Hard Corps: Uprising Review

Kicking off the Xbox LIVE House Party promotion, Hard Corps: Uprising brings a hardcore run and gun experience for longtime fans of the genre. Does this Contra-inspired experience have the high level of quality you’d expect from Konami? HELL YEAH!

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HERE’S WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT IT….

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

It may be called Hard Corps: Uprising, but from the moment you hear the introduction music to the end credits, this is Contra HD. You may have loved Contra back in the day or you may have hated it – or more commonly, you probably loved it and hated it simultaneously. That’s not a problem cause that’s what I thought of Hard Corps: Uprising by the end.  Looking to relive some childhood memories, or maybe you just want a moderately difficult game to play? Keep reading!

ARCADE MODE VS RISING MODE

Unless you’re the most hardcore player out there you can expect to spend the majority of your time in [RISING MODE].  In that mode, you’ll earn “Corps Points” (CP) by completing missions. The higher combo multiplier you earn will net you higher scores and increase your mission ranking. If you’re hit even a single time or you wait too long between kills your combo multiplier will be reset. At the end of each mission, you can enter the store from the main menu to spend CP and purchase various upgrades that I’ll mention soon. [ARCADE MODE] works on a completely different level and it’s not for the faint of heart. To put it simple (and there’s really nothing simple about it!), you can take two hits and you’ve got two lives stocked. If you die, you’ll have a couple [CREDITS] to retry from the beginning of your current mission, but deplete them and it’s game over.

PLAY WITH A FRIEND OR PLAY WITH YOURSELF

We live in a modern gaming society where online multiplayer is often a welcome experience and ARC System Works realizes that so they’ve built in two-player co-operative multiplayer for both local and online modes. Although you won’t find special team moves, you will have extra firepower when you team up with a friend.  Both players will have their full screen to play on, but you’ll be limited to staying within the same viewing area. Weapon power-ups will be doubled, but enemies don’t seem to scale in difficulty, making the whole experience just a bit easier which we have no complaints about.  Online net code appears to be perfect and a friend and I played a solid six hours on Xbox LIVE with absolutely no lag or other issues.

RISE TO POWER

As I mentioned, [RISING MODE] features and upgrade and leveling system of sorts. Any CP earned can be redeemed in the store for upgrades to your health gauge, new moves, weapon power increases, and much more.  These upgrades that you purchase are permanently attached to your character, offering somewhat of a light RPG aspect to the game.  It could take you thirty hours to max out both characters, unless you can figure a good place to take advantage of an endless spawning enemy which could shorten the time to under two hours per character. Either way, the leveling process is fun because you get a true sense of power when you start pulling out maxed weapons and new abilities later in the game.

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AND NOW WE PRESENT TO YOU…

The moment the game loads you’ll be treated to a beautiful anime cinematic with the same music you heard in Contra, upgraded in sound quality of course. Hard Corps: Uprising is a masterpiece in terms of presentation and you’ll see nothing but quality from its menus to the various styles of design you see it the levels. The soundtrack is rather heavy, similar to Contra and the Guilty Gear series and it helps to get you pumped and into the action of the game  Characters feature some very basic voiceover work and you’ll hear voice actors that have worked in other Konami titles including Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Hard Corps: Uprising features a perfect blend of stunning visuals and quality sounds to make it an extremely enjoyable experience.

HOLY BOSS FIGHTS, BATMAN!

Here’s my favorite part of the game… boss battles! Hard Corps: Uprising may seem like a brutally difficult game, and while it is partly, it’s all about patterns. One mission actually features somewhat of a stealth aspect and pays proper tribute to Metal Gear Solid. You can memorize bullet paths, enemy locations, and general patterns in their movement. Some boss battles in Hard Corps: Uprising are worthy of the term ‘epic’ for the sheer scale and unique styles – you’ll fight some really fun battles.  Each boss and mini-boss in the game has their own specific pattern of attack, and once you learn their every move, the battles will prove to be much easier. Some of the later battles are very tough to avoid taking damage but for the most part you’ll feel like a true badass.

AND THE NOT SO GREAT….

STEEP LEARNING CURVE

In all seriousness, if you’re a fan of run and gun shooters or more specifically, Contra, then you’re going to love Hard Corps: Uprising. There’s simply nothing wrong with this game when you look at what it is meant to be. Having said that, beginners to this genre and series will have some trouble getting into the proper groove. It’s not an easy game, and newcomers should stick with [RISING MODE] to learn the ropes and get a handle on how to play.

LET’S WRAP UP

And there we have it…. House Party is off to a fantastic start with the release of Hard Corps: Uprising.  After fifteen hours with the game I’ve managed to tally over 20,000 enemy kills, and earn 100% completion for both playable characters’ upgrades in [RISING MODE]. While there were surely some frustrating moments and I likely invented a few new words, it was an extremely entertaining title from start to finish. Stunning level design, a retro-ific soundtrack, and a great time with friends is really what this game is all about.  For 1200 :MSPoints: you’ll find a solid amount of replay value in the game, and if you’re looking for all the achievements you’ll need to conquer the arcade mode with a friend, and you’ll need to earn S rankings on every level in the rising mode – both tasks will add at least a few more hours onto your total time spent with the game.

One final note for all you long-time Konami gamers who plan to pick up Hard Corps: Uprising. In either the arcade or rising mode, try out the Konami code (minus ‘Start’) on the loading screen. You won’t earn 30 lives, but you might hear something familiar.