Let's face it--the PlayStation is getting long in the tooth, and games like Time Crisis: Project Titan only prove that situation's truth. The environments are blocky and pixelated, and the various character models, while fairly well animated for a PSX game, are way too self-similar for my own tastes. Of course, that's part of the original game's legacy; you could always tell what sort of person it would be by the colour of their clothes and their stance. A little silly nowadays, but I suppose you don't tinker with classic mechanics. The in-game cutscenes are nice enough, but the engine is definitely not pushing the PSX to its limit. The world feels a little drabber than it probably should, which is a shame.

That's not to say it sounds too shabby. You'll recognize the various phrases from the original game, and the gun sounds are just as satisfying. The music is also just as hummable; I can remember the main theme from the original Time Crisis even now, and while Project Titan's remixes and original tunes don't quite grab me the same way, it's still a solid effort. And who will ever forget the sounds your gun makes as it shoots into the environment?

Short form: Time Crisis: Project Titan is a blast to play, until you realize that you can beat the game in an hour or two. Then it seems to be a little too much like that wave of PS2 games that were all too short for their own good. It's fun while it lasts, but Project Titan's main shortcoming is that it just doesn't last long enough.

For those of you who have never played a Time Crisis title--there were two in the arcades, the first of which was ported to the PSX back in its youth--the concept is fairly simple. Like most of the 'gun-based' titles on the market, a number of enemies pop up on the screen and you have to shoot them. Unlike most, you have the ability to 'duck' at any time, which both refills your ammo and keeps you from getting shot. The game consists of ducking out, firing a few well-placed shots, and then ducking for cover again as the bullets whiz by. Various enemies have various methods of destruction; some have pistols, others have machine guns, and others are much more careful aimers and need to be shot upon sight. If you get hit full-on by a bullet, you lose a 'life'; lose all of them and it's Game Over.

Of course, to keep you from wasting too much time ducking behind cover, the game has a constant time pressure that shows up as a timer. Hence, Time Crisis.

Project Titan is a PlayStation-only release, never seen in an arcade. Despite that fact, the game has very little in the way of amenities. You can pick whether you want to play the standard game or the Time Attack, and that's about it. In the normal game you're given a time limit for each level, along with however many lives you have; in the Time Attack mode you have as much time as you need, but you're trying to beat your best time.

And there is the main problem with Project Titan; once you beat the game, there's really nothing else to do with it. Sure, it's fun to perfect your style, trying to make it through without getting hit even once, but that wears thin pretty quickly too. Even the PSX release of the original game had two 'episodes' that you could play, one special-made for that release.

That's not to say that Project Titan doesn't have a few enhancements. The environments are more interactive, letting you break glass and do other fun stuff. And during the boss fights you have the ability to scamper between different points of view, each of which lends you a different angle to hit the boss at. More often than not it's necessary to get a good bead on the bad guy.

Now if only the game lasted a few more hours . . .

Once you get the hang of the game, Time Crisis: Project Titan isn't a terribly difficult title. A day or two with it and you should be able to fairly rip through it, although a lot of the game involves memorization of enemy placements and a little luck as you dodge rapid-fire machine gun bursts. The difficulty level is definitely pretty high for people who've never played the game, and the continue system isn't infinite, which means that newbies will be playing the first segment of the game over and over until they figure out the patterns of the enemies. Once you do, though, the game's pretty simple.

Although I'm sure you could play Time Crisis: Project Titan with something other than a Guncon, I can't imagine why you'd want to. The game is quite simply designed for that sort of peripheral, and playing it with a controller is an exercise in frustration. [Trust me, I tried.] Otherwise the game is pretty much perfect when it comes to mechanics; the gun only occasionally starts veering from its norm, and the menus are so sparse that navigating them is trivial.

PS2:: While Time Crisis: Project Titan definitely gains some graphical oomph by running it in the Smooth graphics mode, it's doubtful that the change will be enough for you to notice. The same goes for the Fast disc load option, as the load times are short enough already that any difference gained by speeding them up is probably lost by the time you have to spend navigating the BIOS GUI to turn it on.

There's a good bit of fun to be had with Time Crisis: Project Titan, but the game ends so quickly that you're left wondering just what you missed. The answer is simple: not a lot. While fans of the series and those looking for a nice filler with their Guncon should definitely check it out, people looking for a title that will last them longer should give a look to the original Time Crisis or any of the Point Blank series. While not as 'cool' as Project Titan, all of the aforementioned titles have considerably longer lasting power. Of course, if you've already worn out Time Crisis' welcome, you should definitely give Project Titan a spin.