Written by: Alex

 

 

 

"Hard Corps: Uprising" is to all intents and purposes Contra. Taking the core game play of Konami’s twenty four year old shooter series, developer Arc System Works took the subtitle of the Mega Drive title (Contra: Hard Corps) but dropped the familiar Contra title.

 

Despite a change in name, Hard Corps: Uprising heritage is instantly recognisable, with weapons, controls and punishing difficult all remaining intact.

 

 

Dropping Contra may seem like a strange choice in terms of brand recognition, but the departure from the moniker becomes clear when the game is viewed in context. Gone is the alien invasion that served as the Contra series antagonists, replaced instead by a ruling Commonwealth empire that a small band call the Union Tribe are rebelling against. 

 

It is a far more convoluted story that the Contra games (which equated to aliens – kill) that takes a lot of inspiration from anime. Two characters are available from the start (others can be purchased as DLC) Bahamut and Krystal, both with their own tales. Bahamut is a defecting solider from Commonwealth elite, who now fights for the Union Tribe (it appears due to senseless killings perpetrated by the Commonwealth). Krystal is a young woman whom survived her parent’s killings by the Commonwealth, and now fights for vengeance under Bahamut’s leadership.

 

 

Overwrought Japanese anime troupes certainly permeate events, as does the design of the characters and enemies, but this does little to detract (or enhance if you are in to that kind of thing) the experience. With all story points appearing as text during loads these can be as easily ignored if desired, allowing you to get straight into the action.

 

 

Hard Corps: Uprising is uncomplicated action. Running left and right on a 2D plane, jumping from platform to platform and killing enemies from all sides with eight directions of fire is about as simple as modern games get. Just don’t mistake ‘simple’ for ‘easy’. 

 

Those familiar with Contra will instantly see the similarities between it and Hard Corps: Uprising, the weapon system (two selectable guns both of which can be ascribed a firing modes by collecting pick ups), double jumps, hanging from pipes and, most notably, a punishing difficulty.

 

There are a few changes to gameplay for fans of Contra. Dash is key among these additional skills. In the air this allows a horizontal burst of speed allowing you to bridge gaps by making longer jumps, but on the ground dash unlocks a number of other skills. Tapping the ‘Y’ button while at a full run allows dodges, vaults and a number of other moves. When used these new abilities allow levels to be moved through at a fantastic pace, but using them properly is a bit of a challenge.

 

 

While Hard Corps: Uprising is set on a 2D plane with essentially mindless enemies, the numbers of opponents and bullets on screen at any time combined with navigating the environment and the speed of play make it a challenge from the get go.

 

Even the first level is steep challenge with the default characters. Even after several hours acclimatizing myself with the game it took three of my ten continues to make it through this opening level arcade mode. This makes completing the whole ten levels that make up the story near impossible for those not prepared to dedicate a significant amount of time to it in the base arcade mode, and replay the early stages a lot.

 

 

Luckily arcade mode is not the only one on offer. Where arcade play acts much as the old Contras did with a set range of abilities and health, the new Uprising mode allows experience points to be earned. These points can then be exchanged for enhanced abilities, more powerful weapons, extra health and more lives. But getting 100% of the upgrades is a pain-staking task requiring multiple plays. It is almost fitting that with the RPG nature of the upgrade system that the mechanic makes grinding necessary to efficiently power-up quickly to mitigate the later level challenges.

 

Though the persistent upgrades make the game manageable, it remains difficult. Indeed if Uprising mode didn't also offer a level select of finished levels I remain doubtful that with all the upgrades I would be able to finish it, even with all the extra energy and lives this would give me.