N-Philes

If there were one title I hesitate to recommend the most, it would have to be Product Number 03. The game is one of those rare instances of what works and what doesn't; a true example of a love-hate situation. I've never seen a title so black and white with its reception, with absolutely no middle ground or gray area to settle in. So it's important to get a clear understanding of what this game has to offer, and whether it would suit your tastes. Throw away any preconceptions you have of the game, good or bad it doesn't matter, because the truth is it won't make a lick of difference when you try it out for yourself.


I actually unknowingly performed an experiment between two of my friends when I showed them P.N.03. On the first day I showed my first friend the title, and after some time to catch the controls he quickly came to understand the nuances of this action game. He was dodging bullets with ease, strafing left and right, crouching under fire, and retaliating with a barrage of laser bolts of his own. Soon enough he was intent on completing areas quickly and efficiently, and doing so in style. The gameplay was simplistic yet engrossing, with lots of action in each room you completed. After he beat the first stage, he also had some flamboyant comments regarding Vanessa Schneider, the protagonist whose suit looks as if it were painted on her bare skin. He agreed with me on all the points I considered ‘thumbs up'. On the other hand, the next day I displayed the game to my second friend, and the opposite reactions could not have been more polar. He was unimpressed with the gameplay, finding it too shallow and tedious, with the repetition of going through room to room and blasting the same enemies wearing on him. Worst of all, my now ex-friend scoffed at Vanessa's innocence-corrupting motions. By the end of the first few areas he had already had enough. To me these reactions were remarkable, with both friends given the same game under the same circumstances, but leaving their tastes in two different rooms.

I can understand the problems people have with P.N.03 though. The controls feel a little sluggish when you start out, and the control scheme for Vanessa wasn't made for third-person perspective gaming in mind. The movement is similar to Onimusha, except with the camera stuck rigidly behind you, which leads to headaches if you don't grow accustomed quickly. The first area is also absolutely hairy butt-ugly, with blurry textures and bare terrains. If you can get passed that first impression though, the interior complex is much cleaner and closer to what you expect from the GameCube. The problem is most people fail to get beyond this. First impressions are indeed the most important, and once they get caught in your head they're difficult to get out.


It's also important to understand exactly which tastes this game caters to. If there was one chief difference between how my two friends reacted, it was the way they decided to play the game. Both understood that the mechanics involve going through room after room, with the option of only dodging, rolling, shooting, and performing a special move as abilities at your disposal. All of that sounds bad, and my skeptical friend rightfully took it for face value. My other pal and I, both of whom enjoyed the game, did so by thoroughly understanding what we were playing, recognizing that there existed tedium as well as challenging gameplay and elements of style. We tried to complete rooms without taking damage, and as fast as possible to garner the highest combo score. We're the kind of players that take on the time trials or compete against the highest scores in video games. If you're looking for gameplay that will immerse you from start to finish with fresh ideas and new concepts at every corner, than P.N.03 is definitely not for you.

Make sure not to take what I say too literally. A game where you go from room to room, performing the same things doesn't sound too enticing, but in reality most games are like that. What differentiates P.N.03 from something like versus fighters or racing titles? Neither of those have strong points in game progression, so we certainly should not expect it from P.N.03. They're not novel ideas and they're tedious, but people still have a lot of fun playing them regardless, and in my opinion P.N.03 fits into that category perfectly. Many have said that Product Number 03 is akin to those top-down shooters like Ikaruga. That's actually a very fair comparison. Those games revolve around shooting down swarms of enemies, dodging gunfire and upgrading your ship. P.N.03 is the same thing: shoot down machines, dodge enemy fire, and upgrade your Aegis suit, all the while looking real good doing so. The only difference is that P.N.03 takes place in an entirely new perspective, and perhaps you could even call it innovative for doing so.


People were just anticipating something entirely different when P.N.03 was released. It was never touted as a game with an immerse story, it just looks like one. No one said this was going to an adventurous, deep game, but people expected something along the lines of Onimusha or Resident Evil, not because that's what it promised but because that's what it could have been. Perhaps the fact that Shinji Mikami's name (creator of Resident Evil and Devil May Cry) was plastered all throughout development helped to raise expectations and diminish appreciation. Don't be fooled, if you're interested in this game then go for it with a full understanding of what it offers. You can only get it cheap nowadays, so the question you have to ask yourself is whether or not $15 is worth the 50/50 chance. It's quite a gamble that I happened to win, so let's hope you do to.