Silent Scope
Developer - Konami
Publisher - Konami
Directors - Masaaki Kukino, Shigenobu Matsuyama
Designer - Masaaki Kukino
Producer - Shigenobu Matsuyama
Main Programmer - Hardboilder Shin
Composer - Jimmy Weckl (aka Harumi Ueko)
Genre - Light Gun Shooter
Dreamcast Release Dates - October 12, 2000 (Japan); October 23, 2000 (North America); November 24, 2000 (Europe)
Additional Releases - Konami Hornet Arcade System (1999); PlayStation 2 (2000); Game Boy Advance (2002); Mobile (2004); iOS (2009)
Current Average Price - $30
Silent Scope is a Konami-made on-rails light gun shooter ported from the arcade to the Dreamcast in 2000. It's silly and fun, and kind of tricky.
Unlike most light gun shooters of its time (and since, really) Silent Scope puts players in the role of a long range sniper during a series of terrorist incidents. Like so many ridiculous arcade games of its era, the plot involves the President of the United States and his family being kidnapped. It’s up to the player to shoot their way through loads of enemies and bosses to save the free world, I guess.
Gameplay
Silent Scope’s arcade cabinet used a large sniper rifle as a light gun. The player would have to physically move in order to shoot accurately. The main action was displayed on the large screen of the arcade cabinet, while a zoomed-in close-up view was displayed on a tiny screen within the scope of the plastic rifle. (This always impressed me as a kid in the arcade.)
The Dreamcast version is playable with either a light gun or a controller. However, no sniper rifle with a screen in the scope was released for the home market. Too bad.
The core gameplay of Silent Scope is simple. By holding a button on the controller it’s possible to rapidly move the targeting circle wherever we like. Releasing the button brings us to a detailed and slow moving scope view. Zoomed in, we line up our shot and take it. As we do in more traditional light gun games like Virtua Cop or Time Crisis, in Silent Scope we make our way through on-rails set pieces, shooting all the bad guys and finally eliminating the boss of each stage.
The overall game objective is equally simple - shoot bad guys before they shoot you, or before the time runs out.
Players have limited time and health. If an enemy shoots the player, we lose health. If the time runs out, we must use a continue or quit. By sniping enemies accurately and quickly, the player is able to regenerate time. In addition, it’s possible to regenerate time by scoping in on girls in bathing suits and other skimpy clothing. At these moments, the round sniper scope changes to a pink-fringed heart-shaped optic (ridiculous).
Review
Silent Scope is a decent game. When it released in 2000, most reviewers rated it as an average experience, and many game magazines recommended that gamers not buy the game, but rent it instead. I would recommend the same today, if rental stores still existed.
Still, at an average price of about $30, Silent Scope isn’t going to break the bank. At that price, Dreamcast owners who can’t get enough of light gun shooters should give this one a try. I mean… it’s better than Death Crimson OX…