TIME CRISIS: CRISIS ZONE
(fmr. plain old "Crisis Zone")
++MINI-FAQ++

by Darrell Wong (DKW)

**The usual stuff**
Date completed: 3/8/05
Version: 3.0

Contents: Complete unlock list, weapons, enemies, scoring FAQ

CM: Crisis Mission
CS: Crisis Sighting
autohit: A Crisis Sighting that the enemy always gets when he first appears.
After that shot, he reverts to his normal accuracy.
drop 'n pop: Hide when you're about to take a hit, then immediately go back on
the offensive.
wakeup: An autohit attack that arrives right after another.  Named after the
"wake-up" attacks in fighting games.

====================
COMPLETE UNLOCK LIST
====================
[Unlockable item - condition.  For Story Mode and Story Mode Special
completions, you can use any settings, and it's okay to continue.]

At the start, only Garland Square and the first set of Crisis Missions (machine
gun) are available.  Lives and continues both have a maximum of 4.

<Increase maximum number of lives and continues - Complete Story Mode and Story
Mode Special games>
Maximum lives and continues per completion:
1: 5/4      2: 6/5      3: 7/5      4: 8/6
5: 9/6      6: 9/7      8: 9/8     11: 9/9

<Second Story Mode game (Grassmarket District) - Complete Garland Square>
Grassmarket District has three stages, Grassmarket Street, Belforte Hotel, and
Crimson Beach, in that order (you have no choice).

<Story Mode Special & Special Weapon CMs - Complete Grassmarket District>
Story Mode Special is the same as the regular game except that you have a
handgun and shotgun in addition to the machine gun.  Pull the trigger while
hiding to switch weapons.  You can also obtain a flamethrower, laser, missile
launcher, gatling gun, and grenade launcher, each of which is used in a secret
area.

<Trial Mode & Boss Battle CMs - Complete both Special Story Mode missions>

<Extra Weapon CMs - Obtain the weapons in Story Mode Special>
On each stage of Story Mode Special except the last, there's a soldier in brown
armor.  Kill him to access a secret area where you get to test out an extra
weapon.

Drycreek Plaza - Flamethrower          Grassmarket Street - Gatling Gun
Garland Park - Missile Launcher        Belforte Hotel - Grenade
Garland Technology Center - Laser

Once your game ends, the weapon's CM becomes available.  There's only one per
extra weapon.

<Double Gun Mode - Get 55% completion>
Exactly what it sounds like...two guns blazing at the same time.  Each has its
own ammo.

<Select Weapon CMs - Clear every other CM on Normal>
Three difficult objectives where you have more than one weapon.

=======
WEAPONS
=======
REGULAR WEAPONS
Machine gun: The standard weapon.  The weakest shot-for-shot, but makes up for
it with its high rate of fire.  Highly accurate with unlimited range.
    Best uses:
  * Distant enemies
  * Areas with lots of objects
  * Big clusters of weak enemies
  * Anything unsuited for the handgun or shotgun

Shotgun: Scatters numerous shots over a wide area.  Slowest and least precise
of all the weapons.  Packs an incredible punch at close range, but loses
effectiveness over distance, and is worthless against distant enemies.
    Best uses:
  * Very close enemies in open areas
  * Big targets that can take plenty of punishment
  * Very fast and difficult-to-target enemies
  * Knifers

Handgun: A powerful single-shot pistol.  Does twice the damage of the machine
gun, and the bullets also cover a wider area.  More accurate than the shotgun,
but less than the machine gun.  Fires as fast as you can pull the trigger.
    Best uses:
  * Big targets too far for the shotgun
  * Medium-range enemies in relatively uncluttered areas
  * Anyplace you face a lot of CS's.

EXTRA WEAPONS
Flamethrower: Similar to the machine gun, but more powerful.  Fire stream
covers a slightly wider area than the handgun.  Any object it hits is set
ablaze.

Missile Launcher: To use this, move your weapon over enemies to lock them on.
You can target as many enemies as you have missiles.  Pull the trigger to fire;
each missile takes a little over two seconds to hit.  You can hide while
targeting, but not reload.  One missile is powerful enough to down a helicopter
or any soldier, and they never miss.

Laser: A pinpoint of light (about the same area as the machine gun) that
creates a short streak when you move it around.  It's tremendously powerful.

Gatling Gun: A super machine gun which cuts through enemies at an amazing speed.

Grenade: An explosive which detonates about three seconds after it's tossed.
Bounces off walls, floors, and other flat surfaces.  You can only use one at a
time, and it's extremely difficult to aim accurately.


=======
ENEMIES
=======
The CS appears about a second before the enemy actually fires the dangerous
shot, so you always have time to react.

+ Regular enemies +
Blue camos
The standard Crisis cannon fodder.  They do get CSs, but only rarely, and it
takes them quite a while.  Most of them can take a little over a second of
punishment before going down.  The big groups have the staying power of wet
cardboard; you can mow 'em all down with a single clip.  Unless they have the
autohit ability, they're a minimal threat (and not that tough even when they
do).

Blue camos & shield
They cannot be hurt while behind the shield and put it aside only to attack.
They usually have a little better aim than the unprotected grunts.  To kill
them, either hit an exposed body part (usually the head or gun arm) or pound
the shield until it's knocked away.  Hits to the shield count as part of a hit
streak.

Red camos
The notorious "marksmen" of Crisis fame.  *Most* of them have autohits.  Their
accuracy after that one shot varies wildly; some will keep getting CSs; others
are barely better than their blue brethren.  They succumb after about 5-7 shots.

Olive uniform
They can take plenty of punishment but are just as inaccurate as the lowly blue
troops.  Rarely a threat.  At least a couple will get right in your face and
kick you; drop 'n pop them.

White armor
Same as the Olive soldiers, but with better accuracy.  One of the tougher basic
foes, especially in groups.  On rare occasions, he runs right up to you and
clubs you with his gun and/or delivers a kick; be sure to put your guard up if
you see him get too close.

Red bodysuit
You'll quickly learn to hate these bastards.  They carry either knives or
grenades.  A few knifers hang back and throw the blades at you (with a CS at
least every other time), but the majority appear out of nowhere to slash you,
with a few jumping at you out of nowhere.  Your *only* defense is to memorize
where they appear and make sure your shield is up before they attack.  Some of
them immediately follow up a slash with another one; don't break from cover too
soon!  The grenade throwers attack relentlessly until slain, and there is *no*
CS for their attacks.  Easily the toughest basic foes, and defending against
them is the key to mastering the game.  You'll almost always have to drop 'n
pop the close-range knifers or wipe them out before they can get a slash off.

Helicopter
Plain 'ol choppers, each equipped with a machine gun.  They appear in a few
places in Garland Park.  CSs are pretty much random.  Just pound 'em until they
can't take no more.

Ceiling guns
Machine gun units that drop out of the ceiling.  They only appear in Garland
Technology Center.  They're pretty easy targets and will never get more than
one CS before you blow them apart.

Brown armor
The special troops which open up secret areas, as mentioned earlier.  They have
no way of hurting you.  Locations for each:
Drycreek Plaza - In the room with the boxes.  Hangs around for a while, so
it's not too hard to drop him.
Garland Park - Lower left of the screen where the open green truck is.  You
*must* blast him as soon as he appears, or he's gone.
Garland Technology Center - In the back of the same room as the first ceiling
gun.  Get him quickly.
Grassmarket Street - In the area immediately after the fireworks stand, in
the back.  A pretty easy target.
Belforte Hotel - Roughly in the middle of the casino room, the same area as
the close-up knifer.

White armor & jetpack
These flyboys have tremendous quickness and pretty good accuracy.  Take your
best aim and blast away.  In Story Mode Special, the Shotgun is your best bet.

Yellow & black suit
These are the "bonus guys" that appear in Trial Mode.  Killing one gets you
either 30,000 points or 5 seconds erased from the clock, depending on which
type of mode you're playing.  Get 'em quick; they never hang around for long.

+ Bosses +
(Note: For all bosses, you can only do a certain amount of damage at a time no
matter how much you hammer them.  Each boss has a number of "trigger points"
where you resume doing damage.  All hits count as part of a hit streak whether
or not they damage.)

Super tank (Drycreek Plaza)
For the first part, the key is getting what you can when you can and keeping a
sharp eye out for CSs.  Start by taking out the three right side miniguns, the
right turret-mounted missile launcher, and the rearward gatling gun (two
autohits in succession).  The tank will move around a lot, so don't get too
fixated on any one target.  When it shows it's left side, mop up anything
besides the miniguns you haven't yet, then go after them.  Be sure to zap the
soldiers the moment they enter, too.  You probably won't get everything before
you have to go up the stairs; don't worry about that.  For the second part, the
tank goes all-out with its main cannon and will also open a missile bay.
Attack the bay when it's open until it's destroyed (2-3 barrages), and either
shoot or hide from the missiles.  The cannon will take a while to destroy, so
avoid all of its blasts and don't get impatient.  Once it's down, you have only
a bunch of soldiers to go before the final targets, a pair of spinning guns.
They get CSs in bunches, so wait until you see an opening, and drop 'n pop if
you have to.  Once they're smashed, that's all she wrote for the super tank.

HIND helicopter (Garland Park)
Lots of trigger points here; again, don't get impatient.  Its normal attacks
are a stream of machine gun fire and a salvo of missiles.  The missiles can't
be destroyed, so hide as soon as they turn towards you.  If you see a missile
attack at close range, hide immediately!  It will also try to chop you with its
rotor after destroying the bridge; when you hear "Danger!", lie low.  Shortly
afterward, it'll hover directly above you and continuously drop bombs.  Destroy
the bombs at the same time you nail the chopper, and hide *only* to reload (if
you mess up, wait for an opening and then immediately resume bomb-blasting).
The soldiers and support helicopters here are all easy kills.  Other than the
bombing, this battle is really nothing special.  As long as you have good
reactions and attack aggressively, the big bird is all chirp and no peck.

Tiger & Edgey (Garland Technology Center)
Once you learn their patterns, slapping down these goons is a cake walk.
Nearly all their attacks are hideously telegraphed; as long as you don't fall
victim to wakeups, you'll get through withotu a scratch.  The only even mildly
challenging part is Edgey's desperate knife blitz at the end, and even that
will fall easily to drop 'n pop.

Derek Lynch (Geyser 1)
TOO easy.  Pound him, duck his occasional CSs, shoot or duck the slow grenades,
and keep pounding him.  He doesn't even get a trigger point until the very end,
and that only keeps him alive for a couple more seconds.  His flunkies will put
up ten times the fight he does.  Really just a big, slow, underarmed target.

A-0940 (Grassmarket Street)
This is a long, tedious battle, and it'll take some practice before you can get
all the way through it unhurt.  At the start, it'll be "cloaked", so you'll
have to look carefully to find the parts that are attacking you.  It starts off
with three miniguns near the rear and a trio of missile launchers on the top
middle.  The missiles can be destroyed.  Do as much damage as possible to the
guns before the missiles start firing, then go after then and the launchers.
Once all three are out, mop up the remaining gun(s).  Get ready to face the
same configuration on the other side of the machine.  The missile launchers
activate sooner this time; take them out first, as before.  After all the guns
and launchers are down, you'll face an assault from 4 satellites, which attack
(with no CS) when they open.  Again, make sure you're down before they fire.
You can destroy the satellites individually or get them all by destroying the
control unit atop the machine (which is easier).  A lot of soldiers follow,
most with autohits, followed by four gatling guns on the back of the machine;
do the usual drop 'n pop with both.  Finally, the power source will open and
reveal a laser.  Hit it hard and fast before it sweeps toward you, and also
avoid the rockets that'll be launched your way.  It should take no more than
one more barrage to take it out and send A-0940 to the chop shop.

Jared Hunter (Belforte Hotel)
Nothing special here; you just need lighting-quick reflexes and dead-on aim.
Jared will occasionally get up close and personal (if you see him flying
straight at you, duck), but mostly he hangs back and blasts away.  Take your
best aim at whoever's closest to you and attack.  For the last part, Jared will
get tons of CSs with only small windows, so you really have to be on-target
with your drop 'n pop.

Armored boat (Crimson Beach)
When you see a missile approaching, blast the heck out of it before it hits
(you won't take damage, but you will lose a lot of time).  Other than that, if
you made it this far, you know the drill.  Pound the boat when you're not about
to take a hit from anything; protect yourself when you are.  You are NEVER in
danger unless there's a CS on the screen, so don't be afraid of the spectacular
energy effects.  In the end, CSs will come so fast that you'll barely have time
to attack at all, and you'll just have to earn your final triumph bit by bit.

===========
SCORING FAQ
===========
The key to big scores is combos.  When you first start a combo (hits against
enemies and objects count the same), each hit increases the score by 10.  This
goes up the higher the combo goes, to the point where you can get HUGE scores
for a single combo.  The combo doesn't end until you go for about 1 1/2 seconds
without hitting anything, so if you're going for big poings, get everything
that looks like it may be damagable.

For the scoring CMs, for the most part, you'll want to take out objects as
slowly as possible so you can keep the streak going.  This is especially
important when you cross over the same area several times.

All hits count whether or not they do damage.  It's possible to rack up a ton
of points against bosses by pounding them before a trigger point.  The best
place to practice this is the second phase of the super tank's attack.
Additionally, both the super tank and A-0940 have armor panels which you can
knock off for points or just to keep the run alive.

------------------------------------------------------------
Mini-FAQ in progress copyright 2005 by Darrell Wong.
All rights reserved.