Hard Corps: Uprising Review

This newest entry in the Contra series of run-n-gun action titles is among the very best, offering incredible combat and wonderful innovations.

What is it about huge guns, massive alien and robots bosses, and near-impossible difficulty that grabs a hold of our collective human imagination and keeps us coming back for more? We may never know the answer, but the Contra series has always been the adrenaline-fueled provider of these noble offerings. The franchise has seen several iterations on just about every console you can think of, starting way back in 1987 with the original Contra on the NES and continuing with such shining sequels as The Alien Wars, Shattered Soldier, and Contra 4. Now Konami has partnered with Arc System Works of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue fame to bring the newest entry to current-gen systems via download—Hard Corps: Uprising, available now on Xbox Live Arcade and available soon for PlayStation Network.

The Contra series has never been terribly uptight about story continuity, and Uprising is no exception. The year is 2613 and an all-powerful government known as the Commonwealth rules with an oppressive fist. No longer able to abide by its bloodthirsty actions, Commonwealth soldier Bahamut (sharing his name with the villain of the Sega Genesis’s Contra: Hard Corps) rebels and leads a handful of freedom fighters to take down Tiberius, the emperor.

The classic run-n-gun action the series is known for is fully intact, with screens full of enemies to blast through and bullets to dodge. New weapons can be obtained by shooting down capsules that periodically fly by. These include the standard machine gun and spread shot, as well as a homing laser, devastating missile crush shot, heated plasma rifle, and short-range but powerful ripple laser. Each weapon has its own advantages and strategies to use effectively, and should you survive long enough (you lose your currently equipped weapon if you get hit), can be upgraded up to two times if the same weapon is picked up again. You have two weapon slots, and can switch back and forth at the touch of a button. Awesome weapons notwithstanding, be prepared to spend the bulk of the game with your standard rifle as you will die like crazy.

Uprising pays its dues to past games in the series, with simultaneous co-op action (both local and online), intense platforming sequences including climbing walls and ceilings, and ridiculously challenging boss fights, with a cameo from the giant wall boss in the first stage (seen in just about every Contra since the first one). But that’s where Arc Systems Works strikes out in a new direction, offering a ton of innovations that not only freshen the series but make the game an entirely new experience. And this goes beyond the obvious lack of “Contra” in the game’s title. For starters, you have a lifebar! No longer are you killed with a single hit. Lest hardcore fans freak out, there are still plenty of traps, pits, and enemies that will snuff out a life in an instant, but there is more room for error to learn the patterns of enemy attacks and to improve your skill.