Region Lock-out
Please note Japanese Playstation 2 games will not boot on USA or European PS2 consoles due to the inherent region-lockout on Playstation 2 game discs.
NCS Game Notes
» Developed by Dream Factory for Sega
» In the beautifully rendered intro to the game, neon lights appear followed by ES.W.A.T. helicopters and trucks that roars through city canyons. Deunan is moving and twisting in place before a helicopter flies over the city. She clicks her rifle a few times before mobilizing an ES.W.A.T. team into a building. Outside, the edifice is slowly being surrounded by ES.W.A.T cohorts. Briareos peers around a corner with a cybernetic eye to get the clear. From outside, Deunan and team crash through the windows and shoot down the cyborgs inside. In another scene, Briareos rushes towards three gun-firing cyborgs and smashes them down. From behind, a bruiser rushes up but he obviously didn't get the memo that Briareos has eyes everywhere. The cyborg runs right into a roundhouse kick. Deunan leads another squad after another cyborg and tracks it down in a storage warehouse. They eventually pinpoint its location and shoot a barrage of bullets at it which do nothing. As it raises its arm to smite Deunan dead, Briareos appears in the background and fires off a super charged shot to take it apart piece by piece. From above the building, a team of cyborgs leap and fly away. More action sequences are shown in beautiful cinema-style CG that is evocative of the glossy sheen from the 2004 movie.
» Press START and the following options pop:
NEW GAME..... Begin a new adventure with Deunan and Briareos
LOAD GAME.... Resume an adventure from memory card
OPTION.......... Set sound volumes, controller config, screen color test, etc
» Start a NEW GAME and you may select EASY, NORMAL, or HARD. We went for the normal since we were feeling run of the mill this morning. Deunan is running when an explosion blows her off her feet. In the next scene, she's seated at the edge of a bed while Briareos sits in a sofa located in the foreground. She gets up and says "Wha" and Briareos answers her. Voice actors provide the intonations for the characters while slow synth plays in the background. The two continue their conversation where Briareos gets her up to speed on what has happened to him and his new cybernetic body. Press the "O" button to advance through the introductions.
» The character models in the game are rough looking but the portraits that appear when dialogue is spoken looks like the glossy artwork from the animated C/G movie. It's a stark contrast in presentation that clashes.
» In the next scene, Hitomi enters the room with her red pumps, short skirt and wiggling moves. She introduces herself and talks for a bit. Her exit is a wobbly morass of movement that's unusual and inhuman. Afterwards, Briareos speaks to Deunan again and the two head over to the ES.W.A.T command center for a short introduction.
» A training mission begins where Deunan stands in front of a container labeled Prometheus Ver. 06. Perform a swinging kick by pressing the SQUARE button and a crouch move by tapping on the "X" button. After destroying the container, you'll be able to pick up a magazine filled with MA120 HHG 004 bullets. Next, follow the instructions and press the "R1-Trigger" to hoist up a firearm and press the "L1-Trigger" to toss an explosive. Grunts soon enter the area and your job is to take them down with a flurry of punches, kicks, and firepower. Once armed, hold R1 and press SQUARE to shoot bullets. The gun is auto-locking and finds its targets automatically. After successfully navigating through the attackers, Briareos and two grunts join Deunan on the screen.
» Whenever you fire the gun, a shell casing drops to the ground like a kernel of corn.
» After the training mission, a "Mission Result" stats page appears where your rankings are shown for kills, combos, damage count, mission time, etc. A letter grade is then listed on the bottom. We got a "B" for this portion of the training. Next, Deunan and Briareos are in a locker room. To switch to Briareos, walk up to him and then press the "O" button. You'll be asked to confirm the character change before Briareos is under your control. Run towards the screen and exit. In the next room, Hitomi is waiting and she answers with a cheerful, "HI" when you greet her. To save your progress to memory card at this point, run up to the television and press O. You'll see the following options appear:
DATABASE - Must be unlocked before anything can be perused
VIDEO PLAYER - Watch the intro movie or a "Secret Movie" that is viewable after the game is cleared
SAVE - Save progress to memory card
LOAD - Resume a game from memory card save data
OPTION - Set game parameters
» Deunan starts with 255HP.
» The camera is fixed position at all times and the game is viewed from a full-on front view of the action. Run around and the camera stays in position to take in the gallop.
» After speaking to Hitomi and exploring the area, head back into ES.W.A.T headquarters to obtain information on your next assignment.
» Deunan or Briareos go on a mission where she/he enters a building and takes on three goons and a cybernetic menace in the first room. The active character at the time you entered the mission is the one who participates. The mission wouldn't be so difficult were it not for the fact that one of them carries a bazooka that takes away 1/3 of Deunan's HP with each hit. The three goons are also resilient. As you attack each one, an HP percentage counter ticks down with each blow. One of the goons also charges up with blue blazing energy to attack with a furious kick sequence where he flies up in the air and then throttles forward multiple blows while in mid-air.
» Luckily for Deunan, the bullets that are shot by thugs can easily be seen and then avoided. A goon can shoot three shots in sequence before he has to reload. You can shoot the goons to get rid of them quickly but the gimp-like super cyborg bounces bullets off of its head. So, you'll have to slug it out against him. Three shots does each plain-clothes goon in.
» Either D-pad or L-analog can be used to control movement. If you time it right, you can press the X button to crouch so that bullets are ducked.
» The difficulty level is fairly high because of the tenacity of the enemies. There's no way to mix up attacks other than punch and shoot. You can throw a bomb if you have stock but once your ammo is gone, you'll have to tackle the goons in long and drawn out battles.
» Appleseed is a fairly generic and difficult game that will likely leave players frustrated. After dying for the eighth straight time on the first level, you might be compelled to fling your controller at the monitor. The introduction cinema is beautiful but not worth the price of admission. We consider Shirow's Appleseed to be an important property but it gets no justice or love with this particular game.
» Famitsu editors gave Appleseed EX a score of (3, 4, 4, 3) for a total of 14 and they're not too far off the mark. Appleseed EX isn't a total loss but it's going to take a patient player to go through the entire game. If you're up for a challenge however, Appleseed Ex might be worth a try. We'd advise waiting for the price to drop since the game will probably not sell well in Japan and retailers will discount accordingly over the next few weeks.
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