Virtua Cop 3
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| Virtua Cop 3 | |
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| Developer(s) | Sega-AM2 |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) | March 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Rail shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | 29" Standard 4:3 Upright, 52" Deluxe 4:3 Upright |
| Arcade system | Sega Chihiro |
| Display | Raster, standard resolution horizontal orientation |
Virtua Cop 3 is the third game from Sega's Virtua Cop franchise.
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[edit] Background
Virtua Cop 3 is only available in arcades. The game is available in standard and deluxe cabinet formats. Using the Sega Chihiro arcade board's graphics capabilities, Virtua Cop 3 introduces a new slow-motion "bullet time" mechanism which allows players to slow down time with a step of a special pedal.
Virtua Cop 3 also allows players to toggle between different weapons instead of having to use just one weapon, as in previous entries in the series. The alternative weapons include the Smith & Wesson Model 629, Benelli M4 Super 90, H&K MP7, and the H&K G36C. Like the previous installments, players progress through the game choosing between three missions which vary in difficulty.
The newly designed gun used in the game is named the Guardian II, and was designed by Tokyo Marui, famous for their model guns.
[edit] Story
Virtua Cop 3 allows players to play the chapters in any order the players desire. The game follows the three characters as they are forced to investigate three crimes performed by a new Virtua City's crime syndicate, the ECM.
[edit] Simple chapter
When the ECM took over a large pharmacy building, Rage and Smarty were ordered by the VCPD to apprehend the invaders and secure the building. Throughout the pharmacy campaign, Rage and Smarty encounter a mysterious man known as "Gale," a ninja with unknown intentions. Proceeding deeper inside the pharmacy research lab, Rage and Smarty encounter a man named "Glitter," who is liable for the invasion. While the Virtua City police secured the pharmacy building, Janet receives disturbing information regarding about the pharmacy's genetic cloning system being missing.
[edit] Normal chapter
Brand, a bank robber hired by the ECM, robs a large bank in downtown Virtua City. The VCPD Riot Squad is no match for the ECM's munitions, prompting Rage and Smarty to help the disadvantaged riot squad. Once Rage and Smarty spot Brand in the building, a chase ensues, but after Rage and Smarty endure the interference as they make their way out of the building, Gale interrupts them once again. Rage and Smarty survive Gale and pursue the bank robbers, ultimately being pushed towards the subway where Brand is hiding. The ultimate battle between the Virtua Cops and Brand ensues. Throughout the bank campaign, Janet receives disturbing information that the reason for the ECM's bank robbery was to retrieve a secured package of dinosaur genes.
[edit] Hard chapter
A military base has been seized by the ECM. Rage, Smarty, and Janet make a sneak attack through the sewers before ultimately catching up with the military base. Enduring the heavily-guarded area, the three make it inside the hangars where a crab-like vehicle provokes the three to a life-or-death duel. The pilot, turning out to be Joe Fang (the final boss of original Virtua Cop), shows himself. In spite of the shock Rage had when he saw Fang, the vehicle is destroyed and the military base is secured.
[edit] Ultimate chapter
Depending on the player's performance, the player may be asked to participate in this chapter where the behind-the-scenes plot is revealed. First the mysterious ninja Gale challenges the three in a duel inside the hangar, then it continues with the three fighting Joe Fang clones throughout an elevator platform leading to the real body of Joe Fang, in which much of the game's plot becomes revealed. Ultimately, the case is closed and ECM's plot is recorded on VCPD's file.
[edit] Compatibility with Xbox
Due to the architectural similarities between the Chihiro and Xbox, homebrew enthusiasts and hackers have experimented in trying to run Chihiro games on the Xbox. A Chihiro game's GDROM disc contains two xbe files (the Xbox's executing format) within an encrypted FATX formatted hard disk image. Using specialized software it is possible to extract the files from the image to a desktop PC, though the same process doesn't read the 1GB images stored on same games which are used for 1GB Chihiros. While it isn't possible to run on a standard Xbox using the default Microsoft dashboard, it is possible if the said Xbox has been modded via softmodding or installing a modchip. This allows software to be run from the internal hard disk. The game files are usually transferred by FTP to the Xbox hard disk and using a custom dashboard, the main program or the games test mode is run via the respective xbes, “VC3.xbe” and “vc3_t.xbe” in Virtua Cop 3’s case.
For Virtua Cop this method requires hardware modding for the game to fully work, however, and even then the results can vary. It is now known the Xbox must be modded with extra RAM to create 128MB total, otherwise the game will stall at the SEGA intro screen or after choosing a difficulty in game. There is debate whether or not certain video cables, CPU speeds (as the Xbox can be upgrade to a 1.4GHz CPU) or even Xbox models cause varying issues. The main issue after RAM is speed in game. Some people have had success with both RAM and CPU upgrades at playing the game, whereas others claim the game still runs slowly. People running different cables on the same Xbox sometimes report that the game runs differently, whereas others have claimed these do not. Users have claimed that not even debug Xboxes, which the Chihiro's main board is believed to be based on, increases compatibility. Other users have attempted to flash the Xbox BIOS with the Chihiros' but have only resulted in the Xbox to stall while booting, possibly because of incompatibility or missing hardware. Another problem is sometimes the game’s test mode must be run in order to start the main game, whereas other times the main game file must be run.
So far this process has determined that Virtua Cop 3 is the most compatible, booting on all Xboxes with issues on some. The only other game known to boot is GHOST Squad, but stalls while loading before entering any missions. Other games usually crash with a black screen before loading.
[edit] External links
- Official Site (Japanese)
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