P.N. 03 Review

by Jordan Schilling (July 10, 2009)

P.N. 03- GameCube, 2003. Capcom
Story- 6.0/10
Gameplay- 7.5/10
Control- 8.0/10
Design- 8.0/10
Music- 8.5/10
Fun Factor- 7.5/10
Overall- 7.5/10
We all need a break from compelling story lines and dynamic characters every once in a while. That’s where P.N. 03 comes in, delivering some fun, mindless futuristic arcade shooting, putting our in game cinematic-racked brains to rest… Until you get frustrated and throw the controller at the screen.

Story- 6.0/10

Story isn’t a top concern in this game, so if you’re looking for something deep with compelling character personas that suck your emotions dry, then I suggest you stay away from this one. P.N. 03 is more for the “Sweet, she hot and shoots lasers from her hands” crowd… not that there’s anything wrong with that. The emphasis is more on the run-shoot-dodge aspect of the game. The plot could be “Vanessa Z. Schneider is a hired mercenary for ‘The Client’, whose mission consists of infiltrating a technologically advanced militaristic base operated by those responsible for the death of her parents, while using the experimental ‘Aegis’ power suit designed specifically for her needs”. However, it could easily be “You’re some chick with a super-powered body suit and sexy shades who gets to blow crap up, just for the heck of it.”

The “story” builds on itself through a series of conversations with The Client, but there are several things left unanswered even after you finish the game. There’s also one heck of a plot twist later on, which helps you finally figure out the significance of the enigmatic title… Well, sort of. I was expecting to get an alternate ending for finishing the game on hard, in which you do, but it’s not worth the agonizing masochism that is P.N. 03’s hard mode, which leads me to my next point; the difficulty.

Gameplay- 7.5/10

This game’s mechanics are up to par, sometimes birdie. However, I have two major beefs with this game: repetition and difficulty.

One of the harder, sub-boss enemies of the game is about to get smoked...

The robot-shooting melee that is P.N 03 is interesting at first,
but a sense of repetition sets in by Mission 3. The game is only 10 missions long, but each one consists of anywhere from 5-21 rooms.

I’ve played my fair share of difficult games (i.e. Battletoads and Ghouls & Ghosts), but at least you could get past THE FIRST FREAKIN’ LEVEL. When it comes to switching between difficulty settings, P.N. 03 has what I like to call the “exponential difficulty curve”.

Easy mode can be knocked out at a leisurely pace by casual gamers. I didn’t start using continues until the later missions, and I only used around 3 or so. Normal on the other hand, is the equivalent of the original Devil May Cry 3’s “Normal”, and we all know how frustratingly difficult that was. In the case of P.N. 03, Easy Mode is “the game”, Normal is “good luck”, and Hard is “God can’t save you now”.

In fact, you know what Capcom should have done: whenever you choose Hard Mode, a black screen appears with “GG” in red 200-size font. Then your GameCube just shuts down after that.

At the very least, Normal Mode is do-able, albeit using 15 continues on one mission alone. I couldn’t finish hard mode on my own; 37 continues were wasted by the end of Mission 1 before I finally cracked and used Action Replay… I still needed continues after that.

I believe there are 4 bosses: you fight three of them twice, one once, and then the final boss. Back to that “exponential difficulty curve” thing that I mentioned earlier, the last boss is ridiculously overpowered. Leave it to Capcom to resurrect Sigma through the final boss, Alurane. (For those who don’t know, Sigma is the traditional last boss of Capcom’s Megaman X series. Like Sigma, Alurane has two forms, and both will kick your ass.)

Initial stats for the Intera Blazer Aegis

To help players cope with the difficulty, P.N. 03 also has unlockable suits and special weapon upgrades for purchase between missions. During the game, you earn points by destroying enemies in general, but also through chain multipliers (timed combo) and mission execution level. You can use these points towards upgrading your current suit’s abilities and special attacks, or you can purchase a new Aegis suit all together. Each suit that you buy has it’s own unique set of special moves and stats, so choose carefully; some suits are built for the sole purpose of storming the base, while others are for more defensive strategics. As you progress through the game, additional upgraded versions of the special suits are added to the repertoire. If you happen to run out of points due to an upgrade frenzy, then you can always attempt the randomly generated trial missions; that’s what they’re there for.

Design- 8.0/10

P.N 03’s graphics aren’t top-notch, but it’s still visually appealing. The color scheme is bland, but reflects the robotic, industrial atmosphere; everything is very gray. I’m actually glad though; P.N. 03 would be really bizarre if it looked like the candy-colored, cel-shaded cult classic “Viewtiful Joe” (P.N. 03 has a trailer for that too, if you’ve never heard of it).

Most of the game is spent in corridors and hallways inside that… “facility”. There are a few instances where you see the outside world, like the beginning of the game, but it’s nothing to get all excited over. I guess Vanessa isn’t the outdoor type.

A few of the early Aegis suits

The monochrome color scheme does do its justice in terms of reflecting the mood of P.N. 03. It isn’t exactly a happy game, as you can probably tell. The whole basis of the game revolves around action-oriented volleys of machinery, shoot-dodge-run gameplay… and of course, the lovely suited-up Vanessa Z. Schneider.

The Aegis suits are awesome. The detail is outstanding for an early GameCube game. It’s quite amusing, watching the wings on Vanessa’s back frill out, charge with electricity, and shoot whatever everywhere the first time you initiate a special move. Heck, it’s amusing every time you do a special move. I want one.

Control- 8.0/10

P.N 03 ‘s controls are a little clunky (there’s a slight delay when using the shoulder buttons), but they do a good job of utilizing the whole GameCube controller; you use the stick to move, A to fire, B to jump, X to crouch, Y for switching targets, shoulder buttons for dodging left and right, the C-Stick for different camera angles, and the D-Pad for special moves. The Z button is to do a 180 degree turn. That’s right, you can’t just turn around by pulling back on the stick.

Music- 8.5/10

03’s soundtrack is entirely composed of industrial, gritty techno and a few choral ‘oohaaahhhoooohhs’ here and there. I don’t know what it is about electronic music, but it’s almost as if the future and industrial sounds were just meant for each other. I suppose Capcom thought so to, since Vanessa taps her feet to the background music during static gameplay.

Fun Factor- 7.5/10

It sounds like I all in all hate this game, but I found it quite addicting. It has this odd, retro feeling to it. It’s kind of like playing a traditional, simplistic 2-D sidescroller in today’s world of MMORPGs and whatnot. I would have given it a higher rating, except that the later missions are FRUSTRATING AS BALLS.

Overall- 7.5/10

P.N 03 is a good game, but it falls just short of other GameCube games released around that time (i.e. Viewtiful Joe). The replay value isn’t that great, the controls are… functional, but I kept coming back to it, just for the heck of it. That’s something I love about Capcom games; even after you’ve destroyed every aspect of the game, found every Easter egg and item, you still come back because they have that addicting, simplistic retro quality to them. I recommend that everyone should play this game. You don’t have to buy it, but take some time out of life to try this game for a while.