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PS2
Gun Parade Orchestra: Shiro no Shou -
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NCS
Game Synopsis
©NCSX▪
The first salvo in the new Gun Parade Orchestra
trilogy is subtitled "Aomori Penguin Densetsu." The
Aomori Penguin reference is fairly evident within
the first hour of game play when the player meets a
trench coat wearing penguin that waddles around
campus. The timeline is December 1999 in an
alternate reality where World War II was followed by
something even more ominous.
Alien creatures known as Genju mount an attack on mankind and
decimate the population. With massive casualties,
the defense forces have to rely on teenage soldiers
as soon as they're of age to go into battle. With
attacks mounted by the Genju in impromptu fashion, air raid sirens still sound the alarm whenever
invaders breach the defense perimeters of the town
where the protagonist lives. In the case of Gun
Parade Orchestra, the Genju consist of wiry
humanoid creatures, massive scorpion-like beasts,
and other exotic monsters dreamt up by the team at
Alfa System. As a recruit of the 108 Security
Division which protects the peace in a town located
in Hokkaido, players lead a team of armor-suited
warriors to beat back threats whenever the sirens
ring out their clarion call. At other times, the
player/protagonist is a normal student who goes to
high school, interacts with fellow students, and
lives a relatively normal life.
Every preorder will include a bonus 108
GDP Security Division arm patch which features
Aomori Penguin and the 108 GDP banner. While
supplies last, we will also include the arm patch
with new orders. Every copy of
the game also includes a bonus 27-minute DVD which
contains an episode of the Gun Parade Orchestra
animation.
NCS Game Notes
* Before the title screen, a command line
interface appears and the gamer logs into the Doll
Player System...
* The intro to the game shows a classroom followed
by an overview of a town. The camera pans down on a
close-up of a street and focuses on an abandoned
teddy bear lying in the street. Maybe it's a
reference to innocence lost. The camera shifts to a
mish-mash view inside a school where a medley of
students are walking. The scene shifts again to an
examination of a mech which then appears on a city
street while snow flakes pepper the air. The mech
marches and eventually meets an enemy mech and
raises it's gun hand to fire. End.
* Upon starting a game, one of 16 possible students
may be selected as your onscreen protagonist. Each
student has a unique storyline and connections to
other students in the game.
* In the Now Loading screen, Aomori penguin which is
dressed up like a 1930s gangster appears in the
lower right quadrant of the screen.
* The game starts in December 1, 1999. In the
introductory sequence, an image of the North
American and European continents are shown with info
about WWII in 1945. The graphic changes to an image
of the Earth and Moon eclipsing each other in a view
from outer space followed by pairs of red pills that
are nestled in a dark place. After the introductory
sequence and text explaining the situation, the GPO
logo appears again and the continents appear with
the date of 1997. Large parts of the continents are
colored red with only bits of blue left over
although much of the USA and South America is
primarily still blue. The map changes to a view of
Japan and then updates 1998 events and the early
part of 1999 where a squad of students are assembled
an in uniform. They're ready to take on the
challenges that await them. The intro continues and
explains why the students are in Hokkaido with a
penguin mascot.
* Once the intro is near end, an image of the
character that you selected appears and his/her
photo is take face-on and in both profiles for
his/her induction. Once the game starts, an
out-of-focus camera takes in a scene of three women
facing each other in a circle. The commander woman
addresses the protagonist - she wears a white
uniform with shoulder pad tassels that hang down.
Her eyes blink and she moves a little bit while
speaking.
* In the next sequence, protagonist automatically
follows a teacher out to the hallway and into a
classroom. Sit down and learn the lesson of the day.
Interaction options appear in the form of
selections. Choose an action out of two possible
choices at the outset. If you choose a proper
action, the game will reward you with a "Your Action
was Good" or a "Your Action was Excellent" pat on
the back and add points to your experience level. If
you goof, you'll know it immediately when the "Your
Action isn't Good" message pops up. Points are
awarded based on your actions throughout the game.
* When it's lunchtime, follow the other students out
into the hallway and explore for a spell. Use the
L-analog to move around in a 3D school and press the
"O" button to approach fellow students and speak to
them. R-analog is not used in the game and there's
no way to shift camera views while traveling around
town. After exploring the hallways a bit, it's
possible to leave the school building and return
home while it snows outside. The ground is also
covered with snow and apparently, no one shovels the
walks or has heard of salt. After a while, return to
class and interact some more with the teacher to
earn points.
* On the roof of the school, someone has built a
snowman which is leaning against the green railing.
There's a chance to earn points if you add something
to the snowman's face.
* After progressing further, air sirens sound off
and a briefing is shown which details five enemy
units shown as red wedges approaching the city. A
single blue wedge represents the town defense team.
If you watch the animation, the blue wedge destroys
two red wedges and the other three red wedges flee.
The briefing is an abrupt change of scenarios after
the calming influence of school life but five
students led by your character head off into war
after details of the mission at hand are shown.
* At the outset of battle, four human units flank an
armored unit. To move, push up on the L-analog and
the armored tank rolls slowly onwards as the
soldiers follow. The R-analog stick swivels the
camera around but it only swivels in a 180 degree
arc forwards. There's no way to look behind the tank
unless you move the entire tank around to check out
what's behind. To fire, hit the R1 trigger and the
tank will blow out a little bit of ordnance to take
out yellow-colored troll creatures that appear
occasionally in the snow. An overhead map on the
lower-left corner of the screen keeps track of
surroundings while a green circle around the tank
keeps your bearings with arrows which show base
location and target area. The first mission is a
simple search and destroy exercise where about 6 of
the creatures are located and destroyed. Commands
may be issued to your flanking troops so that they
fan out and perform their own autonomous roving
search and destroy runs while your tank motors along
on its own. After successfully completing the
mission, experience points are handed out to
everyone in the team.
* After the first mission, life goes on as usual
with visits to the town shopping area, school, etc
until the next mission abruptly starts again. This
time, it's an escort mission where a group is on
their way out of town and your crew serves as
defense and offense to intercept monsters that are
roaming around. The creatures consist of a pair of
scorpion-like creatures and one troll beast. Instead
of a tank however, the main character is on foot in
an armored suit with cohorts that follow on foot and
one who is in an armored carrier.
* Locations in town that may be visited include a
park, a cemetery, a busy intersection with stores,
the back of the school, and a basketball court in
the school. Eventually, the penguin in trench coat
introduces itself (yes, it speaks Japanese) and
it'll shuffle around the school grounds once you've
spoken to it.
* Press the SELECT button to view an overhead map of
every area on campus and in the town. A selection of
areas is listed on the left side of the screen and
may may flip through them to see where each location
is highlighted on the map accompanied by a photo.
* To get impressions of what people are thinking in
the game, press the L1 trigger and a beam of yellow
light emanates from your character and hits the
target individual.
* Gun Parade Orchestra is interesting. The classroom
and interaction sequences are cookie-cutter but the
storyline is entertaining. The battle action
missions move at a measured pace so they're not
comparable to what one might find in a dedicated
action game such as Devil May Cry. In the scope of a
story-intensive interaction game however, the
measured pace meshes well.
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This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No
reproduction in whole or in part of this document
may be made without express written consent of
National Console Support, Inc.
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