Is this a sexy GDRom or not? Call me crazy, but when I was researching this game back in 2011, trying to decide whether I wanted to buy an actual copy of it, seeing how cool the GDRom itself looked did play a part in my decision to purchase the game. I've now played the game countless times and it is a favorite of mine.
Summary
This game was released on many different platforms, but saw its initial release in arcades on the naomi arcade board - aka the arcade version of the dreamcast. It was one of the initial post cancellation DC shooter releases, being released in 2004 (after Borderdown, but before Under Defeat). Some critics deride the enemy design and weapons design as extremely derivative of several different shooting games. Having played a number of shooters myself, I can see the similarities, however I think they are implemented well and the game has enough of its own style to more than make up for the derivative aspects. The entire game is of the boss rush style of gameplay - that is, boss after boss after boss. No waves of little fighter jets to easily mow down, however you do destroy the bosses piece by piece, and you can more easily destroy certain weaker areas of the bosses.
Graphics
This game was designed for hardware that is similar to the dreamcast specs. There are many aspects, such as the ships, explosions, and parts of the background that look really good and impress graphically. There are also several background and enemy graphics that look decidingly low polygon and generic when compared to other DC shooters such as Ikaruga/Borderdown/Under Defeat. In my opinion, however, Chaos Field has to budget a lot more into the system ram during a level. For example, pressing the X button sends your player into the "chaos field" - which based on the story is like an alternate reality/dimension. When you press this, nearly ALL of the background graphics change to a post apocalyptic and decrepit red tinged version of the original level background graphics. This change goes beyond mere textures, and often includes entirely different 3D models and geometry in the background as well. While the overall graphics certainly aren't "bad" for DC, they do not pop and impress as much as some of the more popular shmups. However, as previously mentioned, I think the game is still intensive on the DC's cpu and memory, and impressive for the DC concerning that you can seamlessly switch between two entire different sets of graphics for each level, on the fly. Another notable aspect of this game is that it is a standard 4x3 aspect ratio, and is not one of these cropped border "tate" style displays.
Sound
The sound effects are alright and mostly generic. They don't impress, but there is nothing bad I would think of to say. The music is excellent techno music and I find it to be a significant plus for the game. When I had just started playing the game, I would literally sometimes play the game just to hear the music. Even the later stages have excellent energetic music that greatly aids the flow of the game. This is only the select character music and I find it to be epic and original sounding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atjBzOFD ... ure=relmfu
Gameplay
The game is for one player only. There are 3 characters in the game and they each play very differently from each other. Each character/ship has it's own different main weapon, and defensive technique. One ship has a weak homing laser that allows you to focus more on evading bullets, while another has the typical front firing shot of most classic shmups, while the third has a limited range powerful pulse cannon such as in Mars Matrix. Every ship also has swords to wipe away bullets or strike the enemy with, which are clearly an homage to Radiant Silvergun. Every time you use your swords, your main weapon stops firing, which gives another element of strategy to your weapon decision. The swords tend to be weaker than your main gun, and require you to be right up close to the enemy and its cannons in order to hit it, but if you only use your main gun all the time, there are many times when the bullets become overwhelming and you'll want to pull out the swords to bat some of the bullets away and survive. Additionally, entering the chaos field changes the bullet patterns to become much more aggressive, however, your main weapon and defensive weapon become more powerful and change slightly as well.
Story
The game itself displays no story inside the game. There is a pretty cool intro cutscene which shows the ships getting ready to leave the hangar of a huge mothership hovering miles above a nighttime metropolis. The cutscene sets the mood of the game which starts the first level by launching your ship out over a sea of lit up skyscrapers. The 3 selectable characters imply some personality. I haven't beaten the game yet, but I think I watched someone beat the final boss on youtube and there didn't seem to be a final cutscene or other bit. Clearly this is more of the Ikaruga implied story variety of game, and not Gigawing 2 which is full of cutscenes and dialogue between each level. The manual has one page devoted to the story, which talks about defending against machines that came from the chaos field. Overall, the story is very generic, and not really a reason to buy the game, but there is the obvious implication that you are saving the world and protecting people from the chaos field.
Replay
This is a fun game. Because of the variety in playing styles and strategies between the different characters, and the ability to go into the chaos field and have a much different and much harder experience for the entire game - this game does have a little more replay value than you would expect. This port to the dreamcast was the first, before the gamecube and PS2 and Wii versions, and it is literally a port of the arcade game. There is no gallery mode, no artwork to unlock, no score attack, nothing. You play the game, and based on a timer, you unlock more credits to keep playing the game (IE: after you've logged one hour of game time, you get 2 or 3 more credits that will let you credit feed to later levels, in addition to your increased skill. The game does only have 5 levels overall, but that's about on par with most of the other DC shooters. If you are the kind of person who likes shooters and will be happy beating your own score, or playing through the same levels against the same bosses trying to master the three wildely different characters, this game will give you at least as much replay value as the other DC shooters, and possibly more just because of its own quirks.
Overall
8/10
This is not the most graphically advanced shooter on DC, or the one with the most unlockables and extra features. It does not have much of a story in the game, but damn if it doesn't kill in the gameplay, style, and sound department. While some DC games feel more like 1990s rather than 21st century games, this game with its 2004 release, more closely embodied the changed tastes in terms of sound and graphical design that I associate with the post-DC, PS2/GC era of games. There is something I can't quite put my finger on - something indescribably cool about flying your delicate origami looking spaceship through an abandoned and crumbling space station, a red haze in the background, and an ominous pounding techno soundtrack playing. And it's especially cool that it's on my dreamcast!
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHdQhF1 ... ure=relmfu
