We all know that light gun games have not changed inherently in design since they showed up on the arcade scene many moons ago. Silent Scope is really no different, then Time Crisis or Lethal Enforcers. However, the innovation is in the use of the Sniper Rifle and it really works well.
As an elite member of a SWAT-like team (or is it actually SWAT? Didn't pay attention) you must save the President and his family from terrorists. The game starts of in Chicago as violence erupts downtown. You head to a window like Lee Harvey Oswald and try to take out the trash. The controller is your sniper rifle; a simple press of the shoulder button allows the sight to reverse, allowing you to see the action on the street. Release the button, and your sight zooms in on wherever you are aiming. All of the bad guys are outlined with Blue, Yellow or Red arrows. Blue being low priority, yellow being medium priority and red meaning you are going to get your brain air-conditioned at any moment. If you zoom in on a character and didn't quite line him up, you will see red arrows in your sight that point to your target. Then simply shoot him once and he's history. If you miss a guy, he will take cover, while you hear your commanding officer tell you to "Calm down". For future reference having someone tell me to "Calm down", doesn't ever calm me down, how about you? The game moves on tracks, meaning that you cannot control your whereabouts, and once you are finished clearing an area, the game moves your vantage point to another section of town littered with scum.
Once you clear the level, you will be given a grade and an accuracy rating and then you will be able to choose your next mission. The missions are interesting enough: take on a Harrier Jet, rescue the First Lady from the top of a building while you are in a helicopter, save the President's daughter from being abducted at a football game while you hover over the stadium (I couldn't tell if it was Madden NFL 2001 down there or not), or rescue her from a moving vehicle. Later on there will be a mission involving night vision, which is very cool. Okay so we know that the plotline is a little hackneyed. But it's all about the shooting.
Graphically the game isn't spectacular by any means. Silent Scope wasn't designed for the PS2 in mind, and therefore even though it is an exact replica of the arcade, the arcade board isn't anywhere near up to snuff of the PS2. You won't be seeing DOA2 graphics in Silent Scope. The game doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look awesome.
Since the control is pretty tight (and that's all that there is to this game really), the biggest knock against Silent Scope is that it tries to be nothing more than what it is; an arcade game that you play at home. We all know arcade games are made to make you spend money for awhile, and then shoo you away to another money grabber. So essentially what I am saying is that Silent Scope is cool, controls great, but it's really, really short. Even the training missions, which are designed to lengthen the game's replayability, don't really help much. So do you spend the $50 bucks on a game that won't give you even a few solid hours of entertainment once you beat it the first time? If you are me, yes, if you are you, I don't know. Your best bet in situations like this is 1) Rent first 2) Get grandma to buy it for you 3) Buy it and live with your decision.
