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Hey- the title is a gameplay element you never have to use! WHASUPWITDAT!?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got a psp as an early birthday present a few weeks ago, and my girlfriend insisted on getting a game for it as well, because let's face it- when you get a new system, you need a game to play on it. Unfortunately, the psp itself cost her most of her money, and she wasn't able to come up with enough for one that I really wanted like Lemmings, MegaMan Maverick Hunter X, Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, Lumines, or Me and My Katamari. Instead, she chose...this- The Con, something I would've never gave a chance otherwise. C'mon, you've read the reviews on gaming sites and in game magazines- it got very low reviews, and was barely advertised before or after it came out. But, I did the nice thing, and didn't flip out over getting something I didn't want for my birthday, and gave it a chance. Even after playing it for 61 hours (I can't believe it either), I can't say that this is a good game by any means. The fights are repetitive, the controls fight YOU most of the time, the loading times are some of the worst I've ever experienced for any system, and the "Con" gameplay gimmick isn't even needed to win fights. But, if anything, the main reason to give this game a chance would have to be the very cool create-a-fighter feature. Yes, it's been in like, every 3D wrestling game, and even in some bigger name titles like Soul Calibur 3, but I really like this creating option. Making myself, friends, and enemies will never get old. Neither will watching one of your friends lose to a guy named Numbers after beating a guy named Mr. Shades...who didn't even wear sunglasses.

The Con is a difficult game to describe in order for you to really get an idea of how it plays. In fact, you're probably best off going to a site that has video reviews of it to see for yourself. It plays somewhat like Tekken (ew), but from behind the shoulder of whichever character you play as. Your fighter becomes semitransparent, and you attack using the four main buttons to execute left and right head and body hits. I thought that was a pretty cool addition- having a button made for a specific target with a specific side of your body. You can also duck and pull back so certain attacks don't hit you in one spot over and over, which leads to being wounded or stunned. It's here where the cool actual fighting aspects end though. Where to start with the bad? How about...that you don't have any control over where you go? That's right- the only movement of your feet that you control is for kicking. You're constantly near your opponent, and can only dodge by swaying your body side to side. No running away here, or anything that gives you freedom of movement. There are special attacks included, that can get abused more than Ken's super moves in the Street Fighter games. Literally- you can win most matches by spamming a Kick Boxing special attack repeatedly. I've done it numerous times, sometimes never even getting hit in the process. It's funny at first, but almost makes you feel bad for the AI at some points. A lot of what it takes to win a fight is just how you use your moves. Like, if you sidestep to the left, use a right punch or kick, and you'll almost always get the shot in. Abuse this "technique", and you'll be on easy street. I just noticed something- in all my reviews, the second paragraph is used for a plot summary of whatever it is I'm talking about, as long as it's entertainment-related. There's no plot to speak of in The Con, at least, one that matters. You play as a guy who wants to make it big by getting in fights. That's all. You get an agent at first, but she's offed not too long into the game, and then you recruit two randomly generated fighters to help you make it to the top. The Story Mode in this game is mostly 70% fighting for hours on end, 10% training (I'll get into that later), 10% somewhat well-animated [but poorly acted] cut scenes, and 10% loading times. Trust me though, when I say that you won't care about the plot. It's stupid, doesn't matter, and this is a B-grade fighting game, so it doesn't need a plot to try and get bonus points. Even if it had a good one, I don't think it'd be enough to save the game from mediocrity.

Between fighting those that you're matched up against, your fighters will be able to make a training schedule for the weeks leading up to the fights. You can train, rest, or go to the hospital to tend to the wounded fighters, paying for their treatment. Training lets you up the stats on strength, speed, skill, toughness and health. Resting does just that- heals you if you've been a little battered in a fight. You can also buy new items to customize your fighters with from the shop, using the money you win in fights. Yes, you can bet on fights in The Con, a gameplay element that could've been very good if it were more polished. I'll get the easiest one to explain out of the way first- you can bet on your fighters to win the matches, and place your bets in between 0 and 60 seconds into the fight. This means that if you select, say, 20 seconds, your fighter can just mess around and get beat up for the majority of the match. People who bet on you will lose hope, and bet on the other fighter. Once the 20 seconds are up, show 'em who's boss and take 'em out. You'll get more money than you would betting on yourself with 0 seconds this way. But you have to make the crowd believe your act. There's an approval meter at the top of the screen showing if they buy it or not. If you get a thumbs down, they'll beat you up after the fight, and you'll be out of the betting money for that match. You can also bet on the other fighter, but you'll have to make it believable as well, using the Con element. By tapping the R button when an attack is thrown at you, your character will really play out getting hurt, making the crowd believe they took a solid hit. This helps your approval rating, making it a bit easier to fake out the crowd. Again, this is a cool element, but in all honesty, you don't even have to bet on the other fighter or Con moves to get far. I only did it 3 times- once when it's manditory during a tutorial, and then the other two times were when I was using just this pitifully terrible fighter. Oh, that's another thing- when a boss you defeated in the Story Mode asks to join, reject him. He completely sucks. Most of the replay in this game though, comes in the form of the create-a-fighter, which has TONS of options to customize your guys to how you want 'em. I'll post a few pictures on here to show you what I mean. Other gameplay modes include Quick Play (arcade, survival, time attack), and multiplayer. But I doubt you'll be finding anyone who has The Con living near you, or anyone who wants to play more than 2 matches.

Visually, The Con is ok. It's nothing mind-blowing that'll make you want a psp just to see it tin action, but some of the graphics in it are nice. Up close, some of the fighters look pretty good, though very pixilated. Backgrounds are reused constantly, there's some slowdown once in a while, and the loading times made me want to cry. Some loading times reach 30 seconds to put new fighters in a location, yet just 2 seconds to cut to an exterior shot of where they'll be fighting. Voice acting is all terrible, the pseudo-funk got on my nerves quickly, but sound effects tend to be very painful (especially the Bear Hug from the Wrestling move set-up). There's not much voice work aside from the cut scenes either.

If you absolutely need a fighting game for your psp, I suggest going for the new Street Fighter Alpha that was just released for it. If you're in need of a 3D fighter, yet another linear Tekken game is coming out soon, so wait on that. But if you want something with a cool character customization feature and not much else, The Con is what you need. But...I doubt there are many people who buy games just for that. As much as it sounds like I hate The Con, I don't HATE it, but it just could've been done a lot better. For every one thing it does right, there are four negative things that follow. Try before you buy, then make a decision.

It's got bruises but it's fun

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Con isn't your normal fighting game. In the genre's classics like Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and Street Fighter, the goal of every fight was to simply pound away at the enemy while trying to stay alive. In The Con, things are a little different. An interesting gameplay premise sets up for an out-of-the-ordinary experience that ends up as a decent game on the PSP.

The Con features a Story Mode that takes you through the life of a street thug looking to make money by gambling his way through street fights. It begins with a straightforward tutorial that ends with an unsuspected death that serves as a way to progress the story and throw you out into the actual game. Once you reach that point, it's all about making your way through the ranks of fighters, earning money by gambling on each match, and training or resting with the time between each fight.

The Con almost feels like the franchise modes found in modern football games. The pre-game setup can be just as important as the actual game, and that applies here. Training your fighter with different styles (like power, speed, and health training) will eventually make him or her a much better character and fights become much easier. Still, time management is needed, as too much training can lead to a fatigued fighter that won't start a fight with full health or energy. This all sounds much more difficult than it really is, and essentially the only challenge is that which you face in the brawl.

The fighting mechanics work pretty well here. Rather than play with the traditional sideways viewpoint, The Con is viewed from an over-the-shoulder angle that makes the fight feel much closer to the player, thus creating a more intense feel. The face buttons serve as high and low attacks while the directional pad and analog nub serve as dodging moves. There is no actual movement besides this, other than blocks with the R trigger and Con moves with the L trigger. These "Con moves" are what make battles interesting. As you gamble for each fight, you actually have the option to take a dive and lose a fight if it means that you'll earn more money. By holding the L button, you'll take bigger hits that will have the audience betting in your favor.

Of course, if losing isn't your thing, the fighting itself is easy and smooth. Some of the brawls I had while playing The Con were extremely exciting. The betting system allows the player to put on quite a show, whether that means they have to take a beating at the start of the match and come back or simply dominate from the first hit. If I was betting on a comeback, I'd take so many hits that I'd really risk a knockout and it made for a few hair-raising experiences. Sadly, after a few hours of the fights, the thrill starts to fade into frustration. The AI slowly goes from a pushover to a solid wall, and this ends up as a frustrating, repetitive problem that simply takes trial and error to overcome.

Unfortunately, the repetitive gameplay goes hand-in-hand with a few other factors. The Story Mode goes on and on while getting less and less interesting, the graphics and environments are repeated far too many times, and the music simply doesn't fit at some points in the game. Still, these things don't ruin the experience. The graphics are repeated a lot but that doesn't keep them from looking great. The environments are surprisingly detailed and the animation is smooth and clean. The music might not work, but the voice-acting is a great touch and the sound effects aren't all that bad. Playing through the game and strengthening your characters is a pretty addictive element in itself, and I found myself fighting through the repetitious gameplay to make my characters into better fighters. It was actually pretty tough for me to put the game down for a while.

I don't recommend buying The Con unless you're a die-hard fighting fan, but it's still worth a try simply for the novel gambling idea or the fighting mechanics. It's no Soul Calibur, but it's an interesting game that serves as one of the better handheld fighting games out there.

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