What do Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, Gradius V and the two Sin and Punishment have in common? Except that they belong to the shoot'em up family, they were all developed by the little guys at Treasure, a studio that in a few years has become specialists in a genre particularly appreciated by hardcore gamers. And for good reason, in this category of games, it is not uncommon for hours spent playing to cause some symptoms that only the "real" ones know. Nervous tension, headaches, joint pain, blurred vision... And yes, even more than any other game genre, old-school shoot'em up is perhaps the one that demands the the more concentration, the more patience, in short, the more abnegation. Thus, it is quite surprising to see Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies land on Wii, a console rather renowned for being the preserve of casual gamers of all ages, eager to have fun for 20 minutes after a hard day's work. Surprising is the term that perfectly suits the title of Treasure because it is a pure and hard shooter, one of those video game rollercoasters that annoy the player more than it amuses him.
Twist and shoot
It would be very complicated for us to give you a summary of the story of Sin and Punishment 2 in a few lines. In the booklet supplied with the game alone, the three-page synopsis will have confused our minds more than anything else , with its stories of outer and inner worlds, its fourth and fifth Earth, its human characters, which are not really, or maybe so ultimately. But no matter, the story of Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies, we don't care about it almost as much as that of Jean-Luc Godard's last film. As long as we have the chance to knock out the monster with all our might, we are ready to accept all the possible and unimaginable metaphysical digressions. And on this specific point, we were more than served, because Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies is more than generous in terms of action and sensations. It's simple, this game knows no downtime. Any ! If we remove the cinematics, the title of Treasure offers a maximum of emotions to the player, which will only increase crescendo from the first small opponent encountered to the ultimate end boss. If such a feat is possible, it's because the developers had the wonderful idea of making each level offer a different gaming experience. Whether in the arid desert, at the bottom of an ocean, above a sea of lava or while crossing a forest so dark that the only way to see a little will be to use his weapon, the player will never do the same thing twice. Alternating in an ultra-fluid way phases on foot, in the air or on the road (in frantic chases), Nintendo's title never tires and can boast of energizing a genre that we thought was outdated. Managing to balance games of depth and horizontal / vertical scrolling to perfection, this game takes full advantage of the Wii's capabilities to ensure that your screen is drowned in the shots (which come from everywhere) without the action ever missing. becomes unreadable. The must is of course achieved during the clashes with the – very numerous – bosses, each more gigantic and tough than the other, which will have to be observed for long minutes before understanding their attacks. The icing on the cake: even during these titanic fights, the game will not suffer from any slowdown or bug and will always be just as fluid. A real technical tour de force, which proves that the Nintendo console is capable of very pretty things.
It's simple, this game knows no downtime. Any ! If we remove the cinematics, the title of Treasure offers a maximum of emotions to the player, which will only increase crescendo from the first small opponent encountered to the ultimate end boss.
Gameplay side also the surprise and bet. Indeed, it was hard to imagine a genre as established as the shoot'em up offering us new things. And yet, it is once again by mixing styles that Sin and Punishment 2 manages to pull out of the game. First, it should be noted that the software offers to embody two characters. On one side, Isa (who, as his name does not indicate, is a boy) and on the other, Kachi (a girl). Whether you choose one character or the other won't change much, except for different secondary fires (A button). The first guy has a powerful cannon, capable of doing a lot of damage, the second character has multiple homing shots to inflict damage on several enemies at once. For the rest, the two protagonists are capable of regular shots (by leaving the finger pressed on B) and combos for melee (by pressing once on B). Additionally, they have the ability to lock one and return some of their baseball player-style shots; a handy trick against certain bosses. Thus, Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies offers almost two games in one. On one side, the shoot, on the other, the beat'em all. Moreover, the game is quite surprising at the start since concretely, we will shoot the opponents as in a simple Virtua Cop, with the difference that the character appears on the screen and that we move it using the Nunchuk. Difficult then to put the game in a very precise box... Shoot in scrolling? Run & gun? Rail shooter? Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies is a bit of all three at the same time… A graceful mix of genres and for once really original. But all of this would only be pretty smoky concepts if the handling hadn't been so exemplary, because once again, we can only applaud the work done by Treasure studios, which deliver a title that couldn't be more pleasant to player. And although relatively intuitive, the grip will not be done without a few minutes of taming, forcing the player to find the technique that suits him best. Precision or fit? Dodge or counter? You choose. But one thing is certain, you will need nerves of steel to manage to complete some particularly difficult passages, especially if you opt for the "Medium" and "Hard" difficulty modes. In short, almost flawless for this Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies, which just lacks a little more careful work on the sound, more varied close-combat combos and a real two-player mode. Indeed, in the latter, the second player will only have the right to a crosshair on the screen and will therefore miss all the beat'em all part of the title. Three very small flaws, which however will not spoil our enthusiasm for an oh so successful title.
