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Do Not Buy This Game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 18
Date: November 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was excited to see this game in the store... I kept chanting "up up down down left right left right B A select start" right until I got it in the console.

I returned it 12 hours later.

This qualifies as one of the worst games I've ever played. The first thing you feel when you play it is frustration as you die immediately. It's so incredibly hard that you have to play each level an ungodly amount of times in a row. Because of this, you end up memorizing each move of every character and realize that there is no variety or randomness in what happens. None. So once you've died enough to memorize a level and the patterns of each object, it becomes quite easy, and rather boring. Once you've played it enough, you go through the whole game in about an hour. With no variation. Ever.

So why would you get this game? The people who wrote the other reviews must be die-hard contra fans (which I USED to be), because the only slight redeeming quality of this game is the graphics. The intermediate scenes are sometimes kinda cool. But even this isn't perfect, because they feel dated (like old technology).

So save yourself the money and rent this game. In one day you'll either go nuts with frustration and stop playing immediately, or persevere, beat it soon after, and see everything there is to see.

...

This game is so BAD

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 29
Date: October 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was one of the worst I've ever played. The graphics are decent, but they just can't match the old Contra from the NES. The day that they realize this, and stop making stupid games like this one, the better.

Laughable

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 10
Date: May 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As a previous reviewer said "GARBAGE" This game lacks everything but most of all originality. ZERO stars!

Shattered remake, HUGE disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 14
Date: October 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I hate to review lame games. I feel I have to WARN all contras fan about this hoax. Im a fan of old contras games. I played a lot of contras in the arcades and at home on SNES. I was excited about this "modern" contra and many reviews said its good so I got it. THIS GAME IS HORRIBLE!!! The graphic is totally UNACCEPTABLE, below PS ONE standard. Many PS one games have way better graphics than this junk. The graphic totally lacks detail, konami didn't put any effort into this game. Im not joking, the graphic is WORST I've seen for PS2. I don't think they made the ending in 30 minutes, they made the whole friggin game in 30 minutes.

You have access to 4 stages and you can unlock couple more. The stage design is lame. First stage you run, second you ride a bike, third you fly, fourth you run again. The flying missle stage is lame, the character becomes super tiny and the gameplay is totally UN-CONTRA. Again the graphics(character, weapon fire effects, enemies, and explosions)is very coarse and HORRIBLE. Although the 3-D graphic looks more real than old 2-D cartoon graphics, its not by any means better! AH I remember more now, the graphic of shattered soldier is even worse than SNES! PS ONE Metal Slug game has 10000 times better graphic than shattered soldier.

The sound is decent and the control is solid but you won't care believe me. GAMEPLAY: The stage design is lame, you feel like you are "forced" into the situation. In old contra games you feel like you are "invading". In shattered soldier you'll feel like you are "defending." Therefore the gameplay is totally lame. The "big picture" of the gameplay is totally UN-CONTRA. The graphic and gameplay is horrible, so don't even worry about the music and control, because this game is just plain lame. THIS GAME IS NOT FUN! Anyone who thinks this contra is awesome should check himself into a mental hopital. People who think this game is awesome never played older contras.

If you want a real contra game, buy contra advance for the GBA. Shattered soldier is THE WORST CONTRA EVER. YOU BEEN WARNED! GOD this game socks big time! Shattered Soldier really really really socks. If you want a real 2-D old school shooter platform, I recommend PS1 Metal Slug X and the upcoming PS2 Metal Slug 3. God enough of this pathetic game, I feel disgusting now, let me go throw up. Hey I can use shattered solider's box as a barf tray, this game actually has a function! Use the actual game disc and the manual to clean up.

Contra: Shattered Soldier

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 12
Date: December 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was somewhat disappointed when I bought this game. After hearing that this was one of the more difficult games for PS2, I expected a very fast, exciting, and well developed game. Contra is not that kind of game. If I wanted a 2D game, I could have gotten a SNES game. The only movements you can make are forward, back, jump, crouch. What a waste of PS2's graphic power. The gameplay is anything but entertaining. Basically, you play the mission until you come to something you have never seen before. It kills you. You restart the mission and kill it. This cycle goes on for the rest of the mission.

Is the new Contra no fun, or did I just grow up?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 14
Date: April 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I was addicted to Contra as a kid. On the old NES, there was hardly a better game, and I spend hundreds of hours on each one, fighting, shooting, blowing stuff up. I was so excited for this one I could hardly stand it, and I didn't care if it was 2-D. In fact, I WANTED the game to be exactly the same as the old ones. I bought the game, put it in, and started to play.

Then I got bored. Fast. I couldn't believe it. I played for about 20 minutes and couldn't take it anymore. I shot some stuff, but it just wasn't fun. One of two things happened. Either this game is horrible compared to the old games, or I just plain grew out of Contra. I hope it's the former.

This game is hard, but in a frustrating way. I don't recommend buying this game--rent it once and you will be sick of it before it's due back, even if you're a die-hard Contra fan.

Shattered?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: December 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Contra Shattered Soldier features somewhat interesting graphics, the lighting and color is good, but character detail is just a tad watered down and tiny. Standard gun blasts and explosions round out the sound effects, the hard metal music isn't done too well (a more ambient or industrial rock track, or orchestral music would have been more well suited), easy controls, are a plus here, but just not the replay factor. With all that said, this is probably going to be one of the better 2D games you'll see on any of the current console platforms. But that is where this also falls short, 2D games are great, for retro collections, or even for original content, but in this case a Konami greatest hits would have been much more fun, with all the Contras, Castlevanias, etc. This game would have benefited from an upgrade to 3D, like Capcom's Maximo for PS2, or like Nintendo's Metroid Prime, for the GameCube. Contra collectors should pick this title up, but don't expect much. For casual gamers, who want a buttton hitting, shoot-em-up frenzy that's different, try GunGrave for the PS2.

Konami is bored with 2D and it shows

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 8
Date: August 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a 2D game with some 3D elements. To me the graphics didn't look all that great. Nearly all explosions look about the same. The backgrounds are uninspired. The music is appropriate but very simplistic and dull.

What's far worse, is that the gameplay isn't very Contra. The character moves with slow speed and reflexes compared to main enemies, which sometimes move with lighting speed. Main enemies tend to fill up the entire screen, leaving you nowhere to go. Just about all of this game is fighting your way exactly to the letter. If you want variety and change your tactics, the character dies. No, that's not "old school" for anyone who played Contra or Super C.

The narrow choice of weapons reflects the narrow choices that can be made while playing Contra Shattered Soldier. Only three weapons are available. Machine gun, grenade launcher, and flame thrower. Each weapon has to be used in a particular situation, making the gameplay very unimaginative and limited. In other words, not fun.

I didn't find any movies between stages, only a few mute conversations between Bill and Lucia, etc. The only movie I've seen was the game introductory movie. I did like the movie, but it wasn't integrated into the gameplay, unfortunately. Being Bill's partner, Lucia isn't in the movie much at all. Don't expect any involving story. There is no voice acting in this game either.

On the positive side, the "easy" mode will allow you nine lives and a hundred continues. However, you can also only finish the first five stages, if you play the "easy" mode. Supposedly two more stages can be reached on "normal" mode. Only three lives and three continues are given for the "normal" mode.

This game may be easier and more fun in 2-player mode. One of very few things this game may still be good at.

Konami didn't spend much time or money on this game. That's for sure. It may appeal to people who like any game that starts with the name Contra. Even so, I would stay away from this disappointment. Rent it if you have doubts.

This game could have easily achieved a much better overall quality, possibly grabbing the interest of non-Contra fans as well. Here are the problems. Insufficient gameplay, very few weapons, not enough stages, hybrid 2D/3D too uninspired, no intermission movies, no voice acting, inadequate music. Super C made it hard to put down the controller. Not so with Contra Shattered Soldier!

I liked the 3D Contras better than this game. Clearly Konami is ready to move on, which they proved with Castlevania: LoI very well. I would rather see Konami half-fail at something new, than fail so badly at something they were once so good at.

Just couldn't get into it

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

It has a co-op mode, but neither of us were that into it. We played it for a little while, but just gave up.

Great old school Contra Gameplay - May not appeal to all

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First off, let me say that I've played every contra since the original NES, and liked most of them. The gameplay was well balanced, and offered superb difficulty compared to other mundane competing platform shooters. That said... I've played enough other games to be impartial about the judgement.

First off; expect the classic Contra gameplay you know and love; there are less weapons then later installments on the SNES, but the controls have been smoothed out and refined to perfection. Use of the analog is more then taboo - it's disabled, and for good reason. You need to have super-human reflexes and an open mind while playing the game to survive more then a few seconds.

In fact, this seems to be Contra's single fatal flaw, and the only reason that prevented me from loving it - the difficulty is so rediculous that I died on Easy in about 30 seconds before I could get used to the controls. Ouch. In fact, a good part of the game is memorizing each enemies attacks and exactly how to avoid them. Too much, in fact. The difficulty is too insane for the casual player, and even a die-hard Contra fan will have a hard time the first play through.

The graphics are a beautiful hybrid 2D/3D set-up; you move on a 2D plain ala Contra classic, but the graphics are all rendered in stunningly gorgeous 3D splender, and pan around to show details. Nice. The panning never gets in the way of the gameplay, I can't stress how important that is. The sound and music are OK, nothing really that new, but sufficient.

However, don't get me wrong. Konami had its heart in the right place with this installment, which was directly marketed to die-hard gamer fanboys, but there's really no room for people who play casually. In fact, 9/10 of the game seems memorization as opposed to required reflexes, and the game's difficulty means a lot of frustration. In fact, after you've finished memorizing the layout of of level, it becomes considerably easier, and the replay value shrinks. Including memorization of the scant few levels (which ARE long, granted,) I give the lifespan about a day. Ouch. If you're not a die-hard Contra fan, I would reccomend this as a great rental, but only the fans who don't mind respawning - a lot- will want to go out and buy the game.

Pros:
-Lush Graphics and nice sound make great atmosphere
-Classic Contra Gameplay. It doesn't get any better!
-Directly marketed for fans and hard-core gamers.

Cons:
-Insane difficulty leaves no room for new gamers.
-Game incredibly short
-Not much replay value

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