P.N.03

Players: 1

Save file size: 5 blocks

Price: $4.99 at Gamestop

Rating: Teen: Suggestive Themes, Violence



Capcom has a reputation for some absolutely amazing titles in their library. Street Fighter and Mega Man come to mind. They've also had some rather hit-or-miss titles out there, too. Take my first post on this blog, Crimson Tears. It's these lesser know titles that have a very unique flair to them. P.N.03 is no exception.

The Game starts out outside this giant complex. You take on the role of Vanessa Schneider, a bounty hunter for hire. As she progresses through the game, she has several trite conversations with her client that reveal there's more to her than she's leading on. This sets the stage for a rather unique experience. For games of this style, it's rather odd to see them on the gamecube. You'd almost expect this out of the PS2 or the Xbox, but no. This one's a gamecube exclusive.


The music, oh the music! If you like electronica, you'll love this soundtrack. Even if you're not the type for electronic, it's still worth checking out. The BGM (background music) follows more of the trance routine, and stays away from the bizarre. It's good stuff to whet your teeth on, to be sure.

Vanessa's attacks have a sort of rave-ish dance style to them. It's rather fitting, given the soundtrack. Some of the more advanced attacks have a rather unique beauty to them, in the way that she disposes of nemeses with style. It took me a very long time to figure out that special attacks (swan, et al) are activated with the D-pad, and not the analog stick. Anyways, I digress.


As Vanessa vanquishes foes, she gains points, which she can use at the end of levels to upgrade and buy new suits. I found the defensive suits to be severely lacking, and really wish they had a little more variety in customization. If you find yourself short a few thousand points and don't want to trifle with another level, you can do some of the challenge stages in between levels. These stages are essentially random dungeon crawls that yield a few thousand points per run. they're pretty fun, and add at least a little replay value to the game.

Some of the bosses in this game were a little too tough to beat, especially if you didn't have the right suit upgraded to the max. This was more than just a little annoying for me, as I had to start over at least once to get the right configuration to win.


This is another one of those games that's really tough to review. There are parts that I loved, and parts that drove me completely insane. It's got a lot going for it, especially in the environment and music. Balance issues and challenge can tear it down, though. Overall, it's a solid game. Not perfect, but not terrible. I'd say try it out, but the game is really hit or miss. You'll either love it, or you'll want to chuck it out the window.