P.N.03 – Sexy Suits and Not-So-Sexy Level Design

For my long-delayed first post, we have something a bit older than what I will normally review.  P.N.03 appeared to be an interesting video game: a low profile game from Capcom that received extremely mixed reviews.  Released in 2003 for the Nintendo Gamecube, it is the least successful member of a series of games dubbed the “Capcom Five”: a series that includes the difficult but very fun Viewtiful Joe, Killer 7 and the hugely popular Resident Evil 4.  I bought both P.N.03 and Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean for 20 dollars at a flea market, so I was pretty excited to add them to my collection.

P.N.03 puts you in the role of Vanessa Z. Schneider, a stylish and sexy freelance mercenary who fights with a full-body Aegis suit (that shows off her assets, of course).  She is tasked with infiltrating a CAMS (Computerized Armament Management System) robot facility, and destroying a literal ton of berserk robots.  Vanessa’s client, who constantly stays in touch with her via unvoiced Metal Gear Solid radio conversations, keeps their identity a secret.  Considering what happens at the end of the game, there’s a legitimate reason the client’s identity is kept under wraps the entire game.  That said, there isn’t much enjoyment to be taken from Vanessa’s interactions with the client, and the plot is kept to an absolute minimum (the first instance of voice acting occurs about three-quarters into the game).  P.N.03 thus has to rely on gameplay and visuals to keep players interested.

Unfortunately, the gameplay is slow and somewhat underwhelming at best.  Vanessa moves much slower than her appearance indicates, and cannot strafe and shoot at the same time.  While platforming isn’t too important in this game, Vanessa’s awkward jumping brings back memories of playing as Shinobu in No More Heroes 2.  Shinobu’s jumping was much worse, but I still found myself overshooting platforms often.  There is an emphasis placed on avoiding the robots’ laser fire by dodging constantly and taking cover behind or under parts of the environment.  This type of gameplay could be interesting, if most of the levels didn’t reuse the same types of rooms over and over.  Vanessa herself possesses the ability to shoot energy bolts from her hands, and her upgradeable suit has powerful attacks called Energy Drives built into it.  These Drives have unique animations and effects, and are among the games’ most impressive visuals.  The player has to alternate between shooting and dodging to progress through the levels, making the game feel like an old school shooter or a more involved on-rails shooter.

It is perhaps too involved; as Vanessa cannot strafe long distances without mashing the L or R buttons, and her suit lacks rapid-fire capabilities until you earn them.  It’s not too bad at first, but when the level layouts start to repeat themselves, the game becomes a strenuous and repetitive exercise in button mashing.  It’s kind of a shame, since the game would probably be more enjoyable if only they didn’t insist on repeating the same level layouts and bosses over and over.  The enemies are all robots, but they are all pretty different in terms of appearance and attacks.  It is sometimes hard to tell one type of enemy apart from another though, since most of the combat takes place from a distance.  The part of the game that allows for the most versatility, though, are Vanessa’s suits.  Players are able to upgrade Vanessa’s default suit, and purchase different suits at checkpoints or between missions.  Each suit has its own upgradeable capabilities and Energy Drives (1 of which must be bought separately).  For this purpose, players collect money from defeating enemies.  The amount of money increases if you destroy enemies quickly, and if you make it through a room without taking damage.  Players can also accept trial missions between levels to earn more money.  The ability to upgrade suits and customize them to fit your style of play creates a system that handsomely rewards continued play.  I stuck to the more defensive suits myself, since I wasn’t very good at dodging.

Graphics-wise, the game looks nice and smooth, though the environments are rather plain otherwise.  The enemies and Vanessa herself look quite impressive for their time, and it’s obvious that a lot of time was put into Vanessa’s graceful animations. I can’t say the same for the sparse cutscenes, however.  The majority of the robots that the player has to take down often teleport in out of nowhere or are otherwise tucked away where they can’t be seen, leading to many frustrating moments when Vanessa is suddenly hit by lasers from unseen enemies.  The game’s difficulty is somewhat high and fluctuates greatly, especially if you start the game on normal mode.  With the exception of the tough end boss, the bosses are pretty easy to defeat once you get the hang of the controls.  It took me several tries to defeat the final boss: I would urge players not to take him on without a fully upgraded suit.

There are a few other small things that make the game more of a chore than it needs to be.  Whenever you exit a room, the game insists on showing you a stats screen detailing the enemies you defeated and your score for the room, even if there were no enemies in the room.  This is particularly irritating when you have to backtrack to get health or Drive energy power-ups.  Vanessa tends to turn around very slowly unless you remember to use the Z button to perform a 180 degree turn; I never got the hang of that myself.  The game’s music is all fairly forgettable, though the sound effects are particularly good and alerts the player to incoming attacks.

Overall, I can call this an okay game at best.  The gameplay is mildly enjoyable, if a bit repetitive, and the customizable suits and special attacks provide players with some variety as well as an incentive to keep blasting away at those robots.  The game looks really good too, despite the uninspired level design.  But with how sleek and sexy Vanessa looks in her movements, I was a bit disappointed that they couldn’t incorporate more speed and agility into her moves.  P.N.03 doesn’t offer much of anything in terms of story, though, and the characters are bland.  Unless you’re a big fan of old school shooters or sexy full-body suits, this game probably isn’t worth the trouble to find.

To top off this review, here’s a video of a (skilled) player taking out some enemies in P.N.03.