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If you were a shooting fan back in 1996, you had few options to choose from on the Sony Playstation. Back before Einhander, Sol Divide, Thunder Force V, RayCrisis: Series Termination, or even RayStorm, you had a game called "Philosoma". You didn't hear too much about this game back then and the name of the game is seldom whispered nowadays. Why?? It just so happens that Philosoma was made in relatively low quantities. Philosoma is developed by G Artists and they are primarily a developer for Sony Computer Entertainment and have helped work on creating games such as IQ (Intelligent Qube) and PoPoLoCrois. It's strange to think that Philosoma is so uncommon since Sony Computer Entertainment of America themselves published the game...Still, whatever the case may have been, the game has become fairly expensive. Philosoma is borderline rare and that has something to do with the price, but is it possible that this game is both rare AND good?
The game deals with Miss Captain Nicola Michau and she must take part in a search and rescue mission on Planet 220. The UNF-Galant (SCV-13 Galant) has received an IDCA (Interplanetary Distress Call Alpha) from Planet 220 and so it's up to you (Michau) to take your crew to the Planet to eliminate the unknown threat. Captain Michau will communicate with the other pilots in spoken dialogue as you fly around the planet and witness the chaos that takes place. She will also communicate with "ALICE" (Artificial Intelligence Tochodenshishishaseishoun LN68), the automated AI computer system on board the Galant that handles, processes, and controls all mission data. The plot sounds like something straight out of an science fiction movie and it is actually a bit interesting. You ordinarily don't expect to get any real plot from a shooter (especially back in 1995/6), but you actually get one with Philosoma and it slowly progresses as you blast your way through the various phases.
The game design of Philosoma looks typical to other old-school shooters at first glance, but it is anything but typical. The enemies look pretty pilixated and objects can look fuzzy at times, but Philosoma manages to look impressive in another manner; The game uses multiple perspectives. As you fire your weapons like crazy to destroy the seemingly endless amount of foes and obstacles on-screen, the game will change in perspective at certain points. You may have destroyed a huge enemy airship and all of a sudden...the game changes from a vertical shooter to a behind-the-ship view (like Star Fox!) and the game also has in-your-face front views. The game also has 2D horizontal shooting portions and even an isometric sort of view (kinda like Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 for the 32X) where you can move around with more freedom than you would in the horizontal or vertical 2D shooting segments. If you are flying on a stage with an isometric perspective, you can actually crash into stuff that's in the background and that makes the game feel more realistic. Your weapons also look rather nice (especially the laser shot that makes a wave effect as you move and shoot) and the bombs are simple but effective. The game also uses several nice FMV clips to better illustrate the story during phases. Philosoma stands out from the crowd thanks to the various perspectives used within the game and that's what makes it look fresh and unique to say the least.
The sound is where Philosoma falls a little short. The voice acting isn't bad, but the dialogue can be a little annoying from time to time since the things the pilots say can be somewhat generic. G Artists used a Sci-Fi theme for the music (obviously) and while some of the tunes seem as though they aimed to be classic and epic in their composition, some of the music just sounds boring and generic and doesn't blend too well with the high level of action that takes place. This isn't like Elemental Gearbolt where slow but stylish music fits in due to the epic drama that takes within EG...While the story is good as far as most shooters are concerned, the overall story direction and emotion aren't exactly illustrated well with the music. The opening movie theme is excellent and suits the game well with its Sci-Fi theme. The other cutscenes are also accompanied with excellent audio...but the in-game music could have had more variety. Still, one interesting thing to note is that Kou Ohtani (or Kow Otani in the credits of Philosoma, Kō Ōtani...etc), who composed the music for Shadow of the Colossus, a variety of Gamera films, and various anime, also composed the soundtrack for Philosoma.
Your Strega fighter (the ship you control) has four main weapons that can be switched whenever you want. Each weapon can reach level 3 (max power) and they all start at level 1. You have the Vulcan, which is your basic weapon which fires an expanding spread of shots. Holding down the fire button will allow you to fire continuously. You have the laser, which has a piercing effect. To make the most out of this powerful weapon, you must move and shoot at the same time to create a wave that slices through anything that gets in its way. Next is the A-Break...your most powerful weapon that requires you to charge it up to fire an extremely powerful shot. Ideal to use on bosses. If you are charging the weapon up (a ball of energy will appear in front of your ship), you can also defeat weak foes by running into them with the charged energy in front. Your last weapon is the Ray-B. It is an unusual weapon that only fires behind your ship. This weapon will be very helpful depending on the current perspective you are experiencing within the game.
Aside from the primary four weapons, you also have Buster Grenades (a super bomb that destroys all enemies and projectiles in sight), MRMs (missiles that fire straight out of your Strega in addition to your current weapon), and SRMs (homing missiles that hunt your enemies down). You must grab various items to power-up your weapons and you can also grab items to repair your shield (life, since you don't die in one hit) as well as extra lives. You will also gain an extra life for every 100,000 points earned. The game allows you to save to the memory card to watch the various movies that are available once you've unlocked them and there are options typical to most ordinary shooters. The game is much more challenging than it sounds, so don't think the game is a cakewalk because you have life. The game has four main phases (phases acting like the stages), each in a different area of Planet 220. These phases are broken down into several parts so the game is actually longer than it sounds. There is also a "fifth" phase, but I won't spoil what goes on there.
G Artists took ideas from several shooters and combined them into one game which makes Philosoma very unusual indeed. It's like I heard somewhere else..."Philosoma is kinda like every shooter you have played in your entire life COMBINED!" Is this a bad thing? Not at all. Philosoma has become a great obscure classic. If you are a fan of shooters, it may be well worth your while to find this game. There is plenty of action and those looking for a good challenge should try to beat this game without losing a continue!
- Written by Vyse the determined - |
