Time Crisis 3 starts out like many games: in a story mode, with various other options unlockable as you fulfill certain criteria or enter cheat codes. The game begins with Alan Dunaway and Wesley Lambert, two top agents who look more like flashy rock stars, on a fishing boat off the coast of Lukano, a fictional country that desperately needs help fighting against a military coup.

The game has three stages, with several areas in each. Each stage, of course, ends with an epic battle you must fight against a powerful boss - including Wild Dog, who returns from the first two installments of Time Crisis. The TC3 manual says that "having once been defeated by VSSE agents, Wild Dog rebuilt his body and returned to earth from the pits of Hell." Give me a break. This is just as bad as Hollywood trying to milk a movie franchise with incessant sequels (think "Rocky"), and it’s the sort of thing that makes a game’s storyline ridiculous. I thought we were supposed to be top agents, not sorcerers. I found it impossible to sit through the tired story and cinematic sequences, and I eagerly pulled the trigger to skip the story and get down to business. I will give credit to Namco for trying to make a shooter with some interesting plot, but like a porno that tries to have a plot, it just doesn’t work.

While the boss feature is a now-overdone cliché, the battle areas still manage to be creative and visually interesting, and the gameplay is a non-stop melee. Enemy soldiers attack you according to their type, and although their style of attack becomes rather predictable after a short while, the constant barrage nonetheless keeps you engaged and on your toes.

At first play, TC3 does seem to suffer from what many other shooters do - the game becomes a bit weary after a while. After all, just how long can your interest possibly be held after mindlessly killing hundreds and hundreds of enemies? On the other hand, this is exactly what makes the game fun and inexplicably addictive. Who doesn’t want to play a mindless shooter to blow off some steam every now and then?

Players will be pleasantly surprised, though, to find that TC3 isn’t quite as "mindless" as you may think. In fact, you won’t get very far in the game’s difficult (or even normal) setting if you play with no strategy. It becomes quickly apparent that, if you want to go far in the game, you will need to use your cover wisely.

You’ll also need to use your lightgun wisely. You know right away you’re in for a treat with a game that includes a gun, but the question undoubtedly arises about just how well said gun actually works. Some of us can reminisce to the days of Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and although that was a fun game in its time, the accuracy of the lightgun was marginal at best. Well, I’m happy to find that 21^st century technology has obviously arrived with Namco’s Guncon2. No question about it, this thing is accurate, and it zeroes in very specifically (and impressively) to your aim. Trust me on this one; I was raised by a sniper-qualified Green Beret, so it takes a lot for me to be impressed by this sort of thing. Guncon2 is accurate, period.

Setting up the Guncon2 is relatively straightforward and simplified further by the diagrams in the box. For two-player action you can hook-up a second Guncon2, though I’ve yet to see any sold separately in stores. You can, however, order the Guncon2 from various cyber-vendors for around $45, and some carry the appealing, black Japanese version. Unfortunately, because of the improvements made in both the controller and the game, the original Guncon is not compatible with Time Crisis 3, thus rendering your original Time Crisis controller useless.

Once you’ve got the controller calibrated, which is a snap, you’ll find that it gives you two options for popping in and out of cover (and simultaneously reloading), which allows you to hold it according to your preference. This is a nice detail, but it can cause some confusion. I found that if you are using the thumb switch as your cover control, it’s all too easy to inadvertently hit the other reload button at the base of the Guncon2’s handle. As a result, you’ll sometimes find yourself popping out of cover when you meant to drop behind it. After playing this way for a bit, I started using the bottom button as my reload switch, and I haven’t had a problem since.

A welcome addition to TC3 is the new weapon-select system. This gives you a choice of four weapons: machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher and your trusty pistol. To select a weapon, you simply take cover (hit the reload button) and squeeze the trigger until the weapon of your choice lights up.

The only limitation is the amount of ammo you have for each weapon. Fortunately, replenishing your ammo isn’t too difficult - all you have to do is shoot an ammo-bearing enemy soldier, conveniently dressed in bright-yellow body armor. The more consecutive times you hit one of these guys, the more ammo you get for your various weapons. Running low on ammo with no yellow enemy in sight? No problem, your handgun has an endless supply of ammo. The downside of your pistol, however, is that it lacks the power of the other weapons and the magazine requires frequent reloading.

For truly hyperactive gaming, you can go into the bonus options (once they’re unlocked) and select "Infinite Handgun Ammo On." This is a bit misleading, because you always have unlimited handgun ammo, but the option makes reloading your handgun completely unnecessary.

Another great addition in TC3 is the sniper combat feature. This mode is available only after successfully completing the game in the standard arcade/story mode, and it offers a whole new level of fun in the spirit of the most recent arcade lightgun series, Silent Scope. It also offers something extra to entice veteran players of the Time Crisis series to jump on board with TC3.

Multiplayer mode in TC3 is somewhat limited, but still fun nonetheless. All multiplayer gameplay is cooperative, so don’t expect any head-to-head action ala Red Faction. Still, being able to play action-hero alongside a friend makes for a really fun gaming experience. One real plus to TC3 is that the difficulty level remains consistent whether you’re playing alone or in multiplayer mode. This works out because the computer acts as your partner if you are playing alone. The computer’s AI isn’t much of a marksman, but at least he draws enemy fire away from you.

So what’s the final verdict on Time Crisis 3? Well, it’s a mixed bag. The game has a tired storyline with main characters who look like a modern-day reprise of The Village People, and it can easily become a bit mind-numbing. On the other hand, the various options and new features make the game an entertaining shooter, and you can easily find yourself playing far longer than you originally planned. Bottom line: If you’re looking for a fun shooter with non-stop action, TC3 is the game for you - just don’t look for an Oscar-winning plot.