| Introduction
I was more than a little excited when I discovered
that one of my favorite arcade games was being developed
for the GBA, although my first thought was, "How
on Earth are they going to do it?". Yes, we've
seen some pretty amazing things on the GBA during these
past twelve months, but Silent Scope still seemed incredibly
ambitious. It was heartening to note though that the
game was being developed in-house and as such, my hopes
were high that Konami would be able to pull off a successful
conversion. Question is, have they?
GamePlay
The main aim of Silent Scope is simple: armed only
with your trusty sniper rifle you must shoot various
moving targets from around a hundred meters away before
they get you. There are two ways to approach the game;
you can visit the various Shooting Ranges or tackle
the Story Mode.
Completion of certain missions will result in an
Advance Mode being unlocked at a later stage. Getting
the right shot, however, is all important as it takes
a few seconds to reload and once you've fired a single
shot the enemy will know your location. Although in
the initial sections it's easy to spot your targets,
later on you'll sometimes have to wait for the enemy
to shoot first and simply zero in on their gunfire.
This unfortunately wastes both your health and time
but occasionally there's little alternative. Your sniper
gun is equipped with a night scope, which gives you
the upper hand in some locations, although opposition
flares illuminate the sky and unfortunately, you too.
Both the Story and Advance Modes can be completed
with greater ease if you spend some time in the Shooting
Range training and fine tuning your sniper skills. This
can be approached in a number of different ways, which
are all designed to tax your ability to work (and shoot)
under extreme pressure.
Things start off with a Normal Attack, which is similar
to the main game, but other options such as Perfect
Shot and the rather self-explanatory Time Attack will
really have your trigger finger (or 'B' button) twitching
in anticipation of your next target.
One gaming aspect I haven't mentioned is your gun's
stability and you'll discover that just like with a
real rifle, the greater the distance of a target, the
harder it is to hit as your sight floats around. Shooting
takes place in a variety of environments ranging from
indoor target ranges to less friendly outdoor locations.
Every session results in a score card with a grading
system that can be quite critical in letting you know
that you need more practice.
Multi-player enthusiasts are also catered for so
anyone with a friend and a link cable can sample an
enjoyable mini game entitled Balloon Shot with only
a single copy of the game. This may look like a simple
case of hitting the targets as quickly as possible but
you'll quickly realize that the real bonuses are given
when balloons are hit in a certain order.
Finally, staying true to its arcade roots everything
is saved to a battery backup allowing you to view and
attempt to beat your various high scores over and over
again.
Controls
As with the arcade game the control is very simple
and the 'pick up and play' quality of Silent Scope is
one of the main aspects that makes it so playable. If
you're not happy with the default settings, however,
there's the option to change the GBA's layout to one
that suits you. It's a very simple option but one that
in my opinion should be offered in every GBA game.
Graphics
Obviously the GBA is nowhere near as powerful as
an arcade unit and as a result there have been some
considerable compromises made in the visual department.
The first of these is the fact that almost all your
shooting environments are static screens with objects
moving within and through the area. It all works surprisingly
well though, producing an incredible illusion of movement.
The screens themselves are very well drawn but for no
apparent reason the illustrations accompanying the cut
screens are really very small, which is a little irritating
to say the least.
Sound & Music
The audio for Silent Scope has been wonderfully designed
and can best be described as a mixture of incredibly
clear sampled sounds and an ambient soundtrack. It fits
the theme of the game perfectly, enhancing the gameplay
but never becoming a distraction to your sniping activities.
Final Comments
The only target and shoot game we've seen on the
GBA before this is Phenomedia's Moorhen, so it's undoubtedly
a genre that has yet to be fully exploited. The GBA
version of Silent Scope manages to take a very simple
theme and produce both a satisfying and (reasonably)
long lasting title. A number of critics have argued
that some of the enemies are a little too small and
you can't see them, but isn't that the whole point of
a sniper game?
In terms of gameplay, Silent Scope offers a rewarding
challenge, with its clever use of extra modes and cheats
that open up when you fulfill a certain criteria. The
inclusion of a multi-player option is another added
bonus and gives the game a high replay value. Suffice
to say, Silent Scope is the perfect game for trigger-happy
gamers and fans of the arcade game. Kudos to Konami
too, for being on target and doing a good job with this
conversion.
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