Stand Alone Complex (PSP)

American and European cover

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, released in Japan as (Kokaku Kidotai: Stand Alone Complex - Domain of the Hunters|攻殻機動隊 STAND ALONE COMPLEX -狩人の領域-|Kōkaku Kidōtai Sutando Arōn Konpurekkusu -Kariudo no Ryōiki-), is a first-person shooter video game based on the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and a sequel to the first Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex game of the same title, developed by G-artists and published for the PlayStation Portable by Sony Computer Entertainment, Atari and Namco Bandai in 2005. It was released in Europe on October 21, 2005 and in North America on October 26, 2005 but under the same name as the original PS2 game causing confusion and misinterpreting as a port.

Shotaro Suga and Ryo Hikawa from Studio 9 at Production I.G wrote the all-new script for this game. A full voice system was achieved with cast members from the TV show as well as other top voice actors.

Four types of Tachikoma tanks appear in the story with different intelligence and character traits. The player can set a Tachikoma's behavior pattern and weapons according to his or her preference during the game. This will be a strong asset for any player. Optical camouflage, hacking devices and traps can be used to accommodate highly strategic battles. The game is distributed in Japan with the title Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Hunter's Arena.

Story

AD 2030. May.

A terrorist group takes hostages in the Niihama National Archives. They are requesting a document called "H-88 Report," an investigative report of a coup attempt led by then General Michiba years before. The H-88 Report was just about to be released to the public after twenty years in safekeeping. Section 9, dispatched to rescue the hostages, manages to eliminate the terrorists, but the bomb goes off and the identity of the criminals remain unknown.

Three months after the terrorist attack at Niihama, Section 9 heads for the Far North. Its task is to intercept a plot to assassinate Hiruma, a former member of the cabinet, who will be attending his hand over ceremony. Aramaki, along with Motoko, Batou, Togusa, Saito and four Tachikoma, are patrolling the ceremony in the northern tip of the country away from Niihama.

But an enormous amount of explosives is set to go off at the site, the VIP's and their family members who had planned to attend the ceremony are kidnapped, and the suspect of these incidents is infected with a virus. Section 9 members must solve this series of incidents one by one!

Gameplay

Ghost in the Shell features first-person shooter gameplay. Customizable Tachikoma sentient tanks, which can operate independently as Artificial intelligence characters or be ridden inside by players, accompany the player at all times Playable characters include Motoko Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa and Saito. All levels can be played by all characters. Aramaki is also available for multiplayer matches. All characters have varying statistics which can affect how a game plays out, for example Batou has more health than other players and Saito holds sniper rifles steadier than others. In addition, Tachikoma robots can act as an AI companion, and players can select from four Tachikoma "characters", balanced, aggressive, intelligent and humorous. Controls are similar to other first person shooter games on the platform, such as Coded Arms and Medal of Honor: Heroes.

Staff

• Based on the Manga by: Shirow Masamune
• Executive Producers: Tetsuji Yamamoto, Jiro Hasegawa
• Supervisors: Tomokazu Kirita (SCEIJ), Yasuhide Kobayashi (SCEIJ), Shin Unozawa (Bandai), Mitsuhisa Ishikawa (Production I.G)
• Screenplay: Shotaro Suga, Ryo Higaki
• Character Design: Makoto Shimomura
• Mechanical Design: Kenji Teraoka, Shinobu Tsuneki
• Producers: Hideo Fujii, Junichi Fujisaku
• Produced by: Sony Computer Entertainment, Bandai Visual, Production I.G
• Released by:Sony Computer Entertainment

Cast

• Motoko Kusanagi: Atsuko Tanaka
• Batou: Akio Otsuka
• Togusa: Koichi Yamadera
• Daisuke Aramaki: Osamu Saka
• Ishikawa: Yutaka Nakano
• Saito: Toru Okawa
• Tachikoma: Sakiko Tamagawa

Reception

The media response to the game was generally mildly critical, with reviewers generally noting flaws in gameplay and graphics IGN gave it a passable score of 6.2 out of 10. Greg Mueller of GameSpot gave it a 5.9 out of 10.

External links

• Production I.G English page