NCS Game Notes
* The intro to the game focuses on a massive carrier in the sky before going inside for a look at the three ships that are housed within.
* The Option menu allows the following toggles:
1) Difficult (sic): Easy / Normal / Hard
2) Shield : Set it at 2 to 5 bars (The amount of hits the ship can take)
3) Extend : Four types including a NO-EXTEND option
4) Sound : Stereo / Monoaural
5) Controller : Set button configurations
The default controller configuration is as follows:
O / SHOT
X / SWORD
SQUARE / CHANGE (FIELD)
TRIANGLE / CHANGE (FIELD)
L1 / LOCK-ON
R1 / WING LAYER
6) AUTO SAVE : ON / OFF
7) MEMORY CARD : LOAD / SAVE DATA
8) DEFAULT : Return everything to factory settings
* Before the action starts in the default game mode, videos of how to play the game are shown on a screen inset at the top while the D-pad and four PS2 buttons are shown on the bottom.
* Ifumi flies Flawed Red and her ship blasts out continuous streams of six lasers who attach themselves to enemy armor and her sword is a red blade of light. The first enemy that appears is a boss of sorts who spits out a bunch of shot attacks including green steams, slow moving yellow blobs, and faster moving pink triple-dots. Once the hull is breached, a smaller ship emerges and starts shooting out concentric rings of shots, guided lasers, and pink projectiles that stream en masse in reverse-V formation. Jewels are released by the enemy as chunks of it are blasted away. To gather them up easily, stop firing for a second or two and they'll all be attracted into your ship.
* In the next level, you may find yourself disoriented by the constant rotation and shift of the satellite in the background and the attacks / barrages of the enemy. It's possible to just use the sword in this portion and never fire a single shot. Keep close to the foe and slash away while minding the intervals of diamond-shaped missiles and blob shots
* There is slowdown in the game when using the hunting lasers. For example, if there's about two hundred shots on the screen that have been targeted for destruction by pressing the SQUARE and X button simultaneously, there's major lag as two hundred lasers from your ship emanate and eventually make their way into the screen to destroy each and every one of those targeted shots.
* The player ships in Chaos Field are BIG. Their girth makes them easy targets for all the buckshot on screen but skilled players will overcome this inherent handicap.
Original NCS Writeup for Naomi Version
After playing Naomi Chaos Field for a few hours, we can say that the designers were heavily influenced by others before them. We consider Chaos Field an homage and tribute to all of the great shooters from shops such as Psikyo, Treasure, Alfa, etc. Fans will notice many mechanisms from other games...
The ships in Chaos Field are overly ornate affairs with more parts and colors than the typical streamlined craft found in recent shooters. Three possible types are selectable at the outset of the game as flown by human characters named Hal, Ifumi, and Jinn. We normally play with Ifumi's craft because its a bit more adept and faster than the other two although its firepower isn't as mighty. Speed and deft agility are important qualities in Chaos Field. Three main weapon systems are at the ready in Chaos Field: Standard vulcan/laser/electric (depending on which ship your choose) shots are fired by tapping A, hunting laser blasts (of the Ray Crisis sort) are activated by holding B+C, and a magic wand is triggered by hitting B. The magic wand is more of a windshield washer in the way it splays in front of the ship in criss-cross fashion and in the manner that it absorbs some types of laser fire. Think of it as an essential defense mechanism when the screen fills up with swarming waves of bullets.
Of interest in Chaos Field is the hunting laser system (the aforementioned B+C weapon) which may be used to target enemy parts as well as shots. Mark dozens of shots for destruction by casting a Soukyugurentai-like web, unleash a volley of lasers, and watch as streams of blue light emanate from your ship and destroy each target. The hunting lasers may be activated and shot to destroy entire waves of bullets and wipe them from the screen. The stages in Chaos Field are well thought out by the designers and require the use of all of the weapons at your disposal. Some coders add gimmickry that is never essential to the overall flow of a game but the weapon systems serve their purpose here. Players will find themselves swishing away bullets, aiming shots with lasers, attacking bosses, and activating the Chaos Field to obliterate oncoming shots. As bosses and boss underlings are battled, floating diamonds called Meta Stock are released which fall downwards in mild-mannered trajectory when your ship is firing away. Halt your shots and they'll magically be drawn into your ship. Collect 10 Meta Stock to enable a powerful attack that may be unleashed against bosses and henchmen alike. Up to 10 Meta Stock special attacks may be held in reserve as indicated by the bars on the left side of the screen.
The Chaos Field game title refers to the operation mode that the game may be toggled to by pressing the "C" button. It's not a weapon system but more of an environment modifier that is completely controlled by the player. The game starts off in "Order" which is basically normal mode. Tap the "C" button and the game shifts into "Chaos" overdrive where your weapon systems are instantly more powerful but the enemy attacks also intensify greatly. There's a few seconds of invincibility when toggling between order and chaos and the first level is fairly easy to conquer in Chaos mode but later levels are nearly unmanageable due to the amount and different types of attacks that are happening all at once. We'd love to watch a play-through DVD where a master blows through the game on a single ship to check out his technique but we're guessing we won't see that until the PS2 version is released with the usual obligatory DVD pack-in. Chaos Field doesn't bring any innovations to the table but its obvious that the game stands on the shoulders of greats.