4/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Time Crisis 5.

System: Arcade Started: May 14, 2025 Ended: May 14, 2025 I’m surprised that Namco continues with the Time Crisis series, now with a fifth installment. I only played the first Time Crisis and finished it years ago at a convention. I almost played Time Crisis II when I was a kid, but that cabinet was always in use. Now, I’ve played and finished Time Crisis 5, and I’ve noticed that the first Time Crisis felt like a standard story of saving your girl, but 5 takes it to a new level thanks to its spinoff, Razing Storm. I think Time Crisis is Namco’s favorite light gun arcade game since they keep releasing new entries, and I want a third Steel Gunner or another Dark Escape. In the current modern arcade scene, with franchised centers like Round 1, only a few light gun games from the late '90s still stand, such as The House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn and Time Crisis 5. Time Crisis 5 actually stood out to me because of how crazy the game is while still retaining the Time Crisis feel from the previous entries. Thanks to the over-the-top gameplay of Time Crisis, each level is pure madness, featuring set pieces like riding a motorcycle and going guns blazing at a moving train from a Gatling gun-equipped helicopter while chasing after Wild Dog. Suddenly, your characters gain superpowers, such as super agility, which is shown in the intro cutscene. Most of the time, I was laughing my ass off from the cheesy action dialogue. It’s Metal Wolf Chaos all over again. Time Crisis was well known for its pedal system for covering and reloading. The fifth installment now has two cover pedals, allowing you to move to either the left or right side of the area and quickly uncover enemies’ blind spots. There is even a small QuickTime event during a level where you have to press one of the pedals, which rewards you with a brief Matrix-style slow-motion shooting sequence. It’s fun, but you can easily cheese the game by quickly pressing the pedals with good timing, allowing you to mow down enemies easily and not get hit. You'll be using the two-pedal system quite a lot, especially during boss fights and specific segments. For example, there's a fight sequence that resembles the Metal Gear Solid 4 Raiden versus Vamp scene, where you shoot at your target and change positions to get a clear shot while watching your crossfire to avoid hitting your partner. The main characters in this game are not as compelling as in previous titles. My first impression was that one character, Luke O’Neil, looks like a typical dude-bro who drinks Monster Energy Drinks with his snapback hat and a belt I’m sure he bought at a Hot Topic store in the mall. What’s even funnier is that he says “dang it” whenever problems occur. You do have returning characters from Time Crisis II, but there’s a twist: one of them becomes the antagonist of the story, though the reason for this is not well explained at the final boss of the story. But who cares? Just shoot everything that moves. Time Crisis 5 is full of pure action movie cheese, with cliché dialogue and heavy set pieces, to the point where I think Michael Bay might have been involved. If you’re not a fan of this kind of over-the-top action, you might want to steer clear unless you don’t take that stuff too seriously. Personally, I like this game, and that’s coming from a fan of Metal Gear and Metal Wolf Chaos. It’s an absolute must-play for veteran Time Crisis fans. Newcomers would also enjoy it, especially if you find the arcade cabinet at a popular franchised arcade like Round 1. Time Crisis 5 is one of my top picks. I might even say I prefer it over The House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn. The game can also be downloaded on PC, provided you have some light gun equipment, and you’re all set.