If you don't take time to observe or get used to it, you may find it unnecessarily difficult to get through here. Obeying your instinct is very helpful in this scene; if you think Buff is about to hit you, then he most probably IS!
Keith: When you first start, Buff's back will be towards you because at this moment, he'll try to hit Robert. Use this chance to shoot him as many times as possible. When Buff turns around towards you, refer to the pattern I've written below Robert's guide.
Robert: When you're allowed to begin [after hearing "ACTION!"], you should see Buff already have the long missile in his hands. What he will do is take a short leap towards you and try to use it to knock your head as he's in the air. It goes without saying that you should duck when he's about to do this. Most players though, may just want to stay down even BEFORE Buff starts to leap to ensure they won't get hit. But as in earlier situations, experts who really do some exploration will find another nifty chance here to get more points! It's risky, but you can get around 5 very quick shots into Buff before he leaps forward to try and hit you; the guy won't act until 1 second later. After his little jump, Buff will try to hit you ONCE more while standing. Here, you have a little chance to nail him before he tries to swing the missile down on you. You'll have to be quick or he'll knock some SENSE into your head! When he's done trying to hit you the second straight time, Buff will turn around to face Keith. From this point on, refer to the pattern I've written just below here.
THE PATTERN: A)-Buff will turn to hit Keith.
B)-From Keith's place, Buff will then swing the missile 360 degrees slowly [refer to 'TIPS' for full details].
C)-Buff will turn to hit Robert.
D)-From Robert's place, Buff will then swing the missile 270 degrees in fast speed [refer to 'TIPS' for full details].
E)-Buff will turn to hit Keith.
F)-From Keith's place, Buff will then swing the missile 270 degrees in fast speed [refer to 'TIPS' for full details].
G)-Buff will turn to hit Robert.
H)-From Robert's place, Buff will then swing the missile 270 degrees in fast speed [refer to 'TIPS' below for full details].
I)-Buff will turn to hit Keith.
And so forth
TIPS: I assume you want the explanation for Buff's swinging action! Well, this one isn't so darn easy to simplify but I'll do my best. Buff will take turns to knock [or should I say hammer!] either you or your partner's head. After attempting it, he'll then try to spin/swing the missile [similar to a marry-go-round], STARTING from the person's place whom he previously tried to hit. Based on the pattern above, he'll swing it 270 or 360 degrees. Be warned that when Buff starts to swing the missile around, the person who he's facing CAN STILL be hit by it. This is because Buff will make one quick swing PASS that person BEFORE he goes one whole round! Players who want a long streak here, will have to time themselves perfectly so they can dodge the missile a spilt second as it's about to hit them. This is so they can quickly rise up and continue the streak. You'll need lots of practice on this one I'm afraid. As Buff spins it, the opposite player can also be hit when it moves closer to him. It's not so hard to dodge the missile, but you must know that Buff's speed will increase when he spins it round the SECOND time. When that happens, he'll swing it only 270 degrees instead of 360. Is there a difference in them? Yes there is. 360 is a full circle, meaning that the person who Buff STARTED to spin the missile from, can still be hit ONCE MORE when it gets closer to him again! If it's 270 degrees, Buff can only hit that person once. When you shoot him, keep a sharp eye on the missile as it spins around. As it nears you, get ready to release the pedal! Experts who love long streaks, can just duck under it and quickly come out to resume their shots nicely. But to do that, you must be very used to the timing by battling Buff here several times. Only then you can be confident enough to try out this risky stunt. Oh and just for fun, try blasting his ass!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Alright, now the objective of this whole scene is to continuously shoot Buff until he drops the missile from his hands. If you shoot him sufficiently [over 10 shots], Buff will feel some pain and react to it; just like in the previous scene. Think of it as "Ouch!". If you happen to do that, you'll STOP HIM in his tracks when he's doing a certain move. Supposing he's stopped WHILE swinging the missile 360/270 degrees, he'll cancel it off and automatically SKIP to the next move. For instance, just take a look at 'THE PATTERN' above. If Buff is doing move F) and he's suddenly stopped by a specific amount of your gunshots, he'll then skip it and do move G) next. However, if you stop him when he's about to hit someone [eg. move A), C), E), etc] Buff will just REPEAT the move proceed with the rest of the pattern.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FINAL SCENE
Both: After you fire the living guts out of Buff Bryant, he finally drops the missile. However, the big guy still doesn't quit; his nearby helicopter quickly hovers down to pick him up and Buff goes for another shot on trying to stop you two. Now airborne, Buff uses back his chaingun and fires it on the 2 of you from a distance. Your job is to continuously shoot Buff throughout this whole scene to beat him. This time, he WON'T concentrate on shooting you one by one anymore; he'll just spray his gunfire on both of you as he slowly passes through in his chopper. He's still worth 50 points per shot. You have to shoot him constantly as he fires, WHILE being alert as you possibly can to release the pedal as soon as you see any red flashes. I guess that's just the way you'll have to do things here. To make more sense, Buff you see, isn't guaranteed to always have a red flash as he hovers closer to you in his chopper. It's sort of like something that occurs at random. If you frequently battle him, you'll notice that sometimes he can, and sometimes can't. But generally, he's most of the times lucky but it usually all depends on how fast you shoot him. As in the previous scenes, Buff will go "ouch" [in a way] if he's been shot sufficiently. For this final scene, he'll STOP firing once you've nailed him with a number of bullets. He'll then hover away and appear elsewhere in the background. The faster you shoot him with lots of lead, the faster you can proceed and not give him any chances. Too slow, and he'll continue pummeling you with his chaingun, where he's bound to get lucky if you leave him still firing away.
When you start [regardless of which character you are], the helicopter he's in will move across the screen as he fires his chaingun. It isn't so fast, so I trust this won't be difficult. Still, Buff can have a red flash or two as he hovers closer to anyone of you. As I've mentioned, be alert as you're blasting him. Once he goes "Ouch!" or something, he'll then hover away until he goes out of the screen and you won't see him; no point in shooting him here because you won't get anything. Now get ready for a little surprise cos' Buff is going to reappear from the left side of the screen, now EVEN CLOSER to your face [he'll still be firing his chaingun]! The chopper he's in will just move from left to right in this short part. First, Buff will just quickly fire a few shots on Keith and then turn it to aim for Robert. For Keith, he'll have to duck much earlier [to dodge any red bullets] since Buff will aim for him first. Whereas Robert will only have to watch himself when Buff goes for him next, but until then he's able to shoot Buff as many times as he can. In some cases, the odds of Buff being able to have red flashes here are close to 50/50. Through my experience, there are times when he gets lucky, while other times he's not at all. This is why looking close at his spraying chaingun is very vital. Regardless of whether or not you shoot him enough, Buff will still just hover away [again] until he's nowhere to be seen. Still, get as much points as you can from here. Once he flies off, both Keith and Robert will then look up and notice that Buff is already high up away from them. Again, he will fire his chaingun on both of you; just use the similar tactics earlier and stay sharp for any red flashes you see. There won't be much, just one or two randomly bursting out. Continue your shots and Buff will finally be toasted! If you blast Buff very fast without hesitating, you'll beat him before he gets lucky. Now just watch as he plants his own grave so long ya bald buddy!
CUT-SCENE Dialogue: Not much. Keith and Robert just take a few steps forward and then notice someone dropping down from above, who happens to be Wild Dog. He just does his totally infamous 'trench- coat-throw-away' [while laughing]. As he removes it, he then reveals his left arm is now a gatling gun! The guy fires away and you both begin this 1 of 4 boss battles in Stage 3!
INTRODUCTION Now it's time to deal with an old nemesis; Wild Dog himself! He's practically the only character related to part 1. Without his presence, I guess Time Crisis II would have felt more of a very new game than a sequel. But usually, one can try to anticipate that Namco would've included the first hero, Richard Miller. Instead, they didn't! He strangely appears missing and is replaced by 2 new ones. And of all things, who could have actually predicted that Wild Dog would be the chosen guy to make a second appearance in this sequel! I mean everyone thought for sure he was a goner in the explosion! I'm not sure, but I sense that Namco have a bit of respect for this fellow. Here are some of my proofs. In the first Time Crisis, the boss music was the same for Moz and Sherudo. But when you reach Wild Dog, you hear an entirely new tune, exclusive for his battle and it sounds really cool! In this sequel, a remix version of that SAME MUSIC will be played for this short battle with Wild Dog! Listen out for it! What really shocked me was that Namco even took the trouble to use back the original voice actor for him, who is none other than SCOTT McCULLOCH [check the end credits on BOTH games!]. Though he sounds pretty different now, it's still him! Also, check around the Time Crisis II machine itself. You should see lots of text phrases decorated all over it. Now if you look closely, you could see one of them says "Is the evil Wild Dog still alive?". Yep, perhaps there is some respect made for this guy! My few minor disappointments however, is that Wild Dog doesn't look very much as how he did in part 1. Sure he was injured badly and he should look scarred, but I'm referring to his design. His skull seems a little longer and those sunglasses just don't make him look the same anymore, plus his laughing accent is sadly gone [sniff]. What's more, is that he isn't quite as fast nor tricky as he used to be. I guess I shouldn't expect that much, since the guy is actually bruised badly from his last battle. Despite those weakened points, Wild Dog will be your first tough boss! In comparison to both Jacob and Buff, he's clearly more agile and even has better skillful attack patterns than anything you've seen in this game so far. Just think of him as a little combination of a fast-moving Knifeman and a Machine Gunner! As in most boss battles, he will be have back up from lots of soldiers who you have to immediately dispatch while attempting to take out Wild Dog who will be continuously spraying his gatling gun bullets on to both of you! There won't be any Red Soldiers, but the ones here can be quite accurate especially from Robert's side. A nifty tip I can give is that when you play, keep a look out for which soldier is aiming at you. No point in going crazy on someone when that bugger isn't even shooting you! One thing which makes Wild Dog's gatling gun fairly more unique than the regular weaponry, is that his bullets do NOT flash red!! This makes things just a little more difficult for those who have already been used to the flashes. However, the bullets that WILL hit you are all RED in color so you can still look out for any danger there is from him. As a result though, this kind of forces you to look right into his stream of bullets because without the presence of a flash, the red ones aren't too noticeable. For some players who have already understood their obligation on being very alert, can focus their shots on a single target WHILE still avoiding a red flash elsewhere without even looking at the attacker who fired it. But for Wild Dog's battle, they have no choice but to set their sights on him since his red bullets don't give a flash warning. Smart eh? Well, all I can say here is learn and learn fast as this is one fast paced fight where you have to be prepared!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FIRST SCENE
Keith: Alright man, time to do some serious pounding! Just before you begin, you'll notice 2 Missile Soldiers dropping down next to Wild Dog one on his left, and another to his right [all 3 of them will be attacking on a high platform]. Don't be too alarmed because Keith has this battle easier than Robert. The Missile Soldier on the LEFT side will be shooting for you so blast him the very second you come out! No need to go for Wild Dog yet because his first target will be Robert and not you. After gunning down that missile twerp, shoot off the other one who's busy trying to get Robert as well. When those 2 are gone, a Blue Soldier [below the platform] will come running from the LEFT side of the screen [rapidly firing his gun as he runs forward]. Fortunately, this guy will be shooting at Robert so I guess it's your duty here to help a bit here. When that blue guy is gunned down, ANOTHER Blue Soldier [also below the platform] will come running from the RIGHT side of the screen [from right to left] and fire Robert [poor guy]. Again, you must lend a hand to your trusty partner. With all these punks annihilated, only NOW should you blast the living daylights out of Wild Dog you'll get 1000 points for the first shot and 50 a pop when you continuously shoot him. If you love more points, then shoot him mercilessly! After that, Wild Dog should jump down from the platform. What he'll do now is run away [after jumping down] to a fairly far distance ahead and then start shooting for Keith [who is YOU of course] when he stops. As he's running away, you can continuously shoot him for 50 points a pop and there's no danger here of Wild Dog because if you keep nailing him, he won't have a chance to spray much of his bullets to you when he starts blasting you. Try to shoot him in either his chest or head to stun him quicker. If you see any red bullets bursting out, then duck for it. There's actually ANOTHER thing which will happen just when Wild Dog jumps down; 3 soldiers will show up ON THE PLATFORM ABOVE. Two Blue Soldiers [left and right] and one Gray guy [in the middle of them] will meddle around here as you try to get Wild Dog; the left Blue Soldier and the Gray one, will be the ones blasting you [the Blue guy on the right will shoot Robert]. Might as well nail them first before they get nasty [since Wild Dog at this time won't be harming you; he'll be busy running away as mentioned above]. NOTE: Regardless of whether or not you shoot him enough, Wild Dog will STILL immediately jump off the platform after attacking only twice. His first target at the very start will be Robert. After that, he'll go for Keith. If you manage to shoot him anytime along the way, you'll force him to jump off much earlier. After hitting Wild Dog [when he turns around to shoot you], he'll hide behind a nearby pipe. When ALL 3 soldiers ON THE PLATFORM earlier are shot off, Wild Dog should then pop- out again and blast you once more. Just bang him once [1000 points] and he'll stop. When that's done, Wild Dog will now come out and run even further away [as he does this, you can shoot him for 50 points a pop]. This is when you continue your pursuit on him to the next scene.
Robert: This scene is tough! Particularly if you have to deal with this one all by yourself! A lot of soldiers will engulf you in ammo so learn up quick or this scene will always be your worst nightmare. Even before "ACTION!" is heard, you WILL see 2 Missile Soldiers dropping down alongside of Wild Dog; one on his left and another on his right. As you should know by now, these soldiers NEVER miss [though they're a little slow]! The RIGHT one will try to shoot you at the beginning so be ready. But that's not all; Wild Dog will start to spray his bloody gatling gun on to you first! Mark my words; he gets red bullets real often and fast! So who to shoot? Well the priority here is to get rid of the Missile Soldier on you FIRST. Then in a speed of lightning after that, shoot Wild Dog and DUCK; he should very well be shooting out red bullets by the time you start aiming for him! One bullet is usually all it takes to stun and stop him in his tracks. Then, shoot down the opposite Missile Soldier and GET READY to nail the Blue guy who will appear on the left side of the screen [when both missilemen are gone]. This fellow is VERY DANGEROUS!!! He'll be rapidly firing his handgun on you as he comes running forward. Surprisingly, it's even possible for him to fire 3 to 4 red bullets [similar to a machinegun!] as he gets closer!! After he's gone, another Blue Soldier will instantly pop-out on the right corner and shoot YOU. This bugger is strangely accurate as well so nail him as soon as he reveals himself. Next, 3 things will happen. Firstly, is that Wild Dog will now jump down from the platform he was on. He'll do this regardless after attacking each of you [Keith and Robert] once, and when both Missile Soldiers are gone. Secondly, three soldiers will now appear; one Blue fellow on the left, another on the right and a Gray Soldier in the middle of them. This little group will show up ON THE platform where Wild Dog previously was, and only the Blue Soldier on the right [out of all 3] will be shooting you. And lastly, as Wild Dog jumps off, GET READY to shoot one really pesky Knifeman who will quickly step right in front of you to cut your face! My suggestion for this whole thing is to first shoot the Blue Soldier on the right to get him off your heels and then blast the crazy Knifeman. After jumping down, he then runs away [shoot him for 50 points a pop] until reaching a certain point up ahead. Then he'll turn around to shoot Keith. Just give him another taste of lead to gain yourself 1000 points [1st shot] and make him stop bothering your partner. He then goes to hide behind a pipe just next to him [you can still shoot him for 50 points a pop as he does this]. Now, go back to take care of the Gray and Blue Soldiers up on the platform earlier. After their deaths, Wild Dog will reappear behind the pipe and attack Keith once more. Just shoot him as soon as he comes out laughing. After having enough, Wild Dog will come out to run away somewhere even further ahead, and you'll now follow him into the next scene. As he runs away, shoot him for 50 points a pop!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SECOND SCENE This next scene is where you 2 will now spilt up and take separate routes. You'll have to deal with more soldiers and Wild Dog all by yourself here. Remember that the computer has a habit of randomly picking a soldier to suddenly fire a red bullet so regardless, be alert at all times. It won't happen so often, but it normally does when you least expect.
Keith: This is place is full of pillars where a number of soldiers [including Wild Dog] pop-out to ambush Keith. When you start, shoot the Blue Soldier RIGHT ABOVE the screen [a little to the left]. You can't really see him fully, but you'll know he's there. Afterwards, a Gray Soldier will appear just on the right side of the screen [after you shoot the blue guy]. When the gray fellow is aced out, Wild Dog will now pop-out from behind a pillar and fire his gatling gun; he'll be on the left side. Quickly shoot him [he won't have a chance to get nasty when you do] and then wait for a Blue Soldier to pop-out EXACTLY where Wild Dog was just now. Blast him off and Wild Dog should reappear from behind a different pillar [just on the right side of the previous one, which is at the center of the screen] to surprise you with another attack. Surprise him back with your bullets, and wait for yet another Blue Soldier to appear exactly where Wild Dog was. Next, 2 things will happen simultaneously. Wild Dog will be seen running quickly to the right, AWAY from this place [he's on his way to now bug Robert]. You can shoot him here [optional] as he runs off for more points [he won't attack you]. Also, you may notice that there are several movements from above the screen as you're shooting Wild Dog or the Blue Soldier earlier. You won't really know what were they until they drop to the ground; it's 3 Knifemen!! Relax. They are a cinch here because they'll attack you one by one. Each of them will try to land in front of your face to undoubtfully slash it. Just blast them as they each jump down. It's possible for you to shoot them just as they're right above the screen, but you won't get that much points [their movements are quick] and you'll have to act fast. Once each of them swings their knife at you once, they'll tumble off and never return [whether or not they successfully hit you]. When those Knifemen are 'done for', there will be a Blue Soldier on the right. Shoot him and a Gray Soldier will pop-out of the left corner of the screen. Get rid of the guy and you'll next see a Blue fellow appearing in the center of the screen, a little to the right. Finally, another Blue Soldier [won't they ever give up!] will pop-out on the FAR right side. He'll be quite a distance away, but he's still nothing to worry about; pop the guy. Now that those morons are nailed for good, the following scene begins next!
Robert: This scene can be a bit rough if you're not fast enough because several baddies will be attacking you AT ONCE [unlike Keith's scene]! First, three soldiers will immediately be hot on their triggers when you begin here; one Blue fellow high above the screen, a Gray Soldier on the left and another Blue guy at the right side. Ditch them all and you'll next see a Blue Soldier on the left corner [he'll be attacking from a VERY far distance]. Nail him and another Blue fellow on the 'right' side should soon pop-out [also at quite a far distance away]. After shooting him, don't aim away from there yet cos' he'll be followed by another blue one there. Gun that next fellow off and get ready for one more group attack from the baddies! First, aim to the left where there will be a Gray Soldier appearing. A very, very SHORT moment later, 2 more Blue Soldiers should step out from behind a pillar [located center of the screen]; one guy on its left and another on its right. This small group sometimes gets annoyingly accurate so be at full alert for any random flashes you may see.
NOTE: When the Gray Soldier comes, you should SEE WILD DOG running into this scene from left to right, to hide behind a pillar here. You can shoot him [clearly optional] here for just 100 points a pop. Although it looks as if he's about to shoot you [since his gatling gun can be seen aimed as he runs], he won't! A little note here, is that the time when Wild Dog runs over to Robert's side is likely to be 'fixed'. So if you take way too long to clear up the baddies, you may see him running over here as you're STILL shooting away.
When you've taken care of the small group, watch for Wild Dog's appearance on the center of the screen [just a little to the left]. After shooting him, wait for him to reappear on the SAME direction [from behind another pillar]. Simply continue firing at the same place so he'll walk right into your bullets. The very next scene is now yours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FINAL SCENE Keith and Robert will now be surrounding Wild Dog in this scene for an up close battle. Instead of making the same mistake by attacking each of you one by one like the earlier bosses, Wild Dog will try to pummel both of you at the SAME time [what a guy!]! Keith will be attacked by his Magnum [a special handgun] mostly, and several times from his gatling gun. Poor Robert has yet another hard time in this battle because he'll be constantly sprayed by Wild Dog's gatling gun with exceptional precision! There will also be some Gray Soldiers trying to shoot each of you down [standing alongside of Wild Dog], but their accuracy is dreadful for this matter and some will even run off after staying for only a short while. Your biggest concern here is certainly the boss himself. Keep an eye on his magnum or gatling gun [whichever one he's using to attack you] as they have various surprises to shoot out red bullets at sudden moments. Unlike the previous scenes of this battle, Wild Dog will now be worth 100 points per shot here instead of 50.
Keith: When all starts, get out and shoot Wild Dog as much and fast as you can; he'll be facing Robert so you have an advantage here for a short moment. After shooting him a few times, Wild Dog will use his magnum [on his right hand which is facing you] to shoot you, while trying to pummel Robert at the same time! Sadly, his magnum isn't quite as accurate as it was in part 1. Still, he CAN get lucky sometimes [you'll be warned by the red flashes]. I've encountered some situations where he managed to fire 3 red bullets at me. And in other cases, he never even gets a direct hit at all! Frankly, it's hard to tell when will Wild Dog be accurate with his magnum. Whenever I come to this scene, I always look right at his magnum at all times just in case whenever he uses it on me. Be warned that you MUST be fast in releasing the pedal because the bullets can reach you in well under a second [since you are fighting at point blank range]. When he's been shot sufficiently [you can tell when he acts stunned], Wild Dog will then turn to aim his gatling gun at you! Strangely, he's not so accurate when he uses it on Keith [you]; it's possible for him to spray a long stream of bullets and not even getting one direct hit! However, that's still no excuse for trying to take this scene lightly; just like all battles, he can get a little lucky sometimes. To be on the safe side, look at his gatling gun at all times as you shoot him. When he starts to turn his gatling gun to you, 2 Gray Soldiers will show up. Both will come from the 'right' corner; one of them will try to shoot you [while another faces Robert]. Their accuracy is of no concern for you [as mentioned earlier] and both of them will run away when they fire a few lousy shots. However, try not to waste this chance; they're still worth some points. After that, Wild Dog will now take a few steps forward [closer to the right side of the screen]. Look out for another Gray Soldier who will pop- out BEHIND Wild Dog [left side] as he moves forward. When you take care of him [his accuracy is often bad], continue blasting Wild Dog [who is trying to once again bug Robert]. As you blast him, Wild Dog will then use back his magnum on you. Again, watching out for any danger from it, is most advised. Shoot him even more, and he'll turn and fire his gatling gun at you as before. Use the previous tips and continue blasting Wild Dog until he's had enough. The guy will then run away and 2 more Gray Soldiers will appear to help cover his back; one on each side and their accuracy isn't good. Just nail them both [the left one can be seen obviously aiming for you] and you're done with this whole battle [plus, Area 1 is finally cleared]. NOTE: You can still shoot Wild Dog for some more points as he runs off. Also, he will run away much earlier when you're playing through this scene in SOLO MODE.
Robert: Yet another rough scene for 'Baxter'boy to deal with! You'll tend to be annoyed by Wild Dog's crazy gatling gun throughout. His accuracy is often high and he'll always spray it continuously, giving you not much chance to either retaliate or get a high streak shot. Obviously, this is a scene specifically meant for Keith to really help his partner out. Still, this is never a scene to rely on anyone; be a man and show Keith what you're made of! When you're allowed to begin [after "ACTION!" is announced], Wild Dog will ALREADY be spraying his gatling gun bullets on you. As dangerous as it sounds, this is still a good chance to shoot him. Get out to blast him fast and immediately duck when you see any red bullets bursting out [remember they WON'T flash at all]. As you constantly shoot him, 2 Gray Soldiers [both appearing from the left corner] should show up. Only one will shoot you and they won't stay on screen long. Boost your score [if you want] by shooting them or just so you can avoid being hit by random red flashes [which is a wise idea]. Next, continue shooting Wild Dog until he uses his gatling gun back at you. Blast him more and he then takes a few steps forward [moving closer to the left side]. When he does, look out for one Gray Soldier on the right [who can be clearly seen behind when Wild Dog moves away]. Shoot the guy and resume your gunfire on the boss. Now all you have to do next is shoot him as many times as you can while dodging any of his deadly bullets. There will be times when Wild Dog turns to completely face Keith so he can use his gatling gun [you will be unattacked for this moment]. Make use of these chances to quickly finish this last scene. Repeat the process until Wild Dog gets fed up and runs away. When he finally does [you have a chance here to continuously shoot him for 100 points until he's out of the screen], 2 more Gray Soldiers will join in [one left and one right]. Shoot them off as you usually do and the first BOSS BATTLE in Stage 3 is completed.
STAGE 3 BOSS BATTLE #2: The Wild Dog and Ernesto Team! [Area 2]
CUT-SCENE Dialogue: As Keith and Robert try to catch up on Wild Dog, Ernesto suddenly shows up and fires 4 missiles from his m.launcher. Our heroes each roll off to opposite corners to evade them. After that, Ernesto then complains to his right-hand man. Ernesto: Wild Dog, why is it taking you so much time to get rid of them? Alright, I'll take care of this myself! [Wild Dog remains silent and Ernesto fires yet another barrage of missiles and this next battle begins.]
INTRODUCTION How's this for a twist in gameplay battle 2 bosses at once!! Not only that, another army of sickening soldiers is yet something else to worry about. Although Ernesto is confident in being successful here, Wild Dog still joins in this fight and attacks almost as aggressive as he did earlier. No doubt that he hates chickening out on these battles worth his while [which makes me proud]! This WHOLE battle is clearly one very straightforward scene where the action practically never stops. Both Keith and Robert will often turn their heads around continuously throughout this entire battle to dispatch any soldiers [including Ernesto and Wild Dog] in sight. You'll have to be very alert on the appearances of anyone who pops-out in hopes to surprise you with an attack. Now that you're finally meeting the man behind this whole mayhem [Ernesto of course] the question that should arise is whether the guy has a lot of stuff to make himself tough. For this battle, Ernesto will use a Missile Launcher [exactly the same one used by those Missile Soldiers] to attack you and he NEVER MISSES!! But as a result of this, Ernesto ISN'T very fast due to the heavy weight of the missile launcher he uses; the guy needs a bit of time to aim it at you. Overall, he's EXACTLY the same as a regular Missile Soldier [which puts him at a disadvantage here]. If you're a very fast "trigger-happy" man, then he won't even get a chance at all to harm you. But supposing he succeeds in firing, you'll have to duck long to dodge all 4 of his missiles [they'll flash red]. You CAN'T rapidly fire your gun on Ernesto to get more points as how it was possible for Jacob and Buff. The same goes for Wild Dog in this battle now; you can only shoot both of them once and you'll get 1000 points for it. Try to shoot them 2 or 3 times more and you won't get any additional ones at all. Wild Dog will probably pose a more troublesome problem than his boss. He moves very quickly and fires without hesitation. Don't give him any chances whatsoever to continue firing or he'll nail you with his killer red bullets before you know it. Always shoot him first since he's just as deadly as a Machine Gunner. At the start and end, Keith and Robert can help each other as a team, but in the middle, each of you will turn your heads and face different directions where you must shoot the soldiers that are on your side, entirely by yourself.
Keith: Two enemies will immediately be in front when you first stick your head up. It's Ernesto [right side], ready to fire his missile launcher, and a Blue Soldier [left side]. Blast them both quick as their target is 'you'. After that, Keith will turn his head to the left and see a Blue Soldier, directly in front of him. No need for alarm because he's aiming for Robert. A very short moment later, Ernesto will appear on top of the large tanker BEHIND the Blue Soldier mentioned earlier. Shoot the blue guy [to help Robert] and then go for Ernesto as he'll try to shoot you [he's a little slow]. At the exact time when Ernesto starts to reveal himself, Wild Dog will pop-out [fast] on the left side of the screen, BELOW the tanker that Ernesto is on. No worry here because as clearly seen, he'll be firing at Robert. Shoot Wild Dog and wait for a while. He should then pop-out at the TOP-LEFT side of the screen, above a large standing pipe [you'll know it when you see it] NOW firing straight at you! Blast him quick and Keith will then quickly turn his head right. Here, you'll deal with 3 Blue guys and Ernesto again. All for of them will appear one by one, consecutively. This place that you are now looking at, has a large tanker in front as before. One Blue Soldier will rise up at the center of the tanker on TOP of it [he's targeting Robert]. When he starts to appear, another Blue guy will rise up in front to try and shoot you. Ernesto himself will also start to appear on TOP of the tanker, right side [aiming at you]. Wild Dog himself can be seen on it as well [left side], but he'll be shooting Robert. You should nail this group in the order as they appear and try to be quick with Ernesto before he starts to fires.
NOTE: The enemies in the paragraph right below here will ALL be aiming at you!
Next, Keith turns his head to the right. There, he'll spot one Blue Soldier side stepping from behind a corner. Shoot the Blue fellow and Ernesto should then appear [with his missile launcher ready in hand] on the left. Shoot these two and yet another Blue Soldier appears just next to Ernesto [on the far-left side of screen]. When you blast him, Keith then moves his head even more to the right and sees a White Soldier standing on high ground, already firing away his handgun. He can be lucky at times but you will always get him first. Right after this, Keith quickly looks back to his left and sees Ernesto again [about to fire his heavy m.launcher]. Nail the guy and Keith faces over to the right and sees 1 miserable Blue Soldier [center of screen]. A split second later, another blue baddie [left] will show up just next to him from behind a pillar. These two will end up standing side by side with each other. Pick them off and Keith instantly turns around and faces his partner Robert. Be very careful because due to all this crazy speed in turning here and there, it's very easy for you to mistake Robert for an enemy. In fact, it's TOO easy! Perhaps this is yet another one of Time Crisis' tricks. Get used to this one so you won't end up accidentally shooting Robert here or 1000 points is off your score! BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: Some players don't realize this really awesome secret! If you shoot all the enemies in the paragraph [just above here] at a VERY fast pace, you will see Wild Dog jumping in front of Robert when Keith [you] turns over to face his partner. When you do, you can nail Wild Dog to instantly get yourself [gasp!] 10,000 free points!!!!!! If this part is in SOLO MODE, you have to be quick here because he'll land and immediately jump off at lightning speed [in fact, he's so fast you'll only see a flash of him]. In LINKED MODE, you get 2 chances because Wild Dog has to try and punch Robert. When you see the green text '+10,000' on screen, this means you have succeeded! Remember if you are too slow, Wild Dog won't be seen when you get to this part because he would have jumped off by then. Be sure not to shoot Robert by mistake [oops] here though. I doubt he'll be happy.
NOTE: The enemies below this paragraph will all be aiming at you as well!
Once Keith turns to face Robert up close and personal, you'll spot one Blue Soldier on the right side. Shoot him, and another one appears to the left side. Again, one Gray Soldier will pop-out to the right once you shoot the second Blue Soldier. Be careful not to hurt Robert here. With all the baddies cleared on this side, Keith looks away to the left. He will see one Blue Soldier [standing behind a crate, somewhere in the middle of the screen]. When he's shot, a Gray guy will move out from behind one large tanker. Dispatch him and Keith now looks up from there. The next thing he'll see is Wild Dog up on the tanker, ready to hit Keith real hard with a JUMP KICK! There's NO way for you to prevent him from doing this or to stop him in his tracks. You have to duck under this it regardless. It'll take almost 1 second for his kick to hit you. During this time, you can quickly shoot Wild Dog for 100 points a pop. If you're really skilled and darn quick, you can get up to 8 shots in this split second! When his kick passes above your head [when you duck], Wild Dog will next be standing IN FRONT of you. This time, he'll try to give you one nasty punch in the face! He'll pause for about 1 second before attacking so you have the chance to shoot before he acts. But supposing you're want more points, then read below. BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: Here's yet another secret which many players may be interested in. If you shoot Wild Dog when he is just about ready to punch you, 1000 points will only be gained as normal. The trick of the trade here is when Wild Dog begins to swing his fist at your face. Supposing you shoot him when his fist is roughly halfway in reaching you, then you'll get a surprising 5000 points! But try to wait a little longer and you can instead get yourself 10,000 yummy points by shooting him when the fist is JUST ABOUT to connect! Your timing has got to be perfect if you intend to try out this little stunt. I'm afraid this is a-must to achieve if you want a great score. To ensure you get the 10,000 points and not being hit in the process, release the PEDAL a split second after you squeeze the trigger on Wild Dog. This makes it a lot safer if his fist reaches you even after he's been shot [which is possible if your timing is wrong].
After Wild Dog stops bugging you and jumps off, Keith again turns to the right. He will see a crouching Blue Soldier trying to shoot him. When you dispose of the guy, Keith continues moving his head slowly to the right. As he does, Wild Dog will show up again. First, he'll quickly stick his head up like a rabbit, up on a tanker and then immediately move down to shoot you with his gatling gun when on the ground [left side of the tanker]. Now here's a little bonus. If you manage to shoot Wild Dog when he first sticks his head up, you'll get 1500 points instead of the regular 1000. This bonus is given as a reward to test your speed in reaction because Wild Dog will only peek for a split second before moving down. The tanker [standing vertically] just next to him is actually attached to another one and there's a narrow gap in between them. Once you shoot Wild Dog, he'll move back behind the tanker earlier and run over to the next one. During this time, there will be another split second where he can be seen passing through the narrow gap, VERY fast. If you shoot him here, you'll get 1500 points! Another bonus to test your reaction speed. But supposing you decide not to shoot him there, Wild Dog will pop-out on TOP of the NEXT tanker and fire his gatling gun at you. Note that he will automatically cancel off 'this' attack if you manage to shoot him when he passed through the narrow gap earlier. After nailing him another time, one more Blue Soldier will be seen standing on the right [about to shoot you]. Just after you kill him, Wild Dog again pops-out at the left to blast your face. He then runs off when you nail him and Keith now looks high up [from this point on, your partner can finally team back with you]. Three helicopters will be seen hovering above the air as Keith looks up. Simply rapid fire on each one [6 shots needed and you get 100 points per shot]. There's nothing to worry about their little missiles as their accuracy is dreadful. Just for fun, look very close into anyone of these choppers [preferably the first one since its closer]. If you do, then you'll undoubtfully notice that they are piloted by Yellow Soldiers! It isn't known whether or not you can steal 5000 points from any of them, but it at least explains why the helicopters have suddenly such bad aim in this sequel. After fooling around, I found that you can STILL shoot a helicopter for more 100 points even as it crashes! When you finally destroy the third [last] chopper, you'll see Ernesto with his m.launcher, ready to fire at you! Shoot him and you will then see Wild Dog [from a far distance ahead] attempting to throw a grenade to Robert [not you]. For the sake of slightly more points, shoot the grenade in the air [+200] before going for him. Next, 2 Gray Soldiers will quickly rise up in front and try to shoot poor Robert [both of them]. When they're shot, Ernesto reappears [to attack again] at the top-right side of the screen [on the large tanker way up ahead]. After shooting him, Wild Dog will slowly rise up IN FRONT to spray Keith. Blast him, then look up ahead. You should see Ernesto slowly walking away [side stepping to be exact] while holding Christy Ryan next to him as a hostage [you can hear her yell "Help!"]. Ernesto won't attack you during this time, but you can shoot him for 100 points a pop as he moves away. Try aiming for his shoulder and head [which are exposed]. The rest of his body will be almost covered by Christy. Don't be worried if you accidentally shoot her because you WON'T lose any points a red in color 'X' will just be seen. An expert can get up to 9 shots at Ernesto here! After watching him move away, Keith and Robert will notice a trail of bullets being sprayed in front of their vision. You then quickly turn to the left and see Wild Dog again. Shoot him fast [this won't be hard] to finally drop him and Area 2 is then completed! NOTE: If you're too slow and Wild Dog manages to continue firing, keep in mind that you're his target so watch it!
Robert: In this early part, you will be standing just behind Keith so some enemies seen from your view may appear smaller due to your distance away from them. Just like Keith, you'll see Ernesto on the right and a Blue Soldier just on the left of him. Blast these 2 quick [be careful of shooting Keith] and Robert turns his head to the left. From a distance, you'll see one Blue Soldier aiming straight at you. When you see him, 2 things will happen next. Ernesto appears on the tanker to shoot Keith [top-right side of the screen], while at the SAME time, Wild Dog pops-out [lower left side of the screen] to fire his gatling gun at YOU [very fast]. My obvious advice is to first shoot the Blue Soldier, and then wait for Wild Dog so you can nail him afterwards before finally going for Ernesto [who won't be harming you here]. When this is done, wait for Wild Dog to pop-out at the top-left side of the screen [up on a high tanker] to shoot Keith. Blast him and Robert looks to the right [he'll see a couple of crates, with a big tanker just behind them]. The first thing you'll see is a Blue Soldier slowly rising up on TOP of the tanker [middle of it], about to shoot YOU. When he appears, another Blue Soldier BELOW him, also starts rise up, but he'll be shooting Keith. After he's fully seen, 2 more enemies will also reveal themselves. Ernesto appears UP on the tanker, [right] ready to pulverize Keith for good. Wild Dog also will be seen UP on the tanker [left] to blast you. To brief things out, 3 enemies will appear up ON the tanker; Wild Dog on the left, a Blue Soldier in the middle and Ernesto at the right. Common sense tells you that it's wise to first shoot the enemies aiming at you before finishing off the rest who are bugging your partner. Next, Robert quickly turns his head again to the right, and spots one Blue Soldier [fairly covered by a crate] in the middle of the screen. Shoot him and Robert now looks up a nearby tanker, where he'll then see Wild Dog up on it. What he'll do here is try to jump down from there and KICK you as he's in the air; just like a diving kick. You have the option of shooting him to get 100 points a pop. If you're on good expert, then it's possible to get up to 9 hits just before his kick reaches you. BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: Just when you see Wild Dog, look around the left corner of the screen. There should be a Blue Soldier there; he's just one of the enemies on Keith's side so he won't harm you. You can optionally shoot this guy for more points before Wild Dog's kick reaches you like many cases, there will be only a split second for you to do it. Try to select which one that would probably give you more points; Wild Dog or this Blue fellow. You can't prevent Wild Dog from doing this so it's compulsory for you to duck under this move regardless [since he doesn't miss here]. After his kick passes [or hits] you, don't let your guard down yet because Wild Dog will next be seen right in front of you. Here, he'll make an attempt to PUNCH you right in the face! For simple players, you can just shoot as soon as you see him to get the 1000 regular points. He'll be paused for 1 second before attacking so the chance is yours. BONUS POINTS OPPORTUNITY: Just in case you're hungry for more points, check this little secret! You'll actually get a lot more points [sort of like a bonus] for shooting Wild Dog, based on the timing for when you're about to be punched. Supposing you nail him when he STARTS to swing his fist, then a bonus point of 5000 will be yours instantly! But wait there's more! Please keep in mind though, that this one is for the experts. If you wait just a little more and instead shoot Wild Dog when his fist is JUST ABOUT to reach you, then a mega-bonus of 10,000 points shall be in your possession! As how it sounds, this is quite risky because you may be hit in the process. To prevent this, release the pedal a split second AFTER your gun's trigger is squeezed. You should then be safe and get the free points even if Wild Dog's fist manages to reach you on time. When Robert's done with Wild Dog, he'll turn over to the left and see his jiggy partner Keith [who's facing in another direction] busy shooting away. Be careful because it's easy to accidentally shoot him by mistake since you often see enemies everywhere you turn. The real threats are the Blue Soldiers here. In front, is a large long tanker where 2 Blue Soldiers will appear UP on it. First, you'll see one on the right. After you shoot him, the second one shows up at the left. Afterwards, one last blue guy will pop-out on the lower right side of the screen [on the ground], just past Keith. Once he's gone, Robert looks away even further to the right side [won't he get a headache doing this?]. BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: As he turns, you'll be able to spot a Blue Soldier [who is seen shooting Keith] for a split second. This is yet another chance to boost your score if you can shoot him on time as Robert's head passes through! There should be a Gray Soldier in front of your face when Robert stops turning. Shoot him, and you will see a standing Blue Soldier on the right, ready to gun you down. After nailing him, Robert then observes 2 small tankers nearby [standing vertically]. In the middle of them is a narrow gap. If you look there, a Blue Soldier should be seen running through from left to right. You can optionally shoot him when you see him there or just wait until he comes out behind the right tanker. Now that that part's done, Robert feels its safe to look away once more to the right. The next thing you'll see is pesky Ernesto [center of screen] ready to toast you with some missiles. Unless you're too slow, you can always get him first! Now, wait a moment for a Knifeman to appear in the middle. He's not quick so shoot him as there's no immediate danger. Now aim your gun over to the left because one more will pop-out around there. Right after you shoot him, Ernesto returns on the right. Nail that lowlife and one last Knifeman will appear, also on the right. Shoot him and Robert quickly looks up and spots a Gray Soldier standing on an enormous tanker [right]. This guy will already be firing his handgun and he gets lucky sometimes be ready to release the pedal just in case. After you gun him down, a crouching Blue Soldier also up on a tanker [middle], will try his luck on you; not as quick as the Gray guy earlier. When he's shot, Robert looks back down [to the left] and sees Ernesto again! Easy shot. With all those scums shot, Robert turns his head back to the left side where he last saw Keith. The long tanker is still in front, only now seen from a slightly different perspective. Up on its left is one Gray Soldier. When he's shot, a Blue guy will appear just below him. NOTE: Remember that Keith will still be seen here [in front] so try not to shoot him or your points will get deducted by 1000 everytime. Kill the blue sucker and watch the right side there should be 2 small narrow tankers [placed next to each other]. This is because Wild Dog will bounce up on the left tanker for a moment sort of a way to test your speed in reaction. If you can shoot him when he's seen on the tanker [only for a split second], you'll get 1500 points. But if you decide not to, Wild Dog will quickly hide and reappear just below to shoot Keith with his gatling gun when you nail him here, only 1000 points will be gained. BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITY: Try to get your way to 'this' whole part very quickly. Now after you shoot Wild Dog on either of the desired choices above [to get 1000 or 1500], he should make a second appearance. You'll see him running through the narrow gap [fast] in between the 2 small tankers. Nail him, and you get 1500 points free. Not quite as good as Keith's double 10,000 secret, but every bit still helps. When you shoot Wild Dog in his first appearance [excluding his second one in the 'Bonus Point Opportunity' note above], another Blue Soldier will appear up on the tanker [in the middle]. If you decide to shoot Wild Dog during his second appearance, then you must be cautious of this blue fellow because he'll be firing away at that time; not too accurate but still watch yourself. When this part is completed, your partner can finally team back with you. Now get your gun ready to shoot down 3 weakling choppers hovering through the screen just when Robert looks up. You need 6 shots [100 points per shot] to bring down each one. This is basically a fun part because the choppers have so lame accuracy it's difficult for them to harm you. Why? Probably it's because they're piloted by Yellow Soldiers! Yes they are; just look closely into the cockpit of anyone of them [preferably the first one since it's closer]. It's not known whether can you snatch 5000 points from any of them though. At least here's a little tip I found through fooling around continue shooting a chopper [any of the three] even after it's crashing to get more 100 points! Once the helicopters are dealt with, you'll see Ernesto right in front when the last one crashes. He'll be aiming for Keith so there's no worry. After a moment [whether or not you shoot Ernesto], Wild Dog pops-out in the middle of the screen [slightly further away from Ernesto] ready to toss a grenade to YOU. He's not quite as fast as he used to. In fact, he is slow so it's a snap to get before he even throws it. For slightly more points, wait until Wild Dog throws the grenade so you can blast it in the air for free '+200'. When he and Ernesto are shot, 2 Gray Soldiers [side by side] show up in front [one of them yelling "FREEZE!"]. Be quick because both will aim at you! I recommend shooting the guy on the right first because he draws his gun much quicker and is a little more accurate! Next, you should see Ernesto on the long tanker way up ahead [far right side of it] about to shoot his missiles to Keith. As usual, the missile launcher's weight slows him down. Blast the General, and Wild Dog shows up in front [not quick] ready to use his gatling gun on Keith. Shoot him and you will then see Ernesto walking away [side- stepping to exact] while holding Christy as a human shield [you can hear her calling for help]. He won't harm you or your partner, but you can get some free points from him by shooting his head or shoulder [worth 100 points a pop]. Don't worry if you shoot Christy by mistake no points will be deducted although you will see just a red 'X'. This is great for testing your accuracy so I would suggest you give it a try! You'll only have a few seconds [almost 3!] to do this before Robert automatically looks away. Experts will of course have time to suck in 9 hits from him! Robert suddenly sees a stream of long bullets obscuring his vision. He then quickly turns to the left [where they came from] and spots Wild Dog shooting. His bullets can't harm you just rapidly shoot and you finally beat him, along with Area 2! Whahoo!!!
STAGE 3 BOSS BATTLE #3: General Ernesto Diaz himself! [Area 3]
CUT-SCENE Dialogue: Sorry, but I won't spoil this one as to how the lines go. But for those of you who have already seen it, the thing that you might wonder is whether Wild Dog is REALLY dead now. For me, it's kinda hard to tell. I was almost certain that he was toasted at the end of the first Time Crisis. Now in this brief cut-scene, there's something almost similar to it. Well for the moment, I'll be guessing 'that' explosion was just some kind of special 'smoke-screen' for his escape. Hey, could be you know! Ah well, let's continue shall we.
INTRODUCTION This is one battle that really tests your accuracy and speed of reaction. As viewed in the cut-scene, Ernesto drags 'tied-up' Christy to a near control platform of this huge satellite station. What Ernesto will do here is play an old classic bad guy trick with Keith and Robert. He'll now use Christy Ryan as a human shield [to protect almost half of his entire body] while trying to shoot you with his handgun. Now here's the danger; Ernesto NEVER misses!! Not only that, the guy fires 2 dead-on shots consecutively EVERY time he pops-out [they'll flash red], plus his speed is very good here! Not bad for an old guy! What's more is that another pack of stinkin' soldiers [including 1 nasty Knifeman on Robert's side] will mess around with you. Oh and one more thing, do NOT shoot Christy as you'll instantly lose a large dose of 5000 points everytime you do it! If that happens, it'll automatically cancel off your chance to shoot Ernesto. Now you know why Ernesto is using her - to deplete your score, not for saving his skin [?]! You have to carefully aim your gun at Ernesto if you want complete this battle. Only his entire head and upper left shoulder will be seen clearly while the rest is mostly blocked by Christy. The thing which makes it a little easy though, is that Ernesto always appears on the LEFT side of Christy's head [from your view]. So my advice here is always fire on that side everytime you see Ernesto. And like some other bosses, he'll attack one of you at a time giving the opposite player who's sharp, to retaliate easily. Now until you get used to this place, you must duck EVERYTIME you try to get [or miss] Ernesto. Shooting him prevents the guy from firing his second red bullet at you [remember Ernesto will fire 2!], but he'll always get to shoot the first one out so be prepared. Whether you miss, successfully shoot him or instead shoot helpless Christy, you MUST still duck regardless. Being overconfident could be your worst mistake here. The soldiers in this battle [mostly blue buggers] will also be quite accurate at times; usually more of the pain is felt on Robert's route. When you see anyone of them, shoot them all fast and mercilessly before Ernesto can mix in to unnecessarily make things more difficult. On a bright side, this whole battle won't be too long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FIRST SCENE
Both: Immediately when you start, a total of 4 soldiers [3 Blue ones and a Gray guy] will be seen dropping down from above. Out of these 4, only 2 will be shooting you [either Keith or Robert]. Clearly though, you can already shoot these low-lives as they're still in the air. Waiting for them to land only gives them a chance to surprise you with a red flash. Don't worry, you can still rapidly shoot each soldier 3 times as they're still in the air. When they're all gone, Ernesto starts make his move by popping-out in the center of the screen [while holding Christy] to shoot Keith. If you miss or shoot him, Ernesto's next appearance will be just on the far left side, shooting Robert this time [if you fail to get him again, he'll appear back at the center of the screen to shoot Robert once more]. After nailing him the second time, Keith and Robert now immediately turn to the left. As this happens, you'll quickly hear someone yelling "Freeze!", who turns out to be a Machine Gunner. First, the Machine Gunner will fire a few good shots at Robert before turning to aim at Keith. At the SAME time when you see him, look at the far right; there should be 2 Blue Soldiers there. Normally, you'll see only one there [busy shooting Robert]. But that's because the second Blue guy is strangely seen trying to escape from here. He'll quickly try to roll away from this place and you have to look really close to spot this guy. For Robert, you can get a slightly better view of him. Basically, this fellow is an asset to help boost your score if you nail him on time! Remember you have to again be fast here; by the time the Machine Gunner [earlier] has finished saying "Freeze!", the Blue guy is probably gone by then. Anyway, when you shoot the Machine Gunner, Ernesto quickly pops-out on the left [fast] to shoot Keith. When you shoot Ernesto again, both Keith and Robert will turn back to the right side and meet 3 Blue Soldiers behind the control panels. These guys will appear in a certain order. The very second you stop turning, you'll immediately see a Blue Soldier [center] about to shoot Robert. When he's shot, another will then appear on the left to try and fire at Keith. Gun down that creep and you'll next see one last Blue guy on the right, ready to shoot Robert. After picking off those baddies [shoot those that are aiming for you first!], look at the satellite dish [on the right]. Through its hole, Ernesto will appear there attempting to shoot Robert. Nail the scumbag and if you're Keith, be prepared for one intensive part. Look to the right corner [at the canister which has 'NDI' printed on it] for one Blue Soldier who is about to shoot Keith [he's usually accurate, although he's slow]. After making him pay, Ernesto should slowly then rise up in front of Keith's face [exactly where the NDI canister is] to blast him. The good news here is that as you see him, Ernesto's body [left side] will already be vulnerable to your gunfire so it's possible for you to get him before he even decides to squeeze his trigger. But there is yet another danger here for Keith. As soon as Ernesto shows up [slowly], another slow Blue guy will appear at the center of the screen to nail him; he's on the right side of the satellite dish [he can really get lucky]. To make yourself save, shoot all the enemies with one bullet each. But if you're such a hyper fast player, you can instead nail them with 3 shots each [excluding Ernesto]! It's pretty relaxing for Robert at this part as you can tell [though the soldiers attacking Keith are slow in their aim]. But as him, be ready for one Knifeman [he'll appear around this time] to quickly step in front to try and give you a blade-swipe in the face! This guy's fast but you can easily get him when you're already aware of his presence. Keith can actually see the Knifeman [though BARELY] from his side [just on the right from his view] and get more points by helping Robert out to shoot him. Now wait for a short moment later for one crazy part where 3 mean Machine Gunners pop-out to shoot both of you [one will shout "FIRE!"]. You will see them bunched up together with one up on the satellite dish and 2 more below him. Although not simultaneously, it's clearly seen that they'll be rise up almost at the exact same time. Truth is, these 3 are here to help protect Ernesto as he slowly walks from right to left with Christy. When the Machine Gunners appear, Ernesto will get blocked by their presence. He WON'T attack any of you as he passes here so you can guess that this is just a chance to get '1000 points' free if you manage to shoot Ernesto here. Is there anything so difficult about this part? Well in truth, it needs some practice [if you want to get 1000 points free] because once all 3 Machine Gunners start firing, be prepared to duck for a few seconds from their barrage of red bullets! They'll appear just a short moment AFTER you see Ernesto suddenly passing by. From Keith's better view, you can get an earlier shot on Ernesto. Whereas Robert will have to wait until Ernesto fully walks away from the satellite dish [which will block Robert's view of him]. Sometimes, it's easy to instead shoot Christy [oops!] because Ernesto will be moving and not staying still. You can optionally ignore him and just go for the Machine Gunners when they come out. Shoot either 1 or 2 and duck to avoid the last one's gunfire before you shoot him off. Expert's can test their skills by shooting all 3 of them and get Ernesto [when he's still seen] at the end. It's possible on both routes; simply shoot the one on the satellite dish first and then go for the remaining 2 below him from right to left. You have to be fast [use only one bullet per soldier] or you may miss Ernesto; he'll hide when he reaches the far left corner. After all that mayhem, watch out for Ernesto once more [aiming at Robert] at the center of the screen when all 3 Machine Gunners are shot. Blast the General quickly and a Blue Soldier [also in the center] should be seen, ready to squeeze his trigger on poor Robert [sometimes he's lucky]. I don't know why, but Keith seems to move just a little to the left when the soldier appears. Get rid of him and one last Blue bugger [left of the previous one] should come up to empty his gun on Keith; won't they ever learn? At last, the final scene is ahead!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FINAL SCENE
Both: This scene's a lot shorter. Both Keith and Robert should see Christy's body being held up by Ernesto when this thing starts [almost in the middle of the screen]. The guy will be thoroughly protected until he sticks out his head to shoot Robert [he's fast!]. But as always, Ernesto will still be seen just on the LEFT of Christy's head [from your view] so aim there before he attacks. Whether or not he's shot, you now must duck under a crane; the computer will warn you with "DANGER! DANGER!". Next look at the canister [the NDI logo is on it], center of the screen. There, Ernesto will pop-out [laughing] to fire at Keith. Now if you fail to get him [or shoot Christy instead], the crane earlier will attack you once more. Succeed, and it won't. After you nail him, 2 Blue Soldiers appear [side by side] behind the control panels on the left. It's the same ol' procedure right guy shoots at Robert and left one goes for Keith. Ditch these 2 and watch out for Ernesto once again behind the canister earlier [he will be aiming for Robert now]. However, things are slightly different here. One, is that you'll only see both the heads of Christy and Ernesto sticking out; just a way to test your accuracy. Lastly, Ernesto will attack on the RIGHT side of Christy's head [from your view]! So don't be fooled. Fire away quick and carefully to finally end this battle.
STAGE 3 BOSS BATTLE #4 [Final]: The Prototype NDI Satellite [Ernesto's big mean mama!].
CUT-SCENE Dialogue: After having enough, Ernesto stands up with Christy [still pointing the gun at her for his protection] and then throws her off the platform. This is to make her drop to her doom which forces Keith and Robert to save her as General Diaz escapes [watch how the guy slowly runs!]. Christy screams as she's about to fall, but our heroes catch her on time. She thanks them as they pull her back up. The satellite station's main computer can be heard saying some words, meaning that the launch is about to begin.
Christy: I'm okay. Get Diaz! He's about to launch a Nuclear Satellite.
Our heroes quickly run to where Ernesto headed off to by jumping over to an opposite moving platform [notice some soldiers can be seen below] and running up a stairs. They immediately see Ernesto working on the controls [obviously preparing something unpleasant for you two].
Robert: Look, the satellite's still there. Ernesto: This is just a prototype. We're ready to launch the real one!
Ernesto shows them the 'real' satellite [near to them] which is being placed into a rocket and the main computer's voice can be heard saying "Beginning final check." The General looks back at them and speaks.
Ernesto: You are like roaches! I underestimated your persistence! This is not a real satellite [the prototype version just behind him]! Anyway, let me ENTERTAIN YOU! [Now doesn't 'that' sound familiar?]
Ernesto jumps up on to the satellite [can an old guy do that?] and you begin the grand finale!! NOTE: Christy's voice actress is actually LYNN HARRIS. The same person who did the voice for Rachel [another girl in the first Time Crisis].
SECOND NOTE: When Ernesto says "I underestimated your persistence!", watch closely at the text dialogue below the screen as he speaks. The word 'underestimated' is wrongly placed as 'underestimate'!
INTRODUCTION After loads of insane boss battles, one has just got to rejoice as this one is finally the last one!! Of course, that's not to say that this battle will be a piece of cake. Needless to say, that it's actually the hardest one of all! Since both Keith and Robert have caused him enough trouble, Ernesto has decided to take extreme measures this time and introduces both of them to this big mean toy of his [which he'll use to "entertain" you!]. I was surprised that this battle doesn't involve any soldiers; which is good since this death machine is terrible enough. Basically, the Prototype NDI Satellite is one large contraption that attacks you as it slowly moves around. It has 2 long wings on its sides, and a 'neck' that is connected to the ceiling [from what it looks like]. In 2 out of 3 Scenes, Ernesto will keep popping-out around the satellite's neck and try to shoot either Keith or Robert while at the SAME time the satellite itself attacks like crazy! Strangely, Ernesto's accuracy is REALLY BAD here! As an advantage, this means you just have to concentrate your worries on only the whacky satellite. There are clearly 2 ways to beat this piece of monstrosity. One is by continuously shooting the hell out of it [50 points a pop] and the other is just by shooting Ernesto whenever he comes out [you can't rapid fire on him]. Now you can make a good guess that rapidly shooting apart the satellite enables you to start up a very high streak; simply because the darn thing can take so much damage! From my experience, I figure that Ernesto is just here to supply the player with more free points; since you instantly get 1000 points for nailing him whenever he appears. Whichever choice you select, beating the satellite will still be possible. I feel the more simple way of doing it, would be to just set your bullets on only Ernesto. In truth however, you might just look like a funny player to some viewers because the most wisest choice is to gain more points and rapidly fire on the satellite instead. For those hungry players who want high scores, your best bet is to beat this boss using BOTH ways; rapidly shoot the satellite to gain an extremely high streak and shoot Ernesto everytime he pops-out to add up all your points. The satellite will attack you with only 2 types of weapons, but they're more than enough to create a living nightmare for you and your partner. Occasionally, it shoots out a few missiles at the start of every scene and finishes the rest with one sickeningly annoying LASER [that swings its killer beam all around]! Oh and did I mention that this whole contraption NEVER misses when using either of its fast weapons?! That sure is enough to get any player spooked. But on an overall statement, this entire battle mainly tests your skill in timing more than your knowledge on offensive strategy. Whether or not you play Time Crisis [1 or 2] daily, some good players who learn up fast, can actually survive this battle when just on their second try. Once you understand how this satellite fights, then you may be able to anticipate its maneuvers. Focusing on your instinct is one useful idea! If you think either the satellite's missiles or laser is about to toast you, then it most probably is! When staying hidden, you're able to clearly see them pass above your head so you'll know exactly when to come back out into the fray. I don't know how many of you will believe this, but the thing I'm about to say is clearly what happened. When I FIRST encountered this final boss, I defeated it straight- away! Now that was a big surprise for me because I didn't expect that to happen on my very first go with it! What's more is that I didn't even 'continue' [but I lost 2 lives here after trying so hard to get them unscathed]. Not sure as to how this luck came by. Maybe it's because I played the first Time Crisis too many times until I'm used to its similar style in part 2. But even so, I still have to say that this final boss is NOT quite as difficult as the one from part 1. The satellite mostly requires you to look out for its swirling attacks and duck when needed, almost like an exercise in perfecting your skills in using the 'pedal'. If you're already up to that stage of quality, then you too might just get through this boss easily in amazement! ADVICE: Why don't you try listening to the music here once in a while; it's great tune!! HOT NEWS: The 'Time Crisis II SOUNDTRACK' exists [by Pony Canyon], but I think it can only be gotten in Japan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FIRST SCENE
Both: Alright, try to stay alive as much as possible you wouldn't want to screw up after coming so far now would you! When "ACTION!" is announced, get out and shoot the satellite as much as possible. Don't bother about the computer monitor below it because it doesn't get you any points [although you can wreck it for fun!]. The satellite will first hover backwards in the beginning and use the 2 blasters below it [each equipped with 3 holes!] to shoot out a couple of missiles. Now here's the thing that makes this boss difficult; some of its attacks will be at random! In this case, the satellite has a few different choices on who to shoot its missiles at. Below are its variations:
a.) Both blasters will simultaneously fire 2 missiles at Keith and Robert [4 at total]. b.) Both blasters turn only to Robert and fire a total of 2 missiles at him. c.) Both blasters turn only to Keith and fire a total of 2 missiles at him.
In every beginning of the 3 scenes, this satellite first attacks with its missiles before switching over to the laser beam. Remember that the satellite normally uses its missiles once if you're playing in either SOLO MODE or a single player game. If you're too slow to pummel it with ammo or when you're in a 2 player LINKED game, expect the satellite's missiles to go for another round with each of you! Once the satellite is done shooting its missiles, it'll now introduce to you its maniacal laser! The thing shoots out a very long [and glowing] beam, a little similar to how water burts out from a high pressured 'garden hose' [only that the laser flows out much smoothly and straight as an arrow]. Now you must watch closely as to how or who the laser decides to shoot at in order to prevent yourself from being harmed as you continue to shoot it. Just like the missiles earlier, the laser unfortunately picks its victims at random!! This problem deliberately prevents players from having an easy time with the boss even after mastering the game. The laser actually has no specific pattern there're a number of various moves to choose from, in which it will simply pick randomly!! All you can do is look and try to judge whether it's about to hit you. I'm sorry, but describing all the exact movements of the laser will only frustrate you readers. However, I CAN tell you that the laser is only capable of moving around horizontally, diagonally and almost vertically. Any available tips? Well since this piece of junk has only got one available laser [thank goodness], it has to attack one of you individually, allowing the other player to freely shoot it. And here's the good [but also bad] news; it normally likes to pick on Robert [giving Keith a slight advantage]!! Often, the satellite will turn to face its target and shoot the laser from down to horizontal, equivalent to 90 degrees. The laser only has one attack that's capable of hitting BOTH you and your partner at once; it'll swing horizontally [right to left] across the screen like lightning! This move will be picked at random [around 60% most of the times] and almost every player new to this battle will be knocked flat by it. It's clearly some sort of surprise attack because the laser moves so fast almost at the blink of an eye. Luckily, the satellite gives a very brief clue to observant players, informing them when it's about to do it. Watch carefully where the satellite moves. If it happens to go to the FAR right corner passing Robert, then get ready for a quick release on your pedal! The laser needs almost 1 second to zoom across and since it will go from right to left, it's obvious that Robert will have to duck much earlier! Avoid all the attacks mentioned while maintaining your shots on the satellite until this scene is completed. At the end of it, you can blow off the satellite's nozzle for fun but that won't be the last you'll see of it!
IMPORTANT NOTE From beginning till the end of this scene, Ernesto will frequently pop- out around the satellite. Try to shoot him when he does to get 1000 points evertime. He will be seen less than 10 times here!!
EXPERT NOTE Remember me saying players with great timing can get a very high streak? Well if you use those same skills in this first scene with the satellite, a crazy streak of 99 HITS can be gained [no kidding]!! You will also have to shoot a little faster too.
IMPORTANT NOTE From start to finish, you can actually get bonus points of 500 if you shoot the satellite around 10 times. Continue to do it and it will increase by 500 after you shoot the satellite another 10 times [around that amount]! For example - +500, +1000, +1500, +2000, +2500, +3000, +3500, +4000, +4500, etc. You don't need to keep up your streak. If you fowl up and it goes back to zero, the bonus points still keep coming! So generally, shoot the satellite as many times as you can to gain more! There are some weird glitches to this though. Sometimes without even losing your streak, the next bonus points you get is still +500 meaning that it hasn't increased.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SECOND SCENE This one is surprisingly easy! Just make full use of the pedal by dodging all the satellite's this-time-simple attacks and you might make it through here without my help! Don't bother looking out for Ernesto because he's no where to be seen here [where did he go?!] Keith: From ahead of you, the satellite will immediately move forward and try to knock your head with its wide wings; the computer kindly warns you with "DANGER! DANGER!". It'll take about 3 seconds to reach and hit you. Until then, you have a chance to continuously shoot it before ducking. After its wing swings pass your head, the satellite will hover away to do the same thing to Robert. When this happens, its blasters will shoot 2 quick missiles that you once again must dodge. Now, the satellite will move and stay in the middle of both you and your partner to welcome you back its killer laser! How did it get a new one? NOTE: If you're playing this scene in LINKED MODE, the satellite should try to swing its wing at you TWICE. It seems to only do it once in a single player game or in SOLO MODE. EXPERTS NOTE: If you're so darn good at timing, you can actually start up a streak here and continue shooting the satellite from beginning to end of this scene! First, you must learn to perfectly dodge the satellite's wing, missiles and laser so your streak can easily be resumed before the 'HIT' resets itself back to zero. Alright, now this part is easy and only requires your sense of dodging. For the rest of this whole scene, the satellite will just continuously spin a full circle on and on [like a marry-go-round!], WHILE it swings the crazy laser at you. As Keith, be cautious a little because the laser will shoot out starting from your place! Keep your eye on it and you can always dodge the laser when it reaches you. It's perfectly a snap and a bad excuse for a finale battle! As you try to dodge it, keep shooting the satellite. The blasters below it can still be blown off [though they'll magically be seen again in the next scene!]. EXPERTS NOTE: If you make full use of the previous 'note' [in this scene], then you can really get up to 73 HITS from this whole scene!! Yes this is true.
Robert: You'll see the satellite moving away from you, but will quickly use its blasters to shoot 2 missiles straight at your face! Before and after it does that, you can quickly fire away like mad. After those missiles pass [or hit] you, the satellite will move right to your face and attempt to swing its wing to attack [won't miss]. You can tell when this is happening once the computer announces [and shows] "DANGER! DANGER!". When you've ducked under the wing, the satellite will now move directly into the center of both you and your partner to use its laser once more. You've just gotta wonder how did it get a new one after the previous one was blown off! NOTE: In LINKED MODE [2 people playing] the satellite should attack you TWICE with its wing. This guide focuses mainly on SOLO MODE where it just uses it once. EXPERTS NOTE: This is actually a great scene to start up another long streak! The attacks may be troublesome at first, but as you get used to it, you can dodge the missiles and the wing perfectly to boost the streak 'HIT' up high!! Once the satellite gets in the center, it will use an ineffective repetitive pattern. The bulky thing will just spin a full circle on and on [similar to a marry-go-round] WHILE its pesky laser beam is shooting out. It'll start with Keith so you can clearly see it heading your way as the satellite spins [anti-clockwise]. Just duck until it passes and continue shooting it all the way. Then repeat until this scene ends [it's pretty short actually]. EXPERTS NOTE: If you follow the previous experts note, you can get a streak of nearly 73 HITS when you perfectly dodge all the satellite's attacks!!! Oh and you'll have to shoot really fast too!
IMPORTANT SCORE NOTE: This scene greatly rewards you with lots of bonus points [similar to the first scene] as you continuously blast the satellite. Watch the text score on the top-left side of the screen as you shoot. First, you will see '+500'. This then increases by 500 everytime your streak hits around 10 hits - +500, +1000, +1500, +2000, +2500, +3000, +3500, +4000 etc. And here's the great part; you DON'T need to carefully keep your streak alive!! If you fowl up and it drops back to zero, the bonus points will STILL increase and be given to you!! So make a note and shoot the satellite many times to make the bonus points go way up. As mentioned, experts can get up to 73 hits in this scene!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FINAL SCENE This is where things are slightly more intense than the previous scenes so be fairly more careful here.
Both: Just like every beginning, the satellite first uses its missiles only that this time it fires a LOT MORE [probably 12] and at a faster speed! It's first target will be Keith so Robert can gladly shoot the satellite unharmed for the moment. For Keith, the missiles won't really burst out so quickly when you start they'll stall for at least one second so you have this short chance to also blast it before ducking under them. Try to get in 8 shots! After firing one whole barrage at Keith, the satellite's blasters will turn to shoot the same amount at Robert.
NOTE: You WON'T have a chance to start a long streak until the missiles literally stop bothering you. Since there are almost 12 being shot out, this forces you to stay down for about 3 long seconds. NOTE 2: If either one of you take too long to shoot the satellite sufficiently in the beginning, its blasters will turn over to shoot 12 more missiles at both of you AGAIN! Shooting it fast and more, actually lessens the danger. NOTE 3: Notice that Ernesto is back in this scene to keep appearing around the satellite. He still has a lousy aim so there's nothing to fear from his ratchet handgun. Try to get him every time when you see him for 1000 points each!! NOTE 4: The same bonus points as in earlier scenes [+500] will be given when you shoot the satellite around 10 hits. The bonus points increases on and on by 500 the more you shoot it! After the missiles stop bothering you [whether it's Keith or Robert], the satellite should then move away and then turn around very slowly. Shoot it a lot as it WON'T harm either of you during this time. For fun, you continuously shoot the blasters to blow them off!! When the satellite fully turns around, get ready for yet another fight with its laser beam! All it'll do now is keep shooting from left to right horizontally [or right to left], at a 90 degree angle. Since Keith and Robert are much closer to each other now, the laser can actually move from Keith to Robert [or vice versa] in more than 1 second! Technically, the laser's pattern is easy to pick up. It's just trying to dodge it that gets harder. Sometimes, the laser can trick players into thinking that it's going to hit them [as it moves closer to their position], when it actually isn't. So how do [or will] you tell the difference? Watch the laser's nozzle carefully; it will aim the beam a little higher and shoot fast if its not going to hit you. If it decides to be lethal, then the nozzle will aim very horizontal and move its laser a little SLOWER towards its targets. Truth is though, the tip here isn't quite useful; players with high timing skills won't lose their streak even if they duck under it. You'll still be marginally safe if you always duck whenever the beam is moving towards your place. After everytime it passes away from you, get out to shoot it and repeat this process until the satellite is finally wrecked hard. It should then move away from both of you [while turning around] use this next chance to continuously shoot it. From here, you have 2 choices: a.) Keep shooting the satellite all the way and the battle [as well as the whole game] is finally completed!! b.) Wait for the satellite to thoroughly turn around [you can blow off the laser's nozzle for fun]. You will then see Ernesto again. All he'll do now is just sit still and keep firing his handgun to Keith and Robert [one bullet for each of them] since his satellite is now demolished. The shocking part here is that Ernesto has got his 100% accuracy back; every bullet he fires will flash red!! Ernesto follows a fixed pattern where he will shoot Robert first, followed by Keith and repeat over again. Blast the 'ol geezer a few more times and you have finished Time Crisis II!! It's "Lift off!" for you Ernesto!! NOTE/WARNING: This final scene is specifically made to be time consuming. Glance at your timer just in case because it's likely for beginners to lose a life due to a TIME OVER!
CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU HAVE BEATEN TIME CRISIS II!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE NEW RANKING SYSTEM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Crisis II ranks your performance when you finish the game, just like how the first one did. Again, there have been a few modifications made. I feel this new system is a lot different because the first Time Crisis judged you on 5 important factors. This sequel only grades you on 3, which are your 'TOTAL' score, your 'TIME' taken and your overall 'ACCURACY'. Well I guess having too many [as in part 1] isn't so essential anyway. Common sense tells you that your score is the most important status of all. You don't need to work so hard on your 'TIME', but it will be shown with your score in the ranking chart. Naturally, if your score is high, your time should end up being just more than 15 minutes, which is quite alright. Accuracy now, is of no concern for you at all [?] since it doesn't affect your score in any way. Perhaps it's shown for 'just cause' reasons! Anyway, when you've seen your overall performance, the computer will allow you to enter your initials if your 'SCORE' total is higher than anyone in the ranking chart; that's very, very likely to happen! The ranking chart will display a total of 20 top scores who have finished the game. Er....but I doubt those who are above the 10th spot actually did that because their scores look so darn bad, they must have been inputted by the Namco developers just to fill up the gaps. Once you've entered your desired initials, you'll get to see those lovely 3 letters in the chart! When completed the first time, you're most likely to reach only the 6th spot. Trying to get above that, is another story in which REAL gamers will find very challenging. If your great score manages to reach anywhere from 5th to 1st place [or perhaps maybe above 1 million], the computer will automatically record it into its memory. Your initials, along with your 'SCORE' and 'TIME' will then REMAIN in the chart forever, until you're thoroughly pushed down [below 5th place] by some other gamers whose score is anywhere higher than yours! Oh and if you manage to finish the game without even continuing, the computer will add a little 'star' just after your 'SCORE' [regardless of which place you get in the chart] which informs viewers of your 'more' skillful performance. I really like this one! Trying all you can in either SOLO or LINKED MODE to beat the top spot [1st place] is one seriously tough ride! If you want to accomplish it in LINKED, then you must first succeed in SOLO MODE by attempting to reach somewhere close to 1,090,000 points! When that's done, you must then find one REALLY great partner/friend who is just as good as you and play intensively [together] to get a score as high as Everest! Personally, I feel that picking SOLO MODE and then testing all your wits in it is the true key to being a master in Time Crisis II. If it's a 2-Player game you're on, some bit of the best work could be done by your partner and not you. But in SOLO MODE, all the work is practically all done by you alone and that's where things feel much better!! But even when that's said, the challenge you'll get in whichever modes, is SO DARN HARD when you're trying to get a towering score! The best score I've seen so far in LINKED MODE is 1,623,420 and a killer 1,560,100 in SOLO MODE!!!!! Good luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GAINING MORE POINTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below are practically all the stuff required to help carve yourself an insane score! Remember reading through doesn't really mean you will instantly be victorious; of course some excessive practice is required. So keep play on and don't give up! A.) Apart from shooting all Yellow Soldiers, there are quite a few various other methods of earning yourself even more points throughout the game. The most important tool of all is to utilize your skills in creating/starting-up long streak shots with your gun. As you do this, try as much as you can to rapidly shoot soldiers directly in the head for more assuring points. But as discussed before, some enemies will instantly drop down flat to the ground when they suffer a specific shot somewhere on their foreheads. This totally cancels off your current streak and annoyingly forces you to restart back from scratch. This definitely explains why speed in squeezing the trigger very fast, is quite essential to be learned/practiced. Give it a try and you WILL notice the difference whenever you glance at the top-left side of the screen for the total score you have gained. The trend within Time Crisis II isn't the same as Virtua Cop you have to rapidly shoot enemies to pump up your score or you won't get anywhere!
B.) Remember that excessive [but also careful] timing is also a very good asset. You will have to of course find a good Time Crisis II machine to do this in order to create your high scores. Timing lets you continue a streak 'hit' so it won't be lost easily when incoming ammunition is heading your way.
C.) As hinted in the 'BASICS', you're able to gain high bonus points when using the machinegun. The computer will add up '+500' points to your score when your streak manages to go at 10 hits. Continue shooting and the bonus increases by 500 everytime you go above another 10 hits. Refer below for examples: 10 HITS - +500 20 HITS - +1000 30 HITS - +1500 40 HITS - +2000 50 HITS - +2500 60 HITS - +3000 70 HITS - +3500 80 HITS - +4000 etc. These points can be accumulated during battles with the 'Army Tank' or 'Battle Wagon' and your timing must be spot-on to avoid being hit as you boost the streak. This is hard but worth learning!
D.) Aside from machineguns, the game also harbors dozens of enemy soldiers who you can optionally shoot. Throughout Time Crisis II, you will certainly notice a number of regular soldiers [excluding Yellow Soldiers] running away or standing in certain areas for a spilt second. Look out for them and keep a note of their presence so you can create a strategy to try and get them into your list of targets. Part 1 had a similar feature, only that this sequel exploits on it much more.
E.) The question that many people have been inquiring about is how do you make the computer give a '+500' bonus [seen once in a while just below your score, text in orange] to you. In some cases, you can even accidentally get '+1000' or '+1500'. This was one of the most difficult mysteries for me to figure out. Fortunately, I found what might be 'some' of the answer to all this. You will get these bonus points if you manage to shoot an enemy who had just fired a RED bullet to your partner [whether a person or computer]. Based on the timing, the points will vary. But as bloody darn clear, this is one trick that you do NOT need to make a strategy on. Since it's so obviously impossible to predict when will your partner have a red bullet heading for him, it's wiser to just leave this lame trick out! Just stick to your practice in gaining a high streak and you WILL do really fine without it.
F.) After clearing any Area/Stage within the game, a screen pops-out showing your results for it, in terms of SCORE and TIME. You may notice that sometimes the computer rewards you with 'additional points' [which are seen just below the TIME status]. Those people who play this game with their eyes wide open will obviously wonder how do the 'additional points' work. As discussed in the 'THE BASICS' you get more points for finishing an AREA quickly. The faster, the better! There is actually a specific time that is set for every area. If the time you take exceeds it, NO bonus points will be gained! Using some form of calculation, the computer will reward you with even up to '+42,630' points! Yes that amount is possible and you'll have to go like lightning if you want it. However, I find this chore, yet another torture from NAMCO because not only does it increase your score, but also your pressure! Not only do you have to shoot lots of crazy soldiers in the head [to a high streak], but you have to perform your tactics pretty quick as well!! Bummer!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITIES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite that you have to go through hell in trying to get a killer streak, there are actually a lot of little tricks [stuffed in throughout the game] that gain you free points!! Try to get in all these and find out how much they add up to your old score!
#THE LITTLE GOODIES: This is where you will find a lot of little objects in the game can be destroyed for a little more points and tremendous fun! It's amazing how vandalism actually gets you something in Time Crisis II! - In Christy's room [1st scene of stage 1], you can shoot all the bottles on the shelf [left side of the screen] or her picture frames [center] to get 10 points each!
- At the beginning of Area 2 of Stage 1, there will be a number of barrels that will be thrown down towards you [they can instantly deplete your life if you're hit by anyone of them]. Each will be worth 100 points! Try to shoot for all of them.
- Any barrel you see lying around is worth 10 points each.
- Any glass window seen [including the telephone booths in Area 1 of Stage 1] is worth 10 points each.
#THE EXPLOSIVE OBJECTS: As many of you have already noticed, there are certain objects that can be shot/blown up to instantly kill all soldiers in the background and gain you massive points! There are a total of 3 objects throughout the game capable of doing all that.
STAGE 1 The Oil Tanker I'll bet a whole lot of people have already found this one! Anyway, in an early part of Area 1, both you and your partner will come across a truck loaded with an oil tank [there will be 2 cars parked in front of it]. Once you continuously blast the oil tanker, it blows up and kills all the soldiers around it and you'll get free 10,000 points for it. Beware though, as one car will come flying towards your face [due to the explosion] and hit you if you're not ducked [look and listen for "DANGER! DANGER!"].
STAGE 2 The Crane Platform This next explosive object, is located a few 'scenes' just after you destroy the 'Battle Wagon' in Area 1. It's is a moving platform controlled by a crane that has its metal connectors vulnerable to your bullets. If you shoot it enough, the whole platform will fall off and collapse on to the soldiers underneath it, while instantly killing those standing on it as well [a bonus of 10,000 points will be yours!]. The area you are suppose to shoot in order to drop it, varies from who's route you're on. If you're Robert, wait until you reach a scene [after the wagon is toasted] where there's a White Soldier in front of you [center]; he'll be signaling to call more soldiers after you. Now this is your queue to look up [top-left]! You should see the crane platform's metal connectors here. Shoot under it [it will flash white] to collapse the thing and make all the enemies there experience 'Armageddon'! For good 'ol Keith, wait until you see a bunch of soldiers standing on a moving crane platform 2 Blues and 1 White. Now shoot the iron block that has yellow and black stripes colored all over it. The thing flashes white as you shoot it which confirms you are hitting the right spot. While blasting it, be VERY ALERT as you'll USUALLY see a red flash from any of those 3 soldiers on the platform; sometimes, they can get lucky even as they're falling off it!
STAGE 2 The 2 Oil Drums Who would have thought the next object would be JUST AFTER the previous one!! When you've collapsed [or ignored] the crane platform earlier, both Keith and Robert will get to a scene where there are 2 black drums at a corner for Keith, it's to his left and through Robert's side, it's on his right. You can blast either of the 2 drums you see to explode them and give a living nightmare to the soldiers around there; you'll get 5000 points. However, not many people know that it's possible to explode BOTH drums and gain yourself a total of 10,000 points! Here's how. It only takes 3 shots to explode a single drum. Simply shoot one of them twice, and then shoot the opposite one 3 times. After that, in a speed of light, quickly fire your last shot on the drum that you previously only shot twice. Take it slow and easy no rush, but do blast off those soldiers that are aiming at you first!! When you've done this little trick correctly, you should see 2 '+5000's shown on screen. Rejoice baby! VERY STRANGE THING: Regardless of which player you are, these 2 drums can actually be used to change your route when you're doing this part in SOLO MODE!! If you blow up the left one, you'll take Keith's path in the next scene [start of Area 2] and the right drum will enable you to take Robert's when you destroy it. If you try to destroy BOTH drums, the route you'll take next is based on which drum blew up FIRST.
#GETTING 10,000 POINTS FREE FROM THE ROCKET CANNON [Stage 2]: In somewhere close to the END of Area 2, there will be a cannon on the train that fires a single, but very deadly rocket at you. You'll also see 2 dopey Yellow Soldiers sticking their heads out here. Now if you've played through here frequently, you may notice that sometimes you get '+10,000' for destroying the cannon, and sometimes you DON'T. Here's the solution to guarantee yourself that free score next time you come here [I had to find this one myself]. When the cannon first starts to rise up [the computer will say "DANGER! DANGER!"], there will be a White Soldier ON IT [aiming at Keith]. Shoot him, and start pounding the cannon. As you do it [while blasting the Blue Soldiers below it as well], you should then see 2 MORE soldiers later appearing ON THE CANNON AGAIN [2 Blue guys]. Now if you destroy the cannon, LEAVING either one or both of them still on it, you WILL get free 10,000 points!! These 2 Blue Soldiers though, are fairly accurate so beware. To know whether you have succeeded, a green text '+10,000' should be seen. If you KILL those 2 and then only destroy the cannon, you won't get the free points. This scene is pretty fun because with the presence of the 2 Yellow Soldiers here [don't worry, you WILL see them] you can even gain a total of 20,000 points here at least. The yellow goons here are hard to hit 3 times since their heads are only showing. It's tough, but getting either 10,000 [2 HITS] or 15,000 [3 HITS] is very assuring if you succeed! Try shooting really fast!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE HIDDEN YELLOW SOLDIERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are a total of 18 scary [only kidding!] Yellow Soldiers scattered throughout Time Crisis II [excluding the additional ones in SOLO MODE]. Most of them are visible to your lovely eyes, and you only need practice in getting them at the right time. However, not every one of them is seen with the naked eye. A few of them in Stage 2, are sort of hidden, but can be drawn out using certain maneuvers [just like catching fish!]. This isn't much really. When I say 'a few', I'm talking just 3!! Of course, this is compulsory to be taken if you want to really beat the top scorer or something. Read on to find these missing 'bonusmen'!
#THE FIRST and SECOND: Location: At the very start of Area 2 Can Be Found On: Either Keith or Robert's side
This scene is really 'packed' with lots of soldiers. Though there aren't any Red guys or Knifemen, a quarter of the whole bunch here can be very accurate at times. To make the 2 Yellow Soldiers here to come out, you must shoot 2 Blue Soldiers [depending on the time] on EACH far side. Before these blue baddies show up, you must first gun down a nasty batch in the beginning. When all starts, a total 5 soldiers will be seen up ahead; 4 Blue guys with 1 White Soldier [this guy will yell "Go!"] in the middle of them. Two on the right will be aiming for Robert, while the rest are after Keith. Blast them all as fast as you can and then get ready to snipe off 2 more soldiers [side by side] on the 'TOP-RIGHT' of the screen. The Blue one will shoot Keith whereas the White guy goes for Robert. After those 2 appear, there should be a crouching Blue Soldier on the ground [left side] and another one to the far right. If you happen to shoot any of them, a SECOND Blue Soldier will pop-out just BEHIND them. Once you nail any of these guys, only then the Yellow Soldiers [for the specific corner] decide to show up. When you shoot both Blue Soldiers on the LEFT, then the Yellow Soldier for that side will be seen sticking his head out of the train [right window]. Fortunately, he'll stay out until this scene finishes! Supposing you shoot both Blue Soldiers on the RIGHT side, the yellow guy there will appear behind one of the control panels [just on the left of the 2 Blue Soldiers there]. Unlike his opposite pal, he won't stay out long so nail him when you see him.
NOTE: In truth, shooting ALL the Blue guys for either corners, isn't a-must. The first one can actually be ignored they'll simply move away and never return, allowing the second guy behind them to show up.
Technically speaking, it's very hard to try and get both Yellow Soldiers here due to a few complicated obstacles. For those of you who have been through here, you should know that only a limited amount of time is given? You have just over 10 seconds for this scene to shoot nearly all soldiers to draw out the yellow guys! So don't be shocked if your heroes suddenly run off without actually clearing this scene. I guess catching the train is more urgent. Also, remember those 2 soldiers [Blue and White] I mentioned up on the TOP-RIGHT side? After a while they appear [whether or not you shoot them both], the train's back door [just ahead of you], will bust open to reveal a Machine Gunner. This guy will start firing on the ground [don't know why] and slowly aim up. When he does, only then his machinegun gets deadly. You'll have to save him for last [optional] because you need all the bullets and time here to shoot all the soldiers before drawing out those 'bonusmen'. If let's say you leave him unharmed, he will return INSIDE the train in the next scene as an additional enemy; try it out if you don't believe me.
LITTLE TIP: If you've read my info in 'GAINING MORE POINTS', you'll be aware that I mentioned Time Crisis II is really loaded with soldiers who can optionally be shot to get more points [excluding yellow guys]. Well, there are some in this scene, but it's almost impossible to see them unless you really keep your eyes opened at all times. This can only be done through Robert's perspective. When the Machine Gunner busts open the door of the train, this is your queue to get ready! You should know there are actually 2 trains in sight for this scene. The one you and Keith will run after is the middle. Now take a look at the one on the right and try to look waaaaaaaaaaay up ahead. You will see a Machine Gunner [another one] up on the train with one White Soldier just below him. You can hardly see them completely, but you'll know they're there! Want proof of their existence? Ok no problem! When Keith and Robert run to catch the train after this scene, watch the right side as they do. There should be a Machine Gunner seen spraying his machinegun as you 2 run. Look below him and there will also be a White Soldier seen trying to hide behind a tanker [I think he's the one who says "GO!"]. It's gonna be really tight to try and include them into your shooting since you'll be occupied with the yellow twerps instead. =========================================================================================
#THE LAST: Location: When Keith must dodge the railway poles. Can Be Found On: ONLY at Keith's side.
This one is at least much easier to explain than the one above. As Keith, remember when you have to dodge the annoying railway poles when inside the train? This is the scene where you can unlock a hidden Yellow Soldier! In case you may not know, there will be a single enemy up on the OPPOSITE train, just before the pole is about to hit you on the 2nd and 3rd time. Remember where there's a Machine Gunner who you must shoot [firing at you from the other train]? That's the place you must look at. All you have to do is shoot either the Machine Gunner or White Soldier seen up there, just BEFORE the pole swings past you. If you screw up with the Machine Gunner, don't worry. You'll have one last chance with the White Soldier up there when you have to dodge the railway pole the 3rd time. Overall, either one will do! If done correctly, wait until you have to shoot one little Blue guy UP on your train [he'll be far away]. The Yellow Soldier should be seen just after you shoot the blue guy. Oddly, this guy normally gives you only 10,500 points almost regardless of how or where you nail him!
NOTE: You should know that you're given a specific amount of time to get through this scene! That means you must shoot all the normal soldiers fast if you want to get the Yellow guy at the end. Supposing you're too slow, don't be shocked if Keith suddenly turns his head away to face Robert [this is when "WAIT" comes] and ignore the rest of the enemies; even though you did the method correctly.
MINOR NOTE: The pole, which Keith has to always dodge, is actually called a 'mast'. But since the 'pole' sounds easier to understand, I decided to leave out the proper word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BONUS ROUTES IN SOLO MODE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As you probably have heard in some sections throughout my guide, SOLO MODE has 3 secret/hidden routes that can be accessed only through certain ways. If you play this mode normally, there will come a time where you may see some Yellow Soldiers present in a little area, but you WON'T get to them. Obviously, it's something to make us go nuts about. In this section, I'll reveal all the routes! Supposing you get into any of them, you'll notice that some of the soldiers seen regularly in LINKED MODE are now replaced by pricey Yellow guys! If you're striving for a "monumental" score in this mode, then you'll have to enter all 3 routes to help boost yourself. Only then could you get a better chance of gaining close to over 1,500,000!! But remember though, entering all routes doesn't mean you're likely to even get close to 1,100,000 points! You must first practice in shooting lots of soldiers in the heads with one LONG streak and getting even more points through various ways [refer to 'BONUS POINT OPPORTUNITIES'] available. Ok enough of this so-called discouragement. Here are the methods everyone!! TIP: Ok now if you just want a score of over 1 million [if that satisfies you], entering all 3 bonus routes isn't a must in SOLO MODE. Great experts can actually get well OVER 1 million without going into any of them!! Yes this is true.
GETTING IN Your objective is simple, but fairly hard to perfect and requires lots of great accuracy. From the beginning of Area 2 and ALL THE WAY from that point onwards, you must shoot Jacob Kinisky directly in his head to make his hat fly into the air [which amusingly reveals his bald head!!]. You must do this EVERY single time he shows himself. Fail just once, and you won't enter the secret route! If you don't see the hat bounce off his head, then this means you've already fowled up. At some points, Jacob will appear at far distances, making things difficult to get a good shot for his head. To give yourself better chances of success, take Robert's path [shoot the last Dark Orange Soldier on your right just before Area 1 ends] because he'll end up in better locations where you can nail Jacob's head much easier compared to Keith's route. But like all things, there is a little downside to this. The closer Jacob is to you, the more chances he has to get red flashes! You'll just have to steady your aim, fire and duck if he happens to shoot out a red bullet. To ensure you really get his hat off, I suggest you fire a blind shot just somewhere above Jacob's head. This is to get a rough estimate as to where would your shot appear on screen before you really aim for his head. This is very useful when Jacob's standing far ahead of you. Now for those who want even more points, check this! In both game modes, you can STILL shoot Jacob as he runs off for 100 points a pop. Those of you who have already noticed that little trick, may wonder "Is it ok if I still shoot Jacob for more points AFTER I've successfully shot his hat off?" After some research, I'm glad to say that; "YES IT'S OK!" As long as you got Jacob's hat off, you can continue blasting him as he runs [any part of his body] and STILL have access to the hidden route!
WHAT'S IN IT When all your hard work is successful, you can now jump for joy as you enter a route containing ONLY a pack of 9 Yellow Soldiers!! As what I would say; "Come to papa!" This place is actually where Keith would go to BEFORE he joins Robert in the Army Tank battle. If you shoot these Yellow punks with just 3 regular shots, you may be shocked to find that stripping each one of 15,000 points is actually a piece of cake! Ok now are there ANY dangers at all here I should warn you about? Well firstly, I have to say that this route can be very deceiving. Inspite of the fact that only Yellow Soldiers are present, ALL of them will actually try to shoot you. And guess what? Some can actually be accurate!!! I had no knowledge of this until one of these creeps shot me real bad! Take note of this and treat these guys as regular Blue Soldiers or you'll end up in a similar situation as I did! =========================================================================================
STAGE 2's ROUTE:
GETTING IN Generally, this is one route that a lot of players are most likely to find! When you get INSIDE the runaway train in Area 2, wait for the part where Buff Bryant shoots the windows off the train you're in, with his chaingun [this will happen in a brief scene]. You'll then automatically walk towards them and look out. When you do, [after hearing "ACTION!"] 2 Yellow Soldiers on the opposite train will pass through from right to left. To get in to Stage 2's secret route, you must shoot BOTH of these guys. Getting the second Yellow Soldier is easy but the first one is frustratingly hard! Due to the train's speed, he'll pass through very quickly so I suggest you rapid fire [when the second guy comes by, the train will slow down a little]. The route you're on for this part is very important because if you're on Robert's side, then your chances on nailing the first Yellow Soldier will be even LESS. This is because Robert will stand on a slightly further location, away from Keith. When he sticks his head up ["ACTION!"], you'll see the yellow guy ALREADY to the far left side of the screen, away from him! You'll only get a split second here so I don't recommend doing this thing through Robert's side. If you're on Keith's, then you could have a slightly better chance of success. Unlike Robert, Keith will see the first Yellow Soldier only on the right side of the screen [he'll pass from right to left] when he sticks his head up. My best advice for you here is to rapid fire all the way across the screen as the fellow passes through. When that tough part is over, you can carry on shooting for the second yellow dud when he comes by. DON'T shoot for their heads or legs; they're too narrow to get a direct hit. Aim for their BODIES since they have a much wider hit-area!
WHAT'S IN IT After going through a tough part successfully, you can now enjoy the sheer pride of shooting more Yellow suckers! If you remember correctly, this is actually one of Robert's insane routes when playing LINKED MODE! As commonly noticed for a style in Time Crisis II, things get tougher as you move on. That goes the same for the secret routes as well! Unlike the first one, this next route is loaded with some pretty darn good sharp shooters, including 3 Red Soldiers and a nasty Knifeman! These buggers along with some Blue Soldiers, will tend to mess around as you try to shoot for those tasty Yellow Soldiers. Sorry, but you'll have to take care and memorize the appearance of every soldier you see here. This is needed so you'll know exactly when those pesky Red Soldiers will show up! Oh yeah and that Knifeman too! Alright, let's get started! As you stick your head out, you'll see a nice tasty Yellow Soldier on the left. Shoot him and one more on the right will appear. When you get the fellow, watch out for one highly accurate Red Soldier popping-out above the screen. If you play through this route frequently in LINKED MODE, you may notice that this red guy appears much quicker when in this secret route. After disposing him, one more Yellow Soldier on the right will rise up. Boost your score by doing you know what, and another one will show up on the left side. Next one more Yellow guy will be in front of you. Like all the rest, he'll try to shoot you, but is of course too slow. Wipe him out and 3 regular soldiers will now reveal themselves. They'll start to appear in a certain order; right [Blue Soldier], left [Blue Soldier] and right [RED Soldier!]. All 3 can really be a pain especially the red guy. Take care and pound them each with lead. Now, you must assist your computer partner who is now on the opposite train. Look over there for a Blue Soldier [inside one of the train's opened doors] who is busy shooting your good partner. Shoot him off, but DON'T move your aim away from where he is because a very fast Red Soldier will instantly pop- out from that exact SAME spot to shoot you dead-on! Try rapid firing so he'll move right into your bullets when he shows up! But there is yet another danger. As soon as that Red Soldier tries to pop-out, a sneaky yet nasty Knifeman [appearing IN FRONT of your face] will try and surprise you with his trusty blade. This will happen almost simultaneously which makes this part feel more like an ambush than an attack. These 2 are definitely one deadly team! It's really possible for you to shoot both the Red Soldier and Knifeman here [he'll disappear when he swings his blade only once], but you'll need some practice. When that's over, one more Red Soldier will appear on the train YOU'RE ON. Luckily, he'll be shooting only your partner. Once you nail him, get ready to quickly blast one Yellow Soldier appearing from INSIDE the opened door on the OPPOSITE train!! The hard part here is that the train's door will shut tight when you spot him, meaning that you have to be FAST in shooting the Yellow guy before it fully closes. Now, all you have to do is just look up at the other train for 2 more friendly Yellow Soldiers, walking on top of it. Once they're gone, the route here is now completed! =========================================================================================
STAGE 3's ROUTE:
GETTING IN The key to gaining access to this final route is through shooting Wild Dog when he first appears in Area 1. Your job is to continuously blast him for as long as he stays on screen before going back to hide [that means LOTS of ammo!]. When he pops-out again, repeat the process. You are to do this EVERY time he comes out and keep it up for 2 straight scenes! Fail to do it just once and you won't get those priceless Yellow Soldiers. Shooting him with just 2 or 3 bullets also doesn't get you them, so you need lots of practice to know exactly when he pops-out so you can constantly pummel him with lead. This isn't quite as simple as it may sound even to those players who are experienced. Don't forget you also have got those crazy soldiers [during this battle] to take care of. Anytime at all, they can fowl up your plans if you're careless which makes things a little frustrating. The difficulty of acquiring this bonus path is also based on who's route you're on. After research of playing, I found that Keith is definitely a lot easier than Robert's! But here's the sad yet unfortunate thing; if you want to enter ALL 3 secret routes and get yourself a killer score, you must succeed in getting this route ONLY through Robert's side! You see, if you enter Stage 2's secret route, then you will automatically be switched to Robert's side. And from that point onwards, you CAN'T change your route all the way up until you meet Wild Dog in Stage 3! Oh well anyway, nothing's really easy in Time Crisis anyhow. Things only get very simple once you practice sufficiently. You know what they say, "Practice makes perfection!" NOTE: You'll know whether or not you get the Yellow Soldiers only when you come to the last scene of Area 1 [where both Keith and Robert corner Wild Dog]. Incidentally, they'll replace the Gray Soldiers who normally join up with Wild Dog here.
Below, are suggested guides [for Keith and Robert] on how to enter this route. It's not a must for you to follow them, since there's always more than one way of doing it, but if you don't like planning, you might as well use these.
Keith: Since Keith will be quite safe here, you don't have to shoot Wild Dog directly in the beginning. When you come out, shoot the Missile Soldier up on the left [who's aiming at you] and then do the same for the opposite one on the right. Now aim down to the left and shoot one Blue Soldier running forward [shooting Robert]. When he's gone, another Blue guy appears at the right, also trying to shoot Robert. Now that all is clear below, you can finally aim up the platform to shoot Wild Dog. Rapidly shoot him ALL THE WAY! Next, is that he should now jump down and 3 Soldiers can now be seen up there. There should be 2 Dark Orange Soldiers. I advise you to shoot the left one to take Keith's route. This is because you're able to boost your score easily and the soldiers there will only attack one by one. So gun down the 3 soldiers up on the platform from left to right. Sorry, but you should only use one bullet for each of them and it has to be done quickly. You see, the point is to shoot Wild Dog for as long as he stays on screen. When he jumps down, he'll be seen running away so you have to quickly shoot off those 3 soldiers to have more time in pounding Wild Dog with lots of bullets. The reason why you should do this is because they may interfere or disrupt your firing; 2 of them will be aiming at you. Continue shooting Wild Dog as he runs away and don't stop. When he stops to turn around and shoot you, pound him all the way regardless. Aim for either his head or chest to stun him earlier; anywhere else may take longer. When you do, he'll go hide behind a pillar. Wait, and he should move out once more to shoot. Do the same to him; he should be easily stunned this time. Next is that he'll now run away; shoot him here again [Scene 1 now finishes]. From this point on, refer back to my 'THE BOSSES' section to know when and where Wild Dog pops-out around the pillars in the next scene.
Robert: I've mentioned this before and I'll say it again; this route is HARD! Robert will often be the prime target here so watch yourself REAL close. Remember that Wild Dog's first victim to shoot at, is you; he'll fire straightaway when this battle starts! Also, the Missile Soldier next to him also adds up the worries. Because of his super-accuracy, you can't start off by shooting Wild Dog. This complicates some things and you're forced to instead go for the Missileman first. By the time you're done with him [even when using just one bullet], Wild Dog's already shooting his gatling gun right in your face like a spray-can. All I can advice is to bare with it, practice and it WILL get easier. Now let's start. First, shoot off both Missile Soldiers at the top, starting with the one on the right [who's aiming at you]. Now DUCK fast because when you're done [do NOT rapid fire on the Missileguys], Wild Dog should already have a couple of red bullets heading your way!
NOTE: Remember me saying that you must rapidly shoot Wild Dog everytime he comes? Well fortunately at the beginning, you have 2 chances to shoot him correctly. In this guide, you're instructed to only shoot him on the second try. Screw up, and that's it!
When you come out hiding, ignore Wild Dog and instead aim down to quickly shoot the Blue Soldier on the left [aiming at you]. This guy [who will be rapid firing his gun like crazy] is VERY dangerous because he usually gets so lucky. There are times where he can shoot out 3 red bullets at once! As a result, it's very, very possible to see him having a red flash just as you come out from hiding; which forces you to immediately duck back again! Grrrr! While in some other weird cases, he isn't too accurate either. You'll just have to hope he doesn't have any surprises when you come out of your hiding; it's clearly at random! Anyway, shoot him and then get ready for one more Blue bugger [aiming at you also!] appearing from the right corner. Use only one bullet for him and then aim up to quickly [and finally] rapid fire on Wild Dog [shoot him all the way]; he should now be trying to spray Keith with his gatling gun bullets [which makes you safe here].
NOTE: If you fail to rapidly shoot Wild Dog at this moment here, then there will NOT be anymore chances! After this, he should then automatically jump off the platform [which throws away your opportunity instantly of acquiring the Yellow Soldiers].
When Wild Dog jumps off [whether or not you shoot him], get ready [and I MEAN ready!!] to shoot one meddling Knifeman who will step right in front [at lightning speed!] to cut your face. Afterwards, aim up [you're gonna have to do this part extremely quick] and nail either of the Dark Orange Soldiers on top of the platform. I highly recommend you shoot the left guy who sends you to Keith's route [which is easier]. When you're done 'selecting your route', shoot down the opposite guy; ignore the Gray Soldier in the middle of them because he'll be aiming for Keith. Go back and continue shooting Wild Dog ALL the way as he runs. He should then turn around and fire at Keith; don't stop. When you've hurt him enough, Wild Dog hides behind a pillar. Only this is the time to shoot of the Gray Soldier! When he's shot, Wild Dog reappears at the pillar to fire. Continue firing and he should hide back. Then he'll be seen running away shoot as he does! Now you'll move on to the next scene. From here, refer to 'THE BOSSES' regarding Wild Dog's battle in the 'Second Scene' to know his precise appearances around the pillars. When you do all this correctly, those Yellow Soldiers should appear in the 'Final Scene' with Wild Dog; they will replace the regular Gray Soldiers.
WHAT'S IN IT There will be 5 'ultra-harmless' Yellow Soldier. Be sure you get them all 3 times as you avoid Wild Dog's attacks. Strangely, it's almost impossible to get a full 15,000 from any of them [although they're VERY close to you]. Well I guess 6000 from each [5000 + 500 + 500] is good enough! All I can suggest here is try to shoot them on different body areas quickly head, body and legs for example. Another strange thing is that if you succeed in reaching this secret route through ROBERT'S side, Wild Dog's gatling gun accuracy will be very BAD!! Those of you who frequently reach here may have already noticed this!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY THOUGHTS ON THE GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I first heard of Time Crisis II's existence, it instantly got my soul!! After playing it for such a very long time, I'm confident enough to call it the BEST gun game by far! With the new system 23 technology, the ultimate revolutionary 2 player mode and intense gameplay, Time Crisis II convincingly proves itself very worthy to surpass even the first. The new scoring system is a very impressive addition to its series and adds a lot of strategy [and fun] to the gameplay and the ability to now use a different weapon is definitely a welcomed upgrade! The graphics are extremely gorgeous and many times spectacular than ever. At first, they may seem to move very similar to part 1, but after constant playing, one is sure to notice that more enemies can now be placed on screen. Also, there's now a tremendous amount of detail in every background you see. For your adversaries, not only do they look more realistic, but they seem to behave very lifelike in many ways. For instance, you can now see some soldiers reload their guns in the middle of a battle. If you happen to shoot anyone of them in the leg, watch them hop like frogs! I especially like their cool poses when some of them are attacking you; just watch how they stand! In some battles, the way how the backgrounds move could just blow you away! The boat chase in Stage 1 for example, is definitely an experience I'll never forget in a gun game! When on the train [Stage 2], the entire area constantly moves around as you play, giving it yet another exhilarating ride which wasn't very possible in part 1. On its negative points, Time Crisis II is in fact not entirely perfect; I do have a few minor gripes on this game. For a start, Time Crisis II feels much EASIER than part 1. I say this because half of the bosses aren't very challenging in comparison, the timer is now very lenient and that the game's completion is simple if intensive cooperation between both players is made [when playing in LINKED MODE]. Time Crisis 1 really gave the player a sense of intensity and sort of like a crisis on his hands because you're forced to fight not only for your lives, but also for time. Too sloppy, you lose. Too slow, you also lose! Of course, this sounds hard but part of Time Crisis' trademark, was its difficulty that required skill and patients to beat. This naturally made it feel very different, and not just another simple walk in the park like in other games of its kind. Thank goodness for this sequel, Namco still took it seriously but just made it different a little. I guess they figure it's not likely for every player to be so good nor familiar with Time Crisis' style since it uses a pedal and various things that aren't common in other gun games. The 2 player mode would have been crippled if one player dies too quickly, leaving the joy of teamwork not being noticed by many. This is just my theory as to why Namco made the timer different, in a way so most players can now keep up, at least easier than part 1. Another thing I would like to point out is that the game's story isn't quite as menacing as the first. Although the plot sounds more interesting [the world now at stake], there are several elements that prevent it from feeling like a real movie. Some spoken lines from the intro seemed rather cheesy. When Keith and Robert said "Heah right!" and "I don't think so.", it got on my nerves. At the end of it, Christy Ryan says some screwy lines that sound very much like only what a child would say "Your project is going down in flames. They'll be here soon." I think the worst line of all is "No one can beat them" [Stage 1's first cut-scene] which sounds too ridiculous. Some of you may think my expectation on this thing is too high, but if you REALLY know Time Crisis, then you will know that part 1 is more serious in the events than how part 2 puts them. Its sequel may have a more involving story, but the way how part 1 elaborates its own is where things are better. Scenes like where Sherudo throws his daggers to shut up someone, Wild Dog shooting a person in the back and how Richard runs in a heroic manner, all make the first Time Crisis feel more solid and realistic.
MYSTERY: The voice actor for Sherudo Garo is someone named Michael G. For some who have already finished a Playstation game called 'SILENT HILL', you may notice that the main character Harry Mason is also voiced by a person of the same name [check end credits]! Could there be a resemblance?
Oh and another thing; Keith, Robert and Ernesto don't seem to run correctly as they're suppose to. Just watch how our heroes try to run off the falling train and when Ernesto takes off in a slow motion sequence after he throws Christy off the ledge. Somehow, Namco were able to make Richard and some characters run more realistically in part 1. Haven't got a clue as to why they didn't do the same for this one, despite that it uses better graphics. Oh well, not everything's perfect anyway. Keith and Robert are formidable heroes but they somehow don't match up to Richard Miller's standards although the 2 of them are capable of speaking. When compared, Richard just seems to have more qualities that are courageous than Keith and Robert even though he never says a word. His entrance during the intro also seems much cooler than them! Remember? "It's time for the one man army!". I do hope all 3 of them will be together someday in another sequel! Well, inspite of all my little dislikes, Time Crisis II still just has to be placed above part 1 because it's more versatile. Usually, what makes a truly enjoyable gun game is the presence of a 2 player simultaneous mode. Part 2 really did that job this time [something the first game was missing] and surprisingly way ahead of how the others do theirs! The most important thing of all is that Time Crisis II still feels like 'Time Crisis' [minus the fact that the timer is now lenient] and that's what really matters! What impressed me a lot was that Namco were able to make their new SCORING SYSTEM have an extreme lastability that's just as challenging and addictive as the first game. Having the 'time' challenge now changed to scores as the main basis does feel a bit off at first [since the game IS called Time Crisis]. But it all later ends up feeling quite as bloody darn challenging as part 1; there's yet another bunch of top scorers to beat in the ranking chart! Adding in several secret methods and all sorts of cool tricks to help work your way up, Namco have really given us more crazy challenges to suck up!! Overall, Time Crisis II now reigns supreme!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THANKS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- To NAMCO for making this sequel truly outstanding!!
- GameFaqs of course! Without them, almost no one could contribute their invaluable guides.
- My pal Tommy Leong for his assistance to me in writing down the streak hits. And for telling me that Wild Dog has returned!
