contra video game review

Test: Contra: Rogue Corps - When the run and gun turns into an old-fashioned shoot'em up

Although the Contra series has never really disappeared from the radars of the gaming world, this year, it managed to make a remarkable comeback at the Nintendo conference of E3 2019 by presenting for the very first time Contra: Rogue Corps as well as its four new playable protagonists. So, are Kaiser and his friends up to Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, the heroes of the first games? Answer in this test.

Being available in many media, players may wonder what better option to choose to play Contra: Rogue Corps in optimal conditions. Obviously, the Nintendo Switch version is below other machines in terms of definition and yet, we would tend to advise you the latter since the hybrid side and especially the portable aspect of the console go well with the genre. Missions that regularly take less than twenty minutes can therefore be easily accomplished while on the go.

Available ten years before the release of a certain Metal Slug, the Contra saga was able to mark its time in the late 1980s and early 1990s by offering an effective run and gun where the player had the possibility of shooting in front of him as behind, and small revolution for the time, diagonally. The goal is to cross the levels in two dimensions as quickly as possible by eliminating all the enemies who try to get in your way. With Contra: Rogue Corps, yesterday's formula is still today. Kaiser, Ms. Harakiri, Gentleman and Hungry Beast, our playable heroes, weapons in hand and shoulder, roam the streets of a devastated world to destroy all forms of extraterrestrial life, except that the title, like episodes released on the first PlayStation, abandons the genre of run and gun to get closer to the shoot'em up. The camera is therefore placed slightly in height, and the player uses the two joysticks on his controller to aim and move.

A new camera, but a dated finish

Contra: Rogue Corps - When the run and gun turns into an old-fashioned shoot'em up
The greatest strength of this episode lies in this new camera which continues to move to offer bold plans, especially for this type of games. Just like for the first episodes which liked to propose different points of view throughout the adventure, the camera does not hesitate to abandon the top view to propose from time to time plans which would approach more than a TPS . The camera angles therefore surprise and vary the pleasures to highlight a long corridor inhabited by a dozen monsters or to reveal the verticality of certain levels, sometimes even at the expense of visibility and maneuverability. Regularly, enemies can be hidden by the chosen angles. But this minor problem is unfortunately only one of many flaws.

The series is struggling to restore its coat of arms. Its image of a great saga has given way to average games since the transition to the three-dimensional era. Much to our disappointment, this continues with this Contra: Rogue Corps. The title is simply from another age. The graphics are dated, the textures runny and the artistic direction clearly leaves something to be desired. The levels all resemble each other, whether by the environments offered, always very dull, or even by the level-design. On several occasions, the player will face elements borrowed from another mission, such as charred cars, doors to destroy or metal stairs. The title therefore lacks inspiration and proves it to us on several occasions: to inflate (artificially) the lifespan, the game does not hesitate, and this, from the second chapter, to bring back our heroes in worlds already crossed . The only novelty then lies in the appearance of tougher enemies. The world 2 for example, offers only two new missions on the six proposed. Laziness, which is also felt in the bestiary. During these seven chapters, the player will have fun or not decimate the clones of these demonic monsters with limited visuals.

A GAMEPLAY LACKING BIT

Contra: Rogue Corps - When the run and gun turns into an old-fashioned shoot'em up
To compensate for this lack of diversity, we could have expected the game to subject us to almost flawless gameplay, but this is unfortunately not the case. While the genre has in recent years many successful titles like Dead Nation, Neon Chrome or Helldivers, Contra: Rogue Corps decides to make its own way and not to take the example of any other production. Even if this new opus is not completely unpleasant to browse, it must be admitted that the player will never be really convinced by the long sequences that this episode offers, the fault of imposing enemies who are more like PV bags , than a real challenge. This also concerns boss fights that do not reinvent themselves during long confrontations.

We add to this commands that do not always respond, such as the change of weapon, which has caused our loss on numerous occasions, as well as a blatant lack of rhythm in combat or movement. For a genre that wants to be particularly nervous, it is a shame to constantly use the dash to move at a suitable speed or to avoid most attacks, even the slowest. The player then does not feel the stress that usually comes from clashes in a shoot'em up.

THOUGHTFUL SIDES

Contra: Rogue Corps - When the run and gun turns into an old-fashioned shoot'em up
Contra: Rogue Corps does not only suffer from too slow gameplay or old-fashioned plastic, it also misses the mark on the side of its menus or its features. Let's start with the menus. They offer you to improve your character thanks to the many resources that it is possible to recover during your escapades like gold (the currency of the game), but also body modifications to increase the strength of your dash, life character or weapon parts to accelerate the rate of fire of your arsenal. Unfortunately, the menus are made up of many submenus and above all a lot of information, which makes everything quickly indigestible. It is all the more unfortunate since as we advance in the title, we spend more and more time trying to improve the talents of our hero to hope to survive against the hordes of enemies or simply to reach the objective given by a mission as quickly as possible in order to maximize the score.

Features like local co-op multiplayer are also poorly thought out. It is for example impossible to play two, three or four on the same screen in the campaign mode, while the game is suitable. The player is then forced to go online to join a team, or to retract in the Exploration mode. The latter offers to finish a succession of arenas with your friends locally to collect precious resources and lots of gold coins. But again, this option is poorly designed since it is impossible to access this mode without money, and therefore to play with friends when you want.

The notes
+ Positive points
The different camera shots
A varied arsenal
Four characters each with a unique power

Negative points
Little-varying enemies and mini-bosses
Cross the same levels over and over again
Indigestible menus
A badly brought local cooperation mode
Slow gameplay for the genre

In addition to taking the fans on the wrong foot by offering a shoot'em up instead of an effective run and gun like before, Contra: Rogue Corps, the title of Konami misses the shot on (too) many points. The proposed mechanics, just like the graphics or the sound-design seem to come from a whole other decade. We therefore advise, even the most frequent fans, to go their way and save the sum amounting to forty euros anyway. The title nevertheless had all the cards in hand to succeed, taking inspiration for example from the latest productions of the genre which are not lacking in the independent sector. Unfortunately, Contra: Rogue Corps confines itself to staying faithful to the episodes (mostly disappointing) released on the first PlayStation or on PlayStation 2.